Chocolate truffles

I'm now four months into this diet and today my weight loss hit 50 pounds. There have been some ups and downs along the way. I haven't 'cheated' as I'm really trying to see it as a lifestyle change, so allowing treats as I go along, but I also have avoided flour, cooked root veggies, rice, and other high GI foods. Chocolate truffles are great as they are not too bad. Obviously you can't eat a kilo of them, but one - or two - as a treat are fabulous. The ingredients all fall into the low GI range and they are really simple to make.

Making chocolate truffles is really easy, but needs to start a day in advance. You'll need 2 saucepans, a pyrex dish with a lip that fits over the saucepan, but still allows steam to escape, some baking paper, some disposable gloves, a bowl, a spatula, a knife, spoon and fork, a sieve, and some petit four paper cases. 

For around 15 truffles you'll need 200 grams good quality chocolate and 200 ml double cream, a pinch of salt and some cocoa powder.

Start by putting some water on to boil. You need it to come to just below the pyrex dish when it is sitting in the pan. Meanwhile, chop up the chocolate into chunks. Once the water is boiling, put the pyrex dish containing the chocolate over the water and let the steam melt it.

Just before it is fully melted, warm the cream - you don't want it to boil, but you don't want it cold so that the chocolate sets before they are stirred together.

Add a pinch of salt, plus any brandy, rum, whisky, coffee (one heaped teaspoon of espresso powder, made up with as little water as possible works well) at this point. Personally I prefer the truffles to be pure chocolatey goodness!

Remove the melted chocolate from the heat and pour the cream into the chocolate.

Stir the mixture quickly.

Until it is glossy and even.

Pour this into a bowl lined with greaseproof paper and leave to set overnight.

The next day (or at least four hours later if you are really stuck for time), sieve some cocoa onto a plate.

If you prefer, you can roll the truffles in nuts, or coconut, or dip them in melted chocolate.

Also, if you want flavoured truffles, you could add chopped stem ginger, apricots, nuts, etc. to the mixture as you are rolling.

Take a truffle sized piece of the chocolate mix and, wearing gloves as it is extremely messy, roll into a ball.

Then roll in the cocoa.

Put in a paper case and eat, or gift or freeze (they freeze really well).