Truffles: My Nemesis

According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of nemesis is an opponent or enemy that is very difficult to defeat.  Such are these truffles to me.  Most times, you can give me a seemingly difficult recipe, and I can create a masterpiece.  But, to my chagrin, sometimes the easiest recipes become my most despised.  Is there a truffle making class out there???  I do believe I need to enroll. 

Although the truffles have become my nemesis, I can’t deny the fact that both batches I have attempted to make have tasted out of this world amazing.  Did they look good???  Heck no.  They looked atrocious, unappealing, yet sometimes resulted in pretty colors and always bursting with goodness. 

The first truffles I attempted were off of the Williams-Sonoma website…Bourbon Truffles.  The recipe seemed simple enough.  I probably should have read through the recipe in full before becoming hell-bent on making them.  I enjoy ease in a recipe, and the trotting back and forth to the freezer became daunting.  Even more daunting when the quoted time on the recipe wasn’t enough to produce the results I needed fresh out of the freezer for each step.  So back and forth I (or the hub) would go.  This went on all day it seemed until we had a dinner party to go to.  In the end, I had to finish them up the following day, only to produce ugly piles of….well, you get my point.  It wasn’t pretty folks, but they sure did taste great!

The second batch was for our Christmas Eve Hors d’oeuvre party.  I had went to work the following day after making the Bourbon Truffles and described my ordeal.  People all over were saying that I should try the Easy Oreo Truffles.  Goodness…easy…I should be able to get this done!  So, I started planning.  We were going to have plain Oreo Truffles dipped in Milk Chocolate and some dipped in Butterscotch.  Then we were going to have some Mint Oreo Truffles made with Mint Oreos dipped in a dark chocolate topped with chopped-up Andes Mints.  I just love Mint Oreos!  I began my journey onto the easy road.  My pack of Oreos were tossed into a mixing bowl, I hand chopped them with my chopper thingy.  I added a block of softened cream cheese and mixed well.  Oh my, they were looking perfect.  Things were mixing well to my surprise.  Then I formed them into little one inch balls.  So pretty.  Next came the coating……..the coating.   Sigh.  This is where it all went wrong my friends.  Maybe I have to master the dipping of the truffle part.  I must have had some moisture in the make shift double boiler I put together with a pot and a Pyrex mixing bowl set upon it.  The morsels were seizing.  They were hardening.  This didn’t happen to just my butterscotch morsels.  This happened to my white chocolate morsels as well before I could figure out that was the problem.  Thanks to Mom for pointing this out once I had to call her for some motherly cooking advice.  Luckily, the hub was out and about and could pick me up some more morsels.  I started with the next cycle of morsels and was able to dip each one the way I had planned.  No, they didn’t turn out pretty in the least little bit.  But, they were absolutely mouth-watering yummy. 

Enjoy the recipe below.  I heard this recipe works out for almost everyone…but me.

Easy Oreo Truffles

(taken from the Kraft website with added tidbits from me)

Ingredients

• 1 pkg. (8 oz.)  Cream Cheese, softened (You can set this out of the fridge to allow it to soften, or I put it in the microwave for 30 seconds
• 1 pkg.  (1 lb. 2 oz.) Oreo Cookies, finely crushed (about 4-1/4 cups), divided
• 2 pkg. (8 squares each) Baker’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate squares, melted  (I used a bag of morsels of my desired flavors)

• MIX cream cheese and 3 cups cookie crumbs until well blended.

• SHAPE into 48 (1-inch) balls. Dip in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs or your desired toppings.

• REFRIGERATE 1 hour or until firm. Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

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