chocolate truffles!

There have been so many posts during VeganMoFo that have been a treat to read that I couldn't list them all if I tried. A few recipes though have called out to me to make them, various pies, stews and soups but most of all the truffle recipe over at Herbivore Dinosaur! I've never even thought to make truffles before but from now on I'll never be without them.

This is a slight adaptation of Jenny's recipe because the original version wouldn't set for me, but that might be something to do with the brand of cream cheeze I used (Pure), maybe it was a little runnier than it should have been. I also made two different flavours, peppermint and almond! You could make different flavours with different essences, like orange (a a sprinkle of candied peel), or just plain old chocolate would still be divine.

To make 25-ish gorgeous little truffles you'll need:

one pack of vegan cream cheeze (around 8oz/200g)

An equal amount to the cream cheeze of dark chocolate

1 extra 8 oz bar of chocolate

1 3/4 cups of icing/confectioners sugar

your flavour choices (I used almond essence and peppermint essence)

toppings!

Tip the cream cheeze into a food processor and blitz for a couple of seconds just to loosen everything up, then add the icing sugar a bit at a time until it's all mixed in.

Put your dark chocolate into a bowl over a pan of simmering water until it's melted (or microwave on a low heat like I do, quicker AND easier but check it every 10 seconds or so).

Put the chocolate and cheeze mix into a bowl and stir it up! It'll thicken up so quickly, dip a finger in. How delish is that?! Cover the bowl with cling film and refrigerate for about 3 hours, until it's really firm. If you're going to flavour them with essences, before you put the mix in the fridge, separate it into two bowls and add the tiniest couple of drops of your preferred flavour. You don't need much at all, better to have a subtle flavour than one too strong.

Once it's set take a teaspoon and scoop out a gobstopper sized piece, then quickly roll it firmly between your palms. Once it's round, put it onto a board and do the next one until you've done the whole bowl.

Cover with cling film again and re-refrigerate for about another hour (I found this makes the chocolate coating easier).

To coat them couldn't be easier! Get your extra bar of choc and melt that into a small bowl. Pick up a truffle on a teaspoon and tip into the choc, then roll it around a bit with the spoon, then scoop it out and pop it onto a silicon baking sheet or some parchment paper. Do this with all the truffles!

Before the chocolate sets, add your toppings! I went for a mix of sprinkles, sweets and nuts but let your imagination go wild!

Don't forget November is world vegan month! Click the link up there if you fancy going vegan for a week!

ps, this recipe just won the Appletiser Blog award! And it's all thanks to you, the lovely readers for voting! thank you so much you guys.