Chocolate brandy truffles

Chocolate truffles make great holiday gifts; I've put brandy in, but that's optional. Pistachios are especially festive but you can roll these in any kind of nuts.

Credit: Spencer's Big Holiday

• makes

  24

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  5 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1¼ cups (300 ml) heavy cream
• 1 vanilla pod
• 60 ml (2 oz) brandy
• 3 cups chopped good quality dark chocolate
• 1½ tbsp (30 ml) butter
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• ¼ cup finely chopped pistachios

Chilling time: overnight.

Instructions

1. Heat cream with vanilla pod and brandy in a double boiler. Take off the heat and allow to cool for 1 minute. Remove vanilla pod. Add chocolate pieces and mix in until they melt. Transfer to a new bowl. Add butter and mix in. Cover bowl and place in the fridge overnight.
2. Remove bowl from fridge. Sprinkle cocoa powder onto a plate. Place pistachio on another plate.
3. Scoop out some ganache using a 1-ounce scoop and roll it between your hands into a small ball. Place it on an empty plate. Repeat until all the ganache is used up. Roll half the balls in the cocoa powder. Roll the other half of the balls in pistachio.
4. Place in the fridge until ready to serve.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.