Mocha Truffles, from Gael

Mocha Truffles, from Gael

Very rich, but great for holiday presents

24 ounces chocolate chips
8 ounces cream cheese
3 tablespoons instant coffee
2 teaspoons water
1 pound dark chocolate confectionery coating
You will need tiny candy cups, Maid of Scandinavia has them

Melt chocolate chips. Add cream cheese, coffee and water, mix well. Chill until firm enough to shape (a couple of hours). Shape into one-inch balls. I put one candy cup in front of me and eyeball it for size as I shape them and place them on a waxed-paper-lined cookie sheet. Chill for 1-2 hours or until firm. I usually do this overnight.

Melt chocolate coating. I melt about one-third at a time. Dip truffles and place on waxed paper to harden. Be warned--dipping can get messy! I use a teaspoon and kind of roll the truffle around in the coating to coat all sides, but still when I take it out, there's usually a mark from the spoon. You can try to cover this mark by dripping coating on it after you put it on the waxed paper and before the coating hardens.

After coating hardens, place in candy cups. Recipe is supposed to make 66, but I think I make them slightly larger than they should be and doubt I've ever ended up with that many.