Christmas Truffles Recipe

Makes about 22 truffles.

100g milk chocolate
1 tablespoon (20ml) cream
200g Christmas pudding or fruit cake
50g macadamia nuts or pecans, finely chopped
1 teaspoon sherry or rum

Coating
140g milk chocolate
140g white chocolate

Place 100g milk chocolate and cream in a small saucepan over very low heat, stirring occasionally, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Alternatively, melt chocolate with cream in a small bowl in the microwave.

Crumble pudding/cake into a medium bowl and add nuts.

Stir sherry or rum into chocolate mixture. Add to pudding and nuts and mix well. Cover and refrigerate mixture until firm enough to roll into balls.

Roll mixture into small balls and place on a tray lined with baking paper. Place in freezer until very cold and set. The truffle centres need to be quite firm so that they don't melt during coating.

Coating
Melt the milk and white chocolates in separate small heatproof bowls. Allow to cool slightly.

Remove truffle centres from the freezer. Insert a skewer or toothpick into a ball. Holding the skewer, coat the ball in melted chocolate.

Allow any excess chocolate to drip off, or use a second skewer to smooth away any excess. Return the truffle to the baking paper lined tray. Push the truffle off the skewer (we used a second skewer to do this) and smooth chocolate over the hole that remains.

When all of the truffles are coated, drizzle with chocolate to decorate. Refrigerate until chocolate is set, then store truffles in an airtight container in the refrigerator. © www.exclusivelyfood.com.au