italian capezzoli di venere (chocolate truffles of venus)

Ingredients

• Servings: 60
• 12 ounces high quality dark chocolate, chopped
• 16 ounces canned whole chestnuts, drained
• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 12 ounces high quality white chocolate, chopped - divided
• 1 dash powdered red food coloring

Recipe

Preparation Time: 30 mins Ready Time: 2 hrs


• place the dark chocolate into the top part of a double boiler over simmering water, and let the chocolate melt. turn off the heat and let the chocolate cool.
• place the chestnuts into the work bowl of a food processor, and process until the chestnuts are smoothly pureed, about 1 minute.
• beat together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. stir in the chestnuts, , and vanilla extract until the mixture is smooth. stir in the chocolate, and pinch off about 1 tablespoon of filling per truffle. roll the mixture into balls about 1 inch in diameter. if the mixture is too soft to hold its shape, chill for several minutes in refrigerator.
• reserve about 1 ounce of white chocolate for tempering, and about 1 ounce for coloring. melt the remaining 10 ounces of white chocolate over simmering water in a double boiler until the chocolate is melted and warm but not hot (about 105 degrees f (40 degrees c)). remove the pan containing the melted chocolate from the double boiler, and add about 1 ounce of chopped, unmelted white chocolate. stir the chocolate until the unmelted pieces of chocolate melt, and the temperature drops to 80 to 82 degrees f (27 to 28 degrees c)).
• carefully dip each center in the melted white chocolate, and gently place the truffle a piece of parchment paper or waxed paper to cool and harden, about 15 minutes.
• melt the remaining 1 ounce of chopped white chocolate over simmering water in a double boiler until the chocolate is melted and warm but not hot. stir in a very small amount of powdered red food coloring until you get a desired shade of pink. dip a little colored chocolate out with a spoon, dot each truffle with a pink dot, and allow the pink chocolate dots to set, about 15 minutes. place the truffles into paper candy cups to serve.