Italian Capezzoli di Venere (Chocolate Truffles of Venus)

1. 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.

2. Place the chestnuts into the work bowl of a food processor, and process until the chestnuts are smoothly pureed, about 1 minute.

3. Beat together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Stir in the chestnuts, brandy, 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.

4. 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)).

5. Carefully dip each center in the melted white chocolate, and gently place the truffle onto a piece of parchment paper or waxed paper to cool and harden, about 15 minutes.

6. 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.

Cook's Notes

If the filling is too thin, as it often is for me, I make the "balls" and put them in the freezer to set. In fact, I find the very solid and cold ganache is ideal for coating with chocolate, although the constant dipping of frozen centers into the hot tempered chocolate may require you to reheat the chocolate once more or maybe even twice more during the process.

If the center is too thick, thin it out, teaspoon by teaspoon, with brandy.

Editor's Note

Don't use a water-based or paste food coloring containing water to color your white chocolate pink, or the water will cause the melted chocolate to harden and turn grainy. Buy powdered food colorings at a specialty bakery shop or cake decorating supply store.