Good quality chocolate truffles can be expensive, but they are so easy to make yourself, and you can make so many delicious combinations. Go on, it's Chocolate Week so you have no excuse not to indulge!

150g Divine White Chocolate
150g Divine Dark Chocolate
142ml pot double cream
50g butter
Small handful of crumbled biscuits, Green & Blacks Chocolate Coated Ginger Biscuits are good or Doves Organic Gluten Free Lemon or Hazelnut Cookies.
80g dried fruit, try chopped Suma Fairtrade & Organic Dates, or Suma Organic Cranberries or Apricots.
2/3 tablespoons of Suma Organic Omega Mix (makes a nice crunch!)
icing sugar and cocoa powder for dusting.

1.Break the chocolate into pieces and put in separate bowls, then divide the butter between each bowl. Place each bowl over a pan of simmering water and start to melt the chocolates. When the chocolate is nearly melted start adding the cream equally into each bowl and stir until smooth. Allow to cool.
2.Add the biscuits, dried fruit between the two chocolate mixtures, stir, then chill for at least 4 hrs until quite firm.
3.Scoop out the mixtures and form into small truffles. Sift the icing sugar onto a plate and roll the white chocolate truffles in it. Do the same with the cocoa and the dark chocolate truffles, then chill.

These keep really well in the fridge, but use within a few days.

Try using different types of chocolate, for example, the Organica Vegan range of chocolate is fantastic too. Use Soya Cream and Butter for that Vegan treat.

Divine Chocolate & Nut Cake

So simple, just mix everything together and put in the fridge!

400g any Divine Chocolate (70% Divine Dark is good)
100g butter
50g sugar
1/2 teaspoon of Wayfairer Fairtrade & Organic Ground Cinnamon
200g The Organic Collection Chocolate Cantuccini, broken into pieces
100g Equal Exchange Montecristo Brazil Nuts

Melt the butter, chocolate and sugar in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Add the Cantuccini, cinnamon and brazil nuts.

Pour the mixture into a cling-film lined tin. Cover with a layer of cling film and set in the fridge for about 2 hours. Easy!

Gorgeous served with cream, ice cream or fruit compote.

All the recipes listed below are courtesy of Pig in the Kitchen. Click on this link to visit their blog for more scrummy dairy, soya and egg free recipes.

Pig's Truffles

(Makes about 30 truffles, more if you make small ones. But who wants small truffles?)

For the filling:
175g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids, gluten-free)
2tbsp water
125g dairy-free spread
3 tbsp (or more) of Cointreau (or other liqueur)
1 dessertspoon sugar (or more or less, according to taste)
Cocoa powder for dusting
For the shell:
Approx: 200g dark chocolate
Paper presentation cases

·Break the dark chocolate into small-ish pieces and place in a 'bain marie' with the 2tbsps of water. For the bain-marie: fill a small saucepan with about 5 cm of water, place a large bowl on top. The bowl shouldn't touch the water. Heat the water until it boils, it will melt/heat whatever is in the bowl
·Melt the chocolate and water in the bain-marie, stirring continuously
·When the chocolate is melted, remove from the heat and add the dairy-free spread. Beat together to form a smooth and glossy paste.
·Add the Cointreau, and sugar if you are using. Beat again. Adjust flavourings to taste
·Fill the sink with cold water so that the water reaches half-way up the outside of the bowl containing the chocolate mix
·Place the chocolate bowl in the sink and whisk vigorously. This will cool the mixture down and also make the resulting truffle centre nice and fluffy. You will need to whisk for about 5 minutes until the mixture suddenly thickens, that point is very gratifying!
·When the mixture is thick like a paste, chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
·The best time to mould the truffles is when the mix is still soft but not warm. You can chill the mix for longer than an hour, just remember to remove it at least an hour before you want to mould it
·Line a baking tray with parchment and set aside. Sieve the cocoa powder onto a plate
·Take teaspoonfuls of the mix from the bowl and roll around in your hands to form balls.
·Roll the balls in the cocoa powder until they are covered and then place on the baking tray. Repeat until all the mix is used up
·You could now chill these for at least 12 hours, uncovered in the fridge, or move onto the next stage.
For the shell:
·Line a baking tray with baking parchment
·Melt the rest of the chocolate in a bain-marie.
·Let it cool slightly (placing the bowl in a sink of cold water will accelerate this process)
·Then take the cocoa dusted truffles and one by one drop them into the melted chocolate.
·Roll them around with your fingers and use a spoon to ladle more chocolate over the bits you can't cover. Place the balls onto the baking tray. Repeat until all the truffles are covered in chocolate
·Leave the truffles to chill in the fridge. At least 4 hours, but overnight is fine
·When the chocolate is solid, each truffle will have a little flat base where the chocolate ran down. You can shave this off carefully with a serrated knife if you wish.
·Place the chocolates in their pretty cases and feel very happy
·Serve to grateful and admiring family! Or friends.

© Pig in the Kitchen 2007

Chocolate and Chilli Truffles

In the interests of rigorous research and providing a blog of quality, I have tried these truffles as an accompaniment to: Coffee, Tea, Red Wine and Champagne. I can confirm that they are good with all four beverages. Possibly best with the wine, but it was a photo finish with the champagne.

175g dark chocolate, gluten-free, dairy-free (this usually contains soya lecithin, if you are unsure whether you can tolerate it, check with your dietician or doctor)
125g dairy-free spread
3 tbsp cointreau/liqueur of your choice (check it's gluten-free)
2 tbsp sugar / more according to taste
Dried red wicked little chillis (see image), about 20g, but you will only use 0.5tsp
For the coating:
Approximately 200g dark chocolate
Some gluten-free cocoa powder to dust the truffles
Presentation cases

·Place the cheeky chillis in a liquidiser and blend them until they are a fine powder. Do try not to inhale the dust, it causes havoc with your eyes and nasal passages. Also, careful as you handle it, it can burn the skin. Such a feisty character needs to be approached with caution. If you don't have a liquidiser, you could use a mortar and pestle, just make sure you get a fine powder. Set aside
·To melt the 175g of chocolate, place a small saucepan containing a little water over a medium heat and place a large heatproof bowl on top. The water shouldn't touch the base of the bowl, and you'll need to check that the water doesn't boil dry
·Place the chocolate in the bowl and stir until melted, don't let it get too hot, err on the side of very thick
·Remove molten chocolate from heat and add the dairy-free spread. Beat until you have a smooth paste, return it to the steaming pan if need be. Add the liqueur and sugar and beat again
·Add the chilli powder, use more or less depending on your taste. You might want to add it bit by bit, and keep checking the taste (Put the remaining chilli powder into an airtight container and use for your next batch!)
·Beat the mix for a few minutes (I think this makes it lighter in texture, but I'm not sure it's strictly necessary) then cover the bowl and place it in the fridge for a couple of hours to set
The best time to mould the truffles is when the mix is still soft but not warm. You can chill the mix for longer than 2 hours, just remember to remove it at least an hour before you want to mould it
Line a baking tray with parchment and set aside. Sieve the cocoa powder onto a plate
Take teaspoonfuls of the mix from the bowl and roll around in your hands to form balls.
Roll the balls in the cocoa powder until they are covered and then place on the baking tray.
Repeat until all the mix is used up
You could now chill these for at least 12 hours, uncovered in the fridge, or move onto the next stage

For the shell:
Line a baking tray with baking parchment
Melt the rest of the chocolate in a saucepan as you did for the first part of the recipe. Let it cool slightly (placing the bowl in a sink of cold water will accelerate this process)
Then take the cocoa dusted truffles and one by one drop them into the melted chocolate.
Roll them around with your fingers and use a spoon to ladle more chocolate over the bits you can't cover. Hold them above the bowl to let excess chocolate drop back in, then place the balls onto the baking tray.
Repeat until all the truffles are covered in chocolate
Leave the truffles to chill in the fridge. At least 4 hours, but overnight is fine
When the chocolate is solid, each truffle will have a little flat base where the chocolate ran down. You can shave this off carefully with a serrated knife, take the truffles out of the fridge about an hour before you want to do this
Place the chocolates in their pretty cases and feel very happy
Do or don't tell the contents of the truffles, it depends on how mean you're feeling!
·
© Pig in the Kitchen 2007

Apricot Running Truffles

Makes 45. Forty-five! That's got to be good...

I was rather startled when these turned out to be so delicious (no false modesty here). The centre is so squidgy and naughty I wondered if I'd lapsed and slipped in some hydrogenated fat. But no, it is all good stuff. With all the dark chocolate and the dried apricots, these bad boys must be rich in iron. Drink them with orange juice for the maximum iron hit.

175g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids, gluten-free)
100g dried apricots
Plus 50g dried apricots
some warm rice milk
125g dairy-free spread
3 tbsps Cointreau (or more if you wish)
4 tbsps sugar
Cocoa powder for dusting, about 4 tbsps
200g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids, gluten-free)
Pretty serving cases

·Line two baking trays with baking parchment Using a hand blender (or liquidiser?), blend the 100g of dried apricots with enough warmed rice milk to make a paste. Use as little rice milk as possible
·Chop the remaining 50g of dried apricots into small pieces. I used scissors to chop them Break the dark chocolate into small-ish pieces and place in a 'bain marie'. For the bain-marie: fill a small saucepan with about 5 cm of water, place a large bowl on top. The bowl shouldn't touch the water. Heat the water until it boils, it will melt/heat whatever is in the bowl
·Melt the chocolate in the bain-marie, stirring from time to time so it doesn't stick. When it has melted remove from the heat. Add the dairy-free spread and beat until smooth Add the apricot paste, the apricot pieces and the Cointreau Add the sugar, use more or less depending on what your tastebuds are telling you
·Whisk/beat the filling. I did it for about five minutes then got fed up and went and did something else. When I came back the mix had set and was ready to be rolled. Fantastic!
·When the chocolatey, apricotey mix is squidgeable, sieve the cocoa powder onto a plate
·Take a teaspoonful of the mix and roll it into a ball. You might want to dab your hands into the cocoa powder before rolling so that the mix doesn't stick to them
·Place the balls onto the baking trays. Repeat until all the mix is used up. It's best to chill them overnight, but if you can't I would say at least two hours...
·When you are ready to coat them. Melt the remaining chocolate in the bain-marie. When it has melted, remove from the heat
·Using a spoon and your hands (only lick when you've finished), plop each ball into the melted chocolate and coat it generously. Place the coated balls back onto the baking trays.
·The excess chocolate will run down and give the truffles a flat bottom. (Sigh, it's what I dream of) Chill for as long as possible, again, overnight is best
·When the chocolate has set, use a knife to scrape off the excess chocolate at the base of the truffles. Or leave it on if you prefer, but they dont really fit into pretty cases unless you nip and tuck
·Place the truffles in pretty serving cases and wow your friends. Or keep them for after your run. Or don't run, sit in front of a good film and eat as many as you wish.

© Pig in the Kitchen 2007