GLUTEN-FREE
Packed with antioxidants and full of flavor, these dark chocolate truffles are a healthy dessert when eaten in moderation. Unlike complicated recipes that call for butter, sugar, or even corn syrup, this one has just a few ingredients. These truffles are almost as easy to make as they are to eat.
I infused these truffles with Trois Rivières Rhum Blanc Agricole, an artisinal rum from Martinique that I picked up at the distillery on a recent trip to visit my husband's family. If you can find it, I highly recommend it. It's the most fragrant and floral rum I've ever tasted.
If you can't find it, you can substitute another rum, omit the rum, or substitute an equal amount of espresso or the zest of an organic orange.
8 ounces dark chocolate, 72% or darker
½ cup heavy cream
Pinch sea salt
2 tablespoons floral rum
½ cup cocoa powder, non-alkalinized
Add the chocolate, cream and sea salt to a glass or stainless steel bowl. Cover the bowl and place it over a saucepan of slowly simmering water until the chocolate has just melted. Keep an eye on it because you don't want the cream to come to a boil.
Once the chocolate has just melted, turn off the heat and remove the bowl from the saucepan. Add the rum and whisk until the mixture becomes homogeneous, dark brown, smooth and shiny. Set it aside to come to room temperature (several hours).
Once the mixture has cooled completely, add a few spoonfuls of cocoa powder to a small bowl or tea cup. Use a small spoon to scoop up a teaspoon or two of the chocolate, and another spoon to scrape it off the first spoon. Roll it in your hands until it forms a ball and work quickly before the chocolate starts to melt. Drop the ball of chocolate into the bowl of cocoa powder.
Swirl the bowl around until the cocoa coats the chocolate ball, then gently lift it out with a fork and transfer it to a serving dish or glass storage container.
(Alternatively, you can roll the truffles in unsweetened shredded coconut or ground nuts.)
Repeat the process until you've used up the chocolate, adding more cocoa powder to the bowl as needed. Arrange the finished truffles in a single layer.
Store the truffles in the fridge. Take them out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before serving to allow them to come to room temperature and soften.
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