The trick to making the best truffles is to start with the best chocolate you can find.  The first way to judge a good chocolate is to read the label.  Anything over 60% cocoa solids is a safe bet.  Lindt "Excellence", some Ghiradelli, and Vairhona are probably the best.  Vairhona is my personal favorite.

Making truffles happens in two steps.  First you create a ganache center, and then you dip it into tempered chocolate.  As with anything, practice makes perfect.  I've enjoyed the failures of December more than most! 

Let's start with the Ganache Center
12 oz good quality bittersweet chocolate
1 cup heavy cream
8 T unsalted butter at room temperature
1/4 cup liqueur (or other flavoring to taste such as Grand Marnier, Frangelico, Rum, mint extract
      or hazelnut syrup)

The first step is to chop your chocolate.  If you like hard labor, chopping by hand with a good kitchen knife is one option.  You can also use a food processor, but you must care not to over-process and start to melt the chocolate.  The results or either method should be small, fairly uniform, pea-sized pieces.

The trick to a good ganache is to create an emulsion.  First chop the chocolate and place it into a small stainless steel bowl.  Then in a saucepan, heat the cream just to a boil.  Immediately pour the cream over the chopped chocolate and start mixing.  A wooden spoon is the tool of choice.  Be energetic.  Stir in small circles just until the cream is incorporated and the chocolate is entirely melted.  It doesn't help to over-mix.  You can actually break the emulsion if you mix too much.  Ganache can be sensitive.  Temperature control is key.  Now cool the ganache until it has reach room temperature.

To complete the ganache, beat the room temperature butter with a wooden spoon until it is a light paste.  Add small amounts of the butter at a time to the cooled ganache.  The butter should NOT be melting.  Stir until all of the butter is incorporated.  Next mix in the liqueur, or other flavoring.  A few toasted hazelnuts at this point are my signature ingredient.  Let the ganache sit at room temperature until it is ready to pipe into centers.  If you are in a hurry you can cool it for a few minutes in the fridge, but don't let it get too hard.

Then fill a pastry bag with the ganache and pipe out one inch centers onto parchment lined baking sheets. (If you don't have a pastry bag, a heavy duty freezer bag with one of the bottom corners snipped off will work nicely).  Don't worry if your centers aren't perfect.  We will shape them after this next step: cool them in the refrigerator for about one hour.  When the hour is up, take them our and roll them gently in the palm of your hands to make a nicely shaped center.  Put them back in the refrigerator until you are ready to dip.

Now for the chocolate outside. (This can be the tricky part.)  First you must decide if you want to use tempered chocolate to cover the truffles or untempered.  Tempered chocolate will have a lovely shine, a nice snap when you break into it and it will hold well at room temperature.  Untempered chocolate will force you to refrigerate your truffles or they will melt at room temperature and won't have the nice sheen.  Tempering chocolate can take practice.

Whichever your preferred method, begin with a double boiler and a stainless steel bowl that will fit over the water pan.  Put 1 1/2 lbs of the chocolate in the stainless steel bowl.  Remember that it has been chopped into fine, uniform pieces.  Heat the water in the pan to just below a simmer.  This is important...take the pan off the head and put the bowl of chocolate over it.  Stir the chocolate until it is completely melted.  If you want to skip tempering this is where you would start dipping the centers.

To temper, continue to heat the chocolate over the hot water until the thermometer reaches between 120 to 125 degrees F.  (Reheat the water as necessary to reach this temperature.)  If you are new to tempering chocolate, a chocolate thermometer is a must!  At this point remove the bowl from the pan.  (DRY THE BOTTOM!  Water from the steam is your enemy at this stage,) and cool the chocolate to 86 degrees by adding - 2 T at a time - of the reserved chopped chocolate when the shavings quit melting and you have reached 86 degrees or slightly lower.  (Note: you may not use all of the reserved chocolate.)  Now gently reheat the chocolate to between 88 and 91 degrees F.  Do this by flashing the bowl a few seconds over the hot water.  Remember to keep drying the bottom of the bowl, and keep stirring.  Now your chocolate is temper!

Remove about 1/4 of the centers from the refrigerator and dip them into the tempered chocolate with a fork.  Tap off excess chocolate against the edge of the bowl and place the truffle on a parchment sheet to cool.  Work quickly and keep the temperature of the chocolate in the stated range.  Don't worry that some of the chocolate hardens on the side of the bowl while you are working.  It happens and it is okay.  When you are through dipping you will have some chocolate left over.  Don't try to re-temper it, it now contains trace amounts of cream from the ganache and it won't work.

So now you have the most delightful treat you've ever created.  They make great gifts and can also dress up a holiday feast.  It is a great project for a lazy afternoon...and the rewards are very sweet.