Tira-mocha Truffles

A creamy, boozy cookie crumb and mascarpone center surrounded by rich dark chocolate.  It's a perfectly satisfying adult treat.

I love tiramisu but I also love chocolate and the two combined is my ultimate sweet treat.  A local chocolate shop (that was just across the street from my apartment) used to have Tiramisu Truffles that I adored but they were kind of pricey and the shop has closed down or moved.  I also love my tiramisu to be fairly boozy and I don't think those truffles had any rum in them.  I like my tiramisu to have a good strong coffee flavor and plenty of rum (or at least enough to know it's there) and if possible I like chocolate incorporated some how.  I've made a Chocolate Pound Cake Tiramisu that turned out delicious and was super simple but wanted to try something new.  I have been formulating this recipe for quite some time and Chocoley chocolate helped it finally happen.

Chocoley Chocolate:

This is sort of a sponsored post but I'm not getting paid they only sent me some free chocolate.  I loved their chocolate.  for this recipe I used their Bada Bing Bada Boom Dipping and Coating Dark Chocolate.  It was so simple to use and tasted great although next time I'll try the Extra Dark.  They also sent me some Drizzle and Design White Chocolate that comes in it's own squeeze bottle and melts so easily.  It made decorating incredibly easy.  My favorite thing about Chocoley is that they will send your shipment through USPS.  That may not be such a big deal for those of you on the mainland (continental U.S.) but FedEx and UPS charge a fortune to ship anything to Hawaii (you end up paying more than what you bought in shipping charges).  USPS has flat rate shipping inside the U.S. and yes we are part of the United States.  So...I like USPS shipping.

Besides the chocolate another important part of these truffles is the delicious coffee/boozy center.  To start with I made my own *coffee flavored rum so I wouldn't have to waste moisture with brewed coffee (most of the coffee flavor is in the rum).  I also used some local Kona coffee flavored cookies for that extra coffee flavor and Mascarpone cheese (or cream cheese) for creamyness.  It turned out great and there is no cooking involved so none of that rum gets cooked out and the centers taste amazing.  I suppose you could use any type of hard cookie/graham crackers you have access to (I think vanilla wafers might be good) and you could omit the rum if you want...just use strong brewed coffee.

Again let me say how delicious these are (I still have a few in the fridge).  I don't have the vocabulary to describe these and do them justice, but if you like tiramisu you've got to try these.  They are like little bites of tiramisu covered in chocolate. Yum.  And I'm so happy they turned out (it's my first time making truffles).  They may not all be perfectly round but they taste great and, I think, look good for my first time.

**Coffee Favored Rum**

This is real simple.  Just grind some good coffee and let soak in rum.  Use the same amounts you would use if brewing strong coffee regularly.  Let the coffee grounds sit in the rum for about 24 hours until it's dark like strong coffee and then strain out the grounds.  I did this all in a french press but you could strain it through a coffee filter or cloth (like an old, clean, t-shirt rag).   You can sweeten to taste by adding simple syrup.  I added a little but not enough because it was quite bitter.

Tira-Mocha Truffles

Ingredients:

9-10 ounces of cookies, the crunchier the better
8 ounces mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
1/4-1/2 cup Coffee Flavored Rum

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 pound Bada Bing Bada Boom Dipping and Coating Chocolate, Dark, melted
white chocolate for drizzle (optional)

Crumb the cookies by pulsing in a food processor, or blender, until finely ground.

Place crumbs in a large bowl and add the coffee flavored rum, stirring, until the crumbs are thoroughly moistened.  You want the crumbs to absorb the rum and not have any liquid puddled at the bottom of the bowl.

Mix in the mascarpone until thoroughly incorporated. Then add the powdered sugar until sweetened to your desire (you may need more or less depending on how sweet your cookies are and I think it helps thicken the mixture too).

Refrigerate for about 1 hour to help firm the mixture.  Mine was still pretty soft but I could scoop it into balls and they would retain their shape.  Scoop mixture onto a parchment lined cookie sheet into about 1 inch or smaller balls.  I used a 1 Tbsp cookie scoop to make the process quicker but you could use 2 spoons (like for drop cookies).

Once all of the cookie mixture is balled and on the parchment (about 30+) I stuck a toothpick in each one (something to hold on to when dipping) but this is optional.  Then freeze for about 2 hours until firm.

Before removing the balls from the freezer, melt about 1 half of the chocolate (according to package/included instructions) and have ready.  Tip:  sit bowl of melted chocolate on a heating pad to maintain it's temperature.  Also prepare another parchment lined cookie sheet.

Remove a small batch (5 at a time was as quick as I could go) of balls from the freezer, dip in the chocolate, let the excess chocolate drip off and then place on the parchment to cool.

Once all truffles are covered with chocolate start removing tooth picks, if used, from the hardened chocolate.  I touched up my truffles by sealing the holes with a dab of melted chocolate.  Then place in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes to set.

Meanwhile melt the drizzle and design chocolate (as per included instructions).  Remove the truffles from the fridge and drizzle on the white chocolate until you are satisfied.  Then put back in the fridge to set.

Since these have a cheese filling, and I live in humid Hawaii (with a relatively high room temperature).  I keep my chocolate refrigerated.

**Many chocolate melting and preparing instructions can be found at Chocoley's website's How To Guides you can also find tons of great recipes, chocolates, and supplies.  (I will be a return customer)

Enjoy.

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