Italian Capezzoli Di Venere Chocolate Truffles Of Venus Recipes

NIPPLES OF VENUS (CAPEZZOLI DI VENERE)

Steps:

• Cream sugar and butter together with a spatula until light and creamy. Set aside.
• Heat an inch of water in a pot set over low heat. Melt dark chocolate in a heat-proof bowl placed over the pot. Stir with a small spatula.
• Place chestnuts in a food processor; pulse on and off until very finely ground. Add chestnuts to the sugar-butter mixture and stir until combined. Add salt, cayenne pepper, vanilla extract, and brandy. Stir well. Pour in the melted chocolate and mix again until filling is well blended.
• Scoop filling onto a silicone-lined baking sheet and smooth out if necessary. Cover the balls in plastic wrap and refrigerate while you prepare the white chocolate coating.
• Reserve about 20% of the white chocolate to stir in later. Melt the rest in a heat-proof bowl over a pot of simmering water until an instant-read thermometer inserted in to the chocolate reads 105 degree F (41 degrees C). Add the reserved white chocolate and stir until melted.
• Place 1 chocolate truffle on a fork and hold it up above the white chocolate coating. Spoon on the white chocolate until ball is well coated. Use another fork to push the truffle onto a lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining truffles and coating. Place the bowl of coating back over hot water if it chocolate starts to harden.
• Mix confectioners' sugar with enough milk to make a very thick paste that will hold together well. Dye it pink with red food coloring. Transfer into a piping bag and pipe a small dot on top of each truffle. Serve truffles in paper candy cups.

ITALIAN CAPEZZOLI DI VENERE (CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES OF VENUS)

Steps:

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