Around the first of the year, my good friend Joanna Linden starts mailing out homemade truffles for the privileged few. It’s become a tradition and is a high point for us lucky friends who are the recipients of some highly original flavor combos. The satiny luxury of truffles brightens up even these darkest winter   days.

First a bit about Joanna. We’ve been the best of friends since…well it’s been a long time. Joanna was in school at Colby and we were both working at the same vegetarian restaurant in Waterville, back in the 1970s, she as a waiter and I as a cook. The road has been long and winding but our friendship and love of good food and chocolate has never waned.

Fast forward 30 years. Joanna is back in Waterville but now with a thriving Japanese acupuncture practice after extensive studies abroad. Learn more about her work at watervilleacupuncture.com. I am an executive chef and the owner of a venerable catering company in the midcoast, Laura Cabot Catering. We both still adore chocolate!

So now, in her words, I offer you a journey to the essence of chocolate, the truffle:

‘My first truffle recipe came from First Magazine in 1989. The page is creased and splattered, but I still refer to it. I have updated and expanded the original cooking instructions to reflect what I really do and to help out the amateur (or is the feminine of the one who does it for love “amateuse?” For surely we truffle aficionados are mostly female).’

6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup heavy cream

Place cream in double boiler and insert over low heat. Stir until steaming. Add chocolate, turn off heat, and stir until chocolate melts. Carefully remove insert from double boiler and wipe water from outside of pot before pouring ganache into a glass bowl. Add flavorings and stir well.

Allow to cool before pressing plastic wrap directly onto surface. Refrigerate at least two hours or until you are ready for the next step (rolling or dipping them). Pull from fridge and allow to soften 10-15 minutes.
Scoop out and form into balls.

Yields 16 truffles.

Roll in cocoa (classic and easy) or toasted chopped nuts.

Flavor variations as suggested in the article:
Add 1 Tablespoon liqueur (Grand Marnier, Amaretto, Bailey’s, Cognac)
Add 1 Tablespoon finely grated citrus zest of choice
¼ teaspoon vanilla, or any other extract you choose
Spices or essences such as cinnamon, espresso, ginger, or crystallized ginger

That is the end of the article. At one point, I was making as many as nine batches (which is this recipe tripled!) per year. We started getting more exotic with the decor and blew out. Now, a regular batch is 6 times this size; we make 4 regular (established, well-loved) flavors and one of two experimental flavor batches each season.

I use Callebaut 54% semisweet chocolate and Horizon Organic heavy cream. I am looking for fair-trade or organic chocolate, but have not been able to find any in production quantity. Can any readers assist?

We buy an 11-pound Callebaut bar annually, plus more for coating, usually about 15 pounds in total. As important as fair trade is, I couldn’t afford to do this at $3.50/bar!

Sometimes I still roll the truffles in nuts or cocoa, but more often now I dunk into couverture and top with interesting garnishes.

Here are this year’s favorites:

Amaretto almond: Di Soronno and organic almond butter
Lime Chile: lime extract, zest, and chilies
Chai spice: cinnamon, cardamom, and more!
Piña colada: organic dried pineapple soaked in Ocumaru Venezulan dark rum and rolled in toasted, shredded organic coconut
Dew of the sea: fresh garden rosemary with grey sea salt

Previous editions:
Mocha: Medaglia d’Oro espresso powder
Rum raisin: organic raisins soaked in rum

Pfeffernüsse: pepper, cinnamon, lemon zest, and brandy
Mayan: orange, cinnamon, chili
Mint: always a favorite
Irish coffee: add whiskey to the mocha!
Peanut butter: will we ever tire of this one? I think not.
Classic liqueurs: Kahlua, Chambord, Frangelico

In the Pipeline (aka dreamland):
Chunky monkey, cheery almond, Jamaican tia maria, bourbon pecan, curry (yes, curry, maybe even coconut curry!) eggnog, maple walnut, marzipan swirl.

If any readers have a brilliant flavor idea we’d love, love, love to hear it!

Happy Rolling, Dipping, and more importantly TASTING!

Laura Cabot is president of Laura Cabot Catering in Waldoboro.