Simple Chocolate Truffles

Grind the chocolate in a food processor until it reaches the consistency of coarse meal, about 30 seconds.

Bring the cream to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the cream to the food processor and process until smooth, about 10 seconds.Add the butter and process until smooth, about 10 seconds. Transfer to a medium bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours or overnight.

Put the cocoa powder in a large bowl. Using 2 teaspoons, drop rounded, heaping teaspoonfuls of truffle mixture onto a large, parchment-lined baking sheet.

Tip: A shortcut to easy truffles: While pastry chefs typically temper the melted chocolate they use to coat truffles so that they look smooth and shiny, we skip the tempering (which can be tricky) and roll the truffles in cocoa powder or ground nuts right after coating them with melted chocolate. The truffles look great and any imperfections in the chocolate coating are hidden.

Coat them again with cocoa or nuts (see the variations below), and return them to the baking sheet. If using your hands, you’ll have to stop and wash off the chocolate in between batches.