Everybody's trying

Earlier this week I got an email from Sweetcakes with the note "I saw these and thought of you." It was a recipe for oreo cookie truffles. I laughed for a number of reasons.

The first is that everyone knows Oreo Truffles are soooooooo 2007. And it wasn't long before we moved on to the exotic world of Cake Truffles - offering far more in the variety department where all sorts of flavor combinations could be had.

My second reason for laughing was that oreo truffles have earned themselves quite the reputation on my cooking board. Mostly because around Christmas all the idiots come out to play. You can identify them immediately by their questions about Oreo Truffles - usually 4 or 5 within the same hour. It's as if the Christmas Spirit also makes people believe that although they couldn't identify the kitchen a month ago, they'd now like to prepare a scrumptious treat that makes it seem like they know their way around a stand mixer. There are so many questions regarding Oreo Truffles that we keep a running list of stupid questions that we continue to add to throughout the season.*

But the final reason I laughed was due to the timing of the email. It arrived the day before I was set to make a set of Truffles for Valentine's Day. We're going old school on this one. Back to the days when what you got on the inside of a truffle was chocolate. Creamy delicious chocolate. Thatboy said he prefers these to any truffle I've made so far. He loved how chocolatey and rich they were. You all know my feelings on chocolate, but even I had a couple of these!

Happy Valentine's Day to each of you. I hope you were able to spend it with those who are most important to you!

Chocolate Truffles

• 16 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate
• 8 0z cream cheese

1. Melt 8 oz chocolate in a double boiler.
2. Whip cream cheese in stand mixer until fluffy.
3. Add melted chocolate to cream cheese and mix well.
4. Refrigerate mixture until firm.
5. Place a sheet of wax paper on a baking pan.
6. Roll mixture into small balls and place on wax paper.
7. Melt remaining chocolate in double boiler.
8. Using forks, roll balls in chocolate and replace on wax paper.
9. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

* The answers to your burning questions?
Stir.
Stainless steel bowl over simmering saucepan of water
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
a week in the fridge
Kraft
no
use a counter
yes
no
yes
as many as you'd like
there are a variety of techniques