Dark chocolate and orange truffles

Once upon a time I fell madly in love with a very wonderful person who happened to be rather fond of dark chocolate. We'd go to the movies where we'd hold hands and share a block of Lindt Intense Orange between us. When her birthday came along I was very keen to impress her, so I created this recipe especially, and as she liked the truffles so much I found myself recreating them every time I had an excuse to try and impress her.

The recipe is as follows:

1/4 cup cream
2 tbspn Cointreau
200g dark chocolate, chopped
(I like to use either Lindt 70% or a combination of Lindt 70% and Lindt 85%.)
Zest of 1-2 oranges, very finely grated
Cocoa (rich dark, good quality, to coat)

In a saucepan bring the cream, Cointreau, and orange zest to the boil, and simmer for 3 minutes.
Remove the cream mixture from the heat and add the chocolate, stirring until the mixture is completely smooth. Transfer it to a bowl and chill.
Shape the chilled mixture into balls and roll in Cocoa to coat. Refrigerate.

This last step might need to be done in two stages, making rough balls and then firming them up again before smoothing them and dusting with cocoa.

I hope you enjoy the recipe - I have retired it from my repertoire as although the truffles have proven very popular, in the end I lost the girl and now it's finally time to start dreaming up new recipes to make for new girls.

- Kath