The Watson Family GLUTEN FREE Recipe Book

Ingredients:

• 1 cup hazelnuts
• 3 1/2 oz. good bittersweet chocolate
• 3 1/2 oz. good semisweet chocolate
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. hazelnut liqueur (recommended: Frangelico)
• 1 Tbsp. prepared coffee
• 1/2 tsp. good vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 325* F
2. Chop the hazelnuts and place them on a sheet pan.  Roast them in the oven for 10 minutes. (If the hazelnuts have skin on them, roast them for 25 min.)  Set aside to cool.
3. Chop the chocolates finely and place in a bowl.
4. Heat the cream in a small saucepan until it boils.  Immediately pour the hot cream through a fine-meshed sieve into the bowl with the chocolate.  With a wire whisk, slowly stir the cream and chocolate together until the chocolate is completely melted.  (If chocolate doesn't melt completely, place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and stir for a few minutes just until it melts.)  Whisk in the hazelnut liqueur, coffee, and vanilla.  Cover and chill for 45 minutes to 1 hour until pliable but firm enough to scoop.
5. With 2 teaspoons, or a 1 1/4 inch ice cream scoop, make dollops of the chocolate mixture and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Refrigerate for about 15 minutes, until firm enough to roll into rough spheres.  Roll the chocolate in the chopped hazelnuts and chill again.

Makes about 60 truffles!

Ingredients:

• 11 oz. dark chocolate (56* cacao)
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• cocoa powder, for dusting

1. Finely chop 8 oz. of the chocolate and put in a bowl.
2. Bring heavy cream to a boil in a small saucepan.  Make sure your pan is small, so you'll lose the least about of cream to evaporation, and heavy, which will keep the cream from scorching.  Linxe boils his cream three times - he believes that makes the ganache last longer.  If you do this, compensate for the extra evaporation by starting with a little more cream.
3. Pour the cream over the chocolate, mashing any big pieces with a wooden spoon.
4. Then stir with a whisk in concentric circles (don't beat or you'll incorporate air), starting in the center and working your way to the edge, until the ganache is smooth.
5. Let stand at room temperature until thick enough to hold a shape, about 1 hour, then, using a pastry bag with a 3/8 inch opening or tip, pipe into mounds (about 3/4 inch high and 1 inch wide) on parchment-lined baking sheets.  When piping, finish off each mound with a flick of the wrist to soften and angle the point tip.  Freeze until firm, about 15 min.
6. Meanwhile, melt 3 more ounces of the same dark chocolate and smear some on a gloved hand.  Gently rub each chilled truffle to coat lightly with chocolate.  (The secret to a delicate coating of chocolate is to roll each truffle in a smear of melted chocolate in your hand.  Linxe always uses gloves.)
7. Toss the truffles in unsweetened cocoa powder so they look like their namesakes, freshly dug from the earth.  A fork is the best tool for tossing truffles in cacao.  Shake truffles in a sieve to eliminate excess cacao.
8. Store truffles in the refrigerator.