Sugar High Fridays #45: Berries!

For my first official Sugar High Friday, the fantastic Susan from Food Blogga has picked berries! I'm very excited to present my recipe for this month's challenge, Raspberry and Blackberry Cinnamon Truffles.

I picked up some gorgeous local blackberries and raspberries at Limbo this morning, and felt like trying something new. They were big and beautiful, perfect for standing alone as individual berries inside a truffle.

I made a thick ganache with organic whipping cream and semisweet chocolate chips that I spun in the dry food processor until they resembled breadcrumbs. This melted effortlessly into the warm cream, and kept a workable consistency for a long time.

I dipped individual berries into the chocolate mixture, and settled on fishing them out with my fingers - a girl's best tool, and the two-fork method had proved cumbersome - and placed them on plastic wrapped cookie sheet. After cooling in the fridge for an hour, I dusted them with unsweetened cocoa and confectioner's sugar.

This is a really fun, simple treat - great for parties and gifts. My friends couldn't get enough of them tonight, and the ganache would be great for dipping anything and everything - pretzels, strawberries, even drizzled over popcorn.

Here's to sweet treats, summer berries, and Sugar High Fridays.
Eat Well.

Raspberry and Blackberry Cinnamon Truffles
Ingredients
1/2 cup heavy cream
14 oz fine-quality semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped in a food processor
1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 c. fresh raspberries
1 c. fresh blackberries
2 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbs confectioner's sugar

Preparation

Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap.

Bring cream just to a simmer, Remove from heat, then add chocolate and stir gently until ganache is smooth. Stir in cinnamon.

One at a time, place berries in ganache until fully coated. Remove each chocolate-covered raspberry with your fingers (get dirty!) then transfer to tray. Coat remaining berries in same manner.

Chill truffles on tray until firm, at least 1 hour, then loosen from wax paper.

Sift cocoa, using a mesh strainer, over chilled truffles and toss to coat, then dust with powdered sugar. Keep chilled until ready to serve.