Chocolate Truffles

With the holidays coming, I need to get my candy recipes organized. This is one of the easiest holiday candy recipes ever!

1 1/2 pounds (about 4 1/2 cups) milk chocolate*, melted.
1 cup whipping cream
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

*Peter's Ultra is a good chocolate to use for Truffles because it gives it a soft, delicate flavor.

Line an 8-inch square baking pan with plastic wrap; set aside. Place melted chocolate in a medium-sized bowl. In a 1-qt. saucepan, scald cream. Remove from heat and let cool for 5 min. Stir in vanilla. Beat chocolate with an electric mixer. Stop mixer and pour cream all at once over chocolate. Continue beating, cleaning sides and bottom bowl several times with rubber scraper, until mixture is smooth and well-blended; this takes no more than 1-2 min. Pour into prepared pan and refrigerate 6 hours or until firm. Cut into 1-inch squares and serve immediately. Store in refrigerator. Makes 64 pieces.

Variation: For Mint Truffles, add 5 drops of oil of peppermint in place of vanilla.

Note: To form truffles into balls, omit 8-inch pan and chill mixture in bowl until firm. Shape into balls with spoon and hands or with small ice cream scoop; if mixture becomes too soft to form, wash and thoroughly dray hands and dust lightly with cornstarch. Arrange truffles on waxed paper-lined baking sheet. Dip in tempered dipping chocolate or melted compound coating, or roll in unsweetened cocoa, chopped nuts or coconut. Makes 24-36 truffles, depending on size desired.