Vampire Teddy Truffles

I absolutely love the varied range of ingredients that can be added to truffles to make them deliciously unique, and the following Food & Wine recipe from Melissa Rubel Jacobson creates the perfect chocolatey canvas to which any number of flavors can be added. I dipped my semisweet truffles in black melting chocolate to help dress my little Vampire Teddies in their appropriate tuxedos, and formed their heads and limbs with the aid of fondant and edible ink! 

Do-It-Yourself Truffles

1 quart heavy cream
3 pounds bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
2 teaspoons instant espresso dissolved in 2 teaspoons water
White marzipan or fondant

In a large saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer. In a large bowl, combine the chopped chocolate with the butter and salt. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Let stand until the chocolate and butter are melted, about 5 minutes. Whisk the ganache until smooth and shiny.

Divide the ganache into 4 bowls. To flavor it, add either the rum, peppermint oil, espresso or cardamom to each batch. Cover the ganache and refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours.

Line 3 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a 1-tablespoon-size ice cream scoop, drop level tablespoons of the ganache onto the baking sheets. Chill until firm, about 1 hour.

Decorate truffles as desired – in my case, I fashioned fondant into teddy bear arms and limbs, which I decorated with edible market in order to craft my vampire teddies!

Top: Cropped Sweater in Black (sold out)
Skirt: Vixen by Micheline Pitt Vixen Lipstick Print Full Skirt
Lips: Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid Lipstick in American Doll
Brows: Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Definer in Ebony