I have a self imposed rule in my house, no Christmas anything until after Thanksgiving. One holiday at a time please. There is good and bad in my rule, less stress before Thanksgiving and probable more stress afterwards since I don’t do anything early…normally.
When I got my Secret Recipe Club assignment “Mom’s Crazy Cooking”, somehow Tina managed to lure me into the holidays early. I even broke my own rule of picking a heritage or family recipe from my assigned blog. What a rule breaker I am… Now there are plenty of other recipes to choose from at Mom’s Crazy Cooking. Tina’s site is chock full of amazing recipes to choose from. Honestly I don’t know how she does it all, she must be crazy! Hehe, hardee har har, I couldn’t resist.
Enough silliness. Although I try to stick with heritage and family recipes, I also use SRC as an opportunity to make something that I’ve never attempted before like the Frittatine alla parmigiana from Manu’s Menu to the Empanda’s that I just did last month.
I so very nearly made Tina’s crepes because she had me totally convinced that they were easier than they sounded. And her family’s favorite Pan-fried Onion Dip, would surely have been a hit with my family. But Tina’s description of these Egg Nog Truffles peaked my interest “They are so GOOD, this might be my favorite candy so far EVER”.
Every year my neighborhood has a progressive dinner we call “Strollin’ the Ave”. I took it over last year because our head honcho Melanie moved (boo hoo). I love the event and didn’t want it to die. I’ve cooked for it several times…but always savory. So this year I decided to be the last house which means the sweet finish.
I’m a savory cook, even my desserts tend to be semi-sweet, kind of like me. Since I’m not super well versed in the sweet department I took this as an opportunity to test out possible sweets to serve. Well hello darlings. These little gems were a snap to make (although I added a splash of cream to the final dipping sauce to get a creamier texture). And seriously…they do taste like egg nog (which I love with lots of rum of course).
I only got 18 instead of 24,,,but they may have been due to too much finger licking.
What a perfect treat, I have put them on my menu for “Strollin the Ave”, and plan on adding a dark chocolate truffle and and maybe a green mint truffle for a pretty selection (inspiration from Tina’s links). I am totally up for some ideas for easy individual sweet treat ideas…please send me links if you have any that you’ve done.
Here’s a food blogger photography tip: To make your dish immediately elegant, go with a simple monochromatic palette and a pretty dish. Simple = elegance and the focus will be on the food not all the fancy frou frou.
- 1 pound white melting chocolate, divided
- 4 ounces (1/2 package) cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg, plus extra for garnish
- 1/4 teaspoon rum extract
- splash of whipping cream (optional)
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together cream cheese, sugar, nutmeg and rum.
- Place 8 ounces white candy melts into a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 1 minute then stir. Microwave an additional 30 seconds and stir well. If all the chocolate is not melted put it back in the microwave for 15 seconds and stir well (repeat if necessary until melted and smooth).
- Add the melted chocolate to the cream cheese mix, beat until homogenous. Shape into small balls, about 3/4". Place on a lined tray and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour.
- Melt 4 ounces of white chocolate with a splash (approximately 1 teaspoon) of cream following the above directions. Dip a truffle ball in, one at a time and coat completely with the melted white chocolate, Using a fork lift the truffle out of the melted chocolate and let the excess drip off (You may need to tap the fork on the edge of the bowl to help the chocolate drip off).
- Place the coated ball onto a parchment or wax paper lined tray. Do this for the first 1/2 of the balls, then sprinkle with freshly grated nutmeg. Repeat with remaining 4 ounces of chocolate.
- Refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour or until the chocolate is set. Store truffles in between layers of parchment or wax paper in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- If the dipping chocolate starts to harden before you are finished dipping put it back in the microwave for another 15 to 30 seconds. Be careful not to over do it.
- Makes 18 to 24 balls
These look irresistable!
Unfortunately they are!
Totally adding this to our Christmas cookie/candy making list. Perfect!
I’m pretty sure I’ll be making these every year!
These look fantastic!
Thank you, they tasste as good as they look!
I don’t blame you licking your fingers, these sound really, really good!! Perfect holiday appetizer!!
Debbi, I probably lick my fingers way more often than I should. I’m sure I’d be embarrassed by the amount of calories I consume that way!
Yummy! I love eggnog but only drink about a cup of it b/c it’s so rich so I’m always needing recipes to use it in to get rid of the rest of the container. These sound so good, and yes your photo is very elegant! Great tip. Another SRC’er posted chocolate chip cookie dough truffles today–that might be a great addition to your truffles for the progressive dinner party!
Veronica, I totally agree with you about how rich eggnog is, that’s why I add so much rum, you know to cut down on the sweetness. I saw that there were two other truffle recipes this reveal. I could have an entire truffle party!
I just started noticing eggnog in the stores this week – how exciting! This is a very fitting SRC pick, and they look really fantastic. These would be trouble in my house!
Taryn, I think these would be trouble in just about anybodies house. I’m always excited to see eggnog in the stores.
OMY those look really tempting!!
Rhonda, I can see why all rules went out the window when you spotted these beauties. I may have to try them, too…and get over my fear of dipping 🙂
Liz, conquer the fear, it worth it!
This was an AWESOME choice and so glad you liked them. I will be making them this week for Thanksgiving Dinner on Sunday! I still believe this is the BEST candy ever!!!! YUMMMMMMYYYYYYY!
Tina, loved your blog and you were spot on about these candies. Everyone who has tried them has just raved about them! Thank you for introducing me to the truffle making world.
These look way better than plain old egg nog that you drink! So glad you broke the rules this month 🙂
Tandy, they are a bit prettier than eggnog. I’m glad I broke the rules this month also.
Where is the eggnog in this recipe?
Elaine, there actually isn’t any eggnog in the truffle. The rum, nutmeg and creamy white chocolate makes you feel like you are eating eggnog instead of drinking it!
Sorry. I can’t believe I didn’t drop by for the reveal. Busy times. I agree with your credo— no Xmas before thanksgiving. But holiday candy? Certainly!
Egg Nog Truffles?? You are speaking to my soul! I’ll eat eggnog anything, but egg nog truffles just sounds like pure heaven.
How much powdered sugar. It just says 1/4. I’m assuming it means cup.
Melissa, you are correct. It’s 1/4 cup, thanks for catching that, I updated the recipe with the correction.
Did you use those candy melts or bakers chocolate?
Kiirsti, In this recipe I used white chocolate chips but I often use the candy melts.