Raspberry Wine Truffles

Mother's Day is this Sunday, a day to celebrate the moms in our lives, and make them feel extra special. And the one thing that comes to mind, when making someone feel special besides lots of hugs and kisses are truffles. Truffles are just decadent little balls of pure bliss, I love a good truffle. This recipe makes about 2 dozen. Enough for mom and you. ;)

• 1 pound of dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 3 oz. of heavy cream
• 2 oz. of raspberry wine, I used Tomasello
• 3 pinches of ground cinnamon *optional
• 10 grinds of the black pepper mill *optional
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

In a double-boiler, melt your chocolate, mixing with a spatula occasionally, on high heat. Once melted, slowly add your heavy cream, incorporating it into the melted chocolate, (still over high heat). Add your wine in and mix it in thoroughly. At this point, you can mix in your cinnamon and ground pepper. Take it off the heat slowly, and pour it into a bowl, cover it and put it into the fridge to set. (I left it in overnight). Keep in mind, once you are ready to make your truffles, you want to bring the chocolate up to room temperature (an hour or two is good). And set up a little station for yourself, the bowl of chocolate, a plate with your unsweetened cocoa, and a plate for the ready made ones. I used a 1-1/4 inch cookie dough scoop to form the truffles, forming them and setting them aside. You get a little arm work-out in, lol  Then between your hands, roll your scooped chocolate into a tight ball, it's a messy process, but a delicious one. Then roll your truffles, a few at a time into the unsweetened cocoa, shaking off the excess cocoa powder. And now the most important step, enjoying them...