Sour Cherry and Dark Chocolate Truffles

Preparation

Finely chop the dark chocolate and set aside.

Put the cream in a small saucepan. Place over medium heat and stir gently until the cream comes to a simmer. Remove the cream from the heat and pour it into the chopped dark chocolate. Stir once to make sure all the chocolate is submerged in the hot cream. Let stand 3 to 4 minutes.

Whisk the chocolate and cream mixture vigorously until it comes together into a thick, shiny ganache. Place in the refrigerator to solidify for 2 to 3 hours.

Set up your bench with a section of parchment paper to lay the rolled truffles on and a separate sheet of parchment paper to work on. Retrieve the ganache from the fridge.

Using a 2 teaspoon sized cookie scoop, scoop out the ganache. Level by scraping a knife on top and place the ganache on parchment paper. Grease the ball of ganache with the palm of your hand and place a cherry in the center.

(This next step will depend on the size of your cherries. I was using very small cherries from my own tree, however, store-bought ones can be larger.) If the cherry is small enough, gently roll the ganache around the cherry, roll it into a ball and put it on a baking sheet. If you are using larger cherries than me, flatten a second ball of ganache, place it on top of your cherry (your cherry should now be sandwiched between two rounds of ganache.) Gently bring the two rounds together around the cherry, roll into a ball and place it on your baking sheet. Repeat until all the ganache has been used.

Sift the cocoa powder into a shallow bowl and roll each truffle in it until completely coated in cocoa. Shake off excess cocoa powder and set aside. Repeat until all truffles are coated.