Magical Balls of Deliciousness

We have been scheduling a dinner night with our friends Nick and Jaime for a couple weeks and it finally happened! I had been looking forward to this evening for about a month in hopes of learning how to create the perfect Oreo truffle from Jaime (Nick promised me she was the Master).

I have been trying to perfect this art for the past two holiday seasons. I was introduced to this dessert at the Randalls Christmas party in 2008. Liz Petroff, a fellow Xavier alum, brought these to the holiday potluck celebration and the entire drive home AJ ranted and raved about them. I took it as a challenge and for those of you that know me -- you know I do not like to lose.

However, I suck at these things! I can shape the truffle nicely, I can melt the chocolate down to an easy to use consistency, but when I get to the part of actually dipping the truffle into the chocolate....all hell breaks loose. Insert Jaime here.....she has a secret weapon.....chop sticks. Using the chopsticks allows you to dunk the truffle into the chocolate, rotate it around in the double boiler to coat it entirely and then remove it without causing any trauma to the truffles shape. She is a genius.

She is also creative when it comes to the ingredients and flavors of the truffles. She has found the double stuffed Oreos to work the best because of the ratio of cream to cookie. A package of Oreos and a brick of cream cheese makes up the truffle batter. Throw it all in a food processor and presto!

However, thanks to brilliant minds at Nabisco the offer many more Oreo flavors that what we all grew up with. There is original, Mint, Golden and Peanut Butter creme. Then, of course, you have hundreds of options for the shell....you can melt regular chocolate, white chocolate, cookies and cream chocolate, mint chocolate....really the possibilities are endless. I am sure there is a truffle out there for everyone!

I just cam across this recipe and will have to give it a try sooner rather than later. I love me some coconut!
http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/toasted-coconut-golden-oreo-cookie-121579.aspx

Back to dinner with our friends, it was a great evening of conversation, wine and food. We made smoked pork chops marinated in a sweet and sour glaze, a warm fennel and snap pea salad and the cheesy popovers made an encore performance for the second time in a week. They are just so fluffy!

It was a great evening and I truly appreciate the lesson in Oreo truffle making. Thanks Nick and Jaime!