Creamy Cold Chocolate: Frozen Chocolate Mousse Truffles

I decided to make several frozen items for our holiday party this year, mostly so I could cut down on the amount of baking work I would have to do. One of the items on the frozen menu was a frozen chocolate mousse truffle, a recipe I chose because it could be made up to a month in advance.

The centers of these truffles are essentially a frozen custard. You whisk hot cream into a mixture of sugar and egg yolks, heat the mixture until it's thickened, and then incorporate chocolate and amaretto. You freeze the mixture for several hours, until it is firm enough to shape. When it's firm, you shape the truffle centers (I used a #60 scoop) and roll them in chopped toasted almonds.

I was delighted at how well these kept in the freezer. The centers have the dense but creamy texture of a good chocolate gelato, and they were not too hard to eat, even straight out of the freezer. They also maintained their shape well, and could be kept at room temperature for a decent amount of time without melting. The flavor of the center was a lusciously rich chocolate, with a touch of amaretto. The toasted almonds on the outside added the perfect bit of crunch.

These truffles are quite easy to make, and it's amazing to me that the centers have such a wonderfully creamy texture without the need to turn the custard in an ice cream maker. To me, these truffles are better than a comparable non-frozen chocolate truffle, because of the beautiful texture of the centers. Plus, you can't beat a recipe that can be made well in advance and stored in the freezer, so that you can just pull out some truffles whenever company stops by... or whenever you're in the mood for a cold creamy treat!

Recipe: "Frozen Chocolate Mousse Truffles," from epicurious.com.