Christmas Cooking Countdown -10 Days to Christmas Chocolate Earl Grey Truffles

Star Trek fans are famous for being able to connect their favorite show to anything and everything: politics, moral values, the invention of computers, the internet,  cell phones...... and so on.   However, connecting Star Trek to Christmas is a bit of a stretch.   Still I have found a recipe that make a great Christmas candy gift and includes the favorite ingredient of an important Star Trek character.  The recipe, Chocolate Earl Grey Truffles form epicurious.
The character: Captain Picard from Star Trek Next Generation, who was frequently seen ordering Earl Grey tea from the replicator.

 Watching hours of this as a kid may be responsible for my love of tea, and of Earl Grey  in particular.  

These truffles may not be for everyone but if you like Earl Grey tea and bittersweet chocolate they are tasty and like all truffles very easy to make and keep.

Chocolate Earl Grey Truffles from Epicurious

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
4 tbsp butter
4 tsp loose Earl Grey tea leaves (don't replace with tea bags, loose tea leaves are of higher quality and will give the truffles more flavor)
12 ounces of good quality bittersweet chocolate chopped, I used Scharffen Berger baking chunks
Unsweetened dutch process cocoa for rolling (about a cup)


Heat the cream and butter over low heat until very warm and just about to simmer (watch closely since you don't want it to actually start to simmer or worse boil).   Add the tea leaves and cover, steep for five minutes.  Put the chocolate chunks in a mixing bowl.  When the tea has steeped in the cream using a fine mesh strainer to pour the cream over the chocolate so you separate the tea leaves from the clean.  Immediately whisk until the chocolate is totally melted and smooth.  Refrigerate for about 2 hours.   Place the cocoa in a bowl and spoon out tablespoons of chocolate and roll into a ball and then dunk into the cocoa.  Place finished truffles in a container lined with parchment paper and refrigerate.    Like all truffles these keep very well.  This recipe also makes a lot, about 60 truffles, so you may want to half it.