Delicious homemade truffles and marzipan-stuffed fruits are just the right thing to serve up with after-dinner coffee.

Rum Truffles

Preparation time 25 minutes

Standing time 10–20 minutes

Cooking time 5 minutes

Makes about 24 truffles

Ingredients:

200 g plain dark chocolate, broken into small pieces

2 tablespoons rum

60 g unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 teaspoons pouring cream

1/4 cup ground almonds

2 tablespoons icing sugar, sifted

1/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted, for coating

Method:

1 Melt the chocolate in the rum in a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Do not allow the water to boil or the chocolate to become too hot. Remove the bowl from the heat and beat in the butter, a little at a time. Stir in the cream, ground almonds and icing sugar. Let the mixture cool, then chill for about 10 minutes, or until firm enough to handle.

2 With dampened fingertips, take teaspoons of the mixture and roll into small balls. Roll in the cocoa powder, spread on a baking tray lined with baking paper, and refrigerate until firm. Put the truffles in individual paper cases and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator – they will keep for up to 10 days. Serve after dinner with coffee.

Variations:

Orange Truffles: Add orange juice instead of rum and 1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange rind.

Coffee Truffles: Use 1–2 tablespoons black coffee instead of the rum.

Hazelnut Truffles: Replace the ground almonds with 1/4 cup ground hazelnuts.

Marzipan-Filled Fruits

Preparation time 40 minutes

Makes about 48 filled fruits

Ingredients:

11/4 cups ground almonds

1/4 cup caster sugar

1/4 cup icing sugar, plus a little extra for rolling out

A few drops almond extract

1/2 egg white

125 g fresh dates, each slit along the top and stoned

125 g small, soft, ready-to-eat prunes, each slit and pitted

125 g each small, soft, ready-to eat dried apricots and figs, each fruit sliced in half horizontally

1/4 cup sugar

Method:

1 Put the ground almonds and sugars in a bowl. Add a few drops of almond extract and sufficient egg white to make a stiff paste.

2 Sprinkle a board or work surface with a little sifted icing sugar and roll the marzipan into a sausage shape, about 25 cm long. Cut the roll into about 48 equal pieces.

3 Shape each piece of marzipan into a neat oval and insert one piece into the centre of each fruit, gently moulding the fruit flesh around the marzipan. Roll lightly in sugar and put into individual paper cases.

These marzipan-filled fruits will keep, refrigerated, in an airtight container, for up to four weeks. Serve at room temperature.

(From Like Grandma Used to Make)