Ok, here are the cayenne and balsamic recipes. Hope you all like them. Enjoy

Chocolate Cayenne Truffles

Ingredients
9 oz. semisweet chocolate
3/4 cup butter
4 tsp. cayenne pepper
6 tbsp. cream
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar

For powder coating:
1/3 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp. cocoa powder
2 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon

Directions
For Truffles: Melt chocolate, butter and cayenne in a double boiler, or in a bowl in the microwave. Stir well.
Remove from heat, and then mix in cream and powdered sugar. Stir well. The sugar will stick together in small lumps if you donât stir vigorously. Cover and chill overnight.

For Powder Coating: Scoop out the chocolate, one tablespoon at a time. Mold it into balls and roll the balls in the powder mixture to coat them. Return truffles to the refrigerator until serving time.

Balsamic Chocolate Truffles

8 1/2 ounces dark chocolate, chopped (recommended: Valrhona)
1/4 cup cream
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup cocoa powder

Melt the chocolate and cream in a double boiler over hot but not simmering water. Place melted chocolate in a small bowl. Stir in the balsamic vinegar. Cool the chocolate in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Remove from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 2 hours, until firm but moldable.
Use a teaspoon to scoop out chocolate. Use your fingertips to shape into balls about the size of a cherry. Set the chocolate balls on a parchment-lined tray.
Place the cocoa powder in a small shallow dish. Place 6 truffles at a time in the cocoa powder and roll the truffles around to coat, and return the coated truffles to the baking sheet. Continue with the remaining truffles. Place the truffles in a serving dish or airtight package.

The balsamic recipe is from Giada on food network. I got the cayenne recipe off of the internet but I can't remember where now.

PS- What do ya'll think of the combination of sesame seed flavor and chocolate?

Oh Laura i love the pecan logs too. I can't wait till they get them out for the holidays.

Oooh, I love pecan logs. Would anyone be willing to share a reipce, I've never made them homemade. TIA.

Mary Jo

I never realized that making truffles was so messy They just melt in your hand. Does anyone have any tips or tricks for the process? The pumpkin truffles are pretty easy because the ganache came out like a dough. Would it better if I powdered my hands?

This recipe comes from Autumn's book, All About Candy Making...
Pecan Logs
*1 lb. dry fondant
App. 2 c. marchmallow cream (2-7oz. jars)
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 lbs. caramel (Peter's caramel or homemade)
18 oz. chopped pecans

Knead together dry fondant, marshmallow cream, and vanilla. Butter hands and shape into 1"X3" logs and set on parchment paper or silicone mat. Put marshmallow logs in freezer untill firm, not frozen. Place caramel in microsafe bowl, heat a few seconds at a time, stirring, until fluid. Take logs out of freezer, one at a time, and dip into caramel; quickly roll into chopped pecans. (reheat caramel as necessary) Tightly wrap log with plastic wrap so they maintain their shape. Yield: 3-4 dozen, depending on size.
Tip: The density of the marshmallow cream may vary. Do not add all of the marshmallow cream at once. Add enoughfor a firm texture.
* This is not rolled fondant; purchase it a cake/candy supply store.

Laura,
Is the dry fondant the fine powdery stuff? I use that to make chocolate covered cherries.

Thanks,
Mary Jo

Thank you thank you thank you for the recipe for the pecan log. It sounds amazing. I'm going to try to make these for my care packages. How long can they keep once you make them? Is this something I can make at the first of Dec to give mid Dec? Does Hobby Lobby or Michael's sell the powder fondant?

Thank you Laura, I can't wait to make these.

And, I looked up Alton Brown's recipe for homemade marshmallow. Can't wait to try that either.

This is definitely going to be a chocolate covered holiday for me. I try to do different things each year and have never done a lot of chocolates for Christmas. Now's the time. And my pregnant belly is going to love it!

Boy do those pumpkin truffles sound delicious!!! I can't wait to try them!

I use the dry fondant as well....works great in my cherry cordials. Yum!!

I just made a whole mess of orange chocolate ganache truffles. So yummy. I've never used the LorAnn flavoring in chocolate before, and it was wondferful. I'm going to make the pumpkin ganche tonight or this weekend, because I just can't imagine not trying them

I love the LorAnn flavoring ! They just have so many flavors now to!

I'm so excited!!! I went shopping at Hobby Lobby and Michaels today and got a few molds for my truffles! I got the cherry cordial mold, heart molds, and peanut butter cup molds. I also picked up a few candy boxes so that I can box up the goody's for my friends. We're shipping a box to Afghanistan on monday.

Thank you for the tips about truffles. I love working with chocolate but always have a hard time because my hands tend to be way hotter than the average person. If I hold chocolate for too long it will liquify in my hand. LOL, that's why I decided to go ahead and get the molds.

Oh, and I have an IMPORTANT warning about the cayenne truffle recipe! DO NOT USE THE AMOUNT OF CAYENNE THAT THE RECIPE CALLS FOR UNLESS YOU ENJOY 5 ALARM CHILI! While I was making it, I tasted and it seemed fine but I only used 3 tsp (recipe calls for 4). However, my best friend tried one today, and her face flushed. I guess the cayenne soaked into the chocolate overnight. I would suggest that if you don't like spicy things, try 1/4 tsp. If you like a little spice, maybe try 1-2. Just be advised that it will get hotter.Even though my best friends face flushed, she did say that she loved the truffle! This is a huge compliment because my friend has very picky taste buds.

Oh thank you for the Warning, Heavensgaits. Not everybody like their food real spicy.

Does anyone remember Cinnamon Bark sold at Sur La Table? I love it, made with white chocolate heavily infused with cinnamon and diped in dark chocolate. These little 2" x 2" squares of bliss were very expensive. Anyone have a recipe for these?

Auntginn,
You're very welcome!

I happen to be one of those people who doesn't like spicy food. I talked with my SIL this evening about the recipe; she's a "foodie". She told me that if you use just 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper in the recipe it would be fine for people who don't like spicy food. She said that with that amount you get just a little bit of a tingle in the back of your mouth but no heat.

Even if you don't like spicy food, I highly recommend trying this recipe with just the 1/4 tsp of cayenne. Like I said, I really don't like spicy food, but I absolutely love these truffles. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. It's an experience like I've never had eating anything.

Thank you, I will give it a try over the weekend. I personally looove spicy foods. I have never been crazy for all those spicy candies, but Mole (pronounced " moe la") is a sauce combining chili powder and chocolate and its really great. So you get the spicy and sweet. I want to try it out and compare.

Hmmm, I bet you could probably make a truffle with chili powder and it might taste pretty close to mole.
I'm still debating on trying to combine sesame and chocolate. I have a bottle of sesame oil that I use to make beef bulgogi. We'll see. I think I might make a basic chocolate ganache over the weekend and split it up into small portions and experiment with different flavors. LOL, I'll let you all know what I come up with. I don't have a lot of spice available, but I did borrow some extracts from my best friend today, so we'll see.

heavensgaits -
thats exactly what I did! I made a batch of ganache and took small amounts in little bowls, tried some of the LorAnn flavorings in them, and decided I was in the mood for orange so thats what I added. had fun!

So, I used square truffle molds for the first time. I found they were way harder to get out of the molds, which has never been a problem with the round molds I've used. I think it has something to do with the corners...not sure.
have fun trying to make pretty peanut butter cups, I threw one of those molds out I go so frustrated! No matter how much I shook the mold or toothpicked out the air bubbles, I could not make one without air bumps.

Sayhellojana,

LOL, great minds think alike! When I was shopping today I also picked up a package of candy cups. I think I might try to make the peanut butter cups in those; it will make packaging them for shipping much easier. I figured I could pipe a small amount of chocolate into the cup and then use a small brush to bring it up the sides of the cup. I know it will be more time consuming, but at least they'll already be in something for shipping. I need to have my friend bring me some graham crackers tomorrow for the filling. All the recipes I've found that have high ratings on them contain graham crackers. Hmmm, who'd have thought. LOL, guess I should have looked at the recipe before I went shopping.

I've never tried brushing the sides - please let us know how it works for you. maybe that would be a good way to deal with touch spots in complex molds.

If you add a small amount of choc to your mold and swish it around and up the side of the molds with a brush then let that harden up then add your filling and cover with choc it should work out just fine.I make lots of pb cups and never have a problem.

I paint molds all the time. It is a little time consuming, but works great. I do my truffles this way. Same process fiddlesticks uses.

They have a nice hard chocolate shell with soft truffle inside.

Same process for peanut butter cups, chocolate covered cherries (the juicy kind, these take a while to perfect), coconut bon bons, buttercreams, or whatever!

Yes it does take time but in the end its so worth it they look beautiful and are very delicious to!