Buttercream Truffles

Vanilla Buttercream 

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups room temp salted butter (3 sticks)

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

7-8 cups sifted powdered sugar (2 lb)

1/2 cup milk

How to Make

 1.Cream butter and shortening together until smooth, approx 3 minutes using a paddle attachment.

 2.Slowly add sugar, once all added crank up speed on mixer to med- high and whip it up for approx 1 min.

 3.Add milk, depending on your liking: stiffer~ less milk, creamier ~ more. If you add too much, no worries, just sift in a little more sugar. 

Notes: I only add vanilla extract if I am coloring the frosting, otherwise, it is just as tasty without and the extract tends to make it a little tan, unless you use clear vanilla. This will frost 24 cupcakes (piped on) or cover 9" round cake.

 How to Make the Truffles:

I refrigerated the extra frosting overnight, but I imagine a few hours would be plenty.  Just long enough that the frosting gets hard. 

When the frosting is completely chilled, roll into teaspoon sized balls.  You don’t want to make them too much bigger than teaspoon sized because there’s a lot of sweetness going on here. 

Once they’re rolled, place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. 

They need to be very cold because you don’t want the frosting to melt when you dip them in the chocolate. 

Next melt 10 oz of chocolate.  I used chocolate candy disks.  I added about 2 teaspoons of vegetable shortening to the disks to thin the chocolate a bit.  You don’t have to, but it helps get a smooth finish. 

Dip the frosting balls into the melted chocolate quickly, and tap off the excess chocolate.  I use a fork and I tap, tap and then tap some more. 

Just know that since the frosting is frozen the chocolate coating will set rather quickly.  If you want to decorate the truffles with sprinkles, you need to add them now, so the chocolate doesn’t set. 

That’s it.  Little bites of dressed up frosting.

http://cookiesandcups.com/buttercream-truffles/