Late last night, "Holiday Truffles 2007—Take 2.5" was converted into "Holiday Truffles 2007—Take 3" when I dipped the truffle guts into not-properly-tempered Callebaut 60.3%.  It's difficult for a novice chocolatier like myself to tell if chocolate is truly tempered when the chocolate is melted and you're ready to dip the ganache.  But once the chocolate sets, tempered chocolate will be shiny and smooth and, most importantly, won't have the dusty "bloom" that's on the surface of my truffles pictured here.  Oh well!  Making Artisan Chocolates makes clear that tempering chocolate is difficult—it takes practice and "feel."  So I'm not gonna beat myself up on this one.  The upside is that the "bloom" doesn't impact the flavor . . . it's completely edible.  And I'm happy with the taste of these truffles—the orange flavor from the zest and Grand Marnier is definitely there, but it's not overpowering—and the texture of the ganache is great  . . . silky smooth.

The flavor combos and my ganache-making technique are coming together in my holiday truffle project.  Now I need to perfect my tempering technique—stay tuned!