Dessert: Chocolate-Covered Raspberry Truffles

Be sure to use bittersweet chocolate with no more than 60 percent cacao for this recipe.

Ingredients

1/4 cup heavy cream
7 oz fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not extra-bitter or unsweetened), finely chopped in a food processor
1 1/2 tablespoons framboise (raspberry eau-de-vie) or brandy
6 oz fresh raspberries (1 cup)
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Special equipment: a large sealable plastic bag

Instructions

Line a tray with wax paper.
Bring cream just to a simmer in a 1- to 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat. Remove from heat, then add chocolate and stir gently with a heatproof rubber spatula until ganache is smooth. Stir in framboise.
Pat raspberries dry if necessary. Add 6 to 8 raspberries to ganache and gently fold in to coat using rubber spatula. Remove each chocolate-covered raspberry with 2 forks, shifting it from one fork to the other to let excess ganache drip off, then transfer to tray. Coat remaining raspberries in same manner, working in batches of 6 to 8.
Chill truffles on tray until firm, at least 1 hour, then loosen from wax paper.
Put cocoa in a sealable bag and add all of truffles. Seal bag, leaving some air in, and shake to coat. Empty bag into a shallow bowl. Transfer coated truffles to a platter with your fingers, shaking off excess cocoa. Keep chilled until ready to serve.