It's always so nice to give (and get) a lovely heart-shaped box of chocolates on Valentine's Day. But, think of how much more special such a gift would be if the chocolates were homemade with lots of extra love thrown in! Don't think you could do it? Think again. Homemade chocolate truffles are one of the easiest sweet treats you can make. All you need are a few good quality ingredients, a little patience and a lot of paper towels. Trust me. There is nothing so luxurious, so sensual, so gloriously and sinfully decadent as a silky, smooth and rich, dark, homemade chocolate truffle.

Here are a few of my favorite chocolate truffles recipes for you to try. Each uses the same master recipe, with some tweaks for different flavor combinations. (Just one recipe! I couldn’t have possibly made it any simpler for you, unless I came over to your house and made the truffles myself!) You can add any kind of flavorings, including extracts, liqueurs and spices to make the truffles your own. A single batch of ganache makes about 2 dozen 1-inch truffles.

Think of how impressed your sweetheart will be when presented with such a thoughtful token of your undying love and affection. Maybe impressed enough to go to Jared! I'm just sayin'…

This article appears in Feb 10-16, 2010.