Recipe Instructions:
12 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate, divided
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pomegranate molasses
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 cup pistachios, roasted and then chopped very finely
Add 6 ounces of bittersweet chocolate and the heavy cream to a small mixing bowl. In a small saucepan bring about one inch of water to a gentle simmer. Place the mixing bowl on top of the saucepan and stir gently until the chocolate has melted. Take it off the heat and mix in 1 tablespoon of pomegranate molasses. Let it chill in the fridge for 2 hours.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside. After 2 hours, scoop out the chocolate mixture using a teaspoon and gently roll it in between your palms to create as much of a round shape as possible. The chocolate will start to smear your palms, so work quickly! If you cannot get perfect rounds and end up with knobbly shapes, don't worry -- they are called "truffles" after all! Lay them out on the parchment lined baking sheet. Mine were about the size of blackberries. Chill them in the fridge for another 1-2 hours.
While the truffles are chilling in the fridge, make the pomegranate sugar for coating. Mix 1/2 cup of sugar with 1 teaspoon of the pomegranate molasses thoroughly. Since it is such a sticky mixture, I used my fingertips to mix it in evenly. It is going to look and feel like brown sugar, but it is going to have an incredibly zingy taste! Spread out the pomegranate sugar on a small plate. Spread out the roasted and chopped pistachios on another small plate. I also had a third plate where I mixed some of the sugar along with some of the chopped pistachios in equal proportions.
When the truffles have hardened up in the fridge, start making the final coating of chocolate. Using another small double boiler, melt 3 ounces of the bittersweet chocolate. Take it off the heat as soon as it has melted and then add the remaining 3 ounces of chocolate, stirring well until everything has melted. Make sure the chocolate has cooled slightly since having taken off the heat -- if it is too warm, it'll just melt the truffles as you try to coat them!
Take the truffles out of the fridge. The easiest way I found of coating the truffles was to scoop some of the melted chocolate in a tablespoon and then roll the truffle in it and then drop it on a slotted spoon and shake off the excess chocolate. I gently tossed the truffles back and forth between the tablespoon and slotted spoon a couple of times to make sure that it was coated well and the excess chocolate had dripped off. Now, roll it around the pomegranate sugar or the chopped pistachios or the mixed plate. It is going to be a messy job, the chocolate will smear, so work as fast as you can. Lay it on the parchment covered baking sheet. Chill the truffles again for 1-2 hours in the fridge. Serve at room temperature. Enjoy!
