Finally, a Christmas gift idea, sliding in four days before Christmas!  I will hopefully have another one or two recipes and ideas to share with you before Christmas, but here's the first:  Dark Chocolate Orange Truffles.  If you've ever eaten one of those chocolate oranges, the flavor is similar, and the orange flavor is a nice surprise in your mouth. 



These are pretty easy to make, but extremely messy, so wear gloves or be prepared to have your hands coated in chocolate, facing the dilemma of whether to lick or wash off the chocolate on your hands. 



The one or two things I may change about this recipe is to use semisweet rather than bittersweet chocolate and to increase the amount of orange extract.  I love dark chocolate, and often for me it's the darker the better, but either the strength of the chocolate overpowers the orange flavor, or there's just not enough to begin with. 

I'm posting the recipe, but will link to the webpage that contains it as well.  I got this out of a Taste of Home special cookbook.  Thanks, Goodwill donor. 

Dark Chocolate Orange Truffles
from Taste of Home

1-12 oz package dark chocolate chips
3/4 c. heavy cream
1 tsp orange extract
1/3 c. sugar

In a microwave (or over a double boiler), melt chocolate; stir until smooth. Gradually stir in cream until blended. Stir in extract. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Refrigerate until firm. Shape into 3/4-in. balls. Roll in sugar.