Chocolate for Truffles

A reader has asked: I made some chocolate truffles recently, but they didn’t turn out well. The recipe called for semisweet chocolate, so I used the 1-ounce squares of semisweet chocolate. Should I have used a different chocolate? I’d like to try again.

A: Semisweet chocolate in 1-ounce squares is fine for general baking, especially when the chocolate is combined with other ingredients, such as sugar, eggs, butter, and flour. When you make truffles, however, the flavor of the chocolate is less diluted, so you want to use a premium chocolate. Look for this in the candy aisle, rather than the baking aisle. There are many brands of domestic and imported premium chocolates available in stores.