Janet Puistonen > wrote:

> But are they "truffles"? I'd say they are "chocolates." A truffle is by
> definition a free-formed thing. I tend to think of molding two demispheres
> then pressing them together as "cheating" <G>.

If you go to the original concept of truffles, which was
to mimic the look of the underground fungi, then any kind
chocolate coating is not very truffle-like. We have a
bittersweet truffle that is rolled in cocoa powder which
comes pretty close to looking like the fungi. But, we also
make a bunch of dipped ones that we call truffles, and I
have seen a lot of places calling filled molded chocolates
truffles. It's not an entirely correct usage, but certainly
common enough.

Bill Ranck
Blacksburg, Va.