Make mint chocolate truffles at home with this easy-to-follow recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 vanilla bean
• 1/3 cup 35% cream
• 1/2 cup fresh whole mint leaves
• 1 lb best-quality white chocolate
• 2 oz unsalted butter, chopped
• 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh mint leaves

Directions
1 Line the base and sides of an 8" square baking pan with parchment paper; set aside.

2 Split the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds and the pod to a small saucepan along with the cream and the whole mint leaves.

3 Heat the mixture over medium heat for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and let stand to infuse for 15 min­utes. Strain into a small bowl, pressing the mint leaves and vanilla seeds against the sieve to extract the most flavour.

4 Chop the chocolate into small, even pieces using a large serrated knife.

5 Place the choco­late, infused cream and butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat. Stir the mixture fre­quently to melt the chocolate and incorporate the butter and cream.

6 When the mixture is smooth and creamy, remove from the heat and stir in the chopped mint leaves.

7 Pour into the baking pan and refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.

8 Remove from the pan and cut into small squares to serve.

Makes: 16 truffles