Melt the chocolate in a heavy small saucepan over a double boiler (or extremely low gas heat, stirring constantly) until the chocolate is mostly melted. Remove from heat and stir until very smooth and chocolate is completely melted. Add the butter pieces and the cream and stir until smooth. Add the flavoring extract or or liquor and stir until smooth. Be very careful to not allow any water into the chocolate mixture.
Scrape the chocolate mixture into a small cereal bowl using a rubber spatula. Cover with cellophane and chill in the refrigerator for 30-40 minutes, until slightly firm. You don’t want this too firm or it will be hard to scoop.
Line a cookie sheet or small tray with parchment paper. Remove the chilled truffle mixture from the refrigerator. Using a #18-8 scoop, begin scooping each truffle onto the tray in lines and leaving a small space between each row. The recipe will make approximately 16-18 small size truffles. Alternately, if you don’t have a very small scoop, you can roll by teaspoonful, by hand, trying to make them each the same size. When you are finished forming the truffles, move the tray to the refrigerator for the truffles to harden.
Once the truffles are very firm, get your dipping chocolate ready to melt. Be sure to wash the saucepan and dry completely before melting the next batch of chocolate. Make sure that no water enters your chocolate at any time. Put about 2/3’s of the chocolate in a bowl, reserving 1/3 of the chocolate to add in later. Set the bowl over a double boiler set to simmer, set your bowl of chocolate, and stir constantly. Once most of the chocolate is melted, remove from the double boiler, and add the remainder of chocolate and continue to stir until the all the chocolate is melted. Cool to 82 degrees, then set the bowl back over the double boiler and bring the temperature to 88-90 degrees (for more on tempering chocolate, see Epicurious How to Temper Chocolate).
Remove the truffle tray from the refrigerator once your melted chocolate is ready.
Drop the very firm chilled truffle gently into the melted chocolate and using a teaspoon cover in the chocolate, turning to coat. Remove the truffle quickly with the top facing up on the top of the teaspoon. Then using a fork in the opposite hand, move the truffle gently off the spoon and back unto the tray. Continue until all the truffles have been dipped. I like to also melt (in a small bowl), over a pan of hot water, a few squares of white chocolate to decorate the truffles. Tip: dipping 6 truffles at a time works well, because you can add the decorative top and it will adhere well, compared to dipping the entire tray and then adding the decorative top.
Place the tray in the refrigerator to harden the chocolate covering on the truffles for 45 minutes to an hour to harden completely before placing into truffle papers. Work quickly so the temperature does not change on your truffles, as warming and cooling can cause them to lose their sheen. As you are placing in paper liners, set in an airtight container lined with cellophane and using parchment paper between the layers of truffles. I like to put a note on the top of each container saying the number of truffles and the kind, so when I’m packaging them, I can easily figure out how many to divide between the boxes or containers I’m using.
Return the truffles in the airtight container to the refrigerator, removing approximately a half hour before enjoying. Be sure to tell or include a note for your gift recipients that these must stay refrigerated, for up to one month.
