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Centerpiece: Truffle Topiary Centerpiece

Source of Recipe

Taste of Home


Recipe Introduction

"This impressive, edible centerpiece takes truffles to new heights. Set out the extras on plates or package them for guests to take home."

List of Ingredients

Gold spray paint
5-inch clay pot
Floral foam to fit inside pot
New small flat paintbrush
5-inch Styrofoam ball
Milk chocolate candy coating, melted (about 1/2 cup)
12-inch length of 3/8-inch wooden dowel
Double-sided transparent tape
2 1/3 yards of gold metallic cord
Craft scissors
White (tacky) glue
18-inch square of gold-flecked tulle netting
Craft wire
Two large wire-edged bows
Toothpicks
60 to 70 Coconut Truffles
60 to 70 paper or foil candy cups



Recipe

1. Spray-paint clay pot gold; let stand until dry. Fill pot with floral foam.

2. Use paintbrush to cover Styrofoam ball with melted chocolate. Let stand until hardened.

3. With a pencil, mark dowel about 1 1/2 inches on one end and 4 1/2 inches on the other end. Place several pieces of double-sided tape on dowel between markings. Wrap gold metallic cord around dowel between markings. Cut away excess cord and glue ends to secure.

4. Insert long unwrapped end of dowel straight up and down into center of floral foam (photo 1 below). Place pot in center of tulle netting. Bring up netting on all sides to cover pot (photo 2 below). Use craft wire to secure netting to dowel just above top of pot. Arrange netting to cover wire, trimming excess netting as desired. Attach bows to opposite sides of top of pot. Trim ribbon ends as desired.

5. Use a pencil to make a hole in chocolate-covered Styrofoam ball, centering hole inside ball. Push ball onto end of dowel until wood on dowel is covered, making sure ball and dowel are centered and straight (photo 3 below).

6. Insert a toothpick into top center of ball, leaving about a third of the toothpick exposed. Set a truffle into a candy cup; carefully push truffle and cup onto exposed end of toothpick (photo 4 below). Repeat until ball is completely covered with truffles.