As with most of my projects, these truffles included a fair bit of improvisation. I knew that I wanted to make some sort of chocolate candies for my mom and grandmother this Christmas. I found half a dozen recipes online, but none was quite right. So using them as a guide, I created my own. And when the melon baller I was supposed to use didn’t work out, I tossed it aside and rolled the centers by hand. The chopped chocolate, toasted almonds, candy canes, and cocoa powder coatings dressed them up nicely. To present the truffles, I packaged them in paper Chinese food containers decorated with red ribbons, which made them a successful and delicious gift.