There are two basic approaches to centers for truffles: some use a mixture of chocolate and butter, others use a ganache (an emulsion of chocolate and cream). They’re quite different mixtures from a physical point of view, and each has its difficult quirks, but I’d recommend that you stick with a ganache.
Ganaches are very simple recipes, but they have a complex physical structure that’s easy to get wrong (with very unpleasant results). All of these complications disappear, however, if you make the ganache in a food processor using the following method: chop the chocolate coarsely and throw it in the processor bowl. Bring the cream to a boil, throw it on the chocolate and immediately begin processing. When the mixture smooths out, add the butter and flavorings. This is the closest thing to a fail-proof method for getting the emulsion structure right.
Ganaches are very flexible recipes. The proportion of chocolate to cream can be varied according to how firm you want the ganache tp be when it sets, but about 2 parts cream (what we call heavy cream here in the States) to 3 parts chocolate is a good starting point. Softer ganaches are nicer to eat, but will give you a hard time in the rolling and dipping. To this basic mixture you’ll want to add some butter (room temp); somewhere on the order of 4 oz. per pound of chocolate. More or less can be used at your discretion.
Flavoring can be added in the form of booze blended in at the end (to taste), or by adding stuff to the boiled cream and letting the flavor infuse into the cream before making the mix. Just remember that whatever you put into the cream must be thoroughly strained out before the mix. You can infuse coarsely crushed coffee beans, tea, spices, orange zest, mint leaves, vanilla beans, etc. If you add booze, this will soften the ganache a bit, so you might want to bump the quantity of cream back to compensate. If you infuse, you have to guess at the amount of flavor to add, but be generous; it takes more than you think to stand up above the strong flavor of the chocolate.
Pour the warm ganache into plastic-lined pan, cover with more plastic directly on the surface. Let it sit out overnight, then refrigerate for a few hours (following this schedule will allow the fat to crystallize properly). Remove the cold ganache from the plastic and cut it into pieces the size you want. Keep them cold in the fridge, removing a few at a time to roll them. Quickly roll them between your hands using some cocoa powder to minimize sticking (but it will be messy anyway). Chill the balls again.
Now you have to give them a primer coat of chocolate. Temper some chocolate. Put a big dallop of chocolate in your palm, then quickly take a ball of ganache and swirl it between your hands so that it gets a skin of chocolate all over it. Try for speed, not perfection. Drop them onto waxed paper to dry as you finish each one. Leave them out at cool room temp overnight.
For the final dip, work with a decent amount of tempered chocolate in your bowl. The hardest thing will be keeping this chocolate tempered (warm enough to remain liquid, but without exceeding 90 degrees, which would destroy the temper). Toss a ball into the chocolate, fish it out with a fork, bob it up and down agianst the surface of the chocolate to remove excess, wipe the bottom of the fork against the edge of the bowl, and drop the ball into a pan of sifted cocoa powder (or chopped roasted nuts, or shredded coconut, or icing sugar). Use another fork to quickly roll the ball through the stuff. Do several balls this way letting them accumulate and dry in the stuff. When they’re dry fish them out and lightly remove the excess stuff.
Voila, as they say.
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