madagascar vanilla truffles

I recently discovered vanilla paste and wanted to try it out in truffles. I've made truffles before but never hand dipped ones-- not quite as pretty as Jacques Torres's, but not bad for my first time.

madagascar vanilla truffles  
original post  

ingredients

• 10 ounces best-quality bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped 
• 1/2 cup heavy cream 1 tablespoon Madagascar vanilla past 
• 1 ounce of butter, cut up into 1/2” cubes 
• 10 ounces milk and bittersweet chocolate, tempered, for coating 
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract  

directions

1. Put chocolate into a large heatproof bowl. Bring cream just to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat; pour over chocolate in bowl. Stir in vanilla paste and butter. Cover with plastic wrap; let stand 10 minutes. Stir until smooth. Let stand until thick, about 15 minutes. 
2. Pour chocolate mixture into a 9-inch square pan. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until mixture is very cold and set but still pliable, about 30 minutes. 
3. Cut into 1/2” squares, transferring them to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper as you work. Refrigerate truffles 10 minutes. 
4. To temper chocolate, place half the chocolate in a medium stainless-steel bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Stirring frequently, melt chocolate to 118 degrees to 120 degrees. 
5. Remove bowl of chocolate from heat, and add remaining chocolate and vanilla, stirring constantly to cool chocolate to 80 degrees to 82 degrees. Return bowl of chocolate over simmering water for about 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir constantly to melt chocolate to 88 degrees to 90 degrees. If chocolate is lumpy, return bowl over simmering water for 3 to 5 seconds at time. Remove from heat, and continue stirring until lumps disappear. Check for temper by dipping the tip of a small offset spatula into chocolate. Set spatula aside to allow chocolate to dry. Chocolate is tempered if it dries shiny and hard. 
6. Using hands dip each truffle in the tempered chocolate to coat, allow the excess chocolate to drip off. Place chocolate transfer sheet upon chocolate immediately, remove when completely dried. Refrigerate truffles in an airtight container until ready to serve, up to 2 weeks.