By Lori EhdeLocal lovers seeking the perfect Valentine’s Day gift should look no further than Luverne’s own chocolatiers, Dave and Cloyce Smith.They’re not officially "chocolatiers," but their homemade truffles are known to rival those sold in the most exclusive candy shops in the upper Midwest."Every place we go — and I don’t know how much money we’ve spent over the years — we buy truffles," Dave said."I’ll take a bite," Cloyce said, "and he’ll take a bite. And we’ll look at each other and say, ‘We like ours better.’"Perfect productIf they’re confident in the quality of their product, it’s because they’ve spent a lot of time researching and experimenting to come up with the perfect mix."We’ve thrown out a lot of batches," Cloyce said.Operating under the name, "Truffle Treasures," Dave and Cloyce have been turning out delectable morsels in their kitchen for two years.In that time, they figure they’ve made nearly 1,000 truffles, not counting the practice batches. They make them in batches of 30."We mostly make them to give away to friends and family," Dave said. Their business is known only by word of mouth, but Truffle Treasures is gaining popularity among local chocolate connoisseurs.Vandia hair salon owner Lyle Behrens orders hundreds each Christmas to give to clients, and a bridal party last summer ordered 200 for a wedding reception.Other local residents just keep buying small batches to give away as personal gifts or to bring to dinner parties.Perfect processThe Smiths have practiced the process to perfection, with Cloyce in charge of the truffle centers, and Dave in charge of the chocolate exteriors.They use only real chocolate, and pair truffle centers with dark chocolate or milk chocolate, depending on the flavors.Cloyce whips the centers in her KitchenAid mixer with a recipe of whipping cream, chocolate and flavoring.The six flavors they’ve mastered are crème de menthe, champagne, toffee, Malibu rum, Irish crème and Fiori de Sicilia.The truffle mixture sets up overnight, and the next day they form the centers, scooping them with a melon baller, rolling them into spheres and dropping them onto paper."They start to melt from the heat in your hands, so you have to work quickly," Dave said.Once the balls are formed, they’re set aside for a while to firm up. Dave and Cloyce have figured out just how big to make the balls in order for the finished product to fit into their gift boxes.Dave’s job is to dip the balls into melted chocolate, the mixture for which is somewhat of a science.Because they use only real chocolate, it needs to be tempered, so it doesn’t "bloom." That’s what they call it when the cocoa butter seeps out, giving the finish a whitish color."It doesn’t mean the chocolate’s gone bad," Cloyce said. "It’s just that it doesn’t look nice anymore."Because it’s difficult to keep the melted chocolate at the necessary 82 degrees during the process, the Smiths purchased a chocolate temperer.Dave’s job is to drop the balls into the melted chocolate, swirl them around, and pull them out with just the right thickness of chocolate and not too much mess."I put it down on the paper and swirl it with one finger to get a little tip on top," he said, pointing at the elegant swirled tip on a finished truffle.Perfect project to do togetherThe final step, which they do together, is to trim off any chocolate "feet" that pool at the bottom of the truffles and wrap the finished candy in decorative colored foil. They admit that sometimes an unfortunate truffle will get damaged in the process, and that one will get set aside for tasting."You gotta do quality control," Dave said with a wink. But he added, "When you do this all the time like we do, you don’t eat them too much."They said with ingredients this rich, their truffles are meant for special occasions and small bites at a time, maybe with a glass of fine wine."These aren’t something you drop in your mouth like a Hershey’s kiss," Dave said. "You savor every bite."Their interest in truffles started with Cloyce’s father, the late John Cooney, who enjoyed making candy."When he died, we decided we wanted to keep that tradition alive," Cloyce said.So they took a class at Maid of Scandinavia through its candy division, Sweet Celebrations, two years ago in St. Paul.Those early recipes were the base of their own personal recipes today."It takes time. It’s a two-day process," Dave said. "But it’s something we do together."Cloyce said they end up laughing at each other through the process."We have fun," she said. "There’s way too many couples that don’t do things together. We have a good time doing this."Truffle Treasures has a small supply on hand for Valentine’s Day, but interested buyers should call early, because the Smiths may whip up a batch or two over the weekend.They sell for $1 apiece and are sold in packages of six or a dozen. Call 283-2877 or e-mail impkida@iw.net.