HEADLINE: TRUFFLES JUST FOR CHOCOLATE LOVERS

Kathleen O'Hehir-Johnson likes to watch someone bite into one of her truffles for the first time. "They almost look like they're in pain for an instant," she says. "Then they say, `O-o-o-h,' and their expression changes to pure bliss."
O'Hehir-Johnson's newly founded St. Paul company, Just Truffles, is one of the very few in America that make totally handmade commercial truffles. She knows of only one other - and most local chocolate-sellers seem to know of none. A saleswoman at Wood's Chocolate Shop told me it's impossible to find truly handmade truffles. She hadn't yet heard about O'Hehir-Johnson, hand-making her truffles in a borrowed commercial kitchen just a mile away across the High Bridge. The word will spread this spring when Just Truffles is ensconced in its own shop, probably on Grand Avenue.
"I won't compromise my truffles. Truffles have already been compromised enough," O'Hehir-Johnson says. At a candy show in Philadelphia, where she discovered that 1,500 companies make truffles, O'Hehir-Johnson learned that most "do shell molding - pouring in the filling, which decreases its fluffiness." The cloudlike center of O'Hehir-Johnson's truffles is what makes them tantalizing. Most truffles I've stuck a tooth into have had fudgey, overly intense fillings. O'Hehir-Johnson's candies (flavored with Grand Marnier, Bailey's Irish Cream, Frangelico, cafe au lait and more) are subtle, creamy, smooth - an experience to savor. The definition of a truffle, according to O'Hehir-Johnson: "A ganache center that is light in texture, smooth, melts in your mouth, with an underlying taste of liqueur or fruit. The coating should be crisp and crack immediately. A good truffle should take three, four, even more bites. You should roll it around on your tongue as a wine connoisseur does when sipping great wine."
Anyone who's ever tangled with truffles knows they're a mess to make. "The first time I tried, I vowed I'd never do them again," O'Hehir-Johnson says. "Only four were presentable out of the whole batch." Stubbornness led her to try again in preparation for subsequent Christmases. She'd bring to work a tray bearing the treats, and co-workers would clamor to buy more. If you're a frequent flyer, "Mrs. Truffle" (as her co-workers now call her) probably has checked your tickets for a flight; she's a Northwest Airlines customer agent, working at departure gates. On her days off, and whenever else she can find spare hours, she's now checking chocolate as it tempers and scooping ganache, learning the truffle business in self-taught fashion.
Actually, going into business was the idea of her husband, Roger Johnson: "He told me I was happiest in the kitchen, and I'd always wanted to have my own business, so why not truffles?" After spending two weeks in the library, she got the idea in motion. Then came months of dealing with licenses and regulations "one at a time," she says. "If I'd looked at the big picture of what starting a business involves, I would have crawled under my bed and forgotten the whole thing."
She made her first Just Truffles truffle on Oct. 17, but she hasn't quit her day job. Naming the company was easier. What's her product line? Just truffles - though some folks still don't get it. "I'm always asked what other kinds of candy I have," she says. "`Just truffles,' I say. `Do you make caramels?' they ask. `No, just truffles.'" Just Truffles is usually Just Kathy. Dip it, drain it, shake it, wipe it and flip it - with that technique, she can roll, dip and decorate 24 dozen sweets in three hours. Sometimes, her family helps. Scott is the 10-year-old chocoholic of the family - suffering agony as he works, knowing that finger-licking is not permitted in the food business. Lee, 11, and Thomas, 13, think the worst job is shelling pistachios.
Roger Johnson's fingers, it was quickly discovered, are too big for chocolate-dipping (which is done with pristine hands rather than a dipping fork). His first attempts "looked like a trayful of garden slugs," Kathy says. Roger says with a wink: "In those days, I liked to sample the rejects." His wife's business has put 10 pounds under his vest. Kathy, anticipating the damage that a candy company could do to her own figure, joined Weight Watchers. She's 30 pounds slimmer now, despite four months of daily truffle exposure. Truffles are not for over- indulgers. One or two of the intensely rich creations is plenty. Some Just Truffles customers serve a single truffle as dessert after a dinner party, with coffee or a glass of port. O'Hehir-Johnson's truffles, which contain no preservatives, are best stored in the freezer or refrigerator. She's been asked about "shelf life" and can only reply, "I don't know. I haven't kept any long enough to find out."
One of her devoted customers has a routine. She takes one truffle out of the freezer each time she does the laundry. By the time she has sorted the clothes and put them in the washer, the truffle - her reward - is thawed enough to eat. Chocolate, O'Hehir-Johnson says, is "a legal drug - because you get that rush, that feeling that you're in love." Though it's too late to order for your valentine, a call to (651) 690-0075 (don't be shy about talking to the answering machine) will secure your order. If you can't wait, Goggins Candies in Stillwater stocks Just Truffles.