THE BEST Rum (BRANDY) Balls

Before we are all completely sick of all things Christmas, I wanted to share this family recipe (I say family, as we've made it for years, but it is actually a recipe of Diane Clement's). We haven't made these rum balls in a few years, as the rolling process is a bit tedious (basically we got lazy), but this year I insisted.
I had PVR'd the sound of music, so mom came over and we whipped these out on December 23rd. We chilled the mixture that night, and I rolled just enough on the 24th to enjoy with our coffee and tea, post dinner. I mention this, as this was my downfall. I now had an almost full batch of rum ball mixture chilling in my fridge. The family left for the ranch, I rolled the rest.... and consumed the rest. Awesome.

So here it is:

12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup almond paste
pinch salt
8 cups finely crushed vanilla wafers (approximately 4 boxes needed, unless you buy crushed- we use any dry chocolate cookie instead of the somewhat lack lustre vanilla wafers)
3 cups icing sugar (go by taste as this can be a little much)
11/2 cups melted unsalted butter
2/3 cup Dutch process cocoa
11/2 cups white rum (we actually used brandy...and MUCH LESS as we wanted them to be kid friendly...who am I kidding, Courtenay friendly also!)
2 cups finely chopped pecans (I'd suggest in the food processor with some of the recipe's sugar)
real chocolate shot or sprinkles for coating (probably 5-6 cups!)

In the food processor, combine the melted chocolate, sour cream and almond paste with the pinch of salt.
Cream well and remove; set aside.
In a large bowl combine the remaining ingredients (except the shot) and mix until smooth and holds its shape. Add the chocolate/sour cream mixture and knead until blended and soft. Chill until firm enough to form balls in the palm of your hand, yet soft enough to pick up the chocolate shot. (The batter can be made the day ahead)
Shape the rum balls (less really is more- about 1 tablespoon makes it more "truffle" like). Roll in the shot and place on parchment lined trays to chill.
Once they've hardened overnight they can be packed in tins and refrigerated. Kept over four weeks, they should be frozen. Take them out a few hours ahead to soften slightly.

We like to roll half of them in crushed pecans and the other half in chocolate shot....YUMMY right out of the freezer...trust me!!!