Decadent Chocolate Truffles Recipe
The best chocolate truffles are always the ones made fresh at home. They are decadent bites of bliss and the soft chocolate centers melt right in your mouth. If you have ever had the Lindt Lindor chocolate truffles, you know what I’m talking about with their creamy centers. Dark chocolate truffles are elegant in their simplicity and perfect for any occasion! We love bite-size balls of deliciousness like these and our German Chocolate Cake Truffles, Oreo Balls, and Buckeyes.
What are Chocolate Truffles?
Chocolate truffles are a type of confectionery made primarily from chocolate and cream. Traditional chocolate truffles are made by heating cream and pouring it over chopped chocolate, creating a smooth mixture called ganache. The ganache is then cooled and shaped into small, bite-sized balls. These balls are usually coated with cocoa powder, powdered sugar, or finely chopped nuts to resemble the earthy appearance of actual truffle mushrooms but they also can be dipped in melted chocolate and then allowed to set, creating a harder chocolate shell around the creamy ganache center.
Why you’ll love this Truffle Chocolate recipe
Real, simple ingredients. No candy thermometer or serious cooking required. They look beautiful and taste even better.
Chocolate Truffle ingredients
This is a quick overview of some of the important ingredients you’ll need for this chocolate truffles recipe. Specific measurements and full recipe instructions are in the printable recipe card below.
Chocolate: Use the best quality chocolate you can find since these truffles really are a celebration of chocolate. When making dark chocolate truffles, we like to look for chocolate with 60% cacao or more. Milk chocolate can also be used, but you will want to scale back on the amount of cream added (see recipe notes). Heavy cream: Also sometimes labeled as heavy whipping cream, there really isn’t a good substitute that I’m away of for this particular recipe. Be sure to get heavy cream and not just whipping cream, which doesn’t have the same fat content and won’t give the same results. Butter: A little bit of salted butter gives the perfect soft set and hint of fudgy, buttery flavor to the truffle centers. Vanilla extract: Chocolate and vanilla should always go hand-in-hand as it adds depth and dimension to the truffles.
You might also want food-safe plastic gloves, which make rolling the truffles much easier.
How to make Chocolate Truffles
Chocolate Truffles Recipe: Flavoring ideas
The recipe below is for a classic dark chocolate truffle, but you can experiment with other flavor variations. Here are some ideas to get you started.
Fruit Jams: Add 2 tablespoons of seedless raspberry jam to the chocolate before pouring the hot cream over the top for raspberry chocolate truffles. Using extracts: Stir in a small amount of your favorite extract like peppermint, almond, cherry, or coconut. Keep in mind that a little goes a long way when it comes to extracts. I would start with ⅛ teaspoon, taste, then go from there. Peanut butter: If you can’t resist the allure of the combo of peanut butter and chocolate, add 1-2 tablespoons of creamy peanut butter with the chocolate before adding the hot cream. Spices: A pinch of cinnamon or cayenne pepper can give really delicious results. I particularly like cinnamon chocolate truffles rolled in desiccated coconut.
Chocolate Truffle Recipe: Coating ideas
Rolling the chocolate truffles in delicious coatings not only makes them tasty and pretty, but it also makes them manageable since the centers are so soft.
More chocolate! Unsweetened cocoa powder is a classic approach and it’s slight bitterness perfectly offsets the sweet truffle centers. Nuts. Finely chopped nuts like walnuts or pistachios add delicious texture and flavor. Sprinkles. Chocolate sprinkles are always fun and colorful sprinkles can be used for any occasion to make holiday truffles. Candy coatings. We have also used finely crushed freeze-dried strawberry powder, peppermint candy canes, and powdered sugar in the past.
Truffle Chocolate tips and tricks
Wear plastic gloves. This might be my biggest piece of advice. I always have a much easier time rolling the soft centers into balls while wearing plastic gloves. You might even want to double up on the gloves to provide some insulation against the heat of your hands warming up the chocolate too much. Chop your chocolate. The finer you chop the chocolate, the easier it will be for it to melt and stir into a smooth ganache. Chill before rolling. If your centers are too soft to roll into balls once you scoop them, place them back in the fridge for 20 minutes to firm up. Let ganache sit at room temperature. If your ganache gets too firm to roll, let it sit out at room temperature for a while to soften.
How to store Chocolate Truffles
How to store: Store your finished chocolate truffles in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container. You can serve them chilled straight from the fridge or let them sit out at for a while to come to room temperature before serving. We think they are best served at room temperature for the best texture and flavor. How to freeze: Truffles freeze well for up to 6 months. I recommend storing them in layers with a piece of parchment paper in between to protect them, especially if you are mixing truffles covered in cocoa powder with other coatings since the cocoa powder dust sometimes mars the finish of the other truffles. Thaw overnight in the fridge or on the counter before enjoying.
More Chocolate Recipes
Raspberry Chocolate Tart Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Devil’s Food Cake with Chocolate Frosting Triple Chocolate Scones
Best Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
The BEST Homemade Brownies
Small Batch Triple Chocolate Cookies
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