Chocolate Truffles
Chocolate Truffles
Chocolate truffles have a strange sort of mysticism about them that reminds me of how spice traders originally protected their business by spreading tales of monsters at sea and harpies on cliffs ready to attack anyone foolish enough to try gathering said spices. None of it was true, obviously, just like how chocolate truffles are actually ridiculously easy to make. Basically, you heat up some liquid, pour that onto your chocolate until it melts, stir, then chill. Feel free to play around with the flavors of this recipe as well. I sometimes love substituting the vanilla extract for 1 tsp of almond extract.
Ingredients:
- 8oz of dark chocolate (60%+ cacao/cocoa). These should be chocolate bars or baking wafers. Chocolate chips won’t work
- 2/3 C heavy cream (it’s the same thing as heavy whipping cream. You can also use full-fat canned coconut milk)
- 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- cocoa powder, sprinkles, powdered sugar, or crushed toasted nuts to coat your truffles
Equipment:
- Bread pan or 8x8in pan
- Optionally, you can use silicone molds for clean even shapes
- Parchment paper
- Binder clips, optional
- Set of mixing bowls
- Chef knife
- Saucepan
- Sturdy spatula
- Plastic wrap
Directions:
- Prep a bread pan or 8x8in pan by lining with a sheet of parchment paper and set aside (Tip, use binder clips to pinch the edges of the pan and hold the parchment paper in place)
- Finely chop your chocolate and place in a medium sized bowl. Set aside
- In a saucepan, heat up your heavy cream (or coconut milk) over medium-low heat until just boiling, stirring constantly
- Pour the hot cream onto the chocolate, add your butter, and let sit for 5-minutes
- Add your vanilla extract and mix everything until it is combined and there are no more streaks. Pour the chocolate into your prepared parchment lined pan, distribute evenly, and gently press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the chocolate (keeps air from getting to it) before placing in the fridge to cool for 1-2 hrs. or until firm.
- Once your chocolate is firm remove it from the pan and slice into relatively equal sized cubes. Gently roll the cubes in your hands to smooth out the edges (this will get messy). Place your topping of choice into a small bowl and then roll your chocolate in the bowl until evenly coated. Enjoy!
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days, or in the fridge for up to 2-weeks. You’ll likely eat all of them before you get anywhere near those time frames though!
