Valentine's Day is coming, and chocolate truffles are a great way to show your loved one how special they are to you (or if you're single, a great classy snack to hoard all for yourself! Muahahaha!)! They're elegant desserts that seem much more difficult to make than they actually are. They have a soft, delicious inside and are typically coated with either cocoa powder or a crunchy coating like toasted nuts. You can also coat them with a tempered chocolate shell for an extra layer of texture.
From a chocolatier like Godiva, you can pay almost $3 for a single truffle. Using quality ingredients, I made 15 truffles for around $6, most of which was the cost of the chocolate. With practice, you may even learn to incorporate some of your favorite flavors that you'll never find at a store.
The chocolate truffle base (ganache) that I have for you is very simple. It's only three ingredients: chocolate, cream, and vanilla. There are a lot of changes that you can even make to the ganache! Depending on why you're making these, you can totally change its flavor. Some suggestions I have are replacing the vanilla extract with almond extract, peppermint extract (for the holidays!), freshly squeezed orange, or even your favorite booze.
I also gave you a range of heavy cream amounts to use. If you use 1/4 cup of heavy cream, the truffles will be more solid and will solidify more quickly in the refrigerator. If you refrigerate too long, they'll also be harder to shape though. With 1/2 cup of heavy cream, they'll be on the softer side and take longer to solidify, but they'll be a little bit easier to shape. The consistency is a personal preference. If you've never made truffles before, I suggest using closer to 1/3 or 1/2 cup of heavy cream to make your work a bit easier.
You can use whatever type of chocolate you'd like. I recommend semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate. The semi-sweet will give you a slightly sweeter flavor while the bitter sweet will give you more of that dark chocolate flavor. If you really like your truffles sweet, you could even try milk or white chocolate instead.
Here's the big seller for making your own truffles: you can make these in the microwave! Instead of doing steps 1 through 3, combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and just microwave until hot, then stir or whisk until smooth.
Once the ganache has cooled, you can give your truffles whatever finishing touches strike your fancy. I listed a fair number of them below, and there are many, many more for you to choose from. When they're done, I'd recommend storing them in the fridge. Get creative and enjoy!
Chocolate Truffles
Makes: about 15 truffles
Prep time: about 20 minutes
Total time: 3–4 hours
¼ to ½ cup heavy cream
4 oz semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
Suggested Toppings |
|
Cocoa powder |
Crushed peppermint candies |
1. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler (or bowl over boiling water).
2. Bring the heavy cream and vanilla extract to a light boil in a small saucepan.
3. Pour the heavy cream mixture into the melted chocolate, then whisk to combine.
4. Refrigerate for about 1 to 2 hours. If you use more cream, you'll need to refrigerate longer for the ganache to solidify.
5. Form the truffles using a melon baller or 2 tsp measuring spoon. Roll the ganache in your palms to form round balls. This will be a bit messy—the chocolate will melt on your hands a bit.
6. Immediately coat the truffles by placing them in a bowl with your selected topping and spooning it over them. Try not to use your fingers to handle them after coating or they'll melt and your coating will get messed up!
7. Place the finished truffles on a parchment paper covered plate and refrigerate for at least 2 more hours to solidify.