Dark chocolate truffles are a simple dish to make with a high payoff. Taking the time to make them homemade instead of buying ones in a store is really thoughtful (and easy). They’re also highly customizable with extracts, liquors, and toppings. My favorite truffle came from my grandmother one Christmas. Handmade truffles from an artisan chocolate company in Maine. When I tasted them I nearly melted. They were wrapped in a gold bow and tasted like gingerbread! Ever since, we’ve had them on holidays, and I’ve had a go at making them myself. Because I’ve fallen in love lately with the simplicity of a pure chocolate truffle. With a little bit of sea salt.
Luscious Chocolate Ganache
These dark chocolate truffles are super fun to make and is a good way to use up the rest of the ends of chocolate bars hanging out in your candy cupboard. Throw in chocolate chips, unsweetened chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, anything you like! Heating up cream is the perfect opportunity to infuse flavor – use herbs, extracts, fruit zests, or nothing at all. Finally stirring the chocolate after pouring over hot cream is so satisfying – feeling the texture and the viscosity change through your whisk is a crave-able sensation that keeps me coming back to baking time and time again. This recipe would be amazing with orange zest, candied orange peel as a garnish, and a touch of sea salt on top.
The perfect homemade gift
This really is a super simple and easy recipe that you can make for Valentine’s day – I highly recommend making something by hand for someone that means something to you. There’s nothing I love more than receiving a handmade gift from someone, and it says a lot about how much someone cares if they’re willing to spend time making something for you. So, if you know someone’s favorite flavors, fruits, or desserts, make them into truffles! I’m dreaming of tiramisu truffles with coffee extract, or lemon white chocolate truffles with a raspberry in the center. The world is your oyster!
Check out my dark chocolate truffles recipe card and prints on Etsy!
Dark Chocolate Truffles
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 12 ounces 72% dark chocolate
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Instructions
- Heat up cream and vanilla in a small saucepan.
- Chop chocolate and place in a heatproof bowl with the sea salt.
- Once cream is scalding, pour over chocolate and let sit for 1-2 minutes.
- Stir until the chocolate is completely smooth and shiny.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- Once chilled, scoop 1” balls and roll in your hands to smooth.
- Spread cocoa powder in a shallow dish and roll each ball to coat.
- Transfer to a storage container and chill for at least 1 hour.
Notes
- When chopping chocolate bars for recipes, I always use a serrated bread knife. This way it kind of latches onto the chocolate rather than pressing down and sending the chocolate pieces flying. It helps a ton!
- If you are infusing flavors into your truffles, you can tie together herbs and steep it in the cream. You can also infuse fruit zest, extracts, liquors, and spices. If you want something potent, heat the cream and add your flavoring. Then, turn off the heat, cover, and let steep for an hour to deepen the flavor profile.
- Make sure you wait for 1-2 minutes after pouring the cream on the chocolate. If it doesn’t all melt right away, you can heat the entire mixture over a double boiler or you can pop it in the microwave in 30 seconds bursts until melted. Because truffles have a high ratio of chocolate to cream, it can sometimes take a while to melt it all.
- The Mellon baller used to scoop the truffles can get clogged after a few uses. Keep a cup of warm water nearby to dip it in if you need, which will help the truffles come out easier.
- When you remove the ganache mixture from the fridge, let it come to room temperature for an hour or two before rolling into balls. If it’s too cold and stiff it’ll be too tough to make evenly round shapes, although they will still taste great.
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