It’s Day Six of Seven Days of Sweets for your Sweetheart over here! Just one more day of sugar and indulgence. I hope you are hanging in there! Today, Danelle from Let’s Dish is here to share her Classic Chocolate Truffles, a perfect Valentine treat. Danelle and I have similar tastes in food and everything she makes is right up my alley. I can’t tell you how many of her recipes I’ve been bookmarked! Thanks Danelle, for visiting today!
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Hello Sweet Treats readers! I’m truly flattered that Kristy has invited me to do a guest post on her blog. Just last week I made her Creamy Chicken Nacho Sauce. It was a huge hit with my husband and three boys. I may have even eaten quite a bit of it myself.
But today I’m here to talk about chocolate. It just wouldn’t be Valentines Day without chocolate. Chocolate truffles, to be exact. I’ve tried a lot of truffle recipes. The kind with cream cheese. The kind with Oreos. I can’t say I’ve ever tried a truffle I didn’t like. But I always come back to this classic recipe.
Classic Chocolate Truffles
Ingredients
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped (or chocolate chips)
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons butter, cubed
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Chopped nuts, cocoa powder, coconut, sprinkles, etc. for coating truffles
Instructions
Place chopped chocolate in a large glass bowl. Heat whipping cream and butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat just to scalding. Remove from the heat as soon as the cream starts to simmer; do not let it boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and let it sit for about a minute to soften the chocolate. Stir in the vanilla and continue stirring until the chocolate is completely smooth. Pour the chocolate mixture into a 9-inch square baking dish. Refrigerate for about an hour, or until the chocolate is set, like fudge, but still scoopable.
Meanwhile, prepare your truffle coatings. Toast your nuts and coconut, if desired. Place your desired toppings into small, shallow bowls and assemble them on your counter. Remove the chocolate filling from the refrigerator. Using a small cookie scoop, scoop the chocolate into balls, flattening the bottoms against the side of your baking dish. Roll truffles in desired coatings and set on a wax paper lined cookie sheet. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. Makes 20-30 truffles, depending on the size.
A few hints and tips . . .
I like to use all semi-sweet chocolate, but if you prefer milk or bittersweet, that’s fine too. You can even use a combination.
If you don’t have a small cookie scoop, I highly recommend getting one before making truffles. I’ve made truffles with all kinds of scooping devices, and the cookie scoop is the way to go! I find it helps to rinse mine off and wipe it dry with a paper towel every 5 truffles or so. Using the scoop really cuts down on the mess involved with rolling truffles with your bare hands (which you can still do if you want perfectly round truffles). I kind of like the flat bottoms though–they sit perfectly in those cute little paper cups!
If you leave your chocolate in the refrigerator too long and find it hard to scoop, just let it come to room temperature and give it another try. Also, don’t be afraid to gently press your coatings onto the truffles if they don’t seem to be sticking.
You can dip your truffles in chocolate if you’d like. You’ll probably want to make them smaller than cookie scoop size if you go this route. I tend to make a huge mess when I dip them in chocolate so I always roll mine in coatings. Plus, it’s fun to choose different sprinkles to reflect different holidays and celebrations.
You can flavor your truffles (mint, orange, raspberry, etc.) by replacing the vanilla with different extracts.
If you’ve stored your truffles in the refrigerator, they’ll taste best if you bring them to room temperature before eating them (if you can wait that long).
If I’m planning to give these away, I usually double the recipe. Four or five of these homemade truffles in a cute little box makes for a thoughtful and tasty Valentine treat! Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!
Thank you! All of these Valentine treats have looked wonderful. I can’t decide which one to try first.
Oh, these are stunning. I’ll have to try my hand at truffle making.
lovely. and simple.
Perfect truffles and perfect presentation. Apt for the valentines occasion too. Thanks for sharing wonderful recipe, will try it asap… !
Thanks for all the great suggestions for making truffles. I love how versatile they can be. And look at those beauties, I love how each one is decorated differently. So pretty and I bet they taste even better.
Just headed over here from Danelles site! These truffles look delicious! I really need to get on my Vday baking!