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Lesson—Chocolate Truffles
With truffles, you have the chocolate to end all chocolates—a bonbon with rich, unbelievably smooth texture and flavor. When I owned my own chocolate shop, one of the joys was tasting other chocolatiers' truffles wherever I went! It was a labor of love to make sure that ours were the best.
A chocolate truffle is usually simply chocolate lightened with cream or butter or a combination of the two. If made with cream, the mixture is called ganache. The texture of ganache will be lighter or denser depending on the ratio of cream to chocolate. A higher percentage of cream to chocolate means that your ganache will be lighter and softer.
Looking for vegan chocolate truffles or keto chocolate truffles or lactose-free chocolate truffles? You can satisfy a plant based, low sugar, vegan, lactose free or keto preference. If you look at our recipe below, you'll see its simply chocolate emulsified with a liquid - in this case, cream. But that liquid could easily be tea, fruit juice, fruit puree, coconut milk, oat milk, nut milk or even just plain water. You'll notice a less rich flavor because of the lack of fat from the cream but isn't that what you are looking for anyway? Something very good but low in fat, dairy or sugar when you pick a high cocoa percentage chocolate or one made with an alternative sweetener. Experiment and enjoy!
Notice the use of the word "emulsify". If you simply stir the chocolate and the liquid together, they will not bind together completely. This can allow water activity to interfere with the shelf life of your recipe. Want to learn all about the science of ganache and creating shelf stable recipes? Sign up for our online Ganache Recipe Development Masterclass
In the mean time, you'll love the following recipe—it's simple and quick! But don't let its simplicity fool you. By using the very best chocolate you can find, you will end up with an absolutely sublime chocolate truffle.
Chocolate Truffle Recipe
Ingredients:
8 oz. (250 g) Chocolate (chopped fine and set aside in a 1 quart bowl)
1/3 cup (75 mL) Whipping Cream or another liquid such as tea, water or non-dairy nut milk.
1 cup Cocoa Powder or finely chopped chocolate or nuts to be used to coat the truffle balls.
Recipe:
- Bring cream just to a simmer (not boil) in a heavy saucepan. Remove the warm cream from the heat.
- Place your finely chopped chocolate into a large bowl.
- Stir cream slowly into the chocolate by hand with spatula or spoon until all chocolate is melted. Beat by hand or using hand-held emulsion blender until smooth and emulsified.
- Chill the truffle mixture in refrigerator until firm (approximately 1 – 3 hours).
- Scrape spoon or melon-ball cutter across surface of mixture; quickly press with fingertips into 1-inch (2.5 cm) balls. Roll immediately in cocoa powder, chopped chocolate or finely chopped nuts.
- Store in refrigerator, well-wrapped in plastic bag, for one week. Or freeze in plastic freezer bag for 1 – 2 months. Bring to room temperature in the bag to prevent condensation and serve.
For more chocolate recipes go to our Ecole Chocolat Recipe page.
Want to become expert in making all kinds of chocolate truffles just like the famous chocolatiers, check out our online program: PROFESSIONAL CHOCOLATIER
If you enjoyed this lesson, you might also like:
The Art of Dipping Chocolate Bonbons
Creating Chocolate Bonbons Using a Mold
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Photography by Jessica Washburn, Bliss Chocolatier and Ecole Chocolat
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Ecole Chocolat is a woman-owned and operated chocolate education organization. Founded by chocolatier, Pam Williams, we are the professional school of chocolate arts for both chocolatiers and chocolate makers. We also donate our time, leadership, expertise and funds to preserve the fine chocolate industry and save fine cacao.
