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How to Make Chocolate Truffles

Chocolate tastes best when you make it yourself.

You may think chocolate truffles are too fancy to make yourself, but that's so not the case. Chocolate truffles are simply a basic ganache center rolled or dipped in some type of coating — like chopped nuts, cocoa powder, confectioners' sugar, small sprinkles or melted chocolate. See, you can make chocolates at home!

To make perfectly creamy and tasty chocolate, there are three things you should keep in mind. First, use only top-quality ingredients — since truffles contain only a small number of ingredients, those ingredients need to be the best. Second, choose chocolate you like to eat, because if you don't like the chocolate you certainly won't like the finished truffles. Third, keep your tools and hands as cold as possible throughout the process to make forming and coating easier.

Now, just follow these steps to make your own batch of tasty truffles at home.

1 Chop the Chocolate

To make about 20 truffles, unwrap 8 ounces of semisweet or bitter-sweet chocolate and place it on a cutting board. With a large sharp knife, finely chop the chocolate. The finer the chocolate is chopped, the more easily it will melt.

Place chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set aside.

TIP

Choose high quality chocolate with at least 50% to 70% cacao for the best result. While both semisweet and bitter-sweet chocolate produce delicious truffles, I prefer mine made with semisweet. Ultimately, choose chocolate you like — because if you don't like the chocolate, you won't like the truffles!

2 Heat the Cream

Bring 1/2 cup of heavy cream to a simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently and being careful not to scald your milk. Once it simmers take off the heat.

TIP

If you're adding flavoring to your truffles, stir it into the cream just after you remove the cream from the heat. Try adding either 1/8 teaspoon peppermint extract, 1/4 teaspoon almond extract, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 2 tablespoons amaretto or 1/4 cup Kahlua to change up your truffles' flavor.

3 Make Chocolate Ganache

Add 1 tablespoon unsalted butter to the chopped chocolate. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and butter. Loosely cover with a lid or clean dish towel and let sit, untouched, for 5 minutes. Then stir gently with a rubber spatula until the chocolate is fully melted, creamy and smooth.

Let cool, cover and place in the refrigerator for about 2 hours until the mixture is stiff enough to roll into balls.

4 Roll Ganache Into Balls

Use a melon baller, small cookie scoop or teaspoon to scoop a small amount of ganache. Quickly roll with your hands into a ball. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roll the rest of the ganache into balls in the same way.

To minimize melting of the ganache, keep your scoop and hands as cold as possible. Chill the scoop before starting and periodically rinse your hands in cold water, drying thoroughly before continuing to roll. If the ganache becomes too soft, chill for several minutes in the refrigerator.

TIP

Rolling truffles can be messy! Wear thin, disposable plastic gloves if you'd like to keep the chocolaty mess off your hands.

5 Chill the Balls

Refrigerate rolled truffle centers for 1 to 2 hours or overnight.

6 Roll in Coating

Truffles can be rolled in a variety of coatings, including cocoa powder, confectioners' sugar, toasted coconut, small sprinkles, crushed peppermint candies or finely chopped pecans, almonds, hazelnuts or pistachios.

Place your chosen coating in a small bowl or shallow dish. Roll each truffle to coat.

Store in the refrigerator for up to about 1 week.

TIP

To coat in chocolate, microwave about 8 ounces of chocolate at 50 percent power for 1 and a half minutes. Remove from the microwave and stir. If not completely smooth and melted, return the chocolate to the microwave and continue heating at 50 percent power for 30 to 45 seconds at a time until melted, stirring after every interval. Use a fork to dip each cold truffle center into the melted chocolated, coating each truffle completely. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet until set.

7 Enjoy!

For maximum creaminess, let truffles stand at room temperature for about 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

About Kitchen Is My Playground

Tracey is the creator of the popular blog The Kitchen Is My Playground, which she founded in 2011. Her goal is to share recipes with other home cooks looking to create flavorful (and somewhat adventurous) food for their families and friends. Connect with her on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter or Google+.