I know what you are thinking, and I am here to tell you~ “It’s NOT impossible!”
I want to show you how to make chocolate truffles the easy way and you will be so impressed with yourself you will want to start making truffles everyday!
There is something about mastering something anything…… that up until now has seemed a daunting task.
The pride you will feel when you are done making not one, not two, but FOUR different varieties of truffles in one day will have you over the moon!
Okay, okay, of course you can start with just one flavor ~ pick your favorite!
I will tell you a secret too, you can alter all of these base recipes with another flavor of your choice~ THAT’S how easy truffle making can be!
You don’t like Cranberries eh?
No problem, substitute with BLUEBERRY!
But let me just say one thing about the Cranberry Truffles ~ they were my favorite! And you guys know I am not a great fan of White Chocolate!
I think it was my homemade Cranberry Sauce that did it for me! Holy YUMM!
You say “No way” to Peanut Butter? How about Nutella? Or even Almond Butter for a healthier alternative?
Not diggin’ my Pistachio Infused White Chocolate Bon Bon? Try making them coffee flavored!
Read up about ganache here since this is essentially what we are making.
That’s right, Ganache in all its glory!
You will definitely want to use REAL CHOCOLATE COUVERTURE here, not chocolate chips.
I have a great place for you guys to pick up a better quality chocolate and the mold that I’m using here as well and they ship worldwide!
CLICK HERE Just be sure to tell them Gretchen’s bakery sent ya so I get a credit! 🙂
And by the way, it seems Heavy Cream is different in other countries than it is here, so you can use whipping cream or regular cream here
You can also veganize these recipes by using vegan chocolates and substituting the cream for almond milk
I am using weight measure here for these recipes since it is the easiest way to be consistent when measuring oddly shaped things such as chocolate.
I don’t know how you are getting your chocolate, sometimes it is in callets or chip form, some are bigger coins, some are blocks that you will chop by hand.
So as you can see already there is going to be a big discrepancy with volume measure just based on all those things I just named.
But keep in mind that generally 1 cup of chopped chocolate weighs in at about 6oz per cup
- Heavy Cream ½ cup (120ml)
- 60% Couverture Chocolate 8oz (224g)
- Creamy Peanut Butter 4 Tablespoons (80g)
- Miniature Chocolate Chips ½ cup (113g)
- Dry Roasted *Salted peanuts ½ cup (113g)
- *optional salted or not salted
- Boil the heavy cream and pour over the finely chopped chocolate to melt.
- Whisk smooth
- Add the peanut butter and whisk smooth
- Set aside until it is firm enough to scoop
- Scoop into 1" balls and then roll in chopped peanuts and mini chocolate chips
As long as you are working with gloved hands there is not risk of bacteria getting trapped inside the truffle, so you can store truffles for up to 4 days at room temperature in a cool dry place.
Freezing of dipped truffles is not the greatest since chocolate does not like condensation and freezing almost always produces condensation on the thaw.
- Heavy Cream 6 fl oz (177ml)
- Fresh Grated Ginger Root 1 teaspoon (7g)
- 70% Couverture Chocolate 8oz (226g)
- Milk Chocolate Couverture 8oz (226g)
- Crystallized Ginger 2 Tablespoons *optional ingredient
- Grate the ginger into the haevy cream and bring to a boil.
- Remove from heat, cover and allow to steep for at least an hour or up to 3 hours.
- Strain the ginger from the cream (discard ginger)
- Re-Boil the ginger infused heavy cream and then pour over the finely chopped chocolate to melt.
- Whisk smooth
- Set aside until it is firm enough to scoop
- Scoop into 1" balls and then re- roll for a perfect shape.
- Use the "predipping method" as shown in the video then dip in tempered milk Chocolate couverture or candy melts
As long as you are working with gloved hands there is not risk of bacteria getting trapped inside the truffle, so you can store truffles for up to 4 days at room temperature in a cool dry place.
Freezing of dipped truffles is not the greatest since chocolate does not like condensation and freezing almost always produces condensation on the thaw.
I am using the basic truffle cup chocolate molds for this one, but you can scoop ganache and roll into truffles if you do not want to purchase the molds.
- Heavy Cream 5fl oz (150ml)
- White Chocolate Couverture 9 ounces (255g)
- Cranberry Sauce 2 Tablespoons (40g) *homemade or store bought
- Dried Cranberries 3 Tablespoons (36g)
- Boil the heavy cream and pour over the chopped white chocolate to melt, whisk smooth.
- Add the cranberry sauce and chopped cranberries and whisk to combine well.
- Set aside until the ganache has set just enough to pipe through a pastry bag.
- In the meantime prepare the chocolate molds with tempered white chocolate as shown in the video.
- Pipe the ganache into the truffle shells and then add more white chocolate to seal each one.
- Once they have set (shouldn't take longet than 10 minutes if the chocolate is properly tempered)
- Turn the truffles out onto a parchment paper and drizzle with red colored chocolate
As long as you are working with gloved hands there is not risk of bacteria getting trapped inside the truffle, so you can store truffles for up to 4 days at room temperature in a cool dry place.
Freezing of dipped truffles is not the greatest since chocolate does not like condensation and freezing almost always produces condensation on the thaw.
- Heavy Cream ½ cup (120ml)
- White Chocolate Couverture 8oz (224g)
- Finely ground lightly toasted Pistachios 1½ cup (85g)
- Bring ½ cup fine chopped pistachios and heavy cream to a boil.
- Remove from heat, cover and allow to steep for at least 1 hour preferably overnight.
- Re- Boil the pistachio infused heavy cream then pour over the finely chopped white chocolate
- Whisk to melt the chocolate
- Set aside until it is scoop-able consistency and scoop 1" balls
- Re-roll the balls to a perfect shape and use the "pre-dipping" method to coat the balls as shown in the video.
- Roll in the other portion of chopped pistachios
As long as you are working with gloved hands there is not risk of bacteria getting trapped inside the truffle, so you can store truffles for up to 4 days at room temperature in a cool dry place.
Freezing of dipped truffles is not the greatest since chocolate does not like condensation and freezing almost always produces condensation on the thaw.
30 Comments
Gretchen merchens coins are not couverture chocolate?
THAT’S CORRECT IT IS COMPOUND CHOCOLATE
Gretchen, you are a darling
My favourite flavours, can’t wait to try these out. Can I freeze them if I don’t dip them? Can I dip them later?
Great! Yes you can!
Hello Gretchen! If I wanted to fill these with caramel, what kind should I use? Happy Holidays from Indiana!
Hey there, I dont have a recipe for caramel candies (yet) it is s different ratio of ingredients and also preparation, but in the meantime if you have the chocolate molds you can fill them with caramel sauce!
That was exactly what I was thinking. Thank you!
If you dip them how long do they keep refrigerated? thanks!
about a month – 6 weeks
Can I make ganache in a way that it can stay at room temperature for months? Do you have a recipe for a filling like the Lindor truffle filling which lasts for a long time in the truffles? I have bought truffles from a local chocolate shop which are filled with ganache and last for months.
I do not have that recipe. although truffles are fine to keep at room temperature for even up to a month, I wouldnt go longer than that.
Hi Gretchen,
Could you please give the recipe for “yellow colored glaze” which I want to drizzle it upon my coconut-mango pudding which i did last night?
Just similar to what you have done upon your cranberry truffles? Many Thanks 🙂
it is just colored chocolate
Hi Gretchen,
For the Pistachio truffles, do you leave the covered saucepan with the pistachio infused heavy cream on the counter or in the refrigerator overnight?
I’m planning to make these for Valentine’s Day. Thank you for the recipes!
If overnight= fridge
if just an hour or two=no refridge is fine
Thank you for your great website. I used your chocolate sugar cookie dough for hamantaschen for a party. Everyone loved them. The dough is delicious. Thank you again.
Can I use chocolate compound for making ganache or truffles. Pls reply
No it will not work
Gretchen, I am a little confused by your responses to various questions. Can you please clarify. Do the prepared truffles need to be refrigerated? If not how long can you store them at room temperature. The recipe says 4 days but then you said 4-6 weeks, then you said no longer than a month. If I have leftover mix can I freeze this, then thaw and roll?
Sorry for the confusion.
Truffles do not have to be refrigerated at all.
BUT i guess I felt strange saying this, since so many variables can play into a disaster scenario with different folks handling things differently (or should I say, not correctly) so that being said I guess I felt the need to put a more reasonable time frame on these, since you just never know how people are doing things.
So to answer you – Truffles are meant to be eaten at room temperature, that is how you get the smooth creaminess of a truffle, YUMM! And most likely they willnot last past 4 days! LOL But of course if you are preparing them ahead of time, they will be fine is a cool dry place for a couple weeks!!
The refrigerator / freezer for finished truffles (believe it or not) will decrease shelf life because of the condensation on the thaw and create a breeding ground for bacteria (they like damp and warm environments which is exactly what you create when you go from extreme temperatures)
But for unrolled, leftover ganaches yes to freezing, and then thaw and reroll (with gloved hands always so you do not introduce bacteria from your hands into the ganache or truffle)
I hope that helps! Sorry for the confusion!
What brand of chocolate is considered to be coveture? Where can I purchase it?/can I use white chocolate chips or Ghirardelli chocolate wafers?
Hi There all the “underlined” words in the blog post are clickable links to see the products I recommend and what I am talking about