Chocolate Truffle Recipe: Very Easy and Adaptable

Chocolate Truffle Recipe: Very Easy and Adaptable

The key here is to use the finest quality ingredients: good chocolate with a high cocoa content, the finest unsalted butter and really good cream.  These chocolate truffles are incredibly rich, so a little goes a long way.  They are quite more-ish though; after half an hour, the thought “I could just manage one more…” may drift through your head.  Keep them in an airtight container in your refrigerator, if you can.

This recipe will make 35-50 Chocolate Truffles.

Equipment: you will need a saucepan of barely simmering water, over which you place a bowl in which to melt the ingredients.  Do not let the base of the bowl touch the water.

Easy Chocolate Truffle Recipe: Ingredients

8oz/225g High Cocoa content dark chocolate, coarsely chopped or broken

2oz/55g good unsalted butter

quarter pint/150ml whipping/double cream (minimum 36% fat)

(note: leave the cream liquid, no need to whip it)

Flavourings (optional): a few drops of vanilla extract, peppermint, your favourite liqueur, or any other flavouring you like.

To coat: choose between good quality cocoa powder, icing sugar, ground almonds or other nuts, ground coconut, or make some of each.

Easy Chocolate Truffle Recipe: Method

Place the bowl over the simmering water, and put the broken/chopped chocolate and the cream into the bowl.  Stir very occasionally, just enough to help it along.  Once the chocolate has melted, add the butter, and once it has melted stir just enough to mix it thoroughly (note: too much stirring may make the chocolate go “grainy”).

Remove from the heat, allow to cool a little, then add any flavourings, if using – taste after adding a few drops and thoroughly mixing to see if you need to add any more.

Put into the refrigerator until set hard (at least eight hours).  You can speed this process up, (once the mixture and bowl have cooled a little, to minimise the risk of cracking) by putting the bowl into another, larger bowl, filled with iced water, and gently stirring from time to time.  Once the mixture has cooled enough, put into the freezer, removing and stirring at approximately twenty minute intervals until firm – doing it this way, your truffle mixture can be ready in about an hour.

 Put your chosen coating ingredients in bowls/saucers/trays, and have your storage container(s) ready for the truffles.

Using a teaspoon, dig out pieces of the mixture and form into balls using the warmth of your palms – you are going to get messy, sorry: truffles are typically an oval, slightly elongated egg-shape, but they can be made into whatever shape you like.  Once you have made all the truffles, roll them in your chosen coatings, then refrigerate in airtight boxes until needed.

Cook’s Tip: I have already suggested that you can vary the flavourings as you like (or use none, as I often prefer), but you can also add other ingredients to the melted mix, such as chopped nuts, finely chopped stem ginger (the type preserved in syrup), finely chopped glace cherries, dried sultanas, raisins, currants, cranberries (chopped as necessary) or even a handful of your favourite cookies/biscuits, crumbled.