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Chocolate Truffles
![Chocolate Truffles](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/11/21/dining/mb-chocolate-truffles/mb-chocolate-truffles-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 30 minutes, plus at least one hour’s chilling
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- ⅞cup heavy cream
- 8ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- Unsweetened cocoa powder as needed
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat cream in a pot until it steams. Put chocolate in a bowl, pour hot cream on top, and stir until chocolate is melted and incorporated into cream.
- Step 2
Chill until solid all the way through, 1 to 2 hours. Using a chilled melon baller or latex gloves to prevent the ganache from melting or sticking to your hands, scoop out about a tablespoonful and quickly roll it into a ball. Repeat, lining truffles on a plate or a baking sheet.
- Step 3
If truffles become too soft to handle, place them in refrigerator or freezer for a few minutes. Roll them in cocoa powder, confectioners’ sugar or a mixture of sugar and ground cinnamon. Serve immediately or store, wrapped in plastic, in refrigerator for up to four days.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
These were easy to make and tasted delicious. However, handling them to shape into balls was a mess and they looked terrible...essentially like small, powdery turds. I thought about naming them "reindeer droppings".
Second time around I poured the melted ganache mixture into a greased "petite treat" mold (any kind of candy or mini mold would work). Did the trick! After cooling I popped them out and dusted them with cocoa powder. A much better looking result.
Pour into a foil-lined square baking dish. Chill, lift and cut into small squares. These pieces I place into a quart-sized Chinese food plastic container half filled with cocoa, about three at a time. Close the lid and shake vigorously. The rattling around in the container knocks down the sharp edges and the cocoa covers them completely, all without making a mess. They emerge looking like actual truffles - a perfect ball shape is not needed.
I have made them like this for 35 years. I wouldn't do the mold thing (mentioned by some readers). I just keep putting them back in the freezer to harden up enough for me to ontinue perfecting the shape. Afterall, they are SUPPOSED to look like powdery ....truffles!
Thank you. This was helpful. I bought some silicon truffle molds and they worked well, especially with half an hour in the freezer before unmolding. I did not touch them with my hands but used a cold spoon to move them around in the cocoa and then put them in mini-muffin paper liners. Neat and very nice looking and so very delicious!
I put them in a square baking pan with sharp corners, lined with parchment. I put them in the refrigerator for a couple hours. I removed them from the pan and cut them into squares. Then dusted with a sugar/cocoa powder mix. Attractive treats with little handling.
I made these during a ten minute break between classes (teaching-from-home benefits). So easy, and kind of therapeutic to roll them around in cocoa and powdered sugar after a long workday. Even more therapeutic to eat four of them with a big glass of red wine!
I've used butter as iit makes the mixture easier to handle. Vanilla into the mix makes them richer.
I always use my trusty Super Shooter! When still warm, I pour it into the cylinder, that I have closed one end off with plastic wrap and a rubber band. Then into the fridge till cool. Meanwhile line a baking sheet with candy papers. When cool enough to hold its shape, but not so cold that it becomes hard I remove the plastic wrap and attach the star tip and start shooting. Voilá! Very pretty and clean hands! Then just dust with cocoa powder and refrigerate the ones you haven't eaten!
I substituted unsweetened coconut milk for cream and they were delicious and silky!
If your ganache SEIZED, like mine did, you can save it by either whisking in some hot milk, or boiling corn syrup. Start with a small amount of the ganache and add the hot syrup or milk a TBSP at a time, and once it is smoothed out add the rest of the warm broken ganache and mix until smooth. SAVED!! I did this in a panic while thinking I had ruined my expensive chocolate and cream, but it did work!! Mine seized because my chocolate was too dark-not enough sugar to bind it.
The reason they’re called truffles is because the irregular shape, when just scooped and not handled much, resembles the wild truffle that’s dug up. So easy and decadent. I also roll them in finely chopped nuts and sweetened or toasted coconut. They are even better with a tablespoon or two of your favorite liquor or liqueur. Endless combinations.
Super easy. I used 85% dark chocolate from Green&Blacks. I'm going to try another type with lower cocoa % next. Used a cookie scoop and placed in petit four cups after chilling. Dusted with cocoa. No handling.
These are very soft truffles, but delicious. I wore gloves to roll them which helped to shape. When I tried to roll them bare-handed it was a sticky mess.
I infused the cream with lavender and linden- brought the cream to steaming, added the dried flowers, and let it sit for half an hour or so. Then I strained it back into the pot and heated it back up. Absolutely amazing, and there are so many ways you could go with it.
I had the ingredients on hand (but I only had semisweet chocolate, still great) so I made these today and shaped them in small egg shapes and rolled them in cocoa and finely grated chocolate - truffle Easter eggs
If you place your hands in a freezer for an hour the chocolate will not melt when forming the truffles.
I made these and used Melissa Clark's recipe for Chocolate Shell coating for ice cream. Turns out that it works beautifully on truffles as well!
I can't find the equivalent of ⅞ cup in grams or centiliters (not from the US), can someone help?
7 ounces = 7/8 cup = 207 ml
I just made these and they are EASY and FANTASTIC. I put the ganache into a foil-lined baking dish, and refrigerated. Then pulled it out, set the foil on a cutting board and cut the chocolate into small squares using a very sharp knife. Then I put 3 or 4 at a time into a container with cocoa powder, put lid on and shook around. Not anywhere near as messy as I feared, and so very easy. This will be my go to chocolate gift from now on.
Can I roll these in Sea Salt?
Use 1 cup heavy cream. Bring cream to a simmer before turning off heat. Use a whisk to whip the mixture
Really good. Reading some of the comments about difficulties, I offer these considerations. The 8oz is a weighted measurement, not a cup. That makes a big difference in getting the consistency. After mixing heated cream and chocolate, when you put it in refrigerator, DO NOT COVER. You'll get condensation which will fall on the chocolate and ruin your ganache. Use a small melon scoop, which will give you a nice amount to roll. I dip mine in tempered chocolate. Fabulous!!
I put the mix into the fridge to fry hard so that I could shape them, but it never got firm. Still extremely loose that I can’t shape or do anything. Any suggestions? Thanks.
Chilled overnight because I was busy. Next day perfect consistency for using melon baller and gloved hands. I just used thin plastic food service gloves. Took off the gloves after I put the truffles in the storage and the ganache bowl in the sink. Cleanest cooking/baking project ever! And yummy
I also had way too soft truffles after chilling overnight, I weighed the 8 oz and I'm wondering if I should have used a measuring cup for the chocolate instead of a scale?
Going to add cinnamon and cayenne to cocoa next time
Loved this, made these twice in less than a week. First time I shaped them after an hour and 45 minutes with a chilled ice cream scoop, and shaping was easy. The scoop got it mostly round, and I was able to gently smooth out the shape with a light touch. Second time I let it chill three hours because I was doing other chores. Ironically the firmer ganache was harder to shape, because the chilled scoop didn’t scoop it as smoothly. Delicious either way! Prettier the first way, though.
I have made them like this for 35 years. I wouldn't do the mold thing (mentioned by some readers). I just keep putting them back in the freezer to harden up enough for me to ontinue perfecting the shape. Afterall, they are SUPPOSED to look like powdery ....truffles!
Easy peasy lemon squeezy dessert, and they look way fancier than the recipe would have you think! I recommend using a silicon mold to avoid dealing with melty chocolate on your hands and strange, unattractively shaped truffles. Let them freeze in the mold and they'll pop out nicely! Bring to room temperature to decorate :)
What am I missing here? our truffles were way too soft, could not be shaped into anything other than a puddle.
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