Chocolate French Truffles Recipe

These French truffles are rich, decadent, and so easy to make.

Cuisine French

Diet Gluten Free

Prep Time 30

Chill Time 2

Total Time 2 30

Servings people

Calories 90kcal

Finely chop the chocolate. Place the chopped chocolate in a medium-sized bowl.
Warm the cream. In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a simmer (do not let the cream boil, too hot liquid can cause the chocolate to seize up, causing a grainy, dull-looking ganache.). Small bubbles will appear around the edges of the saucepan. Immediately remove the cream from the heat.
Stir the ganache. Add the vanilla extract and salt. Using a rubber spatula, stir until the chocolate has completely melted. If solid pieces of chocolate remain, you can microwave the bowl in 5-second increments, while stirring in-between until the chocolate has melted and the ganache has formed. Or you can use a double boiler to warm the chocolate mixture.
Cover and refrigerate. Place a piece of plastic directly on top of the ganache. This will prevent condensation. Refrigerate the ganache for at least 2 hours before rolling it into truffles. The ganache is ready to be rolled when it feels firm to the touch.

Prepare the truffles. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. To a small bowl add some sifted cocoa powder. Scoop the set truffle mixture into 2 teaspoon-sized mounds, around 15 grams. I like to weigh the mounds on a food scale.
Round out the truffles. Use food gloves if desired. With your clean palms, carefully roll each truffle into a round ball. Set the truffles onto the lined baking sheet and into the freezer for 5 minutes. Remove the truffles are re-roll the balls once more to ensure they are perfectly smooth.
Coat the truffles. Roll the truffles gently in the bowl of cocoa powder to coat them evenly, and place them on a clean plate or serving tray. Cover tightly and store truffles in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Tips

- Use gloves. Wearing rubber gloves or coating your hands in some cocoa powder will make rolling the truffles less messy.

- Finely chop the chocolate. Chopping chocolate into finer pieces will help the chocolate to emulsify with the warm cream more quickly.

- Chocolate quality matters. Use high-quality dark chocolate bars for best results. French truffles are typically made of 60-70% dark chocolate. Chocolate chips can work but are not recommended. I love using chocolate bars from brands like Ghirardelli or Lindt for this recipe.

- Weigh the ingredients. Using a kitchen food scale will help ensure the accuracy of this recipe.

- Chill for at least 2 hours. The ganache needs to be set before rolling which will take around 2 hours. If the ganache is too hard to roll, let it come back to room temperature for a few minutes.
- How do I fix grainy, split ganache?
  Slowly add warm heavy cream to the mixture and stir until you see a glossy smooth sheen. You can also emulsify by using a whisk or handheld immersion blender.