Is there anything better than a delicious dessert that can be made with only 4 ingredients?! One of my favorite items from Trader Joe's is French truffles but after trying this recipe, I'll probably opt to make them myself.
I had a bunch of my girlfriends over and we tried our hand at making these just in time for Valentine's Day. I have to warn you that this is messy. Some people do buy truffle molds so they don't have to hand roll the truffles but that isn't truly "artisan" is it? (Read: Simply not glory worthy.) The girls felt it was on the messy side but I think they liked their finished product.
Enough with the chit chat, here's the recipe:
Ingredients12 oz. chocolate chips with 60% or more cocao
1/2 cup of heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dutch processed cocoa powder or chopped nuts to coat
Directions
1. Heat the heavy cream on low until simmering.
2. Melt the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl, like a Pyrex, on half power for 30 seconds at a time taking care to stir between each 30 second interval.
3. Pour the heavy cream into the melted chocolate and stir until fully corporated and smooth.
4. Stir in the vanilla extract.
5. Allow to cool.6. Use a melon baller to scoop the chocolate and roll into a ball by hand. Place on a plate or tray until all the balls have been formed.
7. Roll the balls in the cocoa powder or chopped nuts.
Additional Notes
Make sure the cream is hotter than the chocolate. The chocolate doesn't have to be fully melted but adding colder cream to already heated chocolate will cause the chocolate to seize and it will not melt smoothly.
You can place the chocolate in jars in a slow cooker filled with hot water to melt the chocolate and keep it at the right temperature if you are making a large amount. Make sure no water gets into the chocolate or that will also cause the chocolate to seize.
The chocolate can be place in the freezer to speed cooling but I wouldn't recommend it. The best tip I ever heard from a professional chocolate maker was that the slower a chocolate cools, the better the texture and flavor of the end product. I placed each finished truffle in a mini cupcake liner and kept them in a sealed container in the fridge. Allow to come to room temperature before eating if you place them in the fridge.
