Are you looking for an easy and fun homemade Valentine gift? Making truffles at home is easier than you might think! You can customize them with whatever your favorite flavors are. I made some milk chocolate and dark chocolate truffles for Valentine’s Day this year. Fair warning …. your hands will get messy making these! However, they are soooo good. I don’t think I’d try this one with younger kids but it is a great recipe for older kids to help out with.
Dark Chocolate
I’ll start with the dark chocolate. The quality of your chocolate will determine your quality of the final truffle. I used a combination of mini Belgium chocolate chips and dark chocolate bars. You can really make whatever flavor you like best. Make mint, mocha, orange, ginger or whatever you love! You can also always make all of the truffles the same flavor. I split up the recipe and made it into coconut, dark chocolate and mint chocolate truffles. I used a ratio of 1.5 times more chocolate than heavy cream for the dark chocolate truffles. In total I ended up with about 46 truffles. The final amount will depend on how small or big you roll the truffles. You can also roll the truffles in chopped pistachios or walnuts instead of sprinkles. The possibilities are endless!
Dark Chocolate Truffles
Delicious Dark Chocolate Truffles
- 300 grams heavy cream (10.5 oz)
- 450 grams dark chocolate (finely chopped (15.75 oz))
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
- 1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract (optional)
- Sprinkles or Cocoa powder
- 6 Tbsp desiccated coconut (optional (split in half – use half for rolling))
Finely chop the chocolate and place it in a heatproof bowl.
Heat the heavy cream over medium heat until it starts steaming and just bubbling on the edges.
Pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Cover the bowl and let it set for 1-2 minutes.
Stir together the chocolate and cream until it is smooth. You will have about 2 1/4 cups.
If you are making more than one flavor of truffle, pour the chocolate into separate bowls. I poured roughly half into one bowl and 1/4 into another bowl and the last 1/4 into a 3rd bowl.
While the chocolate is still warm and fluid, add your flavors. If you are using 1/4 of the mixture, stir in 1 tsp of vanilla until evenly mixed in and place the bowl in the refrigerator.
For the other 1/4 of chocolate, stir in 1 tsp of vanilla and 3 Tbsp of desiccated coconut. Place the bowl into the refrigerator. (reserve the other 3 Tbsp of coconut for rolling the truffles later.
For the 1/2 of mixture, add 1 1/2 tsp of mint extract. Stir the chocolate until the mint is completely mixed in and place the bowl in the refrigerator.
The chocolate needs to firm up some in the refrigerator so that it can be rolled. Check it after one hour. If it is still too soft, keep checking every 15-20 minutes. My larger bowl took about 1 1/2 hours while the smaller amounts were ready after about an hour. You should be able to scoop out the chocolate with a spoon.
Roll about 1 to 1 1/2 tbsp of chocolate quickly in your hands and place the balls on a tray lined with parchment or wax paper. The chocolate will melt in your hands so you will want to work quickly. If it is too soft to form then place it back in the refrigerator to firm up more.
Once you have rolled the truffles place them back into the refrigerator for at least 10-15 minutes.
While the truffles are chilling some, prepare sprinkles, coconut, and/or cocoa powder to roll them. You can place them into mini cupcake liners or just into a container once they are rolled. You can store them at room temperature in an air tight container or in the refrigerator.
Roll the coconut truffles in the reserved 3 Tbsp of coconut. (Roll the truffle briefly in your hands first so the coconut sticks to the outside of the truffle easily.
Roll the rest of the truffles in cocoa powder that has been sifted or sprinkles. You can use whatever color or type of sprinkles that you want. For Valentine’s Day, pink and purple with hearts are beautiful!
Enjoy!
Milk Chocolate
Now, for the milk chocolate. I found out the hard way that you need more chocolate in your ratio of cream to chocolate when you are working with milk chocolate. My first attempt ended up making a lovely dip but not truffles. In my second try I used twice as much chocolate as cream and that worked well. Again, there are endless possibilities for flavors. I made two flavors this time. I stayed with a plain milk chocolate and a coconut milk chocolate. Whatever flavor you use, it is fun to make your own!
Milk Chocolate Truffles
Delicious milk chocolate truffles that are easy to make and tasty!
- 300 grams milk chocolate (10.5 oz)
- 150 grams heavy cream (or double cream) (5.25 oz)
- 2 tsp vanilla (optional)
- 6 Tbsp desiccated coconut (divided) (half for rolling and half in the truffles)
Finely chop the chocolate and place it in a heatproof bowl.
Heat the heavy cream over medium heat until it starts steaming and just bubbling on the edges.
Pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Cover the bowl and let it set for 2 minutes.
Stir together the chocolate and cream until it is smooth. You will have about 1 1/2 cups.
If you are making more than one flavor of truffle, pour the chocolate into separate bowls. I poured roughly half into one bowl and the other half into another bowl.
You can customize the flavors here. While the chocolate is still warm and fluid, add your flavors. For coconut, add 3 tbsp of desiccated coconut and 1 tsp of vanilla to one of the bowls. Stir these together until well blended.Place the bowl into the refrigerator.
In the 2nd bowl, stir in 1 tsp of vanilla until it is evenly mixed in. Place the bowl in the refrigerator.
Let the chocolate firm some in the refrigerator. Check the chocolate in an hour. Once it has hardened and you need a spoon to scoop it out, they are ready to roll. If it is still too soft then leave it another 15 minutes and check it again.
Line a tray with wax paper or parchment. Roll the chocolate into truffles by the spoonful and place them on the wax paper. Your hands will get messy.
Place the rolled truffles back into the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes.
While the truffles are chilling, prepare your sprinkles, coconut and/or cocoa powder.
Briefly roll the chilled truffle in your hands and roll it in the sprinkles. When you are rolling the coconut truffles, roll them in the reserved 3 tbsp of coconut.
You can place the rolled truffles into mini cupcake liners or into a container. They can be stored at room temperature in an air tight container or in the refrigerator.
Enjoy!
Happy Valentine’s Day!