Photo: Shebeko (Shutterstock)
Chocolate truffles are the cheeseball of the dessert world: high-impact, low-effort, and they never fail to please a crowd. All you need to make them is high-quality chocolate, some sort of dairy, and a tasty dust, chopped nut, or sprinkle to roll them in. You can shape the ganache with your hands for a rustic, homemade vibe, but if you desire a truffle with a polished, chocolate shoppe look, go ahead and grab a melon baller.
A melon baller—or any small cookie dough scoop—makes an ideal truffle tool because it keeps your hands clean while ensuring your truffles are smooth, round, and uniform in size. The shape obviously won’t affect the taste of your chocolate treat, but it will make them look the part. (“The part” being “a fancy candy in a fancy confectionary.”)
Three easy truffle recipes
But before we get to that, let’s take a moment to appreciate the various combinations of chocolate and dairy you can use to make your ganache. You can keep it classic, with 12 ounces of chocolate (dark or milk) and 2/3 cup heavy cream; you can make Ween truffles with 3 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips, 8 ounces of cream cheese, and 3 cups powdered sugar; or you can add a bit of lactic tang by combining equal parts of crème fraîche and dark chocolate.
No matter which combination you choose, the process is the same: Gently melt the chocolate, stir in the dairy (and powdered sugar, if you’re using it), and let cool and/or chill in the fridge until firm. Now you’ll want to grab your melon baller.
Scoop your firmed up ganache into neat little balls, then roll the ball in cocoa powder, sprinkles, crushed pretzels, potato chips, crumbled Heath bars, shredded coconut, or chopped nuts. Eat immediately, or pop ‘em back in the fridge to firm up if needed. You’ll want to bring them to room temperature before serving, though—if you can wait that long.
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