Chocolate Truffle Recipe

Can’t choose between candy and chocolate? Have the best of both worlds.

Cream, sugar and chocolate is all you need to create decadent, beautiful, gift-worthy balls of homemade chocolate truffles. Exquisite chocolate ganache, delectable milk chocolate and coffee, melted chocolate in every bite — this exquisite chocolate truffle recipe will melt the hearts of everyone chocolate lover or not.

This hot cafe mocha chocolate truffles recipe is perfect for coffee and chocolate lovers who need something sweet to satiate their chocolate cravings but it’s even better as it has a hint of caffeine to jump-start the day. I got the idea of making these mocha chocolate truffles after I stumbled upon this recipe and decided to modify it. However, if your children or family prefer a chocolate coating or rich chocolate ganache centers you can follow the original recipe to get hot chocolate truffles.

What is a chocolate truffle?

Chocolate truffles are a type of bite-sized chocolate confectionary with rich chocolate ganache centers and coated with a chocolate mixture and cocoa powder in the shape of little balls. They are some of the most presentable and simplest candies to make! Chocolate truffles are an easy recipe as it contains simple ingredients such as melted chocolate and warmed cream that is all melted over low heat then cooled and molded. You read it right! It’s completely bake-free.

Only ever heard of the term chocolate ganache in fancy dessert restaurants? Fear not! Making chocolate ganache is no Herculean task as it’s simply a fancy term for chocolate that has been melted in heavy cream. Sometimes these creamy truffles are also coated with white chocolate, unsweetened cocoa powder, hazelnuts etc. for an added twist to fit the special occasion.

Ingredients in this chocolate truffle recipe

To get the best chocolate truffles from this mocha chocolate truffle recipe, here is a summary of the ingredients required in this recipe for you to bring along to ensure you don’t miss these ingredients while you grocery shop!

• Chocolate Chips or Chocolate Bars

The best truffle mixture and truffle centers come from using high-quality chocolate to yield rich flavors. Popular brands of chocolate to use for chocolate truffle recipes include Lindt, Lindor, Guittard , Scharffen Berger and Ghirardelli’s. For the best homemade truffles, good quality chocolate with 62% and above of cacao content will yield the best results but make sure it’s no more than 70% as the chocolate will be too bitter and drier hence you won’t get creamy truffles.

If you aren’t a huge fan of sweet desserts you can always opt for semisweet chocolate chips, bittersweet chocolate, or dark chocolate instead.

• heavy cream or thickened cream or heavy whipping cream

 Do not use half-and-half or substitute it with milk as the heavy thick cream is a base for the creaminess of the truffles and following the correct proportions according to this chocolate truffles recipe will help them set properly.

• Instant Coffee

This gives your classic French chocolate truffles a twist and a shot of bitterness to balance the richness from all the ounces of chocolate in this truffles recipe. You can opt for caffeinated or decaf. The aromatic coffee in this recipe serves mocha flavored chocolate truffles that add variety to the truffles you normally see being served

• vanilla powder or vanilla extract

This touch of flavor can be substituted with almond extract or coconut extract or even liqueur if you’re up for it.

• sugar
• salt

CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE RECIPE

scroll ⬇️ to get the detailed and printable recipe

Tips for Success on how to make Chocolate Truffles

1. Try to opt for chocolate bars instead of chocolate chips.

This is because chocolate chips tend to contain more stabilizers to help maintain their rigid conical-like shape. Hence, they won’t melt as easily as chocolate bars will thus making your life much harder.

In this chocolate truffles recipe, I used chocolate chips as I happened to have a surplus at home and didn’t want them to go to waste. However, with constant patient stirring over low heat, my chocolate chips melted just fine and I had myself smooth balls of delicious chocolate truffles as well.

2. If you use chocolate bars cut them up finely

This is also to make your life easier and speed up the preparation process as the chocolate melts faster when they have a bigger surface area.

3. Heat cream separately before adding it to the melting chocolate

Room temperature chocolate is fine too but adding hot cream will help the already melting chocolate melt even faster.

4. Wear latex gloves or disposable gloves while rolling

If you don’t refrigerate your chocolate ganache long enough coupled with the fact that creamy chocolate truffles tend to be really sticky and harder to work with, then it is advised to put on some gloves or coat your hands with cocoa powder while you make your ganache balls.

5. Speed is key in warmer humid weather

Ah the Malaysian weather strikes again! If you are from more humid and warmer countries and you choose to coat your rolled truffles with optional coatings then you gotta do it fast. As the humidity and warmth in the air will quickly bring up the temperature of the chocolate that you just chilled faster as compared to cooler environments. This will cause your small pieces of chocolate truffles to become sticky very fast and incredibly hard to deal with.

How to Save Your Chocolate Truffle

Ganache is too soft even after chilling?

This may be due to an incorrect proportion of chocolate to heavy cream ratio. You may say hey you followed this chocolate truffle recipe word by word but sometimes the brand of ingredients used as well as measurement errors may affect as well.

What you can do to save your chocolate truffles (they’re not failed yet!) is to reheat your truffle balls in a large bowl over low heat and add more chocolate. Once it has all melted you can chill it and try again until it somewhat solidifies enough for you to roll small balls of chocolate truffles

Truffle Balls are too dry to roll in the coating?

What you can do is to mash the balls in your palms and reshape them so the sticky and moister insides are now facing the outside and are now sticky enough to stick to the coating.

Chocolate Truffle Ganache Ideas

Here comes the best part about this chocolate truffle recipe is soooooooo versatile! And its versatility is twofold. The chocolate truffle content AND the coating options.

If the mocha twist to the truffles weren’t enough for you, here are some of the best chocolate truffle ganache ideas all adapted from this basic truffle recipe.

• Chocolate Covered Strawberry Truffles
• Red Velvet Cake Truffles
• No-Bake Peanut Butter Truffles
• Oreo Truffles
• No Bake Tiramisu Truffles
• Mint Truffles: Stir 1/4 teaspoon of pure peppermint extract into your chocolate ganache mixture
• Raspberry or Strawberry Center Truffles: Place the fruit of your choice on a toothpick and coat the cooled chocolate ganache around it then chill
• Orange Zest Truffles: Add some orange zest into your chocolate ganache mixture
• White Chocolate Truffles: Replace your chocolate with white chocolate
• Kahlua Chocolate Truffle
• Salted Caramel Fudge Truffle

And so many more! So feel free to experiment by using this chocolate truffle recipe with step instructions as a base.

Chocolate Truffle Coating Ideas

Here’s your chance to transform these mundane normal truffles from a chocolate truffles recipe to a great gift for valentine’s day or as the star of the party desserts.

• cocoa powder: traditional but classic
• colorful / single colored sprinkles: bright and colorful they are bound to brighten up your dessert
• Nuts: finely chopped hazelnuts, pecans and pistachios are a popular choice
• Powdered sugar / cinnamon sugar: for an extra burst of sweetness once these balls touch the tip of your tongue
• shaved chocolate / finely chopped chocolate: chocolate upon chocolate upon chocolate, yum!
• Nutella coating: who can resist this crowd-pleaser?
• Melted chocolate: similar to the Nutella coating, this sticky deliciousness is simply irresistible! Just be sure you have a firm ganache before coating
• Fine shredded coconut: they could be sweetened or unsweetened
• Edible gold or silver dust: glam up this chocolate truffle recipe
• Sanding Sugar: Shine shimmer and glimmer! 
• Crushed dehydrated berries: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries all work as long as you crush them well so they stick
• Crushed candy canes: in preparation for the Christmas spirit
• Chocolate sprinkles: you can’t have enough chocolate

How to Store Chocolate Truffles

This easy chocolate truffle recipe yields 18 delightful truffles. In order to prolong its shelf life what you can do is wrap each ball in saran wrap or Cellophane paper and then place them in an airtight container in a single layer and chill them (especially if you live in a warmer climate). However, if you are looking for convenience, simply placing these chocolate truffle balls in an airtight container will do. They will last up to a few months however the coatings might melt away over time.

How to Enjoy this Mocha Chocolate Truffles Recipe

These truffles transform into a glass of hot mocha!

Heat up a glass of hot milk with or without foam/froth. If you froth the milk, you may add the froth after the truffles melt in the milk. Dunk a mocha chocolate truffle into a glass of hot milk, stir and melt it. Add milk froth or whipped cream or marshmallows if you like. And there you have it!

If you have tried this Chocolate Truffle Recipe and loved it, I have more recipes in my recipe section for you to master. For you, chocolate lovers out there, here are other chocolate-themed recipes such as chocolate coated ice cream cake and heart shaped chocolates.

For my most popular recipes, you can give my Cheesecake Recipe series a go. For example,  my Japanese Cheesecake, Matcha Cheesecake, Blueberry Cheesecake, Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake, and for those who want to indulge without guilt — Low Carb Cheesecake and Burnt Cheesecake both are keto desserts perfect for those who are in a keto or low carb diet.