So simple to make, these handmade chocolate truffles will never fail to impress! They are perfect to give as gifts when wrapped in pretty boxes or upscaled packaging and can be made very cheaply too!
The basic mixture will give you a delicious chocolate truffle. If you want something more adventurous you can add many other flavours and textures. The list is almost inexhaustible!
This is the basic recipe – a few flavour suggestions will follow but feel free to make your own combinations.
Handmade Chocolate Truffles Recipe
Handmade Chocolate Truffles
Easy and delicious bites of chocolatey heaven! This recipe is so simple to make and the truffles make excellent gifts!
- 200 grams dark chocolate (broken into pieces)
- 100 ml fresh double cream
- 25 grams butter
- cocoa powder (for dusting)
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Place the pieces of chocolate into a heatproof bowl
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Pour the cream into a small saucepan and heat until just at boiling point BUT do not allow the cream to boil.
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Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and leave for a minute or two to allow the chocolate to melt.
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Stir the cream and chocolate together until thoroughly combined
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If the mixture cools too quickly before the chocolate melts completely, put the bowl over a saucepan of just simmering water to heat it up gently and stir together until combined.
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Remove the bowl from the heat as soon as the chocolate has melted.
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finally, add the butter in small pieces and stir thoroughly into the chocolate mixture
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The mixture will look quite runny but place the bowl in the fridge for an hour or so until it becomes firm
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Use a fine sieve to cover a tea plate with a dusting of cocoa powder ready to roll the truffles
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Use a teaspoon to measure out small amounts of the mixture and place them straight onto the cocoa powder
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Dust you fingers with cocoa powder to stop the truffles sticking to your fingers and roll each one into a ball. The mixture should make somewhere between 40 – 50 truffles
That’s it – that really is all there is too it! But the taste of these truffles is amazing – a chocolate lover’s dream!
Of course, how cheaply they can be made is entirely dependent on the quality of ingredients you use.
Cream is expensive but a little goes a long way! It is the quality of chocolate that can add additional costs. Many recipes call for really good quality chocolate and if you intend to give these truffles as a gift to someone who really does have a taste for the upper end of the chocolate market then they may notice the difference!
However, I have made these truffles many times using a budget supermarket basic chocolate (Asda Basics 30p/100g bar) and everyone has enjoyed them! So, these truffles can be made cheaply too!
If you want to make more than this quantity, simply remember to use twice as much chocolate to cream ratio (ml are equal to grams, so that makes things easy to work out!!)
Other Flavours
- Alcohol such as brandy, whisky or rum are popular choices for pairing with chocolate. If you wish to add some to your mixture, a tablespoon will be about right for the above quantities.
- Instead of rolling the truffles in cocoa powder they can also be finished off with other flavours too. Try rolling them in chopped nuts or desiccated coconut.
- For someone who likes things a little spicy – add very finely chopped crystallised or stem ginger to the truffle mixture.
- Flavours can be added to the cream too. Infusing the cream with other ingredients is a very easy way to add extra flavours to your truffles. When you have heated your cream, add your choice of flavourings and leave to steep. Some ingredients will only need a few minutes (such as teas or lavender as they only need a short time to extract their flavour without resulting in bitter or soapy tones) others can be left overnight. Before using strain the cream and make sure you still have the same amount – the added ingredients may absorb some of the liquid. Heat and use as above.
- For a really special finish the rolled truffles can be encased in a chocolate shell! Dip the truffles into melted chocolate and place on a tray lined with parchment paper to set.
- There are also a good range of natural flavourings available in supermarkets and these can add some lovely flavours to homemade truffles with very little fuss.
If you would like to make white chocolate truffles you will need to use extra chocolate so 100g cream to 250g white chocolate.
Using just basic chocolate, you can make this batch of 40-50 small cocoa dusted truffles for around £1.50. Make a variety of flavours, pop them in a pretty box or a cellophane bag tied with pretty ribbon and you have a very economic gift for someone special! Or you can divide the amount between two or even three gifts and please even more people!
