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Summer Truffles Recipe: How To Make Them

It’s the end of the year around here, which means teacher gifts. Lots and lots of teacher gifts. The wee ones are in two different schools. And there are all the special teachers (music, art, gym, Spanish), in addition to the teachers and aides and office staff and oh yeah, bus drivers. Needless to say, that adds up quickly when contributing to the class gifts and finding cute little gifts or gift cards for everyone. I just don’t have that kind of money to spend, but I want them all to know how much we appreciate them.

That’s where getting “fancy” (but oh so easy) comes in handy. Introducing my “summer truffles” – which means I don’t have to sit over my stove heating chocolate for it even. I love all the different types of flavors that you can make. For this batch, I did hazelnut (with umm hazelnut liqueur), but next time I’ll do espresso or maybe my truffle salt or possibly cinnamon for a Mexican twist. How can you not like it?

Plus, a few ingredients and easy techniques mean I have some very grateful school staff over the next few days. I hope anyway – I just realized I didn’t do a taste test. Hm.

Image shows summer truffles on a serving plate.

How to Make Summer Truffles

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Place 9 ounces of the chopped chocolate in to bowl, along with 3 tablespoons of the butter and the cream.

Image shows chopped chocolate, butter, and cream in a bowl.

If it’s Chicago and super hot and sunny and icky outside – or another locale with a similar climate, simply place your bowl outside in the sun for ten to fifteen minutes. If it isn’t so hot and sunny, melt it gently in a double boiler (explained below).

Image shows chocolate, butter, and cream melting together.

Once it’s melted for a bit, stir it. If it looks like this, it isn’t ready yet. Place it outside a little longer (or leave it on the double boiler – where you’ll want to be stirring it every minute or so anyway).

Image shows melted chocolate, butter, and cream.

When your chocolate looks like this (picture below), it’s ready. You don’t want it to get too hot or it will lose the good tempering it had from the factory (the pretty glossy finish that you want for your truffles), and you definitely want it to be completely smooth like this.

Image shows melted chocolate, butter, and cream smoothly.

At this point, you want to add your flavoring. Hazelnut liqueur. Yum. Stir until it’s completely absorbed in the ganache.

Image shows melted ingredients with liquid flavoring.

At this point, place your chocolate in the fridge (if it’s hot out) to harden up a little bit. You don’t want it completely solid, but you want it stiff enough that it will hold its shape as you begin to turn it into actual truffles! Note the fingerprints that can be pushed in but that hold their shape.

Image shows fingerprints on melted ingredients.

Using a melon baller or spoons or other method of your choice, create little balls of chocolate. These can be placed very close together on a sil pat or parchment paper, as they aren’t going to change shape like cookies will. Notice that they’re a little rough around the edges. That’s fine; we’ll fix it later. Once you’re finished, put the cookie sheet in the fridge again to ensure the truffles are nice and hard.

Image shows Truffles placed on silpat.

While the truffles are chilling again, you want to make the coating for the outside of the truffles. Alternatively, you could roll these in cocoa powder or (gag) powdered sugar instead of dipping them in chocolate again. Personally, I like the look of the dipped truffles like this, and they taste great. Place the remaining 5 oz of chocolate and 1 T of butter into your double boiler.

Image shows remaining chocolate and butter in a bowl.

Double boiler? Yeah… a metal bowl on top of a pot. That works just fine. Place an inch or two of water in the bottom, and turn on the heat, no higher than medium. This will gently melt the chocolate without burning it. Stir every minute or two until this chocolate looks like the beautifully smooth and glossy chocolate you had above.

Image shows chocolate and butter in a double boiler.

Once the chocolate is melted, remove it from the heat (I always have a towel on hand to wipe the bottom of the bowl to get all the condensation to ensure no steam curls around the bowl and gets into my chocolate which will give it a really nasty and grainy texture). While it’s coming to room temperature, we’re going to revisit those truffles in the fridge. The one on the left looks a whole lot better, doesn’t it?

Image shows two pieces of truffles.

All you’re going to do is pick up the rough truffle and roll it in your hands a few seconds to get the ridges off. Since it’s summer and my hands are hot, within a truffle or two, they’ll simply be melting all over my hands, which is not what I want. I need to keep my hands cool to avoid that melting, so I have a system. I get out two ice packs and put them on the counter with a towel next to them. I put my hands on the ice packs and get them nice and cool, then pat them dry on the towel. Nifty, huh?

Image shows two ice packs and a towel.

Last up, we’re going to use that bit of melted chocolate to coat our truffles. Drop in truffles one at a time. Using a fork, roll the truffle in chocolate until it’s coated. Pick it up gently with a fork, then shake it gently to get rid of as much excess chocolate as you can. Place it back on the sil pat if you don’t want more dirty dishes – or on a cookie rack so the chocolate can drip down and leave a perfect truffle.

Image shows truffle coated with melted chocolate on a fork.

Yum! I can’t wait to hear how everyone likes these. Keep them in the fridge in a covered container for a week or so.

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Image shows summer truffles on a serving plate.

Summer Truffles

Summer truffles are a rich and creamy chocolate treat that makes for a perfect gift. With their smooth texture and customizable flavors, they are an ideal indulgence for special occasions or a thoughtful present for chocolate lovers.
5 from 1 vote
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Diet: Gluten Free
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Chilling Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 40 truffles
Calories: 17kcal
Author: Michelle

Ingredients

  • 14 ounces good quality dark chcoolate divided
  • 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter divided
  • 1 tablespoon liquid flavoring (vanilla, hazelnut, or coffee)

Instructions

  • Place 9 ounces of the chopped chocolate in to bowl, along with 3 tablespoons of the butter and the cream.
    14 ounces good quality dark chcoolate, 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
  • Once it’s melted for a bit, stir it. When your chocolate looks smooth, it’s ready. Add your flavoring and stir until it’s completely absorbed in the ganache.
    1 tablespoon liquid flavoring (vanilla, hazelnut, or coffee)
  • Place your chocolate in the fridge (if it’s hot out) to harden up a little bit. Don’t let it be completely solid, but stiff enough that it will hold its shape as you begin to turn it into actual truffles.
  • Using a melon baller or spoons or other method of your choice, create little balls of chocolate. These can be placed very close together on a silpat or parchment paper, as they aren’t going to change shape like cookies will.
  • If you notice that they’re a little rough around the edges, that’s fine; just fix it later. Once you’re finished, put the cookie sheet in the fridge again to ensure the truffles are nice and hard.
  • Place the remaining 5 ounces of chocolate and 1 tablespoon of butter into your double boiler. Place an inch or two of water in the bottom, and turn on the heat, no higher than medium. This will gently melt the chocolate without burning it.
  • Stir every minute or two until this chocolate looks like the beautiful smooth and glossy chocolate you had above. Once the chocolate is melted, remove it from the heat. Get your truffles from the fridge, pick up the rough truffle and roll it in your hands a few seconds to get the ridges off.
  • Use that bit of melted chocolate to coat truffles. Drop in truffles one at a time. Using a fork, roll the truffle in chocolate until it’s coated. 
  • Pick it up gently with a fork, then shake it gently to get rid of as much excess chocolate as you can. Place it back on the silpat or on a cookie rack so the chocolate can drip down and leave a perfect truffle.
  • Keep them in the fridge in a covered container for a week or so.

Equipment

Notes

  • If you do not have any liquid flavoring available, use 1 teaspoon of dry flavoring like sea or truffle salt or cinnamon.
  • For more tips and tricks, be sure to read the full article above.

Nutrition

Serving: 1truffle | Calories: 17kcal | Carbohydrates: 0.1g | Protein: 0.1g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.5g | Trans Fat: 0.05g | Cholesterol: 5mg | Sodium: 1mg | Potassium: 2mg | Sugar: 0.1g | Vitamin A: 64IU | Vitamin C: 0.01mg | Calcium: 2mg | Iron: 0.002mg

This site uses an online source to provide nutrition estimates as a courtesy. If you need exact values, please calculate yourself.

Image shows close-up picture of summer truffles on a fork.

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Recipe Rating




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  1. Michelle says:

    Tara – I'm with you. Note the giant pail of Nutella that lives in my pantry at all times 😉

    Unknown Mami – They totally are. And oh were these good. So were the espresso truffles and the truffle salt truffles I made after I ran out of these. I spoiled our teachers 😉

    Heather – Bummer. I feel for ya, as we were just about there last week. I think it cooled down for you, too, though?

    Holly – Awww, I like it. Thanks!

    case lemn – It is easy, just a few steps. That doesn't mean hard though!

    Kelly – You can do this one!

    Kim – Oops. Sorry. I feel for ya though. You might want to ignore this week's edition then….

  2. Kim Moldofsky says:

    Damn you. I just gained three pounds and all I did was READ this.

  3. septembermom says:

    Just the sight of chocolate gets me going…

  4. case lemn says:

    Hmm how good it looks, i think that are delicious. Not a very easy recipe but i will give it a try, thanks a lot for sharing it with us.

  5. Not a Perfect Mom says:

    oh yum…I love when you blog about food, it's like my porn…
    and I mean that in a totally uncreepy way…

  6. Heather says:

    I want these now. Too hot to stand in the kitchen, even without using the oven. Ugh.

  7. Unknown Mami says:

    I really think you can not go wrong with hazelnut and chocolate. They were born to go together.

  8. Tara R. says:

    Hazelnut and chocolate… two of my favorite flavors.

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