These chocolate truffles are delicious to say the least. A bite sized ball of bliss that literally melts in your mouth to reveal creamy, rich, luxurious dark chocolate flavoured with the sweetness + tart fruitiness of strawberries. And aren’t strawberries and chocolate just a match made in heaven? They are the perfect size for satisfying midnight sweet cravings, and are so easy to make that you can always have them on hand for an after-dinner fix. They also look really pretty, which means they make for wonderful gifts — great for your girlfriends on Valentine’s (Galentine’s) Day!
When it comes to desserts, I usually find them too fussy and always end up buying them from a bakery or store rather than making them home — unless it’s something as simple as this. These chocolate truffles require really only 3 ingredients to make, and the active cooking time is not more than 20 minutes (which includes everything!). Here’s what you need to know:
Bring out the good good chocolate: I recommend using a good quality dark cooking chocolate for this recipe. Personal preference is 70% or darker, but that’s up to you! You can also use compound chocolate, but don’t use chocolate chips as that will result in less creamy truffles.
Use heavy cream: Use full fat cream, not milk — this recipe doesn’t aim to be anything but indulgent and luxurious, and we could all do with some of that (in moderation, of course!). Incase you want to make them dairy free, you can also substitute with full fat coconut milk. I add a tablespoon of butter when warming up the cream to make the ganache all the more glossy (and why not!), but you can totally skip it if you’re making the truffles vegan.
The third, and the only specialty ingredient, are the freeze dried strawberries: These give the truffles a hint of tartness and fruitiness which is delicious, but without compromising on the texture. You can get freeze-dried strawberries on Amazon or any big grocery store — I love the one from Urban Platter. Plus, the powdered berries are a gorgeous pink colour and rolling the chocolate truffles in it make them all the prettier.
To make the chocolate truffles, first you need to make strawberry powder: Add the freeze dried strawberries to a food processor and process until you get a smooth powder. You can choose to sift out the seeds, but I don’t think it makes a difference to the overall taste of the truffles so I skip that step.
Next, you need to melt the chocolate with the cream. I prefer doing this step using a double boiler rather than the microwave as I feel it’s faster and there are fewer chances of to burning the chocolate. In a double boiler, warm up the cream, butter (if using), and add the strawberry powder to it. Also add in the chopped chocolate and mix with a spatula until it’s all melted and combined. The mixture you get is essentially a creamy, rich, dark, and glossy chocolate ganache! I totally recommend liking the spoon at this point.
Once the ganache is chilled in the refrigerator for a couple of hours, the chocolate will become firm to touch so that you can roll them into balls without melting. Use a tablespoon or cookie scoop to measure out the truffles and roll them into balls, placing on a lined tray to prevent them from sticking. And then it’s time to decorate! Rolling the chocolate truffles in a powder makes them easier to hold, and prevents them from sticking to one another. Apart from the strawberry powder, you can also roll the truffles in cacao powder, desiccated coconut, chopped nuts, or powdered coconut milk.
Incase you happen to not eat all of these truffles in one sitting, they keep well in the refrigerator for upto a week, and you can easily freeze them for upto a month or 6 weeks — just make sure to thaw them before you eat.
- 25g freeze dried strawberries (plus more for rolling truffles in)
- 100ml heavy cream / full fat coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon softened butter
- 200g dark chocolate, chopped
- Additional strawberry powder + ¼ cup cacao powder to roll truffles in
- Add the freeze dried strawberries to a food processor and process into a fine powder. Let it stand for a few seconds before opening so that the powder settles.
- Set up a double boiler by bringing a deep bottomed pot of water to a boil. As the water comes to a rolling boil, reduce the heat to a simmer. Place a heat-proof bowl on top of the boiling water, and add the heavy cream and butter to it. Mix in the powdered strawberries and the chopped chocolate and use a spatula to stir until the chocolate has melted, and the mixture is fully combined and glossy. Remove the bowl from the heat.
- Transfer the bowl to the refrigerator and let the mixture cool for about 3-4 hours. You want it to be set enough to scoop out the truffles and roll into balls.
- Use a tablespoon or scoop to measure balls of the chocolate mixture and lightly roll them between your palms to form rounds, placing them on a parchment lined tray. Once all the truffles have been formed, pop the tray into the freezer for 10 minutes so they can firm up again.
- Prepare your cocoa and strawberry powders by placing them in shallow dishes. Roll each truffle individually in either of the powders until evenly coated in a thin layer. This is optional, but recommended because it prevents the truffles from sticking to one another. You can also coat the truffles in powdered coconut milk, desiccated coconut, or finely chopped nuts.
- Once coated, place the truffles in a jar or storage container, or enjoy immediately! Store them in the refrigerator for upto a week; freeze for upto 1 month.
