Assorted Chocolate Truffles

Chocoholics beware! These little balls of decadence are dangerously addictive!

Featured today are two of my favorite chocolate truffles, coated with a variety of ingredients.

A rich white chocolate truffle with crumbled shortbread, dried cranberries and a hint of orange zest, finished with a light dusting of powdered sugar. And a smooth dark chocolate truffle with a touch of amaretto, alternately rolled in cocoa powder, hazelnuts or pistachios.

Each are delicious and can easily be adjusted to your liking. For example: You could always substitute the amaretto for some cream liqueur, rum or even espresso? Throw in some raisins or dried cherries? Or keep it simple by adding just a teaspoon of vanilla or almond extract.

This is the perfect time of year to make up an assorted batch of truffles as they make delightful holiday gifts or party favours.



They are also great for dinner parties. A selection of each chocolate served with freshly made coffee is the perfect end to any meal.

Truffles can be refrigerated for 3 days or frozen for up to one month.

Recipes adapted from Bbc Good Food.

Makes approximately 50-60 truffles.

For the Dark Chocolate Truffles:
14 oz/400g good quality chocolate (60% cacao), chopped
150 ml double cream (heavy cream)
2 tbls amaretto liqueur (optional)
1 tsp vanilla extract (if you aren't using amaretto)
50g pistachios, shelled and chopped
50g toasted hazelnuts, chopped
Cocoa powder as needed

Melt chocolate and cream together in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.
Once the chocolate has almost melted, remove from the heat and stir in the amaretto or vanilla extract. Cool and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight. If you chill the mixture overnight, be sure to remove it from the fridge 40 minutes or so before molding. Using a teaspoon or melon baller, scoop out the chocolate and roll into balls.


Have three trays ready, each filled with the pistachios, hazelnuts and cocoa powder. Divide several truffles between each tray and shake to coat. Repeat with the remaining truffles. Chill until needed and bring to room temperature before serving.

For the White Chocolate Truffles:
14 oz good quality white chocolate, chopped
150 ml double cream (heavy cream)
2 tsp grated orange zest
3 walkers shortbread fingers, roughly crushed
1/2 cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped
Powdered sugar as needed

Melt chocolate and cream together in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Once the chocolate has almost melted, remove from the heat and stir. Once cooled slightly, stir in the orange zest, shortbread and cranberries.
Once mixture has cooled, refrigerate until firm. Unlike the dark chocolate mixture, this one can be rolled into balls straight from the fridge after overnight refrigeration. Roll into balls using a teaspoon or melon baller and coat in powdered sugar. Chill until needed.