Homemade Chocolate Truffles

Step 1

Melt the dark chocolate:Heat it to 113 - 122 ºF (45 - 50ºC)

Step 2

Meanwhile, prepare the tin:Set parchment paper inside a square tin or cake ring (15 cm | 5.9 inches).

Step 3

Add hot heavy cream and mix: Heat heavy cream to 158 - 176ºF (70 - 80ºC) and add it to the melted chocolate:Add about 1/3 of the hot cream and mix gradually from the center towards the edge until smooth.  Add about half of the heavy cream and repeat the same process.  Finally, add the rest and repeat. Don't forget to clean the bowl and spatula on the way to make an even ganache.

Step 4

Add honey and mix.

Step 5

Add softened butter and mix:Add butter to the ganache when it feels gently warm. (98 - 102ºF | 37 - 39ºC). As an option, mix it with an immersion blender at the very end to create a smoother ganache

Step 6

Pour it into the prepared tin or ring:Chill in the fridge until it gets firm completely. (more than a few hours to a day) Wrap it tightly so that it's not going to get any moisture damage in the fridge.

Step 7

Spread melted chocolate on one side:Spread melted chocolate over one side of the chilled ganache very thinly. It's gonna be the bottom side of the truffles.Tips💡Level the edges with a knife if it's not flat.  Spread a very thin layer of chocolate. (Tempering it is ideal, but you could skip the process to omit some time.)

Step 8

Flip it and cut the ganache:Mark it with 1.1 inches (3 cm) intervals to create 25 pieces.Cut into 5 different shapes (5 pieces each): Heart, circle, square, rectangle (cut off the edge of the square a little bit to create the rectangle shape), and octagon. Form balls with the palms of your hands using the leftover ganache. You should be able to get 4-6 truffle balls. In total, you will get about 30 pieces with 6 designs.

Step 9

Chill them in the fridge:Take them out ahead before use so that they are not too cold by the time you coat the chocolate. Comfortably cold ganache is perfect!

Step 10

Melt chocolate: Heat about 2/3 of the dark chocolate in a heat-proof bowl over a double boiler until it reaches 113 - 122 ºF (45 - 50ºC) Meanwhile, cut the remaining chocolate (1/into very small pieces so they can melt more easily.When tempering white chocolate: Follow the exact steps but at different temperatures - Heat it to 104 - 113ºF (40 - 45ºC) and cool it to 78.8 - 82.4ºF (26 - 28ºC).

Step 11

Add diced chocolate and cool it: Add the chopped chocolate and mix. Let the dark chocolate cool to 87.8 - 89.6ºF (31 - 32ºC) right around when all the dark chocolate is melted. Tips💡I recommend not adding all of it at once and adding dividing a few times or more. Continue adding them until they stop melting. If all the chocolate melted before it cools down to the temperature, dice more chocolate and add more. If the chocolate is not melted by the time you reach the temperature range, blend it with an immersion hand blender or warm it slightly with the microwave, hot water, or a hair dryer. Do not overheat it - the tempering won't be successful if it goes out of the temperature range.

Step 12

Mix it with an immersion blender (optional):I highly recommend mixing it with an immersion blender at the end if you have one. It helps to emulsify chocolate completely and eliminate air bubbles if there are a lot. Many chocolatiers use it for those reasons.How to check if the tempering is done successfully: Drop a small amount of chocolate on something, such as a cake spatula. The chocolate should get set within a few minutes at room temperature.

Step 13

Drop the ganache on the melted chocolate.

Step 14

Push it down with a fork.

Step 15

Scoop it up with a fork.

Step 16

Toss some time to remove excess chocolate.As an option, blow some cold air on top with a hair dryer so that the coating gets thinner. Melted dark chocolate is thicker than melted white chocolate, and the coating tends to get thicker easily. Just be careful not to blow too hard - the coating can crack after being chilled if it is too thin!

Step 17

Clean off the bottom with the edge of the bowl.

Step 18

Place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Step 19

Repeat the step 1 - 5.

Step 20

Cut off the excess chocolate around the bottom edge.

Step 21

Decorate the finished truffles:Decorate with any topping you like! If necessary, use a little bit of melted chocolate as glue to attach them.