Christmas is a time for chocolate, no? (you know, alongside all the family stuff, presents & feasts). There’s nothing more comforting than delving into a selection box in your pyjamas… just when you thought that eating another bite of food was impossible, there’s always room for a bit of chocolate.
It’s always nice to give or receive some posh choccies as a present & the king of those is usually a decadent truffle. Spheres of meltingly smooth chocolate ganache, coated in all sorts of different flavourings or toppings, what’s not to love?
Chocolate truffles are one of the easiest confections to make for yourself & make a rather lovely homemade gift for someone. With a basic chocolate truffle recipe containing just three ingredients, it’s almost too easy. What differs is the flavourings & the ratio of cream to chocolate in your ganache. Technically, white chocolate isn’t a chocolate at all as it doesn’t contain any cocoa solids. This means that it won’t hold its shape in the same way as dark chocolate, so, to compensate for this, we use less cream in our truffles.
You don’t need to stick to the bitter tones of dark chocolate (it’s not to everyone’s tastes) to make a beautiful truffle, white chocolate is sweeter & more neutral in flavour, meaning you can add different tastes to create endless varieties without losing any of that all important flavour. One of my favourite pairings with white chocolate is lemon. As white chocolate can often be cloying if used too much, the sharp, zest of lemon helps to balance & cut through the sweetness.
Seeing as it’s Christmas too, it only seems appropriate to add a little glug to most things that leave my kitchen, truffles are no exception. To add a little more decadence to my truffles, I’ve blended in a dash of my favourite sweet but potent limoncello. Not just because it’s beautiful but also because I am missing my travels & digestifs terribly this year. These make a great last minute gift for someone, or even yourself, it’s been a tough year guys (we ate a whole batch to ourselves & regret nothing)!
WHITE CHOCOLATE & LIMONCELLO TRUFFLES
(makes around 25)
Ingredients:
- 100ml double cream
- 250g white chocolate, broken up into squares
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp limoncello
- 2 tbsp icing sugar (to coat)
Method:
- Place the cream into a medium saucepan & gently heat until the cream is hot but not boiling
- Stir the butter through the mixture before adding in the chocolate & mixing until everything is smooth & glossy
- Add the lemon zest & limoncello to the pan & stir through
- Leave the mixture to cool to room temperature (roughly 2 hours) before placing in the fridge to chill for a further 2 hours or overnight
- When ready to make the truffles place the icing sugar in a shallow bowl or side plate
- Remove the mixture from the fridge & using a teaspoon, scoop out evenly sized spoonfuls of the mixture & roll between the palms of your hands to form balls
- Use a fork or your fingers to roll the chocolate balls through the icing sugar to coat them & place on a piece of baking parchment
- Repeat the process until all of the truffle mixture has been used up
- Store in an airtight container until ready to eat or gift
