Teddy bears, cards, flowers, and store-bought chocolates are all typically common this time of year, but Valentine’s Day is another chance to impress your significant other. And if making an impression is what you want to do, why not take a little extra time and melt someone’s heart with your very own homemade chocolate truffles.

Chocolate truffles are a lot easier to make than one might think. Not to mention that when it comes to homemade gifts, thought rather than perfection is key.

Chocolate truffles can also be great fun to make as a couple or among friends because there are so many options. Once the ganache interior of the truffle is finished, you can pick and choose the exterior. The sky is the limit. You can dip the truffles in milk chocolate and drizzle it with white chocolate, add sprinkles, go the traditional rolled-in-cocoa-powder route, and so on.

One thing to keep in mind is that it is much easier to buy pre-tempered chocolate coating for the exterior of the truffle rather than using just chocolate. Chocolate can be used as a coating, but it requires a process called tempering to give it that signature crunch, and tempering can be a rather finicky process. For this reason, the already prepared chocolate coating pieces are far more convenient for those working with chocolate for the first time.

INGREDIENTS

GANACHE
• 30 g sugar
• 2 cup heavy cream
• 30 g butter
• 450 g semi-sweet chocolate
• 2 tbsp. liqueur or vanilla extract (optional)

COATING
• 1 cup each of dark, milk, and white chocolate coating (can be
found at places such as Bulk Barn)
• 1 cup cocoa
• Your choice of sprinkles

DIRECTIONS

In a small pot, combine sugar, heavy cream, and butter.

Bring to a boil on medium heat. Then remove from the heat.

Add the semi-sweet chocolate and gently mix until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.

When cool, you can add the liqueur or vanilla and stir it to blend. Pour in a container with a tight-sealing lid.

Put the ganache in the fridge and let sit overnight.

Scoop out about a teaspoon amount of ganache at a time and roll it into small balls. Place the rolled-out ganache balls on a parchment-lined tray and put them back in the fridge to keep cool.

Fill a small pot a third full with water and bring to a gentle boil. Place a glass bowl larger than the pot on top of it and drop in the chocolate coating pieces of your choice. To make this process faster, if you use more than one kind of chocolate coating, you can run multiple pots with bowls simultaneously.

Once the chocolate coating is melted, remove bowls from pots and let the fun begin.

Dip the ganache balls in different coatings or roll them in cocoa powder. Once the chocolate on the ganache hardens, take some of the other melted chocolate and drizzle it over the truffles or add sprinkles if desired.

This recipe doubles and even triples well, and if you are feeling very adventurous, you can easily make different batches using different liqueurs in each one. Baileys, Grand Marnier, and Kahlua all go very well with this recipe, but so does vanilla or orange extract if alcohol isn’t your thing. Truffles last well for a week at room temperature and in the fridge for two weeks. They can also be frozen in a freezer-safe container for up to three months.

Whatever the chocolate mix and match, remember to have fun while you do it. Chocolate truffles make a great gift, and sharing them with others is a sure way to show others you’re thinking about them. Happy Valentine’s Day.