Dark Chocolate Coffee Truffles

Dark Chocolate Coffee Truffles are easy to make, and feature great coffee flavour inside and out - if you so choose. Various options covered!

We're pretty big on caffeine in this house.

While I prefer mine to come as energy drinks or shots, I am keenly aware of my husband's coffee addiction. (Read: He's a miserable bastard before his morning coffee!)

A few years ago, I created these truffles for my husband - kind of like an inside-out version of a chocolate covered espresso bean.

They're super easy - and cheap! - to make, and are a perfect gift for your favorite coffee junkie.

I'll warn you - rolled in straight-up ground coffee, they're pretty hardcore.

For a more delicate caffeine kick, be sure to cut the coffee with chocolate or powdered sugar, as described in the notes below!

What is a Dark Chocolate Coffee Truffle?

Truffles generallyconsist of two main parts - the center (chocolate ganache), and the coating.

The ganache center is made from just a few very basic ingredients - chocolate, cream, flavoring, and butter.

The coating can be made from almost anything - your creativity is pretty much your only limit!

Typically, you’ll see store-bought truffles enrobed in chocolate. While that’s certainly a popular option, it does veer off into “intimidating” territory - tempering chocolate, etc.

Personally, I don’t bother - I find rolling truffles in various non-chocolate coatings is not only more fun and less work, I prefer the taste.

If you’re interested in learning about tempering... there are resources out there. Try this "How to Temper Chocolate Like a Pro" tutorial on The Cupcake Project!

Tempering chocolate (required for chocolate enrobed truffles) is far too annoying to get into here, given the alternative - just straight up coffee!

Making Dark Chocolate Ganache

Chocolate ganache is quite easy to make, but there are a few basic principles to keep in mind:

1. Too much liquid will prevent your ganache from setting up enough to roll properly.

Fairly straightforward rule, right? If this happens, try adding extra chocolate... or use your runny ganache as a chocolate fondue or sauce for ice cream!

2. Not all chocolate varieties are created equally.

While this applies to flavor, texture, and overall quality, I’m actually talking about behavior.

Dark chocolate requires more liquid than milk chocolate, which requires more liquid than white chocolate.

Sugar free chocolate requires a smaller amount of liquid than other varieties of chocolate... Please be sure to follow the basic instructions for the variety of chocolate you are using, without swapping the type.

3. Water is chocolate’s enemy.

Be very careful to use a dry bowl, dry utensils, and to not allow any water to fall into your chocolate.

Water causes melted chocolate to “seize”. Seizing is when melted chocolate comes in contact with even the tiniest amount of water, and becomes grainy, clumpy, and unpleasant.

For this reason, you should never use a lid when melting chocolate (condensation will occur, and drip in!), and you should always be careful when using a double boiler.

4. Fat amount is important.

The fat content in the chocolate ganache contributes to the smoothness, and the ganache’s ability to hold together.

Using milk instead of heavy cream really isn’t an option. Additionally, if a high percentage of the liquid is coming from a non-fatty source (liqueur, rather than cream), it’s a good idea to add extra butter.

5. Liquid added to chocolate must be warm.

Pretty basic rule - cold liquid added to melted chocolate will cause it to seize.

Warm liquid will not - this is why it’s important to heat up the cream mixture before adding it to the chocolate. Do not skip this step!

6. Chocolate chips are just fine to use.

Yes, I’m sure the purists just had a heart attack over that phrase... deal with it!

Chocolate chips are a highly unusual medium for truffle making, consistently being eschewed for bars of pure chocolate.

The thing is, however, that not only are chocolate chips are easy to find, they lack the sticker shock that comes with the more traditional chocolate options.

I find that this makes chocolate chips a far more accessible option for those who are new to making truffles.

Not only that, but they can make a great product, too - only the most avid chocolate connoisseur can really tell the difference between truffles made with a high end bar of chocolate, and those made with a good brand of chocolate chips.

For that reason, I believe chocolate chips are a great way to get in to making truffles. I developed a series of recipes using chocolate chips!

Anyone can make these truffles at home, with common ingredients, for only about $4.00/30 truffles. Far less scary of a commitment than the traditional approach!

Making Coffee Infused Chocolate Ganache

This coffee truffles recipe involves infusing the ganache with coffee flavour, via the heavy cream.

You heat some coffee beans in heavy cream, then remove it from the heat and let it sit for a while, before straining the beans out.

If you don’t have whole coffee beans, you can use 1-2 tablespoon of ground beans – just make sure your sieve is fine enough. (Or line one with a coffee filter… appropriately enough!).

“Stuff to Roll Them In”

Cocoa powder, coconut flakes, finely chopped nuts, and powdered sugar are all traditional options.. but for this particular recipe, we tend to keep it to 3 basic options:

Cocoa Powder and/or Powdered Sugar

Cocoa powder and powdered sugar can be used separately or mixed, as a “stuff to roll them in”.

Crushed Coffee Beans

My husband likes them rolled in straight up ground coffee beans, but there’s a lot of room to play with this.

Try running coffee beans and chocolate chips through a food processor, or mixing finely ground coffee with either cocoa or powdered sugar.

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If you’re interested in truffle coatings in general, be sure to check out my Basic Dark Chocolate Truffles post for the full list of suggestions.

The ones I’ve listed in this post are just the ones I recommend for this particular recipe!

How to Make Dark Chocolate Coffee Truffles

1. Place chocolate chips into a glass mixing bowl, and put aside.

2. On stove top, bring heavy whipping cream, coffee beans, butter, and sugar to a light simmer. Remove from heat, allow to steep for 10 minutes Once steeping time is complete, bring to just a simmer again.

3. Strain hot cream mixture into bowl of chocolate chips, discarding coffee beans. Let sit for 3-5 minutes.

4. Starting in the middle of the bowl, slowly start stirring the chocolate and cream until all of the chocolate is
melted and the cream has disappeared into it – it should be smooth.

5. Cover with plastic wrap, preferably resting right on top of the surface – this prevents a skin from forming while it cools.

6. Chill in the fridge for at least an hour or two, until it’s pretty solid.

7. Once solid, scoop out small amounts (a teaspoon or two), and roll them into balls. Try to handle the chocolate as quickly as possible, or it will melt.

8. Once all of the ganache is rolled into balls: wash and dry hands, then roll ganache centers in whichever coating(s) you’d like.

Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

With all of that said... on to that Dark Chocolate Coffee Truffles recipe!