Milk Chocolate Chai Truffles

These milk chocolate chai truffles are based on my famous Chai cake flavor. The warmth of the spices pair fabulously with creamy chocolate!

Originally posted November 22, 2011. Updated 12/23/2020

If you're looking for a little pre-Thanksgiving dinner treat, a hostess gift to bring along with you, an after dinner sweet.... or just want to get your chocolate on - here's a great recipe for you - Milk Chocolate Chai Truffles!

These truffles are based on our famous Chai cake flavor (I've posted the recipe for Chai Cupcakes!).

The warmth of the spices - cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and nutmeg - pair fabulously with creamy milk chocolate, for a super satisfying sugar rush.

I’ve love the chai flavour combination, which you may have guessed based on entries like my:

Chai Shortbread
Chai Cinnamon Rolls
Chewy Chai Blondies
Gluten-Free Chai Doughnut Holes

... so of course I was going to make a chai flavoured truffle!

Truffles are easy to make - much easier than their retail cachet would have you think! Even a novice cook can turn these babies out, with very little effort, stress, or cost.

What is a Chai Milk Chocolate Truffle?

Truffles consist 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, flavouring - in this case, chai spices - and butter.

Generally speaking, 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.

In the case of these truffles, though, cocoa powder is a fantastic coating... and much easier than fussing with melted chocolate, anyway!

Making Chai Flavoured 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!

“Stuff to Roll Them In”

While I usually love having a long laundry list of options to roll truffles in, I keep it really simple for these milk chocolate chai truffles:

Cocoa.

That’s it. Sometimes I’ll use powdered sugar, or sometimes I’ll add some spice to the cocoa or powdered sugar... but generally, I don’t want the coating to distract from the flavour of the ganache.

If you’re interested in truffle coatings in general, be sure to check out my 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 Milk Chocolate Chai Truffles

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

2. In a small saucepan, combine heavy whipping cream, tea powder, and spices, whisking to combine. Heat to a boil, remove from heat.

3. Pour hot cream mixture into bowl of chocolate chips. 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 cocoa powder.

Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

With all of that said... on to the milk chocolate chai truffles recipe!