Dark Chocolate Vegan Truffles

When I was a little girl in France, making truffles for Christmas was a real tradition. Every year we would get our hands covered in chocolate and make a mess in the kitchen to prepare these delicious "petits fours". We would often make them only a few days before Christmas so we could give them as a present in a little box or a sachet. Along with some "beautiful " salt dough handmade and hand painted christmas decorations, we thought they were a wonderful gift! 

The traditional recipe is made with cream. This year I wanted to try different ways to make a dairy free version...

I first tried a wonderful recipe that uses raw cacao paste , and made rich super dark truffles. You can find this recipe here. 

I loved that recipe but I also wanted to make an easier version, and also a recipe that would be closer to the recipe I used as a child. 

Traditionnaly, truffles are actually made of a thick "Ganache" that is refrigerated, shaped into small balls and rolled into cacao powder. A "Ganache" is typically made from dark chocolate, double cream, and sometimes a little bit of butter. 

To make these truffles, I have replaced the cream with Coconut milk, in a smaller quantity. And there you are, a Vegan version of truffles!

So here is your recipe:

Dark Chocolate Truffles

Makes 24 

200g Dark Chocolate ( 70% cacao)

100g Full fat Coconut milk

1 tsp Vanilla essence (optional)

A Pinch of sea salt

Dark cacao powder to roll the truffles

Finely chop / or grate the chocolate and place it into a mixing bowl.

Heat the coconut milk in a saucepan until it comes to the boil.

Slowly pour the hot milk onto the chocolate. Do not mix yet, simply let the chocolate melt. 

After a minute or two, start mixing the chocolate and the milk, starting from the centre and slowly going towards the edges. The mixture should be silky smooth. 

At this point you can add the vanilla and salt, and mix again but resist the temptation to over mix or it will change the consistency of the truffles, they may loose there smoothness! 

Let the mixture cool down, cover with a plate or cling film and let it set in the fridge for at least an hour, or overnight.

Prepare a plate with some cacao powder to roll the truffles in.

When the mixture has hardened, scoop a little bit with a teaspoon, roll into a small ball with your hands, and roll it in the cacao powder.

You can keep the truffles in an airtight container in the fridge for about a week.

They make a great present or a lovely after dinner treat!

Bon Appetit!