The event that pushed me to actually create this blog was making these truffles. Katie, a very dear friend of mine, is vegan. It was Valentine's Day and since she is one of the few close friends that I see on a regular basis, I wanted to make her something. I thought this was going to be a challenge. Vegan + candy usually does not = easy to make. Candy making isn't something that I've dabbled in much (if you don't count Christmas treats and if you DO count Christmas treats, I'm pretty much a failure because divinity is HARD) but when I stumbled upon this recipe, I had to try it. The ingredients were fairly simple and straight forward. The only "strange" substitution was vegan cream cheese. I intended to send Katie home with the entire batch until Andrew tried one and demanded that we keep some. They were that good.
(picture courtesy of Katie Cosby)
Vegan Chocolate Truffles
adapted from herbivoredinosaur.com
Filling
1 - 8 oz tub of vegan cream cheese, plain (I used Tofutti, found in the health food section of Kroger)
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
8 oz. of semi sweet chocolate (I used Godiva, other kinds seemed to not be vegan - check the ingredients carefully to be sure!)
Coating
4 oz unsweetened chocolate (I used Godiva)
4 oz semi sweet chocolate (I used Godiva)
toppings such as sea salt, sprinkles, etc.
1 - 8 oz tub of vegan cream cheese, plain (I used Tofutti, found in the health food section of Kroger)
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
8 oz. of semi sweet chocolate (I used Godiva, other kinds seemed to not be vegan - check the ingredients carefully to be sure!)
Coating
4 oz unsweetened chocolate (I used Godiva)
4 oz semi sweet chocolate (I used Godiva)
toppings such as sea salt, sprinkles, etc.
Tools
Stand mixer (though I'm sure a hand mixer would work too)
double boiler (I use a stock pot and a glass bowl, more on this below)
plastic wrap
plastic wrap
2 cookie sheets lined with parchment paper
Start by beating the vegan cream cheese by itself. Straight out of the tub is a little rubbery looking but it should loosen up and look a little more like traditional cream cheese after a few minutes. Next add the powdered sugar. Beat until combined and smooth. Then add the vanilla and beat until combined.
Let the cream cheese mixture sit while you melt the semi sweet chocolate in your double boiler. You could go buy a double boiler, but who wants too many unitaskers in the kitchen? Counter and cabinet space is a at premium in most kitchens I know. I've found a stock pot and a glass bowl work just fine (I'll add some pictures later of exactly what I use). Put about an inch of water in the bottom of your stock pot. Then put a glass bowl with a lip that just sits inside the pot (the water in the pot should not touch the bottom of the glass bowl - if it does, pour some out). Turn this on high and bring the water to a boil. While the water is boiling, go ahead and add your chocolate to the glass bowl. When the water boils, turn the temperature down to about medium low and stir the chocolate pretty regularly. Be very careful that no water ends up in the chocolate (it'll clump up and you'll have to start over).
Once the chocolate is fully melted, pour it into the cream cheese mixture. Beat until the two are combined well. This may take a few minutes so be patient. Once this is finished, place a piece of plastic wrap over the surface of the filling and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
After 2 hours, remove the filling from the refrigerator. The directions from the website that I got the recipe from suggested, at this step, to use one spoon to portion out the filling and quickly shape it into a ball with your hands. I found this impossible as the heat from my hands began to melt to filling nearly instantly. So, I took a page from my failed divinity attempts! I used two spoons. Scoop out the filling with one spoon and use the other spoon to scrape it off the first spoon. Go back and forth like this until you're pretty close to a sphere. This wasn't the best method as they usually ended up a little oblong. Your filling balls should be.. well.. about truffle sized! Continue until you're out of filling. Place the cookie sheets in the freezer to firm up while you melt the coating.
Using your double boiler again, melt the unsweetened and semi sweet chocolate for the coating. The original recipe called for all unsweetened chocolate, which I found to be a tad bit bitter. Half and half seemed to strike a pretty nice balance. Once the chocolate is good and liquidy, turn the temperature on the oven down to low and get your toppings ready. A few little bowls near your stove should work fine. You're going to work from and then back to your parchment lined cookie sheets. Go ahead and retrieve one of the sheet from the freezer. To coat the filling balls in the chocolate coating, I used a fork since it would drain the chocolate away fairly well. Pick up the filling ball with your hand, drop it in the liquid chocolate, retrieve it with the fork, let it drain for a few seconds, then replace it onto the cookie sheet. Repeat these steps for about 5-6 truffles and then stop to top them. You don't want them to be too hot and runny when you put your toppings on or they will just sink in or melt but it can't be to set as to not allow them to stick. Continue this process with both sheets of truffles. Let them set in the freezer for about 20-30 minutes. Enjoy!
Let the cream cheese mixture sit while you melt the semi sweet chocolate in your double boiler. You could go buy a double boiler, but who wants too many unitaskers in the kitchen? Counter and cabinet space is a at premium in most kitchens I know. I've found a stock pot and a glass bowl work just fine (I'll add some pictures later of exactly what I use). Put about an inch of water in the bottom of your stock pot. Then put a glass bowl with a lip that just sits inside the pot (the water in the pot should not touch the bottom of the glass bowl - if it does, pour some out). Turn this on high and bring the water to a boil. While the water is boiling, go ahead and add your chocolate to the glass bowl. When the water boils, turn the temperature down to about medium low and stir the chocolate pretty regularly. Be very careful that no water ends up in the chocolate (it'll clump up and you'll have to start over).
Once the chocolate is fully melted, pour it into the cream cheese mixture. Beat until the two are combined well. This may take a few minutes so be patient. Once this is finished, place a piece of plastic wrap over the surface of the filling and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
After 2 hours, remove the filling from the refrigerator. The directions from the website that I got the recipe from suggested, at this step, to use one spoon to portion out the filling and quickly shape it into a ball with your hands. I found this impossible as the heat from my hands began to melt to filling nearly instantly. So, I took a page from my failed divinity attempts! I used two spoons. Scoop out the filling with one spoon and use the other spoon to scrape it off the first spoon. Go back and forth like this until you're pretty close to a sphere. This wasn't the best method as they usually ended up a little oblong. Your filling balls should be.. well.. about truffle sized! Continue until you're out of filling. Place the cookie sheets in the freezer to firm up while you melt the coating.
Using your double boiler again, melt the unsweetened and semi sweet chocolate for the coating. The original recipe called for all unsweetened chocolate, which I found to be a tad bit bitter. Half and half seemed to strike a pretty nice balance. Once the chocolate is good and liquidy, turn the temperature on the oven down to low and get your toppings ready. A few little bowls near your stove should work fine. You're going to work from and then back to your parchment lined cookie sheets. Go ahead and retrieve one of the sheet from the freezer. To coat the filling balls in the chocolate coating, I used a fork since it would drain the chocolate away fairly well. Pick up the filling ball with your hand, drop it in the liquid chocolate, retrieve it with the fork, let it drain for a few seconds, then replace it onto the cookie sheet. Repeat these steps for about 5-6 truffles and then stop to top them. You don't want them to be too hot and runny when you put your toppings on or they will just sink in or melt but it can't be to set as to not allow them to stick. Continue this process with both sheets of truffles. Let them set in the freezer for about 20-30 minutes. Enjoy!
I'm sure this would also work great using regular cream cheese to make them non vegan!
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