Cream-Filled Chocolate Truffles

With Valentine’s Day approaching, homemade candies make a great treat and a great gift!  Not only are they absolutely delicious, but they make a thoughtful and attractive gift with some cute boxes and tissue paper.  Everyone we've given them to has loved them.  

In this recipe, I made four different flavored truffles.  I made: White Chocolate Orange Crème Truffles, Dark Chocolate Blueberry Truffles, Milk Chocolate Hazlenut Truffles, and Milk Chocolate Raspberry Truffles.  Note that this recipe is great, because you can choose any flavor of filling you want, along with any flavor of chocolate (white, dark, or milk chocolate).  There are a number of combinations to choose from.

You'll need to stop by a cake/candy/baking store to pick up a truffle candy mold and the chocolate pieces.  You can also find dry fondant there.  I also get the flavoring there.  Flavorings will be oil-based in specialty shops, but generally alcohol-based in grocery stores.  Either is fine for truffle filling, but if you want to flavor the chocolates (not done in this specific recipe, but great for making Andes-like candy mints, etc), then you cannot use alcohol-based flavors or you'll ruin the chocolate (they won't mix and will clump together).  I went to Cakes Plus in Laurel, Maryland, but any cake/candy/baking store will do.

If you like this recipe and want to try making more homemade candies, you can also check out my Peanut Butter Cups and Chocolate Caramels recipes. 

Ingredients:

• Dark Chocolate Pieces 
• Milk Chocolate Pieces and/or
• White Chocolate Pieces (I used all 3)
• 3 Tbsp. Butter
• 1 Tbsp. Milk
• 1/2 Lb (8 oz) Dry Fondant (could substitute powdered sugar if you need to)
• Food Flavoring of your choice (I used Blueberry, Raspberry, Chocolate Hazlenut, and Orange Crème)
• Food Coloring of your choice

Directions: 

1.  Fill a medium skillet 1/3 full with hot water and simmer on stove top.  Fill a coffee cup with chocolate pieces and stir occasionally until they are melted (in the photo I have white chocolate, dark chocolate, and milk chocolate in cups, as I was making all three types of candy at once).

2.  While chocolate is melting, prepare filling.  Melt butter in a large bowl.  Stir in dry fondant and milk.  Separate into 4 (or however many flavors you have) smaller bowls.  Add in flavoring and food coloring and stir well, adding more to get to your desired filling color. 

3.  Spoon a small amount of chocolate into a candy mold and be sure to cover the sides, so no part of the mold is without chocolate (I just use the spoon for this and it works fine, but you can also use candy brushes if you so choose).  This may take some practice, to be sure you use as little chocolate as possible, while still covering all of the candy mold.  If you use too much chocolate, your candy will be hard to bite in to and you won't have adequate room for the filling.

4.  Place the candy mold flat in your refrigerator for 3-5 minutes, or until chocolate is set.

5.  Take a bit of the cream filling (small spoonfuls) and place into each individual candy mold.  Top with more chocolate to completely cover and fill the mold.  Lightly tap the entire candy mold on the counter when done, to remove any air bubbles.

6.  Place the candy mold back in the refrigerator for 5-7 minutes, or until completely set.  Remove from refrigerator, flip candy mold upside down on counter top and tap out each pieces. Remove any excess chocolate from the pieces.

Wa-La!  You have delicious cream-filled chocolate truffles!  Enjoy!

As a reminder, you can also make some homemade Peanut Butter Cups or Chocolate Caramels for a variety of homemade chocolate candies.