Vegan Truffle Recipe

Maybe you’ve been watching all of these truffle posts thinking, “Crap! My girlfriend/boyfriend/farm animal du jour is vegan. These recipes do me no good.” Take heart, dear downtrodden culinarian. I’ve got your back.

I made these truffles for my friend Ritu, and she loved them. I don’t know whether it was the candy itself she liked or just the fact that I made the effort to handmake her vegan chocolates, but either way, it was a hit. I’m betting your SO will feel the same way – the idea that you took their eating habits so seriously that you made them a special treat is a sure-fire ticket to Nookieville.

The original post has lots of information about chopping and melting chocolate, so please check it out in case you have any questions. A note on vegan truffles: since you’re not using cow’s milk, which has a lot of fat in it, you’re going to want to keep these in the fridge to keep them firm. They wont soften to the point of falling apart if left out, but they have a better texture when they’re cold.

Also, you can coat these truffles with whatever you want: cocoa, ground hazelnuts, chai spices, powdered sugar, you name it. It might be really romantic to make several different kinds of coatings, which will bowl your date over when they open the box homemade, multi-flavored chocolate.

(Photo credit: skrockodile)

Vegan Truffle Recipe

Makes about 24 – 3/4″ truffles.

6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped fine
3/4 cup soy milk, minus 2 tablespoons (don’t get the low-fat kind!)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon pre-made strong black coffee
3 tablespoons of vegan sour cream
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Small foil cups for packaging (available from a craft or cooking store)

Fill the bottom of your double boiler with a few inches of water, and set it to boil. Have the chopped chocolate waiting in the top of your double boiler but not yet set over the heat.

In a small saucepan, bring the soy milk to a boil, then pour it over your chocolate. Gently mix the two and set them over the heat, stirring until the chocolate is completely melted. Stir in vanilla, coffee, and sour cream, then cover and refrigerate until firm enough to handle (about three hours).

Rolling Truffles

This is the fun part – getting your hands dirty! I do this in a two-part process to keep the cocoa from soaking into overly sticky truffles – and vegan truffles will get extra sticky since they’re lower in fat. If at any time it gets too warm, just stick the bowl of chocolate mixture back in the fridge for twenty minutes.

After your truffle mixture has firmed up, grab yourself a parchment-lined cookie sheet and a diminutive spherical portioning device (read: melon baller). In the absence of said device, two teaspoon will work just fine. Scoop about a teaspoonful of truffle mixture and then working as quickly as possible, roll it into a sphere shape with your hands. Try to make sure your hands are as cool as possible, or your truffles will melt as you roll them. It might be a good idea to keep a paper towel or two nearby, so that if your hands get caked with chocolate you can wipe them off. Set the rolled truffles on the lined cookie sheet, and keep going until you’ve finished all of your chocolate mixture.

Your truffle may look a little sticky at first. That’s fine, we’ll smooth them out in a second. You’ll want them to look like this:

Basic Flavoring

Stick your truffle-filled cookie sheet in the fridge for twenty minutes. Add cocoa powder to a small round-bottomed bowl and keep it within reach. One at a time, pick up your truffles and roll them between your hands for a few seconds to barely warm the surface, then drop them in the bowl of cocoa. Toss the bowl a bit until the truffle is completely covered in cocoa, then set it back on the cookie sheet. If you end up with a too much cocoa on your truffles, don’t shake them off until after they have firmed up again.

Once you’re done, put the cookie sheet full of truffles in the fridge for half an hour. Once they’re firm again, shake off any excess cocoa powder and put them in little foil cups for decoration.

These truffles will keep in the fridge for two weeks.

Here’s the hazelnut version: