These easy chocolate orange truffles have a silky, smooth ganache center. They use rich dark chocolate and with just a few ingredients are so simple to make!
3tablespoonsfresh orange juice(about 1 medium orange juiced)
1tablespoonfresh orange zest(2-3 medium oranges)
pinchsalt
½teaspoon pure orange extract
⅓cupunsweetened cocoa powder
Instructions
Finely chop your chocolate, the finer it is chopped the easier it will melt, and place in a heat-safe bowl.
In a small saucepan, place the cream, butter, orange juice, and orange zest and bring to a simmer. Let simmer for 2 minutes then remove from heat. Let the cream mixture cool and infuse for 30 minutes, then return the mixture to a simmer.
Alternatively, you can do this in the microwave.Place the butter, cream, orange juice, and orange zest in a microwave-safe bowl and heat for 1 minute. Let cool and infuse for 30 minutes. Then heat again for1 minute.
Pour the hot cream mixture over your chopped chocolate and let sit for 2 minutes. Add in the orange extract, salt, and then whisk until you have a smooth, silky chocolate ganache. If the mixture still has lumps you can pop it in the microwave for 15-20 second increments, whisking in between until you get a smooth mixture. Or place the heat-safe bowl over a simmering pot of water and whisk until you have no lumps.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 4 hours.
Scoop 2-3 teaspoons of chocolate and roll into a ball. Roll the chocolate in cocoa powder until completely coated. Or dip chocolate if you prefer.
Store chocolate orange truffles in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer. Serve at room temperature.
Video
Notes
What should I do if my ganache splits? If your ganache splits, don’t freak out. If this happens, warm the ganache up a little bit and grab an immersion blender and blend it until smooth and it comes back together.Change the Type of Chocolate Used. I like the chocolate orange truffles best with dark chocolate, I think the flavors pair together best. However, you can swap the dark chocolate for milk chocolate or white chocolate. You will need to adjust the amount of chocolate used in this recipe. You may find you need to add more orange zest or extract. For example, I find that with milk chocolate, the orange flavor doesn’t carry through as well and I add a little extra of both.Because milk chocolate and white chocolate contain more milk in them than dark chocolate, which is why we need to increase the quantity of chocolate used if you choose to swap them out for the dark chocolate in this recipe.
If using milk chocolate increase the amount of chocolate in the recipe to 12.5 ounces (about 2 cups) chopped chocolate.
If using white chocolate increase the amount of chocolate in the recipe to 17.25 ounces (about 2 ¾ cups) chopped chocolate.
Change the Flavor. You can easily change the flavor of these chocolate orange truffles by changing the type of citrus juice, zest, or extract used. Try making these lemon chocolate truffles by swapping the orange juice, zest, and extract for lemon.Or you can try using peppermint extract or vanilla extract with these chocolate truffles. If you try this, you will omit the orange juice and zest and increase the amount of cream used to 8 tablespoons (½ cup). Use caution when adding peppermint extract, a little goes a long way!