Red wine brownies, red wine truffles… there has definitely been a theme going on here lately. What can I say? I love both chocolate and wine, and when you put them together it simply doesn’t get much better. Plus I’m pretty sure science has proven that chocolate and wine are the two best ingredients with which to start a recipe. So naturally, I jump on any chance to use both of these ingredients together.
I first made these truffles a couple of years ago as part of the holiday treat boxes I made that year.
That was an intense time, during which I was learning how to make a bunch of new truffle recipes and making a gazillion truffles overall, so none of those recipes ever made it up here on the blog. Now’s as good of a time as any, though, right?
National Truffle Day was this past Tuesday. Seriously, it’s a thing. Evidence here. Doesn’t it seem like there’s a National something-or-other Day every single day lately? For the most part, I find the frequency of these alleged holidays to be obnoxious. However, nothing involving truffles could ever be anything other than fantastic and wonderful!
Sadly, I did not find out about this National day of truffle celebration until late in the day Tuesday when there was simply no way a new truffle recipe could be completed that day. However, simply knowing about National Truffle Day’s existence was all it took to plant the desire for truffles in my brain and I knew a new recipe was in order for the blog. Plus, in addition to National Truffle Day, Mother’s Day is coming up next weekend and I had book club this weekend, so the stars were all perfectly aligned for these truffles to make their way to the blog. I mean let’s be serious, what better way to solidify your status as favorite child than to give red wine truffles to your mom on Monther’s Day?!
So here we are. I made these lovelies as one of several items to have out at my book club this past Saturday and to say they went over well would be a gross understatement. After sitting out for an hour or so, they had softened quite a bit and somewhat melted onto the plate. This did not deter anyone from continuing to eat them. We simply grabbed spoons and went to town scooping the rest of the deliciousness off the plate and into our mouths.
I could go on and on about how fabulous these are, but you should really find out for yourself. They’re a straightforward and easy recipe to make, so do yourself a favor and go get the ingredients right now and make some for yourself (and mom)!
Soft Dark Chocolate Red Wine Truffles
Ingredients
For Truffle Dough:
- 9 oz semisweet chocolate (chopped) - Make sure to use high quality chocolate, such as Ghirardelli
- 1/4 cup whipping cream/heavy cream
- 3 Tbsp. dry red wine (I used my go-to, Mirassou Pinot Noir)
- 1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp. espresso powder
- 1 Tbsp. powdered/confectioners sugar
For Truffle Assembly:
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
Instructions
For Truffle Dough:
- Place the chocolate and heavy cream in a medium-sized saucepan or double boiler over medium-low heat. Heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate has melted and the mixture is completely smooth.
- Remove from heat, add the red wine, vanilla extract, espresso powder and powdered sugar and whisk until everything is thoroughly combined and mixture is smooth.
- Transfer truffle dough to a small mixing bowl and refrigerate truffle dough for at least 2-3 hours (or freeze for ~1-1+1/2 hours), until it has completely set/firm.
For Truffle Assembly:
- When the truffle dough has set and you're ready to form your truffles, make an assembly line. Place the cocoa powder in a wide, shallow dish and line 1-2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Once that is all set up, pull out the truffle dough.
- Scoop truffle dough out with a small scoop or melon-baller (I use the small Oxo Good Grips Cookie Scoop found here, which holds 2 tsp. of dough) and drop it into the dish with the cocoa powder. Roll it around in the cocoa powder until the outside is coated, then form the dough into a ball shape and place on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat until you're done with all of the truffle dough.
- When all the truffles have been rolled in the cocoa powder, place the baking sheet back in the refrigerator for ~30 minutes to allow them to firm up again. Then, if not serving until later, place the truffles in an air-tight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
- Serve truffles chilled or after sitting out at room temperature for ~5-10 minutes (not much longer or else they'll be quite soft). Either way is delicious! Store leftovers in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
