Chocolate Chai Truffles
I’m not that into Valentine’s Day, and I can’t decide if it’s because there’s just way too much pressure to not be single, or because I’ve never had a particularly good one. The worst Valentine’s Day, by far, was the spring semester of my sophomore year of college when a guy I’d been seeing for a while decided for the both of us that we were going to bypass the holiday altogether; it was just going to be a regular Tuesday. The only problem with that? He forgot to fill me in on it. So there I was the night before, burning a CD filled with happy songs (a few of them my own), and carefully cutting out a homemade card with a track listing on the back. We hadn’t been dating that long, so I knew to avoid the “L” word at all costs, but I thought a nice little gift would let him know that he was appreciated.
Since our colleges were within walking distance of each other, we had plenty of opportunities to spend time together. Twice a week, we had a standing coffee date at a new shop right downtown, and as luck would have it, that fateful V-Day happened to fall on one of them. I couldn’t wait to see him, and even got my hopes up that maybe, even though we hadn’t talked about how we were going to handle the holiday, he’d surprise me, too. And boy, was I surprised. The look on this guy’s face when I gave him the card and CD would make anyone beg the floor to open up wide and swallow them whole. “I…didn’t think we were doing anything special today,” he said, with a voice filled with gentle caution generally reserved for calming spooked horses. “I’m sorry, I didn’t get you anything.” And because we were freshly an item, I tried with all my might to brush off my utter embarrassment, and act like his gift was just one of MANY I was handing out that day, and that the playlist HADN”T taken me a full hour to curate because I wanted to get the flow just right. I think I mumbled something about how it was totally fine, then tried to finish my piping-hot coffee as quickly as possible without completely eviscerating my taste buds.
So did this incident sour Valentine’s Day for me forever? Not really. I don’t blame him for what happened - we were brand new, young, and in the end, not emotionally mature enough to properly communicate. And in case you’re wondering whatever happened to our dear friend, the Valentine’s Day Dodger, I heard he got married a few years ago and had a kid. So all’s well that ends well.
At any rate, Valentine’s Day isn’t all bad. The new movies and books that come out around this time are usually heartwarming, and It’s one of the biggest days of the year to celebrate everything sweet. I can’t think of anything sweeter than making homemade Chocolate Chai Truffles.
Making truffles might seem intimidating at first. For quite some time, I believed that it took a certain amount of mastery before you could even attempt such a delicious and professional-looking act of confectionery, but it’s just not true! When it all boils down, chocolate truffles consist of just two things: heavy cream, and pure chocolate. Put those two together in the correct ratio, give your mixture plenty of time to set, and you’ve got yourself the perfect, chocolate-y canvas for whatever decorations your heart desires. And while simple chocolate truffles are amazing on their own, why not take it up a notch? I love chocolate, and I love chai, so let’s put them together!
These Chocolate Chai Truffles are by far some of my favorite things to make. They’re incredibly chocolate-forward with floral, spicy notes of star anise, black tea, cardamom, and cinnamon, finished beautifully with just a hint of sea salt. These feel perfectly weighted in the hand, but aren’t so solid that when you bite into them, you break your teeth. Quite the opposite actually! Each bite melts in the mouth into nothing but decadent creaminess, making it totally impossible to have just one.
Whether you’re celebrating Valentine’s Day with a long-term partner, a virtual Zoom date, or just yourself, these Chocolate Chai Truffles guarantee that the day will be nothing but sweet (and a little pleasantly spicy)!
Chocolate Chai Truffles
What You’ll Need:
8 oz (two 4 oz bars, NOT chocolate chips) semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
10 cardamom pods
5 whole star anise pieces
2 cinnamon sticks
5 chai tea bags
2/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 cup unsweetened coca powder
Directions:
Place the chocolate in a medium, heatproof bowl. Set aside.
Using a mortar and pestle, or the side of a knife, gently crush the cardamom pods. Place the cardamom pods, star anise, cinnamon sticks, and heavy cream in a small saucepan. Set the saucepan over medium-low heat, and bring the cream to a simmer (be careful not to burn the cream).
Take the saucepan off the heat, add the tea bags, then cover the saucepan and let it sit for 10 minutes.
Remove the tea bags, then place the saucepan over medium-low heat again and bring the cream back up to a simmer. Remove from heat and strain the cream into the bowl with the chocolate. Discard the spices.
Let the cream and chocolate sit in the bowl for three minutes until the chocolate has softened, then slowly begin to whisk the chocolate and cream together, starting in the center and working your way to the edges of the bowl. Whisk until completely smooth. Add the sea salt, then whisk to combine. You’ve just made ganache!
Place a sheet of plastic wrap directly on top of the ganache, making sure no air can come through, then chill the ganache in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours until it has set.
Just before you’re ready to roll your truffles, place a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet and set aside. Next, fill a small bowl with the unsweetened cocoa powder.
Remove the plastic wrap from on top of your ganache and discard. Using a melon baller the size of a teaspoon, a teaspoon cookie scoop, or an actual teaspoon measuring spoon, roll two teaspoons of the ganache at a time, then mold, shape, and roll them together until you have a smooth truffle. Roll the truffle in the coca powder, then place on the cookie sheet. Repeat this process until you have run out of ganache. You should have about 20 truffles at the end.
Transfer the cookie sheet to the refrigerator and let the truffles set for at least 1 hour.
TO STORE: Truffles can be kept in an airtight storage container in the refrigerator for one week.