I’m sticking with the ginger theme today. I love the stuff. Plus, as I keep reciting, it’s the right season to load up on spiced goodies!
These truffles were inspired by my favorite
Anyway.
As I was saying, that chocolate bar is my favorite. Chocolove* bars, in general, are delicious. Their chocolate is extremely smooth and creamy but dark and rich too…just the way I like my chocolate. This particular bar is studded with an extra treat: candied ginger. Yum! I could eat the stuff by the pound, which is great because I bought a TWO-POUND bag of it recently (love Amazon). I’ll be working my way through that for a little while. Don’t be surprised if a bunch of recipes using candied ginger pop up on here.
These truffles have three times the ginger: fresh, ground, and candied. They are perfectly spicy and sweet.
Truffle making can be kinda tricky. There are all sorts of rules when making chocolates. Ya know, like tempering your chocolate. I can never get it right, despite my research and careful temperature monitoring and all that jazz. Hence why my truffle coating is a bit “streaky.”
I promise promise promise that they are delicious, despite their less-than-perfect appearance. Sometimes ugly food is the best-tasting food, right? Not that I would go so far as to say these are UGLY…they’re just not perfect. The smoked sea salt takes them over the top, for sure.
They are fudgy, rich, and loaded with ginger flavor. The crystallized ginger on the inside and the sea salt on the outside give these an insane texture. Love them.
Hopefully you will too! If anyone has any tips for tempering chocolate, please feel free to share in the comments. I am at a loss.
In the meantime, I’ll just keep eating these babies. There are worse things.
Dark Chocolate Ginger Truffles with Smoked Sea Salt (makes roughly 30 truffles)
8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
8 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
¼ cup fresh ginger, peeled and sliced (about 3 inches of ginger root)
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or extract)
1 teaspoon smoked sea salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons honey or agave nectar
½ cup finely chopped candied ginger
For the Coating:
1 lb bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1. Place the two chocolates in a heatproof bowl. In a small pot, combine the fresh ginger and heavy cream. Bring to a gentle simmer for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and allow the ginger to steep in the cream for a few more minutes. Strain the cream into the bowl of chocolate and discard the fresh ginger.
2. Stir until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Stir in the vanilla, sea salt, ground ginger, honey, and chopped candied ginger. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for an hour or two, or until the ganache is hard enough to work with.
3. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Using a small scoop or spoon (I used a melon baller), scoop out about a tablespoon of the ganache and quickly roll it into a ball with your hands (this is a messy process). Place the formed truffles on the prepared baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
4. For the Coating: Place half of the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a small pot of simmering water (a double boiler). Stir frequently until all the chocolate is melted. As soon as it is all melted, remove the bowl from the heat, and stir in the remaining chocolate. Return the bowl to the heat for 5-10 seconds, stirring constantly, and then remove from heat again. Repeat this process until all the chocolate is completely melted.
5. While the chocolate is still warm, dip the truffles in it and place back on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Immediately sprinkle each truffle (while chocolate is still tacky) with smoked sea salt. Allow to set for at least 15-20 minutes before handling. You can keep them in the fridge or at room temperature in a sealed container.
*This post was not sponsored in any way by Chocolove. I just love their chocolate! They are aptly named!
Hi There. I'm Molly. I'm a food-obsessed, self-taught cook and I can't wait to share my passion for all things culinary with you. My love for egg yolks is just the tip of the iceberg!
I’m going to try this for Valentine’s Day.
Try turning off the water and just melting the chocolate over the hot, not simmering, water. Also, melt all the chocolate at once. This way you don’t have part of chocolate that has been in the heat longer than the rest. This works for me.
To temper the chocolate properly you need to form some happy coca butter crystals to create some structure. This can’t happen if you just put it in the fridge to cool. They need to be formed by being agitated- i.e. try taking it off of the heat at 120 degrees, and gently stir with a spoon or whatever you got to distribute the heat evenly until it cools to 80 degrees, then bring it back up to 90 so its back at working temperature. Then do whatever you want with it 😉 Its kind of a pain to do all the stirring instead of just putting it in the fridge, but if you want shine chocolates thats the way to go.
Thanks so much!
LOVE this recipe. I got 93 truffles out of it, so to get 30 yours must be very large! I use a melon baller, preferring small two-bite size truffles that fit in #6 candy cups.
Yes, tempering is a hassle if you do not have a machine. You can speed things up a bit by putting your pot/bowl of chocolate in a bowl/sink of cool water – using the double boiler method to cool. So up to 120 then cool down. Once it gets down to 94 or so, stir often and aggressively down to 84, then keep stirring while you warm back up (over double boiler or heating pad) to 89-90. Make your kids do the stirring and tell them no chocolate if they mess up. Eventually, you’ll get so hooked on dipping chocs that you’ll spring for a table top temperer, which makes it a lot easier – and easier dipping means you make more. I just blew through 25 pounds of chocolate with my Christmas dipping!! Always love trying new centers so thank you for this one!! I don’t like salt in choc so I topped mine with a tiny piece of candied ginger – lovely!
Wow, thanks so much for the comment and information, Amy! I am making these again this year and I am definitely going to try your tempering technique! Happy holidays! 🙂
Maybe I’m cheating, but I chop the chocolate and put it in a bowl or pyrex measuring cup for 30 seconds at a time and stir between 30 second intervals. It always comes out perfect.