Boozy Chocolate Truffles (vegan option)
These boozy Christmas truffles are an absolute must at Christmas. Enjoy them with a coffee after a hard day of shopping or give them as a gift! The choice is yours.
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4 ingredient truffles
One of the best things about this recipe for boozy Christmas truffles is that you only need 4 ingredients that can easily be sourced from a corner shop or a big supermarket (whichever is closest)! You will need dark chocolate, double cream and the alcohol of your choosing plus cocoa powder to roll them in. Cointreau is one of my favourite liqueurs to add these truffles because it adds a subtle orange flavour that works really well with the bitter dark chocolate.
If you don’t have Cointreau I’ve also made these with whisky, gin, rum and even Baileys! If you’re giving them as a gift it’s a lovely touch to make the truffles with the person’s favourite spirit. If you don’t know what that is then why not make a selection?
How do I make vegan chocolate truffles?
The good news is that it is incredibly easy to make these boozy chocolate truffles vegan. Thanks to the food scientists who work at Elmlea, Alpro and Oatly you can now buy vegan double cream or whipping cream. Both of these have the required fat content to make rich and creamy vegan chocolate truffles.
As well as purchasing a vegan double cream substitute, you should also check that the alcohol you are using is vegan. Most spirits (including Cointreau, gin, whisky and rum) are vegan but it’s always best to double check! Especially if you are making the vegan version for someone who follows a plant based diet.
Most good quality dark chocolate is vegan. You want to use a chocolate that is at least 60% cocoa solids. As with all baking, the higher the quality the ingredients the higher the quality of the finished product!
For more suggestions on how to take a recipe and make it vegan, check out my Big Vegan Baking Guide.
Tips for adding alcohol to truffles
Adding alcohol to chocolate truffles doesn’t just make them delicious, it also means that they stay a little softer than if you just used chocolate and cream. The result is a truffle that melts in your mouth when you bite into it.
Try not to be tempted to add a lot more alcohol. 4 tablespoons of alcohol might not seem like much but, I promise you the flavour comes through. If you add too much you risk them not setting. This will make them incredibly difficult (if not impossible) to roll out into balls and you will be left with a boozy chocolate puddle.
It probably is worth noting at this point that it’s not enough to make you tipsy so you should be able to enjoy these truffles without a headache the next morning!
Pro tip: To prevent you handling the truffles too much, I really recommend using a melon baller to scoop the ganache out of the bowl once it’s firm. They will already be quite spherical so won’t need too much rolling in your hand to make them round.
The recipe
Boozy Chocolate Truffles
Ingredients
- 150 millilitres double cream or a plant based alternative such as Elmlea Plant
- 250 grams dark chocolate
- 4 tbsp alcohol of your choosing e.g. Cointreau, rum, whisky or gin
- 5-6 cocoa powder
Instructions
- Heat the cream in a saucepan and gently heat until it is simmering.
- Break the dark chocolate into pieces and place in a small bowl.
- Pour over the cream and leave for a few minutes to give the chocolate chance to melt.
- Stir the mix until the chocolate has dissolved completely and you have a smooth and shiny ganache.
- Add the alcohol a little at a time while stirring to make sure it's evenly distributed throughout the ganache.
- Cover and place in the fridge for up to 1 hour until firm.
- Sprinkle the cocoa powder over a plate.
- Take the ganache out of the fridge and using either a melon baller or a teaspoon, scoop a small amount of the ganche into your hands.
- Roll carefully into a ball using your hands then roll them in the cocoa powder on the plate.
- Repeat until all of the ganache has been used up and they are all dusted in the cocoa powder.
Variations
If you’re making a range of different flavours you will want to be able to tell them apart! Why not try using one of these variations when it comes to dusting your boozy truffles.
- Rum flavoured truffles taste great rolled in dessicated coconut.
- Gin truffles look fab drizzled with white chocolate and a little lemon zest.
- Grate the zest of an orange really fine and sprinkle over Cointreau or whisky truffes that have already been rolled in cocoa powder.
- Add a little crunch to Baileys flavoured truffles by rolling them in chopped nuts.
Make more sweets at home
More Christmas recipes
For the full range of Christmas recipes on the blog, check out the Christmas recipe archive.