White Chocolate Coconut Truffles

What are white chocolate truffles?

They are small chocolate balls with a smooth texture, made by melting chocolate (any type) with cream and chilling the mixture first before forming the truffles. They can have different add-ins, flavorings, and coatings.

The fact that they can be frozen or refrigerated for several days makes them convenient, and end-of-year baking is hectic, we do need simple recipes that can be made ahead.

Two ingredients can vary: the type of nuts and the liqueur. The nuts can even be substituted for ground graham crackers.

Ingredient list

• White chocolate: melting chocolate wafers work well or any white chocolate that you already use. Mercken's coating melting wafers, Callebaut white chocolate wafers, or a white chocolate baking bar. 
• Nuts: any nut can be used. I am partial to macadamia nuts, walnuts, or pecans when it comes to combining with white chocolate.
• Cream: heavy, whipping, or double cream, they all work.
• Rum: any rum works, though gold or spiced, are better because they are mellower. I use Captain Morgan spiced rum. Also, a rum essence or emulsion works, like LorAnn Rum baking emulsion or Cook's pure rum extract.
• Vanilla: I use pure vanilla extract or pure vanilla paste when available, but a good vanilla essence (artificially flavored) also works and is infinitely cheaper. 

How to make white chocolate truffles

The method is extremely easy and, since the truffles are coated in coconut, you don't have to worry about dipping them in melted chocolate, which is more laborious.

• Making the ganache: the recipe starts with a simple white chocolate ganache that involves adding very hot cream to the chocolate (image 1) and stirring it until it's smooth and shiny (image 3).
• Chopped chocolate: make sure it's finely chopped, especially if it's not melting chocolate. The cream is a very small amount so the finer the chocolate the quicker it will melt and mix before the cream loses temperature.
• Mixing: as you stir it will look like there's just not enough cream to melt the chocolate well, but it will. At first, it will look thick and the chocolate pieces will be large (image 2). But it will eventually be completely smooth.
• What if it doesn't melt completely? You can use the microwave in 10-second spurts and mix well after each one until it melts completely.
• Adding the nuts and liquor: ground walnuts and rum are added to the chocolate mixture (image 4). The mixture will be thick but not enough to form the truffles. So it needs to be chilled for several hours.

Coating the truffles

There are several ways to finish the truffles, but this recipe is a super simple one so we use shredded coconut or sprinkles. It pairs very well with the rest of the flavors without overpowering them.

• Unsweetened shredded coconut: I don't recommend using sweetened coconut unless you like very sweet desserts.
• Sprinkles: they are a great option to change the color depending on the holiday or celebration. We use silver for Christmas and pastel colors for Easter.
• Cookie scoop: it's the easiest way to make uniformly medium-sized balls.
• Shallow bowl: use it to roll the truffles in the coconut and then transfer them to a plate or serving dish.

Kitchen notes

• Organization: read the recipe first and ensure you have ingredients at the correct temperature, equipment, and enough workspace. This will make the process so much easier.
• Chocolate: If you ever worked with white chocolate, you probably know it's much harder to melt than other types. So, I recommend using tempered or melting chocolate that will melt more easily and make the process simpler. If you use the regular kind, make sure it's finely chopped as the amount of cream is small, and if it's in large pieces, they will not melt before the cream loses its temperature.
• Storing: truffles can be made ahead and refrigerated, well covered or in a container, for several days or in the freezer for a month. Use wax paper or parchment paper to separate them into layers. To defrost, transfer to the refrigerator until soft enough to eat.
• Size: don't be tempted to make large truffles. They should be about the size of a whole walnut.

Variations

• Nuts: as mentioned before, any type of groundnut can be used. I make them with either walnuts or macadamia nuts, but almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, they all work.
• Liquor: rum is a very friendly type of booze that combines with most nuts so it's a great choice. Which one is your favorite? You can probably use it.
• Great combinations include pecans with orange, like Cointreau or Grand Marnier, hazelnuts with Frangelico, coffee liqueur such as Kahlua with walnuts or pecans, cognac or brandy instead of rum work with most nuts.
• Coating: instead of coconut you can use very finely ground nuts, plain cookie crumbs, sprinkles, or melting chocolate for dipping.