Tis’ the season for giving, which in my house means baking countless cookies and breads, bottling holiday cocktails, and creating sweets to be handed out all around. In years past, I have explored different and new recipes for the little gifts and this year would be no different.
One of my favorite treats to make are truffles. Packed with deep chocolate flavor, these little morsels of deliciousness become the greatest vessel for pairings in a bite. But with one office full of co-workers, a huge list of friends, and gifts for some incredible clients, I needed to figure out an easier way to make these in large batches, ensuring even flavor throughout each bite. Now, this might be a shortcut, but when I am planning on making over 500 truffles, I will take it. So scouring the store one day for ingredients, I came upon the perfect, almost too perfect, of a solution. International Delight coffee creamers, the same ones I use every day for my morning pick-me-up, would not only be the perfect ingredient, but with the incredible holiday flavors available, I could expand the truffle selection this year. Now that is a win-win and all that was needed was to figure out my portions.
Picking up International Delight Sweet Cream, Peppermint Mocha, and Frosted Sugar Cookie flavors at Target using my Cartwheel app (woot 5% off!), I couldn’t wait to get home and start perfecting this years recipe. Below are my ingredients laid out for the final combination of my easy holiday truffles that will make 24 nice sized truffels.
INGREDIENTS
- 1/3 cup heavy cream (not whipping cream)
- 1/3 cup Internation Delight coffee creamer (flavor your choice)
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 6 oz fine-quality semi-sweet chocolat
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
DIRECTIONS
In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream, International Delight coffee creamer, and butter to a boil. While this is heating up, combine the cocoa powder and semi-sweet chocolate in a metal bowl. The metal bowl is key in this as it will allow the heat from the incoming cream to radiate throughout the mixture while mixing. I would not recommend using a plastic bowl.
After the wet ingredients are at a boil, go ahead and slowly pour the cream over dry ingredients and start mixing. You are going to mix it until the texture is a velvety feel with no clumps. The easiest way to check is to pinch the chocolate between your fingers and rub. If you feel a grittiness, continue to mix until it is gone. Once this is mixed, cover and chill the ganache in the fridge for about two hours.
To make the individual truffles, you will need a second bowl with some cocoa powder and a spoon. Dust your hands lightly with the cocoa powdr and use the spoon to get enough chocolate ganache for a 1inch wide round truffle. Roll each piece of ganache into a ball, tossing each completed ball into the bowl of cocoa powder, turning to coat. Finally, transfer all these delicious morsels to an airtight container and store in the fridge until you are ready to eat or share.
So there we go! Not only are you going to be the king of Christmas goodies, but your kitchen is going to smell of delicious chocolate for days while you prepare these. While the time is a bit long for preparing, the outcome is absolutley perfect. And the best part is that International Delight has so many delicious options of coffee creamer that you aren’t just limited to the standard flavor, and instead have a world wide open in front of you for some creative interpretations of this holiday classic.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of WhiteWave Foods. The opinions and text are all mine.