About This Recipe
Honey softens the dark chocolate ganache in these cocoa-dusted truffles. Warm cream melts the finely chopped chocolate, then butter is stirred in after the mixture cools a little. Give the ganache time to become scoopable before rolling. The finish is a plain cocoa coating, with no tempered chocolate shell to make.
Recipe
Cocoa-Dusted Honey Chocolate Truffles
Make honey-softened dark chocolate ganache, chill until scoopable and roll in cocoa. Includes cooling and four hours of refrigerator time.
5Ingredients
Yield: 12 servings
- 200 g 70-85% dark chocolate, finely chopped
- 100 g heavy cream
- 42 g honey
- 20 g unsalted butter, softened
- 20 g unsweetened cocoa powder
Ingredient amounts scale; instructions show the original batch. Cooking times and pan sizes may need adjustment. Season to taste. Honey grams use US measures at 20°C and 17.5% moisture, a density estimate; weigh your honey for precision.
Instructions
- 1Chop and warmPut the finely chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream and honey gently in a small saucepan, stirring, until steaming with small bubbles at the edge. Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate.
- 2Make the ganacheLeave for 2 minutes, then stir from the center in small circles, gradually drawing in the rest until smooth. Let cool to about 95 to 105 F (35 to 40 C), then stir in the softened butter until evenly blended.
- 3Chill until scoopableSpread in a shallow dish. Allow about 10 minutes to stop steaming, then cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, until firm enough to scoop. Leave longer if the center is still too soft to hold a ball.
- 4Roll and coatDivide into 24 small portions and roll briefly between clean cool hands. Put the measured cocoa in a shallow bowl and turn the truffles in it. Work in small batches, returning soft ganache to the refrigerator. Divide into 12 servings of two truffles and keep refrigerated until shortly before serving. The total includes cooling and the four-hour chill.
Estimated nutrition per serving
154.39 calories · 11.69 g fat · 11.74 g carbohydrate · 1.89 g protein · 6.26 mg sodium
Serving: 1 of 12 servings
Calculated from ingredient weights and USDA FoodData Central: 170273, 170859, 169640, 173430, 169593. Estimates use ingredient input weights; actual portions, brands and cooking losses vary. Omitted nutrient values are unavailable, not zero.
Keep the Ganache Smooth
Finely chopped chocolate gives the warm cream more surface to melt. Stir steadily from the center instead of beating in air. Add butter when the mixture has cooled to the stated warm range.
Valrhona uses heated cream and honey in its truffle method, adding butter to the warm ganache. This is a cocoa-rolled variation with its own ingredient balance and refrigerator set, rather than a copy of its chocolate-shell finish.
Flavor intensity uses an editorial culinary scale: 1 is mild and 5 is bold. These are tasting suggestions, not laboratory measurements.
Sources: UC Agriculture and Natural Resources: cooking with honey; USDA FoodData Central: Chocolate, dark, 70-85% cacao solids; Valrhona: honey chocolate ganache method.
1 = mild, 5 = bold. Editorial pairing guidance, not laboratory measurements; jars vary.
- Clover
- Dark chocolate ganache
- Wildflower
- Cocoa and cream
- Buckwheat
- A stronger chocolate confection
Get the Honey Buyer's Cheat Sheet (free PDF)
16 varieties on one page — color, flavor, best use and what a fair price looks like — from the 304 honeys we track.
Choose Honey beside Dark Chocolate
Clover gives a mild honey note. Wildflower is more noticeable beside the cocoa. A very dark honey changes the balance, so choose it because you enjoy its flavor with chocolate.
Keep the cream and honey quantities steady. Extra liquid makes a softer ganache that can be difficult to roll. For a cooked sugar confection with a different method, see chocolate honey fudge.
Cool Hands and a Cold Center
Do not try to roll warm ganache. A shallow dish chills more evenly than a deep bowl, and small scoops are easier to handle. If the mixture smears in your hands, chill it again before continuing.
Serve the truffles cool enough to keep their shape. Keep them in a covered container in the refrigerator. Honey brownies or honey cookies suit a dessert plate when a baked option is useful.
Portions and the Estimate
The batch makes 24 small truffles, with two per serving. The estimate includes the full measured cocoa coating, although a little may remain in the bowl. It also uses the USDA generic 70-to-85-percent dark chocolate record.
Different chocolate percentages, added alcohol or a chocolate shell change the ingredient balance. Those additions are not included here. The estimate uses the listed ingredient weights and twelve equal portions.
Choosing the Honey
Use Clover Honey or Wildflower Honey for the flavor described in this recipe. See our honey selection guide for other culinary choices.
