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Candied Ginger Truffles

Candied Ginger Truffles | ZoëBakes | Photo by Zoë François

Inspiration comes from the strangest places! This candied ginger truffles recipe was inspired by a 6 year old girl scout, a professor at the CIA and a “hot mama” with a blog called the Steamy Kitchen.

About a week ago a friend of mine and her daughter were making truffles to bring to her girl scout troupe and called me with some technical questions. The next day my teacher and friend, Stephen Durfee sent me a video he made for the CIA, all about chocolate. At the time I happened to be surfing through Jaden’s website, the Steamy Kitchen, and found a great article about ginger. Well those three images collided and I all the sudden had a craving for truffles with the zing of ginger. I didn’t have any fresh ginger on hand, which is very unusual for me, but I did have some that was candied. It was one of those unplanned moments that turned out for the BEST!

After watching Stephen’s video I decided to make the candied ginger truffles with the best chocolate available. His recommendation was to use Criollo. That is the name of the cacao bean, not the brand of chocolate (it is like naming the type of grape in a wine). So I did a little research and found El Rey had the chocolate I wanted to use. This makes perfect sense since Criollo is grown in Venezuela and the El Rey chocolate company is there as well. I like a bittersweet truffle so I went with the Gran Saman Dark 70%. The 70% refers to the amount of cacao solids and cacao butter in the chocolate. There shouldn’t be anything in the chocolate that is artificial or too difficult to pronounce. The higher the % number the more intense the chocolate flavor and typically less sweet.

Of course, this was my quest to test out what Stephen had to say. You should use your favorite chocolate. If you don’t have a favorite then Stephen recommends having a chocolate tasting (sounds good to me!)…buy a bunch of chocolate bars (Hershey’s doesn’t count!) and taste them to determine which suits your palate. The winner is a good place to start your recipe.

Candied Ginger Truffles

Follow along with the instructions and get the full recipe below.

Scooping Truffle Mixture | ZoëBakes | Photo by Zoë François

Once they are all scooped then roll the truffles between your hands to get them rounded. This is why it is important that your ganache (truffle mixture) is set firm.

Rolling Truffles | ZoëBakes | Photo by Zoë François

To dip the truffles in chocolate:

With your fingers rub a little bit of the chocolate on the palm of your hand. Enough that you can coat the entire truffle, but not so much that you are wearing chocolate all over your clothes!

Rolling Truffles  | ZoëBakes | Photo by Zoë François

Roll the truffle in the chocolate on your hands and then drop it onto a clean piece of parchment to set up.

ginger truffles

Once the truffles are dipped in chocolate, let them set at room temperature. If you are in a hurry you can pop them into the refrigerator or freezer for a couple of minutes to speed things up! Once they are set, then coat them in cocoa powder. Just put a little cocoa in a small bowl and gently roll them around. Repeat with all the truffles.

Dusting Truffles With Cocoa Powder | ZoëBakes | Photo by Zoë François

Now they are good enough to eat…unless,

Truffles Dusted with Cocoa Powder | ZoëBakes | Photo by Zoë François

you are interested in gilding the lily and adding a bit of flair to your truffle, then you can pipe a bit of chocolate on the very top with a parchment pastry bag and,

Candied Ginger Truffles | ZoëBakes | Photo by Zoë François

add a very small cube of candied ginger!

Candied Ginger Truffles | ZoëBakes | Photo by Zoë François

Candied Ginger Truffles

These candied ginger truffles have a sharp and wonderful ginger flavor. Be sure to use high quality dark chocolate to get the balance and taste just right.
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Ingredients

  • 12 oz high quality 70% dark chocolate, finely chopped
  • ½ cup heavy whipping cream
  • 2 tsp rum optional
  • 4 tbsp very finely chopped candied ginger
  • cocoa powder for garnish
  • 3 oz melted chocolate for dipping chocolate
  • small cubes of candied ginger for garnish

Instructions

  • In a small sauce pot, heat the cream and rum until gently simmering. Turn off heat and add chopped chocolate, stir gently to make sure all the chocolate is covered in the hot cream. Cover the pot for about 4-5 minutes. Gently whisk until all the lumps of chocolate have melted. Add the finely chopped candied ginger.
  • Pour the truffle mixture into a container and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to set at room temperature for 2+ hours (depends how cold your kitchen is).
  • With a small truffle scoop (I used a #100) make your truffles. Don’t worry if they are not perfectly round.
  • Once they are all scooped, roll the truffles between your hands to get them rounded. This is why it is important that your ganache (truffle mixture) is set firm.
  • With your fingers rub a little bit of the chocolate on the palm of your hand. Enough that you can coat the entire truffle, but not so much that you are wearing chocolate all over your clothes!
  • Roll the truffle in the chocolate on your hands and then drop it onto a clean piece of parchment to set up.
  • Once the truffles are dipped in chocolate, let them set at room temperature. If you are in a hurry you can pop them into the refrigerator or freezer for a couple of minutes to speed things up. Once they are set, coat them in cocoa powder. Just put a little cocoa in a small bowl and gently roll them around. Repeat with all the truffles.
  • Pipe a bit of chocolate on the very top with a parchment pastry bag add a very small cube of candied ginger.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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21 thoughts to “Candied Ginger Truffles”

  1. These look delicious. I make a smiliar recipe without the ginger, but the final dip in melted chocolate is something I haven’t done before. Can’t wait to make them. Thanks!

  2. Ooh, chocolate and candied ginger. What a perfect match. I think I’ll be making these – for me.

    Have you tried the El Rey white chocolate? It’s sinfully good.

  3. Hi Christina,

    I love most of the El Rey products. In fact, their white chocolate is one of the best. I’m not a huge white chocolate fan and theirs is sublime!

    Zoë

  4. Interestingly, there was a recipe for ginger/chocolate truffles in today’s Minneapolis Star Tribune, but these look even better!

    I made truffles before Christmas and tempered the dipping chocolate. What a pain, but they “snapped” when bitten into, which is the whole point, I guess! Did you do that with your coating chocolate here?

  5. Hi Ann,

    What a coincidence, I’ll have to check out the article in the Strib.

    I didn’t temper the chocolate on this post. It was more information than I wanted to give. But it is a great idea for another post.

    If you were to temper the chocolate it would be all the better!

    Thanks, Zoë

  6. Hi Zoë,

    Thanks so much for your comment on my loaf from Artisan Bread! The second one from that dough was even more amazing. I will certainly let you know if I veganize anything. I’ve got my eye on a few things that would require vegan Brioche or Challah dough, so that may be forthcoming.

    Your blog is amazing. I’ve added it to my “Daily Read” list and will certainly be stealing some of your tricks to use in my kitchen!

  7. Hi Meg,

    I’m so glad you came to visit and can translate some of my ideas to your vegan diet. I’ll visit your website again to see what you’re up to!

    Can’t wait to see the second loaf!

    Zoë

  8. Hi Zoe
    Thanks for leaving a comment on my blog. I followed the links to the New Zealand food lovers forum yesterday. I was very surprised to see a link back to my blog!! Cool!

    I am continuing to experiment with the bread recipes – they are all fabulous – thank you! I’m also checking in here frequently – you make the most scrumptious looking baked goods. Baking warms up these cold, cold days like nothing else could.

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