These vegan-friendly Chocolate Truffles with Chile Mocha are made with heavy cream (or coconut cream), rich bittersweet chocolate, coffee liqueur, and cayenne pepper.

Chocolate truffles with sugar, sesame seed, and chili flake coating. — Chocolate Truffles

Attention all chocolate lovers! If you, like me, like a little 'oomph' in your chocolate, listen up! Recently, while gleefully sipping a Chile Mocha coffee drink, it occurred to me that this spiced, earthy cocoa would be fabulous as chocolate truffles.

Suddenly, my chocolate obsessed brain was on a mission-- a truffle mission. If you, like me, prefer your cocoa rich, dark, and a little bit spicy-- this chocolate is for you! It's delicious, it melts in your mouth, and is perfect for parties, date nights, or even groggy midnight snacks.

I present to you-- these Chocolate Truffles with Chile Mocha. These truffles are made from a spicy and decadent chocolate ganache, rolled into perfect little balls of happiness, and lightly dusted with spiced sugar, sweetened cocoa powder, or sesame seeds.

What is a Chocolate Truffle?

At its most basic, a chocolate truffle is simply chocolate mixed into hot cream, then the mixture is cooled and rolled out into small spheres. Sometimes truffles include corn syrup to stabilize the chocolate, and sometimes they're coated in a hard chocolate shell.

I prefer to go back to basics, avoiding the corn syrup, and skipping the sometimes-tricky shell coating.

This means that the truffles should be kept cool, so they don't lose their shape. It also means they'll melt fabulously into your mouth in a burst of rich, chocolaty decadence.

Cream in a saucepan, with bittersweet chips, cayenne, a jigger, and a whisk laying on a countertop. — Truffle Ingredients

How to Make Chocolate Truffles

To make Chile Mocha Truffles, bring some cream (or coconut cream) to a boil, and immediately take it off the heat. Quickly add the chocolate, and stir, stir, stir!

Once the chocolate has melted into a creamy ganache, add the chile flakes, cayenne, and the coffee liqueur. Stir again. Put the ganache in the fridge for about an hour (or overnight).

Next, roll the truffles. You can use a spoon, but a melon baller will make your life easier. Roll the truffles out, working as quickly as possible to keep the chocolate from warming up.

Next, roll the truffles in a coating-- using either sesame seeds, chile flakes and sugar (for even more heat), or sugar and cocoa powder.

Keep the truffles cool until you're ready to serve them. When you whip out a plate of these spicy chocolates-- Your dinner guests will be thrilled, your date will love you, and your midnight snacking will be très -chic!

Rolling out truffles with a melon baller, cocoa powder on the counter, and the pot with cold chocolate ganache in the corner. — Rolling Chocolate Truffles

Chocolate Truffle Tips

Use a small melon baller or cookie-dough scoop for evenly shaped truffles.
Roll the truffles with the tips of your fingers, instead of in the palms of your hands, to keep the chocolate from warming and becoming difficult to work with.
If the chocolate becomes too warm to continue rolling the truffles, take a break, and refrigerate the chocolate for a few minutes.
If your truffles look lumpy or uneven, refrigerate them for about 15 minutes to reharden them, and then quickly roll the truffles again to get more perfect truffles.
If you're serving the truffles at a party, and they'll be sitting out for a long time, try serving them on a platter that's above a container of ice.

Want more VEGAN DESSERTS? Try these:

Want more CHOCOLATE? Try these:

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5 from 12 votes