How to make vegan chocolate ganache, and use it for vegan chocolate truffles.

Christmas and Valentine’s day are two holidays when, more than any other time, chocolate takes centre stage in the celebration. I worked as a chocolatier for a while (a story for another time, perhaps); I made hundreds of chocolate truffles, most often flavoured seasonally: with raspberry puree in the summer, orange in winter, and, well, cream whiskey all year round because it is always in season.

The same way as mayo can break, your chocolate ganache can too. Here are some troubleshooting tips: 

-make sure your liquid is very hot (but not boiling) before pouring it on your chocolate. 

-ganache is sensitive in the lukewarm temperature range; you can stir it when warm, or mold it when cold, but if you stir when it’s lukewarm, it’ll split (a.k.a. separate)

-to fix a separated ganache: place it in a bowl on top of a double boiler and slowly melt it back down (if cool), adding a tablespoon of plant milk and stirring until fully incorporated. If still separated, add another tablespoon of milk and stir again. Heat only until melted. 

-if you cannot re-emulsify your ganache, you can always add more hot (plant) milk on top and make hot chocolate instead.

For a very thorough article on ganache from Fine Cooking, please see this article.

Styling notes

The rolled-out truffles can be either simply rolled in cocoa powder, or dipped in chocolate and then rolled into cocoa. The second option is decidedly more finicky, but it creates an appealingly rustic appearance. This will make them resemble the OG truffles, the fungus made by nature. Of course I went all out for the images, but my family demolishes them even when just rolled in cocoa. 

I serve these chocolate truffles on a platter, but a cookie tin lined with grease-proof paper will work well too. You can gently dust them with cocoa powder, but don’t be too aggressive with the sifter, or they’ll feel bitter and dry when bitten into. A glass of almond milk is my favourite accompaniment, but the cream whiskey I mentioned in the first paragraph works really well too.

Vegan chocolate truffles recipe

Ingredients:

225 g chocolate with 70% cocoa solids, preferably organic, such as Green & Black’s, or Cacao Barry Organic 71% Chocolate Couverture

160 g full fat coconut milk from a can, Native Forest brand (organic) or Aroy-D

1 tbsp brown rice syrup or maple syrup

5-7 strips of orange peel, removed from an orange with a vegetable Y-peeler

50 g cocoa powder, for rolling the truffles

Method:

1. If you are using bars, chop the chocolate into pieces no larger than a pea, and place in a heat-safe medium bowl. 

2. Heat the coconut milk, brown rice or maple syrup, and orange peel in a small pot just to boiling point. It should steam slightly around the edges of the pot, but should not have reached boiling point. Remove from the heat and cover, then leave to infuse for 10 minutes. Remove the orange peels, then reheat the coconut milk mixture again until just before boiling. 

3. Pour the hot milk mixture over the chopped chocolate in the bowl, and allow to stand for 1 minute without stirring. After 1 minute, stir the mixture starting with small circles in the centre, until you see the chocolate and milk coming together and emulsifying. Stir in wider circles, to incorporate all the milk, until you obtain a glossy and smooth ganache.

4. Pour the ganache out into a low dish, and allow to cool for 4-6 hours, until firm but still workable. Using two small dessert spoons, scoop 1-inch balls of ganache onto a small baking sheet lined with parchment. You should obtain about 22-24 balls. 

5. Roll the balls between your palms, working quickly so as not to melt the ganache. Once all of them are rolled out, cover the baking sheet with beeswax wrap or plastic wrap. Allow the truffles to set for about 8-12 hours. They will firm up more. At this point, you can roll your vegan chocolate truffles in melted chocolate or in cocoa powder, or in cocoa powder mixed with powdered sugar, for a sweeter treat.