Hazelnut Praline Truffles Recipe
Dish out these sinful hazelnut praline truffles well ahead of Diwali to pack decadence and love into your “gifts with a difference.”
There is so much that is stirred within my soul when I take a bite from a delectable dessert of Hazelnut Praline Truffles… it helps my taste buds identify new possibilities of deliciousness as my senses abandon their habits of useful serving to take up instead a participatory delight for their own ends.
This is exactly what I can assure you, you will experience when sinking your teeth into these moreish truffles; just perfect for an elevating sugar rush after your Diwali meal! But all things sweet don’t always spell trouble for all of you health-conscious people reading my blog. These dainty darlings are also made of dark chocolate which promises good health and hearty smiles. Savour these truffles to find a festive glow. The more you eat the more you glow. 🙂 Ah! That’s the secret to Diwali celebrations that I have been looking for all my life!
Hazelnut Praline Truffles Recipe: Ingredients
- Hazelnuts {roasted and peeled} ~ 1 cup {150 gm}
- Dark Chocolate {chopped} ~ 650 gm
- Caster Sugar ~ ¾ cup {165 gm}
- Pouring cream ~ 150 ml
- Butter {chopped} ~ 100 gm
- White chocolate {chopped} ~ 250 gm
To decorate
- Silver and gold foil
- Dutch cocoa
- Chocolate sprinkles
- Flaked coconut
I have no shame admitting that chocolate sprinkles are my weakness ~ a delightful one at that ~ and are my ultimate favourite to roll truffles because of their sprinkle-happy texture!
Hazelnut Praline Truffles Recipe: Preparation
Step 1
Take a large oven tray and line it with baking paper. Pour a half cup of water and all the sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir the mixture continuously so that the sugar dissolves. Bring it to a boil. Use a pastry brush dipped in water to brush the sides of the saucepan to shake off sugar crystals that may have clung to the sides. Turn the heat up to medium-high and allow the mixture to boil for about 8 to 10 minutes. You should soon see caramel forming. Add nuts and stir the mixture. Then pour it into the tray you have lined with baking paper and let it stand till the mixture turns cool and hard.
Step 2
In a heatproof bowl, place 400 gm of the chopped dark chocolate. Place a saucepan over medium heat and pour the cream along with the chopped butter into the pan. Bring this to a boil and then pour it into the bowl of dark chocolate. Let it stand for 2 minutes so that the chocolate softens before you stir it into a smooth mixture. Refrigerate the mixture till it is set. This should take about 20 minutes.
Step 3
Add the praline to your food processor and pulse till it is coarsely chopped. Transfer the chopped praline into a bowl and pour in the chocolate mixture. Stir the mixture and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Then take a tablespoonful of the mixture and roll it into a sphere. Continue to do so until you have used up the entire mixture. Place the spheres on a tray and refrigerate them for one hour or until the spheres turn firm.
Step 4
Take the remaining dark chocolate and white chocolate, and add them to two separate heatproof bowls. Place the bowls in separate saucepans of barely simmering water to melt the chocolate. Then remove the melted chocolate from the saucepan and let it cool to room temperature. Coat half of the truffles in white chocolate and the rest in dark chocolate.
Place the truffles on a wire rack over a drip tray and then refrigerate for 20 minutes or until it sets. Use silver foil or chocolate sprinkles to pretty-up the white truffles and use gold foil on half of the dark truffles. The remaining dark truffles can be dusted with Dutch cocoa or decorated with flaked coconut.
* These hazelnut praline truffles last in the refrigerator for up to two weeks ~ if you can resist the temptation to pop one every time you open the fridge! 🙂
The distinctive flavours of this hazelnut praline truffles recipe are perfect to be accompanied with tea or coffee especially when you have loved ones around.