Vegan Chocolate Truffles- Made With Love

It's Valentine's Day. 

Which should really be named, 'Chocolate by the spoonful' day if you ask me.

But no one did.

 ::sigh::

You want to know what makes a spoonful of chocolate even better?

When you roll it in more chocolate, then put it in a tiny golden foil.

Yeah, you can do that- it's totally legal.

Or you could roll it in salted almonds that you crushed into bits, that would be good too. 

You could even take that chocolate and drop it in toasted coconut for kicks too, no one will complain. 

And if they do, well...

Why are you giving them any?

You can make 'em any way you like, just be sure you are making plenty. People have a tendency to get a little greedy when it comes to delicious things wrapped in pure gold! (foil... ahem...)

Happy Valentine's Day to everybody out there. May your heart be filled with hugs, and your belly filled with chocolate and laughter.

Vegan Chocolate Truffles

makes appx. 36 standard-size truffles

8 oz. high quality dark chocolate, 70% or higher

5 oz. almond or soy cream

1/2 tsp vanilla extract*

Garnish of choice- crushed salted almonds, cocoa powder, toasted coconut, pistachios, powdered sugar, etc.

 *You can use almond extract, bourbon, or coconut extract for a variety of truffle flavors. 

**You can also make traditional, non-vegan truffles by using cow's milk cream instead of the almond or soy. 

  Roughly chop the chocolate into small pieces, put into a bowl and set aside. Line a baking dish or rimmed cookie sheet with a piece of parchment and set it aside as well. Create a double boiler to melt down the chocolate by either using an actual double boiler (lucky!) or arranging a smaller pot on top of a large one filled with boiling water. (If you're not sure what on earth I'm talking about, check it out here.) Add the chocolate to the top pan, and begin to stir until completely melted. Add extracts now as chocolate is beginning to melt. 

 In a small saucepan, bring the soy creamer to a gentle boil, stir to prevent scorching. When lightly boiling, remove from heat and let it sit for just less than 1 minute. Add a few spoonfuls of the melted chocolate, and using a wooden spoon, stir in to incorporate. Add the rest of the chocolate, and gently stir until silky smooth. Be careful to avoid incorporating air bubbles into the chocolate ganache. 

  Pour the chocolate ganache into your baking dish or rimmed cookie sheet, and chill for about 1 hour, up to 4 hours. 

  Prep your garnish ingredients in small bowls, and when ganache is sufficiently chilled, roll spoonfulls of ganache into tiny balls. You can use well washed, clean hands to roll out the truffles, or a melon-baller. Roll the chocolate truffles in the garnishes, and set into the foil cups. Chocolate truffles will keep at room temperature in an airtight container for up to one week.