Matcha and White Chocolate Truffles

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Today I am blog-sitting for Nami! In other words I have the honour of guest posting on Nami’s  Just One Cookbook. Nami is a constant inspiration in my exploration of Japanese cuisine and a dear friend I look up to for her culinary and photographic skills, so I am very proud she has left today her blog in my hands. I strongly encourage you to click here and see my post on Just One Cookbook, where you will find more pictures, my blogging confessions and, most of all, Nami’s extraordinary recipes and photos.

This recipe is a modified version of chocolate truffles I have been making for years. If, like me, you love the soft chocolate truffles bought at confectioner’s shops, you will be happy to learn they are quite easy to make at home. Set in individual paper cases and placed in a nice box, they are quite an impressive edible present. They are also an elegant alternative when served with tea or coffee at the end of a meal.

The basic preparation of such truffles is called ganache (pronounced “ga-nash”), a mixture of melted chocolate and cream, sometimes with a bit of butter. Confectioners often coat such truffles in melted chocolate, but I prefer to coat them in different ground nuts, cocoa or dessicated coconut. Dark chocolate ganache is my favourite, but, especially for today, I have decided to modify these festive treats and adapt them to Nami’s magic world of Japanese cuisine.

Until now my experiments with matcha (powdered green tea) proved successful, so I have decided to use it as the Japanese touch in my chocolate truffles. Opting for white chocolate was a very wise decision. It was a perfect pairing for the sophisticated, subtle taste of matcha. The truffles are not overly sweet and have a very original, slightly bitter, typical matcha taste, mellowed by the buttery creaminess of white chocolate. If you are a fan of matcha, I hope you will enjoy them as much as I did.

TIPS:

During the chocolate melting process, keep a very low heat, stir constantly and do not let it boil.

While forming the truffles, make sure your hands are not too warm, running cold water on them from time to time and rolling the truffles between your fingers and not on the palm of your hand (which is warmer).

The truffles should be kept in the fridge (it can be the warmest part of the fridge), so make sure you say it while offering a box to someone.

Preparation: 30 minutes + at least 6 hours in the fridge

Ingredients (makes 20 – 25 truffles):

150 g high quality white chocolate

100 ml liquid cream (at least 25% fat)

2 heaped teaspoons matcha

a couple of tablespoons each: cocoa, ground almonds and dessicated coconut

Break the chocolate into small pieces. Put into a small pan with matcha and cream.

Let the chocolate melt on a very low heat, constantly stirring.

Pour into a food processor and mix until very smooth.

Transfer the mixture into a container, close tightly with a lid and refrigerate until the ganache has thickened (at least 3 hours).

(It can also stay in the fridge overnight or even for several days).

Prepare small, deep bowls with the coatings you have chosen.

Your hands shouldn’t be too warm, otherwise the ganache melts and truffles are impossible to form.

Run your hands under cold water every five or six truffles and clean them quickly with a paper towel.

Dust the inside of your hands with the chosen coating, quickly form a truffle, but using only the fingers (the palm of your hand is always much warmer), put it into a bowl with coating  and, moving the bowl, coat the truffle thoroughly.

Repeat until you want to switch to another coating.

Place the truffles on a plate or in paper cases and refrigerate a couple of hours before serving or before offering them.

The truffles should always be kept in the fridge (it can be the warmest  part, but the fridge is obligatory).

Published by Sissi

73 Replies to “Matcha and White Chocolate Truffles”

  1. Thank you so much Sissi for this delicious chocolate truffles recipe! You are so thoughtful to use my favorite matcha for this recipe. You know I can’t resist matcha, don’t you! 🙂 Thanks again for the wonderful post. I’m so happy I have one more dessert recipe in my poor Dessert section. Heehee!

    1. Nami, thank you for the honour of blog-sitting for you (I love this expression!!!). I’m extremely proud! Your dessert section isn’t poor at all and I hope you make these truffles one day (I’m sure they will look much more beautiful than mine!). I loved them and I hope they would please every matcha fan. Have a lovely holiday!

  2. Very nice, very creative. I don’t think I have ever seen white chocolate truffles, let alone macha flavoured ones. I love white chocolate, don’t know why they don’t exist. I have never made a truffles at home. Thanks for the inspiration, I should try.

    1. Thank you so much, Mr. Three-Cookies. I think in Europe the slightly bitter taste of matcha isn’t to everyone’s taste, so I suppose making them is a risky business, but I’m sure I’m not the first one to think about this combination.

  3. Hi Sissi,

    I just came from Nami’s blog and these truffles just blew me away! They totally look professionally made.

    I’m at work right now, but will explore your blog more once I have more time. It’s always nice to be introduced to someone you haven’t “met” before. Hope you have a great weekend!

    Lilly

    1. Hi Lilly! Thank you so much for this kind comment and for visiting my blog. Have a lovely weekend too!

  5. Hi Sissi. Those look so pretty! I especially like the look of matcha ones which are so delightfully different from the usual chocolate … don’t get me wrong, I do love the dark chocolate stuff! I don’t believe I’ve tasted matcha truffles tho.

    1. Thank you so much, Ping. I also love dark chocolate, but here the white chocolate I never eat proved to be the perfect company.

  7. Oh my 😀 My favourite – how is it, with melting white chocolate and making ganache from it? I never tried before – I was wondering if it would react differently since white chocolate isn’t “chocolate” in the traditional sense of the word, as it’s cocoa butter… well, of course it’s chocolate, but you know what I mean. Great tip on the water – some people have naturally quite cold hands, but other people are like little radiators 😀 I just can’t get things into a ball shape though – I used to do it, no problem. When I do it now it goes into a weird double-sided conical, flying saucer shape :s

    Beautiful looking truffles Sissi 🙂 Curious as to what they’re like with the matcha!

    1. Thank you so much, Charles. Since white chocolate is a bit softer than the dark one, I added a bit less cream to make ganache. Otherwise I have proceeded in the same way. I don’t have particularly warm hands, but I really had to refresh them all the time, especially in a very warm kitchen. I think the best way to form a ball is to make it as quick as you can and touch it as rarely as possible. (I know it sounds weird…). My truffles are not really 100% round either 😉

      1. I didn’t use water on my hands as the balls were rounding up very well even without it in my sweaty little hands. In fact, I had to put the rest of the ganache back in the fridge as my kitchen must have been a bit warm for them and it was getting too soft.

  8. Congrats on getting to blog-sit 🙂 Too cool! And these truffles look divine. What a wonderful idea to add matcha. Perfect for Nami’s blog, and a perfect idea for any time of the year!

  9. Can I just say that these confections look outrageously *gorgeous* – look at how pretty with the three bowls and varying colour – and the dishes you chose are the perfect size and shape to highlight the beauty of these truffles… (forgive me, I get a little excited when it comes to chocolate 😉 Ganache me away…

    I agree coating them with a variety of toppings is wonderful. Although I’ve not tasted your matcha delights, I’m also inclined to think that a dark chocolate would out flavour them – smart choice with the white. I love that the bitter of the matcha still comes through – I wouldn’t expect that in a truffle – what a success! You know I’m a big fan of matcha so I’m positively thrilled to discover these…

    Fantastic post Sissi – I have also dropped by Nami’s to say hello (I love the singular shot of the truffle over there – stunner!)

    1. Thank you so much, Kelly. Reading your extraordinary compliments, for a moment I felt like a skilled photographer (which I am not!). Photos are the most difficult part of my blog and I struggle with them all the time, so your kind comment has brought a big smile to my face. I am very flattered you like my post. It was my first guest-blog and I was very nervous. Thank you for your heartwarming words. I needed them so much on this rainy, dark Friday.

  14. Hi Sissi! So nice to know you! I always see your comments over at Jeno’s @Weeknite Meals but never really talk with you. I’m so glad that you’re Nami’s first blog-sitter and you did an awesome one! Those really beautiful truffles. 😉
    Happy weekend!

  16. I had to come and post on your blog as well. What a wonderful treat? My brother is a professional chocolatier and he’s made a lot of stunning molded truffles but he’s never used matcha. I should make some of these for him to try. 🙂

        1. Thank you for this thrilling message! I’m so happy every time someone makes my recipe. Thank you so much for letting me know! I cannot believe you have made them so quickly.

          1. They didn’t take long as I had all the ingredients. I only rolled them in the ground almonds however as I thought that really set the colour of the matcha off especially on a white serving platter. 🙂

  18. Congrats on your blog-sitting on Nami`s blog, Sissi! I love those truffles, they look amazing for gift and must taste like heaven 🙂 Matcha and white chocolate are awesome, indeed. First time I learned that was from Matcha Kit-Kat, hehe. Thank you for sharing the recipe, Sissi. I hope I can give it a try during the holiday, although I`m not sure if I can make them as pretty as yours 😀

    1. Arudhi, thank you for all the kind words and compliments. Matcha Kit-Kat???? I would love to taste it. I’m sure you can make them prettier than mine 🙂

  20. I have never made homemade truffles. I think that I’d eat too many while making these. They look so beautiful. I can’t wait to check out Nami’s blog.:)

  21. Hi again Sissi, as I have mentioned in Nami’s blog, your truffles look fantastic! Your brown truffles look like my favourite truffles from ‘Sarotti’, maybe you know this German brand, even though the name sounds Italian ;).

    1. Hi CG, thank you so much for the double comments and double compliments. I’m double flattered 🙂 The brown truffles are only coated in cocoa, they are all green inside 😉 I have never heard of Sarotti, I’ll taste them when I finally go to visit Germany.

  26. Sissi – very nice to discover you from Just One Cookbook. These matcha chocolate truffles look so elegant and dainty. They are pretty to look at, and I bet they taste just as good as they look. I love the soft, melt in your mouth texture of truffles, and these are just the perfect sweet way to wrap up a elegant holiday dinner!

  27. i failed horribly in my first attempt to make truffles months ago (i followed jamie oliver’s recipe), wanted to make them for my sis’s birthday.. the truffles looked so ugly, i swear not to make them anymore.. but you have changed my mind 😛 your instructions and tips are very clear and now I know where I went wrong.. can’t wait to try again

    1. I’m so sorry for your bad experience. As I have explained the temperature is very important: if your hands are too warm, the kitchen too warm and you keep the ganache too long out of the fridge, forming balls is impossible. Good luck! I’m sure you will manage next time.

      1. Having a ganache that is too firm makes it just as difficult to roll. The dark chocolate truffles I made had to be ‘squished’ in the palms of my hand to get the round enough and transferred a lot of ganache to the palms of my hand, as well as the fingers, so I had to resist the urge to lick them. 🙂 I forgot I had surgical gloves in the house but next time I’ll use them to help with the cleanup.

        Also, I wouldn’t worry about truffles looking ugly … I’ve seen a lot of very attractive ‘rustic’ truffles that resemble the real ‘fungus’ truffles dug out of the ground. If you put them in attractive little petit four paper or metallic cups, the homey aspects of the truffles won’t be too obvious. And they will still taste wonderful.

        If you’re really concerned, freeze the ganache balls after you’ve got them as round as possible, melt a pot of chocolate chips over simmering water, removed the bowl and then dip the frozen truffles one at a time in the melted chocolate and returning the bowl to sit over the simmering water as the chocolate begins to thicken up. The thin shell of chocolate will cover a multitude of ‘sins’.

            1. Thank you so much for such a heartwarming comment. I am very happy you have caught the truffle virus 😉 I’m impatient to see your photos (does it mean you will have your own blog soon??? I’m sure you would make happy all your followers!).

              1. No hope of a blog … ever. 🙂

                It’s way too much time and dedication to produce the kind of blog that I see you, Nami, Charles, Greg and Katherine, Alison, Allison (of sushiday) Kristy, Sandra etc put out sometimes daily or even multiple times a day. I’m just happy to stick with the occasional recipe and hopefully some pictures in the future in my LJ.

                1. It’s a pity! You know, some people put recipes only once a week… I couldn’t do it every day either. There are many advantages, among which easier reading and use for commenting visitors (not to mention the visual side!). Maybe you will change your mind one day? I cross my fingers 🙂

  29. Dear Sissi,

    I’m not a big fan of chocolates but I can really appreciate how you managed to make such beautiful chocolates using some unexpected ingredients such as matcha and lacing it with those seductive truffle flavours. Although not true chocolate, I also prefer white to dark too.

    1. Thank you so much for the compliment. I really appreciate it. It’s funny because I’m a big fan of the very dark and very bitter chocolate and never buy white chocolate, apart from the matcha desserts (matcha is for me not very good with bitter dark chocolate).

  30. Hi Sissi, I have successfully made some chocolate truffles with cocoa powder coating.. still can’t get used to white chocolate yet 🙂 thanks for your wonderful tips!
    I noticed that after 4 days in the fridge, the cocoa powder melted or disappeared into the ganache and the texture of the truffles is not as soft and melt in your mouth texture. does that happen? because store bought truffles last quite long in fridge

    1. Hi, Shannon. Congratulations! I have no idea how long keep store bought chocolate truffles because I don’t remember the last time I bought chocolate truffles. I only buy small chocolates from chocolatiers but never keep them in the fridge and I don’t think they survive four days in my house 😉
      Yes, the cocoa loses its dryness after a certain time (it absorbs the humidity from the ganache). Personally I don’t care if it soaks and I haven’t noticed the change in the taste of my truffles after a couple of days. Maybe you keep them in a very cold part of the fridge and you should take them out some time before eating? Ganache hardens with cold temperature, so maybe if it’s very cold it hardens even more? In general home-made sweets do not behave like the professionally prepared ones (unless one knows the professional tricks…).

      1. I follow your suggestion, took them out for a few minutes before eating and they soften but the texture is still thicker, maybe because it has harden. still taste good though.

        yeah so true with all home made food, they don’t behave or last as long as the commercial ones.. we don’t use preservatives!

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