Homemade Chocolate Raspberry Truffles

Sweet rich chocolate, fresh and bright raspberry flavor, and a beautiful presentation that looks like you got it from a high-end chocolate shop. These are perfect as a sweet little gift for Valentine’s Day, or mixed with other homemade candies at Christmas.

You only need five ingredients, and there’s no candy thermometer or tempering required. Just melting, stirring, and rolling. But you absolutely must use the freeze-dried raspberries for concentrated flavor without extra liquid. Fresh fruit will just give you a watery mess. Don’t do it!

what You’ll Need

Equipment

If you don’t have a food processor, you can place the berries in a zip-top bag and crush them thoroughly with a rolling pin or heavy skillet, though the powder may not be quite as fine.

Ingredients

Say it with me now: “you need the freeze dried raspberries!” You can find them in the snack aisle or the baking section, or buy them online.

The Filling

• 1 package (1.25 ounce) freeze-dried raspberries (about 1 ½ cups), divided make sure these are freeze-dried (crunchy) rather than just “dried” (chewy)
• 14 oz white chocolate, finely chopped — bars tend to melt much smoother than chips here.
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ¾ cup heavy whipping cream 

The Coating

• 14 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped — you can use semi-sweet if you prefer, but bittersweet balances the sweet white chocolate filling perfectly.

Instructions

1. Make Your Raspberry Dust

First, we need to turn those freeze-dried raspberries into a fine powder. You absolutely want freeze-dried here (the crunchy ones), not regular dried fruit, or you’ll end up with a gummy mess.

Just blitz 1 cup of them in a food processor until fine. If there are larger pieces, you can sift them out or just keep pulverizing. This will give you the creamiest texture in your truffle filling with no large bits.

Warning: when you take the lid off, a little cloud of pink dust is going to poof out. It’s pretty, but just be ready for it! Set aside that powder and keep the remaining whole raspberries for the decoration later.

2. Prep the White Chocolate

Place your chopped white chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl.

You really need to chop this chocolate finely: think gravel texture, not chunks. Since we aren’t using a double boiler, we are relying entirely on the heat of the cream to melt this. If the pieces are too big, they won’t melt, and you’ll have lumpy ganache.

3. The Melt

Bring your heavy cream just to a simmer on the stove and add the vanilla.

You want bubbles around the edges, but don’t let it boil over. Pour that hot cream right over the chocolate and butter mixture.

Do not stir it yet. Let it sit for 2–3 minutes to let the heat do the work. If your kitchen is cold or you are making a double batch, cover the bowl with a plate to trap the heat. After the wait, gently stir until it’s completely smooth.

4. Add the Flavor & Chill

Stir in that raspberry powder you made earlier. This is my favorite part because the mixture turns a deep, beautiful pink.

Now, it needs to set. Place the bowl in the fridge for 1–2 hours.

If you are in a rush (or doubling the recipe), pour the ganache into a shallow dish (like a 9×13 baking pan) instead of leaving it in a deep bowl. It will chill much faster and more evenly this way.

5. Scoop and Roll

Once the mixture is firm enough to handle, use a small cookie scoop to portion it out. Roll them quickly between your palms into balls.

If the ganache starts sticking to your hands, wash them with cold water or pop the bowl back in the fridge for 10 minutes.

Place the rolled balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet and refrigerate them again for 20 minutes. This second chill is crucial! If they are too soft, they will fall apart when you dip them in the warm chocolate.

6. The Dip & Sprinkle

Melt your bittersweet chocolate. I recommend melting only half of it to start so it stays warm and fluid while you work.

Drop a cold truffle into the chocolate, lift it out with a fork, and tap the fork firmly against the side of the bowl to shake off the excess. Slide it onto the parchment paper.

Immediately crush a few of the reserved raspberries in your fingers and sprinkle them on top. The chocolate sets quickly on the cold truffles, so you have to sprinkle right away to get them to stick! You can also use sprinkles!

Storage Instructions

Since these are made with fresh cream, store them in the fridge for up to 5 days, not on the counter.

.You can also freeze them for up to a month; just let them thaw gently in the refrigerator before serving

Making Valentine’s Boxes

I make these for Valentine’s Day in mixed boxes paired with a few other homemade treats. Here’s what I pair them with:

• Homemade vanilla fudge is super pretty mixed with these truffles
• Classic cutout sugar cookies (hearts, of course!)
• And everyone loves a nice chocolate fudge.

Simple Variations You Might Like

• Strawberry filling: If raspberries aren’t your favorite, you can swap them 1:1 for freeze-dried strawberries. The method is exactly the same, and you’ll still get that lovely pink color, just with a slightly sweeter, milder berry flavor.
• Simpler finish: Dipping truffles is messy and takes practice. If you want to skip that step entirely, you can simply roll the chilled ganache balls in high-quality cocoa powder or finely chopped pistachios. It’s much faster and gives them a classic, old-school truffle look.
• Sweeter coating: The recipe calls for bittersweet chocolate to balance the sweet filling, but if you have a serious sweet tooth, you can use milk chocolate for the shell. Just keep in mind that since the center is white chocolate, a milk chocolate shell will make these very sweet.

Troubleshooting

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