Coconut Truffles

Last year I made truffles for a birthday gift in February, and inadvertently posted them right before Valentine's Day. This year, I made truffles at Christmas, but am purposely posting the recipe before Valentine's. So...I guess what I'm saying is you can't go wrong with making truffles for any occasion, at any time of the year, and Valentine's is perfectly fitting.

What's to love about these truffles? They are beyond easy to make, since we're not fooling around with tempering chocolate for an outer coating. And, I swear, if I didn't tell you, you'd never guess that these truffles are vegan.

I had such great results subbing coconut milk for heavy cream when making chocolate coconut ice cream last year, I thought why not sub coconut milk for heavy cream in truffles? Coconut milk and heavy cream are both rich with fats. Results: awesome!

So easy. This is all you do:Pour warm coconut milk over chopped bittersweet chocolate.

Stir chocolate and coconut milk until chocolate pieces are completely melted, and coconut milk and chocolate are incorporated. Chill in fridge until cooled.
Scrape up about 1 tablespoon's worth of ganache, and form into a rough ball.

Roll ball around palm of hands to make more uniform. Your hot little hands will melt the surface of the ganache balls, but that's OK.
So the coconut flakes don't get dirty with chocolate from your truffle-rolling hands, if you have a friend, let them roll the still warm-surfaced truffles in a dish of coconut flakes as soon as you make them. If alone (like I was), you're gonna have to work harder to get the flakes to stick to the now cooled truffles by pressing stubborn coconut flakes onto the truffle.

Simple, no?

Coconut Truffles
makes about 35 truffles

8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
½ cup coconut milk (not lite)
2 cups sweetened coconut flakes (toasted, if desired)

• Scald coconut milk in a small saucepan on the stove.
• In a small bowl, add hot coconut milk to chopped chocolate, and stir until chocolate is melted and thoroughly incorporated.
• Store chocolate ganache in refrigerator until chilled (1-2 hours).
• Scoop out about 1 tablespoon of chilled chocolate ganache, and, with your hands, roll into balls. Place balls on parchment or waxed paper.
  
• Roll ganache balls in a bowl of coconut flakes, pressing flakes into the surface of the balls.