Lime and White Chocolate Truffles

These Lime and White Chocolate Truffles are a perfect combination of sweet and tangy in a small chocolate package.

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Since I wrote about how to make one of the treats from my Gingerbread Lantern bake, I thought I should cover the other one as well – Lime and White Chocolate Truffles! Honestly, I came up with this idea as a sort of “Oogie Boogie” type dessert because I could easily make it green. What else is green? Limes!

But as I was making the dessert a thought hit me… I have never made chocolates before, and I rarely work with chocolate beyond mixing it into batter. And I was in for a little bit of a nightmare. The kitchen causes me both great joy and an enormous amount of stress. I am a perfectionist so when things don’t turn out right the first time… I don’t react well to put it in the nicest of terms.

And chocolate is notorious for being difficult to work with. So, I was setting myself up for success with my high expectations. But I did make something in the end, that were quite delicious if I say so myself, and I learned quite a lot. 

Check out the Make section of MCG for more fun recipes like desserts and savory dishes.

Ingredients

The main portion of the ingredients for this recipe is the lime filling. The outside is just white chocolate and food coloring. For the inside, the filling is essentially a lime custard. The main thickener for this is eggs.  

Process

Making the Filling

The first (and main) portion of making lime and white chocolate truffles, is making the lime filling. This is effectively a lime custard. And making a custard means using the stove with eggs as a thickener. My true nemesis. But I was determined to make it work.

Because I wanted this custard to be a little thicker than ones I have made in the past, the process is a little different. I started by placing the eggs, egg yolks, and sugar into a saucepan and whisking. This was a rough process on my arm as I really wanted the mix to be light and fluffy. And I knew what I could achieve with a stand mixer.

Then I stirred in lime juice and salt before putting the mix on the stove. I whisked continuously while the custard was on the stove to prevent curdling. Lime scrambled eggs gets a no thanks from me. Well…. Maybe with no sugar and tortilla chips… The mixture will thicken as it’s temperature increases.

After getting it to the perfect temperature and feeling a good amount of resistance against my whisk, I added in cubes of butter. The small cubes help melt the butter faster. And since we’re no longer over the stove, I wanted to use the heat while I still had it.

Then I added in the Lime zest. The mixture cooled to room temperature before I put the mixture in the fridge and allowed it to chill.

The Chocolate

And now for the challenging part. I truly believe I would be able to do this step without too much issue. Oh, how wrong I was. I learned a major lesson about the difference in chocolate. And it doesn’t not like to listen. I was more focused on shape then finish. The finish on chocolate (tempering, etc.,) seems like a whole other work to explore.

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Anyway, I used the microwave to melt the white chocolate almond bark because I am a heathen. I probably should have done this in a double boiler over the stove. By the time I figured out what I was going to work, I just wanted the quickest process.

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Chocolate can burn in the microwave but it’s fine to use so long as you keep your eye on it. With the chocolate melted, I mixed in a little food coloring to get that “Oogie Boogie” feel for the lime and white chocolate truffles. The green also helps bring out lime flavor. I associate colors with flavors quite often, especially with candy.

The I filled my mold with the chocolate, trying to get enough in each cavity to coat all surfaces. A part of me wonders if manufactured just dip the mold in a giant vat of chocolate. That seems so much easier than what I’m doing but I don’t have a giant vat of chocolate. I wouldn’t be safe around a giant vat of chocolate. 

Assembly

After the chocolate set, I placed a good amount of the lime custard in each mold. I wanted the custard to fill up approximately 90% of each mold. Just leaving enough for the chocolate top. Then pop the mold into the freeze I didn’t do this step (but sorely wish I had). The custard is easier to work with when slightly frozen.

When the filling is solid enough, re-melt the almond bark (that was previously colored). This is also a step I didn’t do which resulted in the top and bottom being two different color greens. Almond bark is meant to be heated and reheated so dying everything at once is just a smarter (and more consistent) approach.

I used the remaining chocolate to coat the top of each truffle. This was a part I wasn’t completely sure about because I was worried the top and bottom wouldn’t have the proper adhesion. It worked out okay in the end, but I do wonder if there is a better method (leave a comment if you know of one please!)

I turned the lime and white chocolate truffles out of the mold and did a quick decoration on top. And done!

Reflections

This was a stressful recipe to accomplish. Chocolate is hard to work with. Custard is also difficult to work with. And my mind decided to do both together because I simply cannot help myself. But the result tasted delicious! Like tartness from the lime meshed well with the sweetness of the white chocolate.

The balance really made the lime and white chocolate truffles amazing. This is something I want to try again, especially knowing what I know now. I think I would be able to really prefect the look, but the taste is already on point. 

Lessons

The difference in chocolate

Being the person I am, I tend to just move forward with an idea instead of stopping and thinking about all the possible options and outcomes. So, when I started working with chocolate, my first thought was that whatever I had in my kitchen should work. I had chocolate chips. This was a terrible idea.

Chocolate chips are specifically built not to melt. That is why they can keep so much of their shape when baked into cookies. Had I thought about this for a few more seconds, I might have realized this was the wrong path to take. Chocolate chips are a finished product, so what is the raw material?

Well, I don’t need to go that far back but rather take a different branch that didn’t have as many fats or stabilizers. Chocolate wafers (or almond bark) are the perfect choice for this. While they do have a little oil to help them melt, they are built to be made into a chocolate of your choice.

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