These are delicious and very easy-to-make chocolate truffles with an unlikely surprise: a sprinkling of light, fluffly sea salt. It’s a seemingly unlikely, but absolutely scrumptious and special, flavor combination that has to be experienced to be believed.

Heat dark chocolates and condensed milk in a double boiler over medium low heat until chocolate is melted. Stir—mixture will have a slight marshmallow texture. Stir in vanilla. Remove from heat, cover and refrigerate for two hours. Once chilled, roll in balls, then roll in melted milk chocolate coating. Sprinkle with sea salt or other fine, coarse sprinkles.

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These are delicious and very easy-to-make chocolate truffles with an unlikely surprise: a sprinkling of light, fluffly sea salt.

If you haven’t yet experienced a yummy chocolate truffle with sea salt, then you haven’t…experienced a yummy chocolate truffle with sea salt. It’s a seemingly unlikely, but absolutely scrumptious and special, flavor combination that has to be experienced to be believed.

I believe. And I want you to believe, also.





I’ve got a golden ticket. Okay, people. Listen. You can use whatever brand or quality of chocolate you want, everything from the basic grocery store stuff to the ultra-pricey (and darn delicious) fancy stuff. I decided to go with Ghirardelli, because I think it’s delicious…and because I had some in my pantry.

I also had some Scharffen Berger. But I’m saving that for brownies next week.

Scharffen Berger brownies. Whew. That’s what I’m talkin’ about.

So for these truffles, I’m going to use equal parts semi-sweet chocolate…

And bittersweet chocolate. I’ve found this formula produces a really deep, rich chocolate flavor without going over the top with that dark chocolate flavor, which I sometimes find to be a little overpowering.

But that’s just me. Now, my dad? He could probably eat bars of the bittersweet stuff with some unsweetened chocolate thrown in and be happy as a clam.

But he also likes Spam, so don’t listen to him.

News Flash: If you don’t have a double boiler…don’t buy one. In my life, I’ve never used an official double boiler. Just place a heatproof (glass, preferably) bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.

Throw all the chocolate into the bowl and just wait a few minutes.

It’ll start to melt in no time.

Before you even stir the stuff, go ahead and pour in 1 14-ounce can of sweetened, condensed milk.

Seriously. When it comes to certain desserts and treats, sweetened condensed milk just can’t be beat.

I just heard every subscriber of Southern Living exclaim a big *AMEN*.

Now you can stir it gently together, being careful to keep the water on a gentle simmer.

The texture of the chocolate mixture will seem a little freaky there for awhile, but don’t worry. It’ll be fine.

Just keep folding gently until all the chocolate is incorporated into the condensed milk.

Finally, turn off the heat and add 1 tablespoon vanilla extract. It gives the truffles a nice, rounded flavor.

Whatever that means.

Stir it together gently until it’s all combined—the vanilla will make the chocolate glossy. Remove the bowl from the saucepan, and cover it with foil. Place it into the fridge for a couple of hours, until the chocolate becomes firm and workable. I actually kept it in the fridge overnight, because I had an altercation with a snake and my candymaking dreams were dashed.

Fast Forward: 24 hours later. I take the bowl out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature, which takes a good two hours. When the chocolate is soft enough to scoop out with a teaspoon, I roll them into balls about 1/2 to 3/4″ inch in diameter. I like the truffles to be a little on the small side—they’re rich little suckers.





Mmmm. Lovely! Now, after I rolled them into balls, I stuck the pan in the freezer for about fifteen minutes to firm them up a bit.

What you’re looking at now is the inside of a chocolate truffle. Now, at this point you could roll them in sprinkles, coarse sugars, or finely chopped nuts. But I like my truffles to have a hard outer coating of chocolate.

I decided on a mild, sweet milk chocolate. These are Merckens melting wafers—you can find them at a million different online retailers. Milk chocolate is perfect, because the filling is dark and rich. It perfectly balances it without making the truffle overly sweet.

But you could use whatever melting wafers you want—even white chocolate! Or go the easy route and use almond bark from the supermarket. It’ll work just fine.

Just drop the truffles, one by one, into the melted (in the microwave) chocolate. Then just spoon more chocolate over the top to make sure the truffle is all coated.

Retrieve the truffle with a fork. This will allow the excess chocolate to drain back into the bowl.

Lightly tap the fork on the rim of the bowl to help the chocolate sheet down the sides of the truffle.

This really isn’t as scientific and precise as it sounds. Just remember who you’re dealing with here. I’m the queen of imprecision!

Transfer the truffle to a sheet of waxed paper (or a baking mat.)

If necessary, use a toothpick to help slide the truffle off the fork.

And, this is a great trick I learned from Bakerella when she and I made cake pops together last spring: use the tip of the toothpick to score the chocolate that collects around the bottom. That way, when the chocolate is dry there won’t be a big blob of it around the base.

Bakerella is very, very smart. Oh, and very precise, too.

You can also use the toothpick to touch up any areas where the filling is showing through.

Now comes the fun part.

I have a new friend. Her name is Alice and she has a beautiful food blog called Savory Sweet Life. Though we’d been acquainted online for a short time, we met in San Francisco last month and fell in love instantly.

I tend to fall in love with people when I meet them. I love everybody. It really is a problem.

Anyway, Alice had a little gift for me, and it was this jar of beautiful, miraculous sea salt, which was custom made for me right out of Puget Sound.





That’s right. They made salt. Straight from seawater. I cherish this jar.

A note to travelers: be prepared to be stopped if you pack things like this in your carry-on bag. Be prepared to explain to airport security what the white powdery substance is, and be prepared to have your beautiful, custom made sea salt subjected to a chemical weapons test.

But it’ll make you cherish it all the more.





After you dip each truffle in the melted chocolate, sprinkle on a small amount of sea salt (or kosher, or whatever coarse salt you have on hand.)

Just be sure to sprinkle on the salt while the chocolate is still soft. This’ll ensure the salt will stay on the truffle.

Mmmm.

Beautiful! Honestly, you won’t believe what a treat the salted chocolate is; you have to try it to believe it. And sure, if you’re feeling a little squeamish about the salt, you could just sprinkle some coarse sanding sugar…or whatever other sweet sprinkles you can find. The truffles are nice and pretty, no matter what you sprinkle on the top.

But if you’re looking for something a little out of the ordinary, something a little adventurous, give these a try.

And if you’re feeling artistic/creative, you can make these for your friends for a special holiday gift. Just buy small candy boxes at your local craft store and decorate them however your soul dictates.

It’ll make ’em feel really special.