Five years, 210 posts, 12 food and blogging conferences, five active social media channels, one virtual cooking community, over 66K spam comments (yikes), but most importantly 3316 comments from you, my readers.
I’d love to wax poetic about how much blogging means to me or how much it’s changed in just five years but I only have time to say THANK YOU. From the bottom of my chocolate bowl, I thank you for reading, commenting, and inspiring me to keep writing and cooking. And what better way to show my appreciation than with chocolate?
Last year I developed three truffle recipes but only posted one of them – Orange Cardamom Chocolate Truffles with a dairy free option. With Valentine’s Day and my daughter’s birthday right around the corner, how about some Chocolate Nutella Truffles?
They come together quickly and the mixture can just hang out in the fridge until you are ready to roll. Then form your truffles and roll them in your coating of choice. For these, toasted hazelnuts are ideal but use what you enjoy or have in the house – cocoa powder, sea salt, toasted coconut, sugar, or other types of nuts.
I wish I could invite you all over for a truffle and champagne celebration but how about some truffles served on a silver platter instead? Cheers to five more years …
- 5 oz milk chocolate, chopped (I used 5 oz milk chocolate chips = about ¾ cup)
- 3 oz nutella (just under ½ cup)
- 1 ½ tablespoons butter or 1 ½ tablespoons coconut oil
- ¼ cup heavy cream or ¼ cup coconut cream*
- 1 tablespoon frangelico
- ⅛ cup toasted and chopped hazelnuts
- A choice of coatings such as cocoa powder, toasted nuts, sea salt, sugar, toasted coconut
- Microwave method: place chocolate, nutella, cream, and butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave using the chocolate melt function or just low power - try 50% power for one minute, mix, then 30 seconds at a time, mixing in between to see your progress. Once it's smoothly mixed and melted together into a ganache, add the tablespoon of frangelico, a pinch of sea salt, and the ⅛ cup of nuts if you want them in the mixture, not just on the outside.
- Double boiler method: proceed as above to place chocolate, nutella, cream, and butter in top of boiler and mix to combine into a smooth ganache. Take off the heat. Then add frangelico, salt, and nuts if using.
- Place the mixture in the refrigerator until it firms up – an hour or so but it can stay longer. You can prepare the chocolate mixture ahead of time to fit your schedule and the truffles can be formed later on.
- To form the truffles, scoop about a teaspoonful of the chocolate mixture and use your hands to form it into a ball. The version with the coconut cream and oil seems to melt faster in my hands when I roll them, so I highly recommend wearing gloves to form the truffles or expect your hands to be covered in chocolate (no real downside).
- Then roll the chocolate ball in your choice of coatings – toasted coconut, toasted nuts such as pistachios or hazelnuts or almonds, a touch of sea salt, cocoa powder. It’s up to you! Experiment and have fun. Serve in mini cupcake containers or on parchment paper. Keep refrigerated until use.
I’m Beth – a seasoned marketing professional, kitchen table storyteller, and enthusiastic food consumer. Hang out in my virtual kitchen and I promise to feed you recipes, stories, and lots of inspiration!
As soon as you said Nutella, I was there. 🙂 I used to not get what the hoopla was all about…then I tasted it, and that was it! These look delicious…can’t wait to try them!
Thanks Michelle! And did you know that if you can get your hands on Italian made Nutella it has less sugar in it – even better! Finishing them with a little sea salt really cuts thru some of the sweet – we really enjoyed it last night!
Congrats Beth! It’s been great getting to know you on the blog (and in person too!) over the years! Here’s to five more!
Thanks Mardi – I treasure my online friendship with you and our in-person dinner in Paris! I love the FFridays group even when I’m not cooking and adore watching what you are cooking with your kids! Keep it up and look forward to seeing you again soon, somehow, somewhere!
Congrats to you, Beth!! Hope you celebrate with some champagne to go along with your gorgeous truffles!
Champagne this weekend! We will be one kid down and going out for an all grown ups meal – plan to pop a cork then! Thanks for stopping by Carol. It is my friendships I’ve made through blogging that I treasure the most!
I try not to make truffles because they are too hard to resist – but this recipe may break my resolve!
Sorry to break your resolve 🙂 but the good news is you can let the mixture sit in the fridge and make them as you want to eat them – requiring a little bit of effort before you can pop them in your mouth! Finishing them with a bit of sea salt really hits the spot, by the way.
Five years! Congratulations! It’s been a pleasure to get to know you through our blogs and Twitter. One of these days we’ll meet in person and I hope you will bring me a few of these scrumptious Truffles!
It’s a deal – you make me bread, I’ll bring truffles! I treasure our online friendship and adore your blog – but I am determined that we will meet in person this year!
Well I can not think of a better way to celebrate than with Nutella. Congratulations!
Cheers to your fifth blogiversary! What a fantastic accomplishment. I am so proud of you and think you picked the perfect recipe to celebrate this feat! Here’s to your next five!
Mazel tov, Beth! I’m truly delighted to have met you through your beautiful blog and appreciate all you share here. Celebrating with truffles and champagne is a perfect way to mark this anniversary! Cheers to you!! xx
Wow, congratulations! These truffles sound so good–what a perfect way to celebrate.
Can’t really go wrong with Nutella and Chocolate right? Thanks for stopping by Becky!
Wow – congrats on your five years of blogging! These truffles are a great way to celebrate – and they’re perfect to make for your valentine too!
Thanks Lisa – wanted to make some yesterday but oh how the days fly by lately without any cooking happening at all!!! Hope you had a delicious day.