Dark Chocolate Red Wine Truffles
I have your Friday night right here: Dark Chocolate Red Wine Truffles.
As it turns out, I also have my Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning 10 a.m. “energy boost.” A small container of indulgent, velvety smooth, and deadly dark chocolate truffles is not as easy to forget about in one’s refrigerator as one might suspect, no matter how carefully one hides it.
It also turns out that, when those dark chocolate truffles are spiked with lush Cabernet, they might as well be doing a tap dance and singing karaoke—forget about forgetting them.
I’ll admit my Wednesday argument that baked black pepper garlic chicken wings are the ultimate Valentine’s dinner was a bit of a tough sell, but I’m hoping you’ll agree with me that red wine truffles deserve to be in the running for ultimate Valentine’s dessert. They’re rich. They’re romantic. They’re naughty enough to be exciting, but not so naughty that I don’t feel like a lady at the end of the night. My perfect date.
What are Chocolate Truffles Made From?
Making homemade truffles is as simple as melt, stir, roll, with a little chill time in between. Honestly, it’s a little dangerous having this kind of power.
The finished wine truffles are indulgent, addictive, and sure to win the affection of whomever takes a taste. Strike that: it’s exceedingly dangerous having this kind of power.
The Ingredients
- Chocolate. Bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate will work best here.
- Heavy Cream. For the most creamy and rich truffles.
- Dry Red Wine. Choose a dry red wine such as Cabernet Sauvignon.
- Powdered Sugar. Creates a delicious texture.
- Vanilla + Espresso Powder. Both of these additions create unbelievably scrumptious flavor.
- Cocoa Powder. While the cocoa dust on the outside is optional, after testing a few batches, I became convinced that life would be better if more things were dusted in chocolate. I like the balance of bitterness that the cocoa provides, but if you are looking for something sweeter or extra festive, rolling them in Valentine pink and red sprinkles would be fun and cute.
Recommended Tools for Making These Dark Chocolate Red Wine Truffles
- Baking Sheets. Incredibly useful kitchen tools.
- Batter Scoop. For making perfectly-sized truffles.
- Mixing Bowls. These make preparing the batter simple.
- Small Whisk. No more splashing all over the place.
More “I Love You” Food Like These Wine Truffles
- Strawberry Heart Scones
- White Chocolate Creme Brûlée
- Chocolate Heart Sandwich Cookies with Raspberry Cream Cheese Filling
- French Hot Chocolate
Dark Chocolate Red Wine Truffles are singing you karaoke. Won’t you be their Valentine?
Dark Chocolate Red Wine Truffles
Ingredients
- 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate — (or semi-sweet) roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 4 tablespoons dry red wine, — such as Cabernet Sauvignon
- 2 teaspoons Imperial Sugar Powdered Sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon espresso powder
- Cocoa powder — for dusting
Instructions
- Place chopped chocolate in a large mixing bowl. Heat cream in a small saucepan over medium high, just until it boils. Pour hot cream directly into the bowl with chocolate, then add wine, powdered sugar, vanilla and espresso powder. Gently whisk the mixture together until chocolate is smooth and melted. (If chocolate does not melt completely, place it over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring until it melts completely.) Cover bowl, then place it in refrigerator to set, 1 to 2 hours.1
- Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper and dust cocoa powder into a wide plate or pie dish. With a small scoop, melon baller, or spoon, scoop chocolate and form it into a ball, then it roll in cocoa powder. Place on baking sheet, then repeat with remaining chocolate.2
- Refrigerate truffles for 30 minutes to set. Serve slightly chilled or at room temperature.
Nutrition Information
Amount per serving (1 (of 24)) — Calories: 75, Fat: 5g, Saturated Fat: 3g, Cholesterol: 7mg, Potassium: 57mg, Carbohydrates: 5g, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 4g, Protein: 1g, Vitamin A: 78%, Calcium: 9%, Iron: 1%Did you try this recipe? I want to see! Follow Well Plated on Instagram, snap a photo, and tag it #wellplated. I love to know what you are making!
I created this post and recipe in partnership with Imperial Sugar. Thanks for supporting the brands and companies that make it possible for me to continue providing quality content to you!
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Looks like a fantastic date to me! Much cuter than some of my most recents….ha ha ha! Happy Friday, Erin!
Red wine and chocolate is one of the best combinations. Not like eating them together, but baking with them together. I will totally be their Valentine, as long as I can have five (or six) Valentines.
These wine truffles would be perfect for my chocolate truffle tart today.
I want THESE for Valentine’s Day!!!! love!!!
Chocolate and wine? Sign me up, my friend! I made delicious truffles this week too, and sharing it today. It seems like we’re on exact same scheduling. Like chicken wings on Wednesday. Haha
You got both my husband and me with this recipe! We love our chocolate and wine snacks, and this combines those two ingredients very nicely. Of course it wouldn’t hurt to have some of the leftover Cabernet with the truffles…
It would hurt at all Susan! :-)
These look delicious. I’m always looking for new truffle versions to make at Christmas (I make Christmas candy and not cookies). Plus, it seems I’ve always got red wine handy. ;)
Yep, I want a whole box of these for Valentine’s Day. Please and thank you!
Definitely an easy sell for a Valentine’s Day dessert, plus red wine is pretty much the equivalent of an alcohol mascot for the holiday. STUNNING photos.
These look beyond incredible. I’m pretty sure there’s no way I can wait until Valentine’s to indulge in these beauties!
Oh my, these truffles are pure madness. I gotta have ’em! Pinned.
Do you hear that? It’s the sound of my butt getting bigger just looking at these! I so wanna eat a whole box right now!
Adding to the VDay menu. These truffles sound gorgeous. :)
I 100% support these as a Valentine’s dessert. Or as a Friday night dessert. Or as a Wednesday afternoon treat…
How could anyone say no to those amazing looking truffles! Such delicious flavors going on with the dark chocolate and red wine, they sound PERFECT!! Pinned :)
You’ve combined two of my favorite things on the planet into one (or two) gorgeous little bites!! Love this, Erin. And I still think the black pepper and garlic chicken wings are a perfectly reasonable date night dish! Long live garlic pepper kisses! ;)
Oooh, I have to try these! I have a dark chocolate merlot cookie recipe we LOVE so I know these would be verrrry popular around here :)
I’d call these just about anything: breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, snacks, workout fuel… Yup, can you tell I’m a chocoholic? ;) I love that extra cocoa powder dusting on the outsides; it sounds like the perfect finishing touch. Pinned!
Red wine and chocolate.. divine truffles!
Ohhhh heck to the yes for these red wine truffles! There’s a chocolatier here in the city that makes them that we absolutely love. Would love to recreate them at home!
Thanks for this delicious recipe! I made these tonight and they taste great but are very gooey. I feel like I must have done something wrong but all my quantities were right. I even froze the dough for about an hour before rolling them and they were still pretty gooey when I was rolling them. Did you have that problem at all? I’m hoping maybe they’ll firm up a bit overnight but I’m worried! I refrigerated the dough for 2 hours and froze it for an hour, it seems like it shouldn’t have been gooey at all at that point. I’m planning to make these as part of assorted truffle gift boxes for Christmas so would love to get these right!
Hi Meredith! These truffles are definitely very soft at room temperature, but they shouldn’t be ultra gooey. It sounds like too much liquid (or not enough chocolate!) I haven’t tried reheating a ganache truffle mixture in order to add more chocolate to thicken it up, but this is an option you could try to save your current batch. The main precaution is to be careful not to burn the chocolate when you reheat it (I’d suggest heating it in a bowl over simmering water—don’t let the water touch the bowl).) Heat it just enough to be able to melt more chocolate into the mix, then stir and reform.
So I tried to make these but they never seem to set in the fridge. Don’t quite know what I did wrong especially since I’m an amateur in the kitchen. Ended up with red wine chocolate ‘moose’ but it tasted AMAZING so who’s complaining? ;)
Hi Ado! It sounds like a bit too much liquid was added, but regardless, I’m glad that you enjoyed the results. Red wine mousse sounds pretty divine :) Thanks for trying the recipe and letting me know how it turned out!
I love chocolate and wine. This wine truffle will be the perfect excuse to start happy hour right now:)
Chocolate and wine are some of the best things in life! And I say happy hour chocolates are welcome all day, any day :)
This may be a stupid question but are thesee okay for recovering alcoholics?
Hi Connie, if the person is no longer drinking alcohol, I wouldn’t recommend this recipe, because the wine doesn’t cook out of the truffles at all. To be safe, you can also ask the person his/her preference.
Would these work without the espresso powder?
Hi James, you can leave out the espresso powder if you prefer. I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Recipe is very gooey and won’t hold the ball shape. Tastes good…. but definitely not able to roll it in a ball… very disappointed
I see others had that problem… so I was EXACT with my measurements. Didn’t help….
Hi Amy, I’m sorry to hear that you had trouble with this recipe. I have not had this issue before, and it’s so hard to say what might’ve happened without being in the kitchen with you. I know it’s frustrating to try a recipe and not have it turn out, so I really wish you would’ve enjoyed it!