These elegant Caramelized White Chocolate Truffles are filled with smooth, rich, intensely flavored, and perfectly caramelized white chocolate and cream. The flavor is out of this world.
This is a game changer.
In the past, I’ve always tolerated white chocolate as “that other chocolate which is not nearly as good as the dark stuff, but which pairs nicely with raspberries and can be used to make mousses when you want other flavors to shine, and which is legitimately delicious in macadamia nut cookies.” Okay, so that’s kind of a long description, but you get the idea. I was only lukewarm on the white stuff.
But now, now that I know you can roast it in the oven and make the most amazing caramelized white chocolate, with a deep, nutty flavor with hints of brown sugar and butter? White chocolate and I are going to be verrrrry good friends.
In fact, I made these delicious Champagne White Chocolate Truffles you have to try! Check out these fun Disco Truffles and Rosemary and Raspberry Truffles for some other delightful flavors.
Yes, if you can believe it, that dark caramel spread pictured up there is made from caramelized white chocolate and a little bit of cream. It’s smooth, rich, intensely flavored, and perfect as a filling for these elegant chocolate truffles.
I first learned about caramelizing white chocolate from David Lebovitz (of course) way back in 2009. Maybe my anti-white chocolate bias was too strong to really appreciate the implications back then, because it’s taken me years to finally try it for myself. Now that I’ve tried it, I’m kicking myself for waiting that long, because it is not at all a hard process, and it is SO good.
The wonderful thing about caramelizing white chocolate, as opposed to making actual caramel from sugar, is that there is very little effort required. Your oven does all the work for you! That’s basically every cook’s dream, right? The promise of the Jetsons has finally been delivered. You can sit fanning yourself with palm fronds, reading great literature, stopping only to stir the chocolate every so often, while your oven slaves away caramelizing all those milk solids, and at the end of the process you’ve transformed fairly bland white chocolate into a deeply golden caramel wonderland.
So what can you do with caramelized white chocolate? Eat it, duh. Spread it on some toast, shut the door for some privacy, and go to town. Or experiment with using it in place of melted white chocolate in baking recipes. Add a spoonful to a mug of hot cocoa or coffee along with a pinch of salt for a crazy good salted caramel experience. Or hey, mix it with some cream and make an intensely rich filling for caramelized white chocolate truffles!
These truffles are made using a mold, which is ideal when you want a filling that’s a little too soft to stand up to being rolled and dipped. I use a basic plastic truffle mold, but there are also nice silicone options out there if you’re a truffle-making machine. A few stripes of contrasting candy coating on the outside is a really easy way to add a bit of elegance to the truffles–just drizzle them inside the molds before you add the chocolate, and you’ll have a seamless decoration that looks like it was painted on.
These truffles were a wonderful introduction to caramelized white chocolate, but I’m sure there are many more ways to incorporate this amazing ingredient. What do you think–how would you want to eat caramelized white chocolate?
💖More Truffle Recipes
- Pumpkin Bread Truffles
- Truffle-Topped Heart Cake
- Rosemary Raspberry Truffles
- Bloody Truffles
- Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate Truffles
- Golf Ball Truffles and Putting Green Brownies
- Disco Truffles for New Year’s Eve
- Hot Chocolate Truffles & Peppermint Swirl Marshmallows
Marbled Easter Egg Truffles
Champagne White Chocolate Truffles
Caramelized White Chocolate Truffles
Ingredients
- 12 oz white chocolate, good-quality, finely chopped (do not use white chips or any white chocolate that does not have cocoa butter listed as an ingredient)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- Big pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 1/2 lbs chocolate candy coating melts, tempered chocolate can be substituted, see Note below
- A few ounces of white or light chocolate candy coating for decoration, optional
- Round truffle molds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 250 F. Place the chopped chocolate into a glass dish in a shallow layer, and pour the vegetable oil on top. Place the chocolate in the oven for 10 minutes, then stir it with a rubber spatula. Continue to bake the chocolate, stirring after every 10 minutes, until the chocolate is a beautiful dark gold color and smells caramelized. The total baking time should be about 70-90 minutes—the exact time will depend on the chocolate, your oven, and the dish you’re using, so use your eyes and nose as a guide.
- During the baking process, the chocolate will at times look grainy and unappetizing, but as you continue to bake and stir it, it should loosen up. Different brands of chocolate behave different, and it is possible you may need to add a touch more oil to get a smooth consistency toward the end of the process.
- Remove the chocolate from the heat. Scrape it into a bowl and add a nice pinch of salt, stirring it in and adding more to taste if necessary. At this point it can be covered and saved for the next step in a day or two, or you can proceed to make the ganache immediately. If you are keeping it, the caramelized white chocolate will eventually solidify at room temperature, so you will end to microwave it gently to get it liquid again before proceeding.
- Pour the heavy cream into a small saucepan and place it over medium heat. Heat the cream until it starts to simmer and small bubbles appear all along the sides of the pan. Pour the hot cream over the caramelized white chocolate and whisk them together until shiny and smooth. Let the filling cool to room temperature while you prepare the candy molds.
- If you want to add striped decorations to your truffles, microwave the white or light chocolate candy coating until melted. Transfer it to a paper cone, piping bag with a small round tip, or plastic bag with a small hole cut in the tip. Pipe a few lines across each cavity of the mold, and repeat with as many colors as you’d like to use.
- Place the chocolate candy coating in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave it until melted and smooth, stirring after every 30 seconds to prevent overheating. Spoon the chocolate coating into the cavities of the chocolate mold. Tap the mold gently against the countertop to remove any air bubbles. Let the chocolate sit at room temperature for several minutes, so that the chocolate thickens and just starts to set around the edges. Then, turn the mold upside-down over the chocolate bowl or a piece of parchment paper and let the excess chocolate coating drip out of the mold. Use a large chef’s knife, a bench scraper, or the side of an offset spatula to scrape the top of the mold clean and remove any excess chocolate. Refrigerate the tray to set the coating completely, for about 10 minutes.
- Carefully spoon the caramelized white chocolate ganache into the cavities, making sure to leave room at the top for another layer of chocolate. Make sure that the temperature of the caramelized white chocolate ganache has cooled down until it is barely warm, so that it doesn’t melt through the coating.
- Refrigerate the mold to set the filling, for about 10 minutes. Once set, spoon more chocolate candy coating on top of the filling to seal in the ganache. Scrape across the top of the mold again to remove excess chocolate from the top and sides of the candies. Refrigerate the molds once more to set the chocolate completely.
- When you are ready to unmold the truffles, gently bend the mold to loosen the chocolates. Turn the mold out onto a sheet of parchment and flex it so that the chocolates drop out of the cavities. These Truffles can be kept at room temperature for 3-4 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. For the best taste and texture, serve them at room temperature.
Recipe Notes
Measuring Tips
Our recipes are developed using weight measurements, and we highly recommend using a kitchen scale for baking whenever possible. However, if you prefer to use cups, volume measurements are provided as well. PLEASE NOTE: the adage “8 oz = 1 cup” is NOT true when speaking about weight, so don’t be concerned if the measurements don’t fit this formula.
Want to learn more about baking measurements and conversion?
Nutrition
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Great recipe! Having made hand-dipped chocolates for years, I am anxious to try it. Thanks
Thanks Bonny! This is one that works better as a filled truffle than a hand-dipped one, but I hope you enjoy it just the same. 🙂
Quick question regarding the vegetable oil… I almost always avoid it because I don’t like the way it tastes. (I don’t add it to brownies/cupcakes, I don’t use PAM spray on my pans, etc.) But in this recipe I can imagine it serving a pretty important purpose. I see the recipe asks for a fairly small amount–does it add any taste? Is there a good kind/brand of vegetable oil (or other oil) that you would recommend using that won’t affect the flavor of the caramelized white chocolate?
Hey Stephanie! You can actually try omitting the vegetable oil, and using a white chocolate with a high cocoa butter percentage (above 30 is good, 35% is even better.) Because chocolates can vary so much in terms of how much cocoa butter they have, some melt really smoothly while others get chalky or crumbly. The vegetable oil is sort of an insurance policy to ensure that the white chocolate melts well for everyone, regardless of the type of chocolate they use. You can use any flavorless oil you like, or again, use a better-quality white chocolate and skip the oil altogether.
Nice! That answer is even better than I was hoping for; you are amazing! Thanks for the detailed reply; I’m going to seek out some high cocoa butter percentage white chocolate and give it a try.
My pleasure! Please let me know how it goes if you give it a try!
Seriously every time you post something my jaw drops with amazement. You are the most creative person ever! I can’t even imagine how delicious this must be!
Jackie, you are so sweet! Thanks very much. I can’t take credit for the idea of caramelizing white chocolate–David Lebovitz gets the tip of the hat for that one. 🙂
Wow. These are gorgeous! I think I could eat these all day long!
Thank you so much! We pretty much did exactly that. 🙂
I’m not anti-white chocolate, but this looks like it would be tastier. I’ve been wanting to make filled chocolates forever, so this may be the kick I needed to give it a try.
I bet the caramelized white chocolate would be good in some kind of hot chocolate concoction.
Thanks Jill! If you’re a caramel fan then you’ll definitely enjoy caramelized white chocolate. And YES I think it would be awesome when added to hot chocolate!
Um, how would I eat it? With a spoon. Or honestly, my fingers. Or I’d just lick it out of the dish. No shame here. I actually love white chocolate, AND I love caramel. So. . . duh. I double love this stuff already. 😉
Spoon, fingers, tongue…all are acceptable! You would fit right in at my house, Sara!
I didn’t realize caramelized white chocolate was a thing until about a month ago, and I have wondered ever since what it must taste like. Amazing, probably! These truffles look so perfect! I’m terrible at dipping truffles so I need to try them this way!
Thanks Beth! Making truffles this way is a little more time consuming (especially if you need to make them in batches) but in general they turn out more consistently than the hand-dipped kind.
So intensive, but DEFINITELY looks worth it! Yum!
Thanks Ashley! Definitely takes a little time, but sometimes those are the most fun culinary projects!
Oh my gosh…this looks amazing!! I was always one of those weird people who preferred white chocolate to regular chocolate and I still do. Like I said – I’m weird! Love this!
I’ve heard about people like you before, white chocolate lovers, but I never thought you existed in real life. 🙂 I think this is an area where we can find some common ground for sure!
Oh these truffles are just gorgeous! I can’t believe that is white chocolate filling, sounds sooo good!
Thanks Medeja! It’s totally crazy and mesmerizing to watch the white chocolate turn from white to dark brown. Chemistry is so cool sometimes.