These Truffles could ease your Conscience
I used to think chocolate truffles must be complicated to make but it’s one of the easiest desserts! While there is a bit of cooking and rest time, the process is so simple for these beetroot chocolate truffles! Infuse bittersweet cocoa with earthy golden beets and the crimson-colored citrus juice of blood oranges and you have a real treat.
Beets are wonderful for mental and physical health because they provide anti-inflammatory properties, help the body detox, boost energy, and can even aid in the prevention of dementia according to the American Heart Association. Blood oranges have high amounts of vitamin C that help boost immunity. In addition, they have cancer-fighting properties, improve gut health, and support a healthy pregnancy (WebMD). While of course eating these in their most natural state is always the best way to introduce beets and blood oranges into your diet, we figure it doesn’t hurt to add them to a dessert too!
Chocolate and Beets Unite!
You won’t believe how easy these are to make! Prep work is quick and the rest of the process involves hands-off cooking and resting time.
- Preheat oven to 400℉ and line the baking sheet with parchment paper. Gather ingredients.
- Cut beetroot stems off if using a fresh bundle (save these beetroot stems for our other recipes). Wash beets thoroughly and wrap them in foil (we’ll remove the skin later). Place the wrapped beets onto the lined baking sheet.
- Roast beets for 45 minutes. Once roasted, allow the beets to cool, enough to handle. Put on prep gloves to avoid staining your hands. Unwrap the beets and discard the foil. Take a paper towel and start to rub the beets until the skin peels off.
- Place roasted beets into a blender. If too big, cut them in half. Add the heavy cream and the blood orange zest and juice. Blend.
- Break the chocolate bar into smaller pieces in a microwave-safe large bowl. Microwave in 30-second intervals until melted. Whisk together until smooth.
- Take the ingredients from the blender and pour them into the chocolate. Add 2 TBS of unsweetened cocoa powder and powdered sugar and whisk until just incorporated
- Spread mixture evenly into an 8×8 pan and cover with cling wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Set aside a small bowl with the remaining unsweetened cocoa powder.
- When the beetroot chocolate truffles mixture is chilled, remove from the fridge. With kitchen prep gloves on, scoop out a TBS of the chocolate mixture and gently roll it into balls. This is a crumbly chocolate mixture so be gentle as you roll. Place balls in a Ziploc bag and refrigerate for another 15 minutes. Refrigerate or freeze when not eating to maintain its shape and texture.
Need Answers?
How do I know if my beets have been properly roasted?
Use a fork to poke the flesh of the beets. If the prongs sink in, they’re roasted. If they aren’t, you can stick the beets back in the oven for another 5-10 minutes.
My beets are leaking while roasting, what do I do?
We recommend lining those baking sheets to prevent stains on your baking ware. Leaks are okay!
Do I have to chill the beetroot chocolate truffle mixture?
We highly encourage it. It will make the process of forming the balls much easier.
Can I use store-bought pre-packaged beets?
You can! This will certainly cut down prep time. We recommend the Love Beets peeled and cooked packages.
Beetroot Chocolate Truffles
Equipment
- 1 Knife
- 1 Baking sheet lined with parchment paper
- Aluminum foil
- Kitchen prep gloves
- Paper towel
- Hand-held juicer
- Microwave safe large bowl
- Microwave
- Whisk
- Spatula
- 8×8 square pan or 9 inch circular pan
- Ziploc bag
- Cling wrap
Ingredients
- 2 Medium or large beets, whole
- 1 Blood orange, zest and juice
- ½ Cup Heavy cream
- 8 oz Semi-sweet chocolate baking bar
- 4 TBS Cocoa powder, divided
- 2 TBS Powdered sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- ½ tsp Salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400℉ and line the baking sheet with parchment paper. Gather ingredients
- Cut beetroot stems off if using a fresh bundle (check out our other recipe detailed in the sections above for ways to use the beetroot stems). Wash beets thoroughly and wrap them in foil. We will rub the skin off after roasting. Place the wrapped beets onto the lined baking sheet.
- Roast beets for 45 minutes. Once roasted, allow the beets to cool.
- Once cool, put on prep gloves to avoid staining your hands. Unwrap the beets and discard foil. Take a paper towel and start to rub the beets until the skin peels off.
- Place roasted beets into a blender. If too big, cut them in half.
- Add the heavy cream and blood orange, zest and juice, and blend.
- Break the chocolate bar into smaller pieces in a microwave-safe large bowl (we’ll add the blended ingredients to this bowl later).
- Microwave chocolate in 30-second intervals until melted. Whisk together until smooth
- Add the blender ingredients into the bowl with the chocolate. Add 2 TBS of unsweetened cocoa powder and powdered sugar and whisk until just incorporated
- Spread mixture evenly into an 8×8 pan and cover with cling wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour
- Set aside a small bowl with the remaining unsweetened cocoa powder
- With kitchen prep gloves on, scoop out a TBS of the chocolate mixture and gently roll it into balls. This is a crumbly chocolate mixture so being gentle is key
- Place balls in a ziploc bag and refrigerate for another 15 minutes. When not eating, place back in a ziploc bag and either refrigerate or freeze to maintain its shape and texture.
Did you Try our beetroot chocolate truffles?
Drop us a comment down below if you made these! If you can’t get enough of beets, then check out this beetroot soup recipe.