For palates that enjoy an adventure, these truffles enclose a creamy filling of fresh pineapple and red chilli in a thin shell of raw chocolate. Coconut butter and cacao butter bring all the melting quality, while the touch of chilli wakes up the sweetness of the pineapple and vanilla. Count on around ten truffles, to be kept chilled until serving.
Raw pineapple and chilli truffles
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Ingredients
Filling
- 1/4 cup raw coconut nectar (or maple syrup)
- 1/2 cup fresh pineapple, diced
- 1/2 tsp red chilli flakes
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup raw coconut butter, warmed to liquid
- 1/4 cup raw cacao butter, warmed to liquid
Chocolate coating
- 3/4 cup melted cacao butter (or coconut oil)
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp maple syrup at room temperature
- 3/4 cup, well packed, raw cacao powder
- A generous pinch of sea salt
- Crushed pistachios, to finish
Preparation
- In a high-speed blender, blend the coconut nectar, pineapple, chilli flakes, vanilla and salt until smooth.
- Add the liquid coconut butter and cacao butter, then blend until perfectly even.
- Pour into a container and freeze for about an hour, until the mixture is firm enough to shape.
- Roll balls of about 4 cm, set them on a lined tray, then return them to the freezer for an hour, until thoroughly firm.
- Meanwhile, melt the cacao butter in a bain-marie over very low heat, without going above 46 °C.
- Once melted, whisk in the maple syrup, cacao powder and salt until you have a smooth chocolate.
- Using a fork, dip each truffle into the chocolate, let the excess drip off, then set it back on the tray.
- Scatter each truffle with crushed pistachios, then let the chocolate set (allow around ten minutes in the freezer).
- Keep the truffles in the fridge, in an airtight box.
Tip
No bain-marie to hand? Cacao butter also melts very gently in the dehydrator, as the author of this recipe does: it takes longer, but the result is identical and the risk of overheating disappears.
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FAQ: your questions about raw truffles
How long can chocolate truffles be kept?
These particular truffles contain fresh pineapple, and therefore water: allow four to five days in the fridge, in an airtight box, no more. Raw truffles without fresh fruit, made from nut butter and dates, keep a good week, sometimes two. In every case the cold is essential, since cacao butter and coconut butter soften noticeably above 25 °C. The freezer remains the way to keep them longer: they freeze very well for two months and are eaten after about ten minutes at room temperature.
How do you make truffles at home?
The principle is always the same: a filling that holds when cold, rolled into balls, then a coating. In the raw version, the filling relies on a fat that hardens — cacao butter, coconut butter — mixed with fruit, nut butter or dates. The stay in the freezer is what makes shaping possible: dough that is too soft sticks to the fingers and refuses to hold. For the coating, raw chocolate is whisked together with no cooking at all, adding the sweetener and then the cacao powder to the melted cacao butter. Finally, roll the truffles between cool hands, running them under cold water first if need be.
What makes chocolate truffles special?
Their name comes from their resemblance to the fungus: an irregular ball, never perfectly round, rolled in cacao the way a truffle is rolled in its soil. The classic version pairs a ganache — chocolate and cream — with a coating of bitter cacao, which gives that contrast between a melting centre and a dry, powdery surface. The raw version takes up the same idea, replacing the cream with a plant fat, here coconut butter, which changes the texture: firmer straight from the cold, more melting in the mouth. And the irregular shape still applies, it is part of the genre.
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