I love Valentine’s Day. And I love making treats for Valentine’s Day.
When I think of Valentine’s, my mind immediately turns to Chocolate Truffles. I adore truffles.
Also, because I’m a novice with dipping chocolate and the word “temper” sends me into a bad temper myself, I went with easy and bought 7 oz. of white chocolate disks. (I had to add another ounce of white chocolate so there was enough to dip half of the bonbons. Buy two if you want them all dipped in white chocolate.)
You just follow the directions on the package and dip away. Also, it’s a lot cheaper when you buy it like this than in the little cubes. (And I should also mention that I have used the white chocolate disks in cookies and they work great!)
After I dipped half of the bonbons in the white chocolate, I got a little braver and decided to do a few in bittersweet chocolate. So, I tempered some bittersweet chocolate. (See this post from David Lebovitz for great info about tempering and a quick how-to.)
You want to see what it looks like inside? It’s glorious. And red. Just like I hoped.
The inside is so creamy and buttery. I combined bittersweet with milk to create just the right amount of depth. The tang of the cream cheese works. These really are the perfect Valentine’s Treat.
Valentine’s Treats: Red Velvet Bonbons
A delicious red velvet chocolate-dipped treat perfect for Valentine’s Day.
- Total Time: 12 hours 20 mins
- Yield: 18 bonbons 1x
Ingredients
- For the centers:
- 8 oz. milk chocolate
- 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate
- 4 oz. heavy cream
- 4 oz. cold cream cheese, cut into 16 pieces
- 1/2–1 tsp. red gel food coloring (I used Wilton)
- 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- For dipping:
- 8 oz. tempered white chocolate (at about 80 degrees F.)
- 8 oz. tempered bittersweet chocolate (at about 88 degrees F.)
Instructions
- For centers: Chop chocolate and place in a large, heat-proof bowl. Add the cream. Set the bowl over a pan of simmering water. Stir until smooth. (You can take the bowl off the heat when there are still some larger chunks–they will melt.)
- Remove bowl from heat. Add the cream cheese chunks. Switch to a whisk. Whisk until smooth. Add the food coloring and vanilla extract. Let cool to room temperature. Press waxed paper to the surface and chill overnight or at least 5 hours.
- Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. Use a small ice cream/cookie scoop and drop evenly sized blobs of the ganache onto the waxed paper. (You should get about 18.) Place baking sheet in freezer for two hours to harden.
- Once the chocolate blobs are firm, remove them from the freezer. Dust your hands with cornstarch and roll into smooth balls. Put the balls back on the baking sheet and chill again for a few hours.
- For dipping: Take one ball of ganache at a time, and drop them into the tempered chocolate. Carefully turn the ball around in the chocolate so it is uniformly covered with chocolate. Use a regular fork, or chocolate dipping fork to remove the ball from the melted chocolate. Drag the bottom of the fork over the edge of the bowl to remove the excess melted chocolate.
- Place the bonbon on the waxed paper. Repeat with remaining balls. Drizzle leftover chocolate over the tops of the dipped bonbons. Let harden in the fridge until ready to eat.
- Store in the fridge in an airtight container, or layer bonbons on waxed paper in a freezer-proof container. Let some to room temperature before serving.
Notes
The prep time includes the time needed for the bonbons to chill both before dipping and afterwards. Plan about 1 day to make these, though they only take about 35-40 minutes active time to make.
Keep them in the freezer or refrigerator. Don’t let them sit out at room temperature for too long (like for hours and hours) or the red centers may start to leak through the outer chocolate coating.
- Prep Time: 12 hours
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: candy
- Cuisine: American
23 Comments
Hi Lindsay,
I am Liz’s mom and will be visiting her in 2 weeks, and these will be part of a sweet treat for she & Patrick. I think I will have to make some today for Jim & myself. I like the Red Velvet idea.
Hi, Ellen! I wish I was going to visit Liz. I miss her! I hope you enjoy them and thanks for the comment!
Mmmm. I am going to make these. My husband loves red velvet cake and I am in love with chocolate and Food Lindsey Makes.
That’s awesome that you created these!!!
For you first foray into (dipping)chocolate you did a terrific job! They look very pretty!
~ingrid
Sold!! I am so making these. I think these would be the perfect gift to hand out to the teachers at school! Thanks for sharing.
I love making Valentine’s day treats! I will have to try these!
These are delicious, Lindsey – so delicate!
Wow these look SO delicious! I may work up the courage to make them!
These look SO good, I realy want to try them.
Whenever I’m dipping in chocolate I add a very small amount of paraffin wax – the kind you use for canning, and can get in a grocery or hardware store.
Just melt it right in, it makes the chocolate a little thinner and slipperier – so that you don’t get that glumping as it starts to cool, it doesn’t alter the taste. If you you use too much, it will alter the texture and it will seem like that fake thin yucky chocolate, but just a little isn’t noticeable and gives it a nice sheen too. (It isn’t absorbed at all my the body.)
Experiment with how much you need – it’s only a very small amount. Like if I’m doing a pound of chocolate, I’ll slice about a 1/2 Tbsp of wax to go in it. Play around and see how you like it.
Oh my! I just read that my MOM is making these for me next week. I’m super excited to try them out. THanks for the inventions.
I just wnat you to know that those were rich an delicious
Those look so good!
These looks so cute and tasteful! Perfect for Valentine’s day
Hey Linds… where’s the best place in Westchester to buy good chocolate and the type of food coloring you recommend? Trader Joes? Or is there a much better place that I should know, but don’t.
Thanks… miss you
But of course I saw these–and your other delectable Valentines treats. And I sighed with longing. These are gor-gee-ous!
I’ve made the red velvet cake balls before and didn’t jump for joy over them. These look more like a version I’ll like!
Laura–
I was looking for a recipe for something like this and all I could find was for cake balls. They aren’t really my thing either.
I’m going to a “red party” for Valentine’s Day tomorrow. I’m bringing these! Thanks for the recipe.
Not to ruin this love theme here, but I am going to use this for a Halloween treat for the office, opting to paint red lines all over from the center topper of a green, blue or brown M & M…thanks for the great recipe!
★★★★★
Brilliant, Deborah! Let me know how it goes. I’m sure it will be a huge hit!
It would helpful if you updated the prep time at the top of the recipe to reflect the 10+ additional hours of chill time. I thought this was going to be a relatively quick recipe until I had already started making it – and realized how long it would take to chill the chocolate at various stages.
★★★
You are so right, Kari! I will go in and update that. Thanks!
one of my fav and easy to make