Seven ingredients and three and a half hours, nearly all of it chilling.
The eggnog goes into the ganache with the cream, which is why you cannot see it in the finished truffle.
Why This Recipe Works
- Heating the liquid just to steaming melts chocolate without seizing it.
- Two minutes of resting before stirring gives a smooth ganache.
- Chilling to scoopable is what makes the balls possible to roll.
- A second chill firms them so they hold shape in warm dipping chocolate.
- White chocolate drizzled over set dark chocolate stays as distinct arcs.
Ingredient Notes
- Commercially pasteurized nonalcoholic eggnog
- A third of a cup. Both words matter: pasteurized because nothing here is cooked, and nonalcoholic because nothing would cook off.
- Dark chocolate, twice
- Eight ounces finely chopped for the ganache and ten more for coating. The ganache chocolate is chopped fine so it melts evenly.
- White chocolate
- Three ounces, melted for the drizzle. It is what makes the pale arcs, and the title names it nowhere.
- Ground nutmeg
- A quarter teaspoon, stirred into the ganache. It is most of what makes the ganache read as eggnog.
How to Make It
Cream and pasteurized eggnog heated to steaming
Heat cream and pasteurized nonalcoholic eggnog just to steaming; pour over the chopped dark chocolate.
Rested two minutes, stirred smooth, chilled
Rest 2 minutes, stir smooth, add nutmeg, and chill until scoopable.
Rolled into 24 balls, then chilled again
Roll into 24 balls and chill again until firm.
Dipped, with the excess let drip off
Melt the coating chocolate and dip each truffle; let excess drip off.
White chocolate drizzled into pale arcs
Drizzle with melted white chocolate to create pale arcs.
Chilled to set — no raw egg, no alcoholic eggnog
Chill until set; use no raw egg and no alcoholic eggnog.
Two Words on the Carton, and Why They Are in the Recipe
A photograph of a chocolate truffle cannot tell you what is inside it. Two things about the eggnog matter here, because in a confection where nothing is ever cooked through, both change what you are eating.
Stage 1 of 5
The ganache - and the two rulings
Steps 1–1 of 6
1/2 cup heavy cream and 1/3 cup of COMMERCIALLY PASTEURIZED NONALCOHOLIC eggnog heated JUST TO STEAMING, poured over 8 oz of finely chopped dark chocolate. Both adjectives are load-bearing. PASTEURIZED because a ganache is warmed, not cooked - it never reaches a temperature that would make a raw-egg eggnog safe, so the safety has to come from the carton. NONALCOHOLIC for the mirror-image reason: nothing here is heated long enough to drive alcohol off, so any in the eggnog would still be there in the finished truffle. Just to STEAMING and no further - boiled cream can split a ganache.
- Cream and pasteurized eggnog heated to steamingHeat cream and pasteurized nonalcoholic eggnog just to steaming; pour over the chopped dark chocolate.
Stage 2 of 5
Rest TWO minutes before stirring
Steps 2–2 of 6
Then stirred smooth with 1/4 tsp nutmeg. The two minutes are not idleness: they let the residual heat melt the chocolate through before any agitation. Stirring immediately drags unmelted pieces around and gives a grainy ganache that will not come back. The nutmeg is most of what makes this taste of eggnog, since a third of a cup in a batch of 24 is a subtle amount on its own.
- Rested two minutes, stirred smooth, chilledRest 2 minutes, stir smooth, add nutmeg, and chill until scoopable.
Stage 3 of 5
Chilled to SCOOPABLE, rolled, chilled to FIRM
Steps 2–3 of 6
Two separate chills with two different endpoints. The first takes the ganache to SCOOPABLE - soft enough to portion, firm enough to hold. The second takes the 24 rolled balls to FIRM, which is what lets them survive being dipped: a soft centre dropped into warm melted chocolate loses its shape or falls off the fork.
- Rested two minutes, stirred smooth, chilledRest 2 minutes, stir smooth, add nutmeg, and chill until scoopable.
- Rolled into 24 balls, then chilled againRoll into 24 balls and chill again until firm.
Stage 4 of 5
Dipped, with the excess DRIPPED OFF
Steps 4–4 of 6
10 oz of dark chocolate melted for coating. Letting the excess drip is what gives a thin even shell rather than a thick foot pooling at the base - and a thin shell is what the next stage needs to show arcs against.
- Dipped, with the excess let drip offMelt the coating chocolate and dip each truffle; let excess drip off.
Stage 5 of 5
The white drizzle - and this is THE finish
Steps 5–6 of 6
3 oz of white chocolate drizzled to create THE PALE ARCS. The dipped-and-drizzled truffle is the dish; plain and cocoa-rolled truffles are not this recipe. Then chilled until set and KEPT REFRIGERATED, with step 6 restating both points: no raw egg, no alcoholic eggnog.
- White chocolate drizzled into pale arcsDrizzle with melted white chocolate to create pale arcs.
- Chilled to set — no raw egg, no alcoholic eggnogChill until set; use no raw egg and no alcoholic eggnog.
Success Tips
- Heat the liquid only to steaming; boiling it can split the ganache.
- Let the ganache rest two full minutes before stirring, or it turns grainy.
- Chill the rolled balls firm before dipping, or they soften in the warm chocolate.
Serving Ideas
Twenty-four truffles enrobed in dark chocolate and decorated with pale arcs of white chocolate and a light sprinkle, kept refrigerated until serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there raw egg in these?
No. The eggnog is commercially pasteurized and step 6 rules raw egg out by name. Nothing in a truffle is cooked through, which is exactly why it matters.
Do these contain alcohol?
No. The eggnog is nonalcoholic. Nothing here is cooked, so any alcohol would have remained in full.
Should they be rolled in cocoa instead?
Not for this recipe. The truffle is dipped in dark chocolate and drizzled with white — plain and cocoa-rolled truffles are a different finish.
