Valentine’s Day has passed, and the discounted chocolates at Walmart have been picked over, but somehow you managed to make it this far without having a single piece (maybe because you were too busy getting it for other people, you generous-hearted person). Have no fear, however, because making your own filled truffles is much easier than you might think.

Now, of course, you could leave them solid, with no filling in the middle, but I think the chewy, fruity center is what makes these truffles sublime. So, here you go.

Fruity Chocolate Truffles

Start to finish: 2 hours

Yields: 10-20 pieces (depends on size)

Here’s what you need:

For the filling:

1 cup fruit of your choice

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1 ¼ cup sugar

¼ cup minus 1 tablespoon water

1 tablespoon corn syrup

1 tablespoon butter

For the exterior:

1 bag Ghirardelli dark melting chocolate, tempered

Here’s the fun part:

In a blender, puree the fruit and cream.

Meanwhile, in a small pot over medium heat, mix together the sugar, water and corn syrup until the sugar dissolves. One the sugar has dissolved, stop stirring the sugar mixture and let it bubble until it reaches a light gold color.

Remove the sugar mixture from the stove and quickly stir in the fruit mixture and butter.

Return to the heat and continue stirring until the mixture reaches about 225-230 F.

Pour into a bowl and set aside to cool completely.

Pour enough tempered chocolate into candy molds to fill each section completely, and let sit for a moment. (I used plastic, but silicone works as well.) Tip the mold over a bowl to dump out the excess chocolate, but make sure there is a thick layer of chocolate left in each individual section.

Scoop the cooled filling into a plastic bag with the corner cut off and pipe a little bit of the fruit into each chocolate shell, tapping the mold on the table to smooth it out. Be sure not to fill above the top of each section.

Pour the remaining chocolate into the mold to fill up each section the rest of the way and seal each individual chocolate, scraping off the excess with a flat spatula.

Allow to set at room temperature until the chocolate has fully hardened and can be removed from the mold.

Here are some tips:

• Crush up some nuts or sprinkle some luster dust into the bottom of each section of the mold to decorate the chocolates
• Instead of fruit, make chocolate ganache with equal parts heavy cream and milk chocolate chips to pipe into the middle of the chocolates
• Add lemon, lime or orange zest into the filling as well for extra flavor and texture

These are perfect for everyone and everything, from significant others to yourself or Valentine’s Day to the Fourth of July. Until next week, fellow foodies.

Junior Laken Wagner has been spending time in the kitchen since she was five years old, where both baking and cooking have always filled her extra time. She enjoys baking more than anything else and can frequently be found decorating cakes or trying out new recipes.