12 Days of Christmas: Marmalade Truffles

Day 11 of the advent calendar!

Hello and welcome Day 10 of the Kitchen Projects 2025 ‘12 days of Christmas’, our festive recipe advent calendar delivered straight to your inbox.

It just wouldn’t be Christmas without a gorgeous truffle recipe from the inimitable Octavia Lamb. These tiny marmalade truffles have charmed me — I just could not stop eating them. Though I did end up making them on my own, I think this is such a gorgeous activity to do with family and friends - go forth and pick up some gloves so you can really get stuck in with the rolling!

By Octavia Lamb

Friends, it gives me great pleasure to introduce you to the Tiny Tim of this year’s Kitchen Projects advent family - the Tiny Terry, if you will.

These marmalade truffles have been floating around in my head for years, but I’d been too scared to bring them into the real world in case they weren’t EXACTLY as cute and delicious as I imagined them to be.* The time to take the plunge presented itself when Nicola mentioned to me that a Terry’s Chocolate Orange is her Christmas morning breakfast of choice, and while chocolate orange is for life and not just for Christmas, it does feel synonymous with this time of year to me too.

*N.b. the first test of these affirmed something which I should’ve never doubted, which is that mixing molten chocolate with marmalade was only ever going to be a wonderful thing and that I am a fool for ever worrying.

I’d describe the flavour of these milk chocolate and marmalade truffles as nostalgic, tangy and creamy all at once, and biting into the occasional piece of peel running through the ganache is a delight. I tried a version with an amount of dark chocolate for a more grown up take, but in all honesty, adulthood had no place here. You could, and should, mix it up and use whatever kind of marmalade you like, but I opted for a good thick cut classic Seville. This ganache is nice and straight forward to whip up, with little more required than a bowl, whisk and a saucepan, and I strongly encourage putting on your favourite Christmas playlist for a merry little truffle rolling session.