Whiskey Truffles

Not too long ago, I was able to pick up some chocolate transfer sheets at my local baking supply store. Chocolate transfer sheets are essentially acetate sheets that have been sprayed with cocoa butter. When pressed against tempered chocolate, the design will then transfer from the sheet to the chocolate. Those fancy chocolate with shiny colored tops, or ribbons of chocolate with designs that top cakes are no longer a mystery.

A while back I also picked up a stainless steel frame, or "cadre" from New York based J.B. Prince. I was ordering 100 sheets of precut parchment paper, and figured I'd add a few things for the premium I was paying on shipping. I was turned on to J.B. Prince by my Venezuelan friend from pastry school. Though I can't nearly afford to buy everything on their site, it's fun to ogle the professional grade goods.

Though I'm not a fan of whiskey (as it tastes like burning), I decided to make some truffles with my chocolate frame and transfer sheets. I prefer champagne truffles, but couldn't justify popping open a bottle to use less than 100g. I suppose I could have just downed the rest of the bubbly, but then I'd probably forget about the truffles altogether.

The chocolate frame worked out lovely, and was vast improvement from my previous Macgyver hack job with a cereal box. After letting the ganache settle in the frame overnight, I sliced it into squares with a hot knife, and then dipped them into tempered chocolate. Before the chocolate set, I quickly pressed a square of transfer sheet to the top of each truffle.

The truffles went over well with my work colleagues and other baking constituents. The whiskey flavor balanced well with the bittersweet chocolate, and to my surprise was not at all overpowering. For the whiskey, I used a 12 year old single cask Balvenie scotch. I figured the same rule that applies to wine, would also apply to whiskey. Don't cook with something you wouldn't drink. Partnered with bittersweet Ghirardelli chocolate, it tasted just a little like burning. Chocolate burning goodness.

Whiskey Truffles:
Dark chocolate 150g
Milk chocolate 125g
Liquid cream 190g
Whisky 50g

Bring the cream to a boil. Pour the hot cream over the chocolates and whiskey, and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir the mixture until the melted chocolate is well incorporated. Pour into a frame. Alternately, you can let the mixture set and then pipe/scoop into small balls. Once the ganache cools, unmold from the frame and cut into squares. Dip each square into tempered chocolate, transfer to a silicone mat or parchment paper until set.