Turning a classic truffle into a modern sophisticate with a little salted caramel and whiskey.
Salted Caramel and Whiskey Truffle
Here’s the secret: Cook the salted caramel right to up to the point the mixture is about to burn. The caramel will impart a deep flavor that moves beyond the one dimensional sweetness when cooked only to a light or medium amber. Throw whiskey in the mix and you have yourself a classic truffle that is updated with a little sweet and salty along with some whiskey.
Awhile back I discovered boozy truffles, since that time, this remains the only option in which I will bite into a one. I haven’t had a straight truffle for awhile and by that I mean one that is non-alcoholic. That has more to do with the fact that, even though I’m a chocolate-holic, I find truffles so rich that they often grab and coat my tongue like a glove to a hand.
Truffle Making
. . .Nothing. Nothing, no matter how good it is can be pleasant when that effect grabs hold. Trust me, make a boozy truffle once and you may never go back to straight truffles. The alcohol helps to cut through the richness of the chocolate and cream for a cleaner bite.
A few notes:
- Your palate your preference: If whiskey is not your thing try another spirit.
- When making truffles, keep a wet towel near to wipe your hands between each truffle for ease of rolling.
- Other boozy truffles you might like: Chocolate Beer Truffles, Chocolate Frangelico Truffles.
After the shot
Salted Caramel and Whiskey Truffles
Ingredients:
Truffle:
- 11 oz dark chocolate (65% cacao)
- 8 tablespoon heavy cream
- ½ cup salted caramel (recipe follows)
- ¼ cup Irish Whiskey
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, Dutch process
Salted Caramel Sauce:
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 6 tablespoons of heavy cream
- ½ teaspoons of kosher salt
Instructions:
Truffle:
1. Place chocolate and heavy cream in a heat-proof bowl over (not on) simmering water. Let chocolate and cream heat up for 3 minutes untouched. After 3 minutes whisk mixture until fully incorporated. Remove bowl from heat and let cool for 20-30 minutes. Stir in salted caramel (mixture may look slightly rough, but will even out and become smooth once more after the addition of whiskey). Add in whiskey and stir until fully incorporated. Pour finished mixture into a flat casserole pan. Cover the surface with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set, about 3 hours.
2. Remove chilled truffle mixture. Using a melon-baller, scoop out chocolate rounds. Finish forming truffles by hand and place on parchment-lined bake sheet. Dust truffles with unsweetened cocoa powder to finish.
Salted Caramel Sauce:
Add sugar and water into a saucepan over medium low heat. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Use a wet brush to remove any crystals that form on the side. Once sugar has dissolved increase heat to high. Now and then, using the handle give the pot a swirl to keep the mixture moving. Do not stir the mixture directly. The mixture will start to bubble after a minute. As the mixture darkens to a medium amber color, approximately 5-7 minutes, add the butter and cream to saucepan. The mixture will bubble wildly. Whisk to combine (bubbles will subside upon cooling). Add salt and stir to combine.
Both the truffles and your photography look so beautifully rich and delicious! And I agree with your statement about boozy > non-boozy truffles. The more Irish whiskey the better! Thanks for another great recipe.
Hi Judith-Yes, you can’t certainly replace the whiskey with brandy!
The problem I have with truffles is that I can never make enough of them. They disappear so incredibly quickly.
I love it when they’re spiked with alcohol, especially whiskey.
Magda
ps Your photographs are amazing.
Delicious! I love your recipes 🙂
Lovely and beautiful as always, Naomi!
I love your boozy truffle creations! They’re always such a hit with men 🙂
That must be one killer combination Naomi! And your pictures – love them 🙂
What a great combination. I swear I gain 5lbs every time I come here. 🙂
Looks very delicious!
Is it possible to replace whiskey with brandy?
Fringelike? Is that supposed to say Frangelico, or is there some new booze I’ve never heard of?
Jaime-LOL. Thank you for telling me! That’s Frangelico, not Fringelike Truffles-auto correct. I’ve fixed it in the post.
Delicious!!! the truffles are awesome and pictures are so lively…. This is a must make recipe. Thanks
This is a must make!! Great photos.
Oh my goodness, if a truffle wasnt tempting enough you chuck salted caramel and booze in there too! Gorgeous! and your photos continue to stun me 🙂
Must. Make. !!! These look amazing!!
Do you sell your truffles? If so, do you ship? Are you in CA?
I’d love my daughter to have some for her birthday.
Whiskey Truffles? Yes, I believe I will have some. Actually I just bought all the ingredients and can’t wait to try this.
This has to be amazing I’ve never tried whiskey truffles before. It must be delicious.
As if truffles aren’t a rich enough treat, you threw in whiskey? I love it!
Beautiful pictures Naomi and that is one luscious truffle I have every seen. I am so glad that I found your blog.
Wow your pictures are incredible and this recipe looks amazing!! Love your blog, new follower! xoxo
Looks like heaven in a ball!
Arghhh you are killing me with all this salted caramel deliciousness! Yum!!!
I, too, read the recipe and immediately went out to buy some ingredients. I have a question about storage — once you’ve dusted them with cocoa, can you store them in the fridge? Or are these strictly “eat ’em fresh” treats? I’ve never made truffles before. I did buy Irish Whiskey, but if they work out, I may try a bourbon version.
Liz-You can store once you dust them with cocoa powder. The cocoa powder is just to prevent them from sticking to one another. As you noticed from the pictures, I dust my VERY lightly. Generally they are dusted more heavily, but I find that gets in the way of the chocolate coming through quickly and with a more clean bite. FYI-The bourbon version sounds awesome.
Carol-Sorry I don’t sell them. I will occassionally do orders, but just for friends. Sorry. Good news is that they are super easy to make!
Just made these! I can’t wait to eat them all up! This was my first time making caramel – it was scary but successful.
Hey,
when do you add in the cocoa powder? Or is that just for dusting?
Can you tell me approximatley how many truffles do yo make with this recipe? Because I am testing different types of truffles and I do not want to make a lot. Thanks 🙂
Just wondering when in the caramel process you turn off the stove. It’s not very clear from the instructions and I would like to make the recipe this week. I would really appreciate it if you could respond!! Thank you and I hope they turn out as yummy as they sound 🙂
Yum! How many truffles does this make?
I made these for my BFF for Valentine’s Day. I don’t know how I’m going to be able to stay away from them for the week. I snuck one, and they are delicious. You hit the nail on the head about the caramel. Thanks for the great tips.
hi, thanks much for this recipe. I make truffles regularly and fulfill orders for friends, selling them when they want to give them as gifts to others for the holiday. I always use Ghirardelli chocolate.
I followed this recipe to the t; however, there is too much liquid going on somewhere, because after chilling the chocolate half the day, it was still too soft. The chocolate could form balls, but they were too malleable and didn’t keep their shape well at room-temperature.
Too soft means that when I put the coatings on such as chopped nuts, the chocolate can easily turn them soft if not consumed quickly enough….Refrigeration and early consumption are thus absolutely necessary! I thus stuck to toasted coconut (after flash freezing, but still having way too soft truffles) and told my friend to keep them in the fridge when not eating them. I also put most of the truffles in a dip of melted dark chocolate and topped off with salt flakes for decoration. This keeps them in a hard shell, but still, they have to be refrigerated.
I am not sure if you had this issue (I have had it before with other whiskey recipes, but I don’t think it happened with bourbon), but I will be re-testing this myself by using less heavy whipping cream–probably at least half the amount for the salted caramel, or about 2 TB, depending on what I see when I’m in the process of adding it to the amber sugar.
That recipe sounds wonderful! I would really love to try it for my boyfriends birthday, but unfortunately I have no cup/spoon-measurements because we only use gram/litre here in Germany. Is there a good conversion table somewhere that you can recommend? Or if you ever measured it yourself, could you tell me how much I will need of everything? Thank you so much. 🙂
Is there a trick to getting the chocolate out of the melon baller? I resorted to just using a spoon and rolling them. However that melts the chocolate fast and I was constantly running my hands under cold water to keep my hands cold. They taste delicious but tips are appreciated.
About how many truffles does this yield?
Hi Naomi,
Making these tonight! How many truffles do you get from this recipe?
Do I cool the caramel before I stir it into the cooled chocolate mixture (chocolate, cocoa powder and cream)?
Thanks.
Marale