Recipe: Stout Truffles Rolled in Pretzels or Bacon

St. Patrick’s Day is this Sunday, March 17th. How will you be celebrating? How about a Guinness-spiked chocolate truffle? Did I mention it’s rolled in crushed pretzels? Or candied bacon?

This weekend on the show “Beeroness” Jackie Dodd discusses baking with beer. Stout, it seems, is the most common pairing for chocolate and with the Irish holiday on the horizon, why not create a Guinness-spiked dessert? That’s exactly what the Beeroness does with her Stout Truffles Rolled in Pretzels or Bacon. If you’re a craft beer junkie (who isn’t?!) Jackie suggests substituting North Coast Brewing’s Old Rasputin Imperial Stout in lieu of Guinness.

You can find more beer soaked recipes (Smoky Chocolate Porter Ice Cream with Beer Candied Bacon anyone???) on Jackie’s blog. Keep an eye out for her cookbook which is due out this Fall. Hear Evan’s conversation with Jackie below and keep reading for Jackie’s recipe for Stout Truffles…

Stout Truffles Rolled in Pretzels or Bacon

Ingredients:

1 cup stout beer

8oz (225 g) good quality chocolate 60% cocoa

For the coating:

8oz (225 g) good quality chocolate (from a shiny bar, this means it has previously been tempered) can be milk, dark or white chocolate

or

Crushed pretzels, cocoa powder, coconut shavings, chopped nuts, chopped bacon, etc.

1 tsp good quality coarse sea salt (I used Himalayan Pink Salt)

Directions:

1. Add the beer to a pot over high heat. Reduce by half (about 1/2 cup remaining), stirring frequently. Remove from heat, add 8 ounces of chocolate, stir until smooth and melted. Allow to cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.

2. Use a melon baller to scoop out a small amount of chocolate. Roll into a ball with your hands, add to a plate and chill for 20 minutes to an hour.

3. For the coating you can either roll the truffles in a topping (pretzels, crushed bacon, coconut, etc.) or you can temper chocolate to give a smooth chocolate shell with a nice snap when bitten into. To temper chocolate for the coating: Chop the good quality chocolate into small pieces. Add about half of it to the top of a double boiler over medium heat (If you don’t have a double boiler, place a glass or metal bowl over a pot of simmering water making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water).

4. Stir until the chocolate reaches 115 for dark chocolate, 110 for milk or white chocolate. Remove from heat. Stir continuously, adding a bit of the reserved chocolate at a time until the chocolate reaches 90 degrees (88 for milk or white chocolate). Stir, stir, stir like crazy.

5. Add the chocolate truffle balls, roll around with a fork until coated. Remove truffles from chocolate and place on parchment paper, sprinkle with a small amount of sea salt. Chill until ready to serve.

6. To coat the truffles in a topping, rather than tempered chocolate, place the desired topping (bacon, crushed pretzels, coconut) in a small bowl add the chocolate truffle and turn until coated. Chill until ready to serve.