liquor truffles

Carol, that's a lot of alcohol you're using. On 1/2 cup of ganache I would say around 1 teaspoon of Grand Marnier is more than enough...

It's used as a tastemaker, you don't need to be hit by the alcohol, you need to taste the chocolate with just a hint of that orange liqueur.

You could leave the alcohol out when serving to kids, and make a ganache a little different; take the zeste from 1/2 orange, bring some cream to a boil, take away from the fire, put the zeste in and let infuse for 20 minutes without heating. Sieve and use that in your ganache.

1/2 cup = 8 tablespoons

So, 2 tablespoons of liquor and 8 tablespoons of ganache = 10 tablespoons and the concentration of liquor is 2/10 or 0.2 or 20%

BUT, liquor is not 100% alcohol, say it is, oh, 20% (40 proof), then the the "alcohol" is 1/5th the concentration, or about 4% by volume (1/5 of 20% = 4%).

Looking at it another way:

1 tablespoon of liquor @ 20% (40 proof) alcohol contains 0.2 tablespoons alcohol. So, 2 tablespoons of liquor contains 0.4 tablespoons of alcohol.

Total volume of truffle = 8 tablespoons ganache plus 2 tablespoons liquor = 10 tablespoons

0.4 tablespoons of alcohol divided by 10 tablespoons = 0.04 or 4% by volume

Quote:

Originally Posted by lupe25 

Thank you Chris for your reply and the alternative suggestion for using orange zest instead of Grand Mariner. I live  in a 55+ community and these folks like the taste of my truffles.  What are your suggestions for the other types of liquors that I use when making truffles?  Just to name a few of the liquors I use:

 

Coconut Rum

Tequilla

Kahlua

Bailey's Irish Cream

Sambuca

Spiced Rum

Blackberry Liquor

Amarreto

Blue Rasberry Vodka

Frangelico

 

My question to the group is how do you figure out how much alcohol would be in one truffle using the measurements I gave in my first post.  Would they be considered < 1% or > 1% alcohol by volume?

 

Thanks, Carol

If it were me Carol, I would go for around 5%. But, it's always a good idea to listen to the people who eat them and listen to what they have to say. If they already like them, there's no need for a change!

Indeed you can use a lot of types of alcohol. I like your list, but personally I wouldn't use Sambuca. My favorites in your list would be Frangelico, Amaretto (just a little), Baileys or maybe just a dash of whisky, Kahlua (coffeetaste, absolutely!!). Maybe an experiment with Lemoncello for some freshness?

Ohmigod! Pete. I'm getting a headache.

I think you can figure the percentage of the liquor/product in each Truffle but I think the proof remains the same.

It's no doubt they love you truffles. Probably makes for some lively bingo.

panini

If it's about calculating the exact pure alcohol content, then I have to pass. I thought this was about how much booze you can add to a ganache. Adding a 5% liqueur should be enough.

When adding booze to hot cream to pour over chocolate, which is making a ganache, you have to realize that alcohol already starts to evaporate at 70°C. So, a calculation is not enough.

There's also a possibility to get even more flavor by infusing your cream with the taste that's already in booze, so you can keep the liqueur content low. For instance;

- Frangelico (hazzlenut liqueur); infuse (from the fire) the boiled cream with powdered hazzlenuts for 20 minutes and sieve.

- Amaretto (bitter almond liqueur); infuse with powdered almonds

- Kahlua (coffee liqueur); add a little instant coffee powder

- Grand Marnier (orange liqueur); infuse with orange zeste

etc.