Happy Hour Eggnog Truffles

Happy Hour Eggnog Truffles are decadent, silky balls of white chocolate eggnog ganache, spices and bourbon. Perfect for gifting or NYE celebrations!

Be warned...these Happy Hour Eggnog Truffles are one-inch balls of party-time in your mouth! You can thank my heavy-handedness with the bourbon - it's that time of year, after all. 😉

Christmas is just around the corner and I feel so behind on ALL the things. BUT, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! We woke up to a blanket of snow that didn't stick around, but the weather folks have forecasted lots of white over the coming weekend and throughout next week.

I'll never warm up to the cold. A little snow, however, really helps to put me in the holiday mood. I'll take it over rain most days - so much prettier. Plus, painful as it is for my behind, I get to practice my downhill moves. One never knows when the Olympics might come calling...NOT!

Enough of my drivel, let's talk truffles! Remember a few posts back, I mentioned I found a few forgotten photos? These Happy Hour Eggnog Truffles were among the bunch! Some might call it procrastination, but I'll go with perfect timing. Yeah, I like that!

For a professed dark chocolate lover, I sure am flooding my blog with a whole lot of the other white stuff these days. Unfortunately, I didn't quite like my test for dark chocolate and eggnog. Milk chocolate wasn't too far off, but it wasn't quite hitting the spot.

I used Opalys, which isn't overly sweet. Plus, I really boozed these babies up (two b-words that should probably never appear in the same sentence), enough to temporarily distract the white chocolate fence-sitters, who love booze more than they dislike white chocolate. 😉

For the eggnog haters, you can use cream instead of eggnog and add the spice and bourbon/brandy mixture to achieve that homemade eggnog-liciousnesss!

Like I said earlier, these Happy Hour Eggnog Truffles would make perfect gifts and would also work for your NYE celebrations. Here are a few tips and tricks to help you whip up a batch of your best truffles.

Making The Ganache:

• Truffles are all about the chocolate, so quality is key - whatever your preferred brand or type (dark, milk, white).
• You can add the warmed liquid to chocolate in its solid state, or you can also melt the chocolate. I learned both in school, but often use the latter. It's a little extra work, but I have found it produces better results and lessens any occurrence of breaking/splitting.
• Stir (do not whisk) the ganache from the centre using a whisk or wooden spoon. Stirring from the centre evenly disperses the fats in the chocolate and cream to create a beautiful, smooth emulsion.
• If the ganache breaks, don’t throw out all that amazing chocolate, simply scoop about ⅓ of the ganache into a clean bowl and add a bit of hot cream while whisking vigorously. When the mixture is smooth again, gradually reintroduce the rest of the broken ganache while whisking.

Coating Your Truffles:

• For a professional finish, temper the chocolate. If the very word makes you break out in a sweat, you can coat your truffles in magic shell, or dip them in melted chocolate and pretty them up with powdered fruit, nuts, sprinkles etc. But, tempering is best!
• If using block or bar chocolate, chop into small pieces for easier/quicker melting. Feves and pistoles can be melted as is. You can do this in the microwave, but I prefer the stovetop, double boiler method. Less chance of overheating and burning.
• Weigh your chocolate. If you do not own a digital kitchen scale, I encourage you to invest in one for better accuracy.
• Use stainless steel bowls - they are great heat conductors.
• If your chocolate begins to get too thick during coating, try one of these tricks -
  • place the bowl on a heating pad set to low, or
  • place it over how water for a few seconds, or
  • use a heat gun or blowdryer to warm gently warm the bowl.
• Tap off excess chocolate after dipping, or use gloved hands dipped in tempered chocolate to coat the truffles. Feet are great on macarons, but less attractive on truffles.

Do you have any additional tips and tricks you use? Would love to hear them!

Happy Hour Eggnog Truffles

Happy Hour Eggnog Truffles are decadent, silky balls of white chocolate eggnog ganache, spices and bourbon. Perfect for gifting or NYE celebrations!

Print Recipe

Prep Time: 45 minutes minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes minutes

Course: Dessert

Servings: 0

Author: I Sugar Coat It

Ingredients

• Ganache:
• 295 grams eggnog 1 ¼ cup, homemade or store-bought
• 2.5 grams freshly grated nutmeg 1 tsp
• 454 grams white chocolate 33%
• 30 grams mix of bourbon and brandy 2 tablespoons, adjust to taste or omit for a non-alcoholic version
• Coating:
• 300 grams white chocolate tempered

Instructions

• Heat the eggnog on a saucepan just until it starts to bubble around the edges
• Remove from heat, stir the freshly grated nutmeg into the eggnog. Cover and allow to infuse.
• While infusing, add chocolate to a metal bowl and place over a pot of simmering water. Melt the chocolate slowly. (this can also be done using a microwave).
• Remove the bowl of melted chocolate from the heat and wipe any moisture from the bottom. Stir to melt any remaining pieces of chocolate and stir to cool.
• Pour one-third of the cooled eggnog mixture onto the melted white chocolate and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon, or a whisk (do not whisk, stir). Repeat with the remaining two-thirds.
• Add the bourbon and stir until you have a homogeneous mixture.
• If piping, allow to cool at room temperature, stranger to a large piping bag and fill truffle shells. Allow to set and cap shells with remaining tempered chocolate.
• If rolling, allow the ganache to cool at room temperature, cover the surface with plastic wrap and refrigerate for four hours, or overnight. Use a measuring spoon or melon baller to scoop small ball shapes. Place the scooped ganache on a sheet pan lined with parchment or silicone mat. Return to the fridge for an hour.
• To finish both versions, coat the ganache with a thin layer of tempered chocolate. Embellish with sprinkles and allow to set at room temperature.

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