A recent Scottish trip to Dumfries and Pitlochry bought together whisky and chocolate, through visits to the Annandale Distillery and Explore Chocolate respectively.
Explore owner Matt Green is doing some very interesting bean-to-bar work with single cocoa origins like Sao Paolo and Vietnam. He has experimented with a wide range of single malts in chocolate ganache. On his recommendation I came away with a miniature of the locally produced Caledonia Edradour 12 Years. I have used this to make some water ganache truffles, using the 15% whisky level that Matt uses in his. This is how I did it:
1.Melt 200g Dark Chocolate – I used a 75% single-origin cocoa Ecuador, noted for its lively floral flavours and low acidity
2. Add 35g whisky
3. Stir vigorously until a silky-smooth texture is achieved and the whisky and molten chocolate are completely combined
4.Using a teaspoon, form the mixture into a 10g (aprox) ball and roll between your hands until roughly spherical
5. Transfer to fridge to set
6. Roll in cocoa powder to finish
Here is what I think is happening:
A normal chocolate ganache (truffle) is approximately equal quantities double cream and dark chocolate. Because of double cream being over 50% water this produces an oil in water emulsion with an overall moisture content of around 25%. This is why fresh cream truffles are short shelf-life.
My theory is that we have added a much smaller amount of water here, with the finished recipe only being about 8% moisture. The water comes only from the whisky – chocolate is effectively free from moisture with even a tiny amount of water screwing up the manufacturing process. Of this 8% some will dissolve the sugar present in the chocolate and some will be absorbed by the cocoa solids. So I think we have ended up with a water in oil emulsion, or possibly a sugar syrup in oil emulsion.
Whether this makes for a stable product or not I do not know. Adding a little seasalt might help extend the shelf life but I did not want to change the flavour profile at this stage.
Anyway, the resultant truffles are delicious with a good balance of cocoa and whisky notes. Give it a go!