Truffles: A Pinch of Coffee and A Splash of Bourbon

I had great plans for the holiday season. Great, great plans. Condiments. Can you think of a better way to spread the yuletide cheer? Who doesn’t like a good condiment? Let me rephrase that: Who doesn't love a good condiment? And homemade!

I like them so much I have created meals based on the condiments found in the refrigerator. These meals are generally not very satisfying. And yet, I continue with this approach to food preparation. Maybe I am blinded by love, but I assume others must be equally infatuated with spreads and sauces. My cousin once had with the idea of a weekly column on the topic.

Bourbon balls ready to be dredged in sprinkles.

When Katy and I decided to undertake this gift making together, I thought for sure a robust production schedule was on its way. Maybe this cherry jam Katy emailed a while back or this tangerine curd. You might have guessed my grand plans did not come to fruition, but I hold out hope I might still make these things as Just Because gifts.

By the way, I saw Katy while writing this, and she gave me a jar of homemade habanero sauce!

Pecans

Two sticks of whipped butter with sugar, chocolate, cocoa, and coffee.

Segueing to the treats I did make ::drum roll:: truffles! Chocolate (coffee) truffles and bourbon balls, both conveniently ganache-free. My impression is that ganache is simple, but time-consuming. This was my first venture into candy kitcheneering (unless you count the caramel incident I chronicled). I shut myself behind closed doors Christmas morning, and emerged about three hours later with a whole lotta sugar spheres. The near-by grocer and the Ninety-Nine (99 Cent Store) do not sell candy wrappers so I made little packets of wax paper tied with gift ribbon.

As one person noted, coffee and whiskey are a good pairing. With that in mind, I orchestrated a top-notch Sunday morning with the puzzle, a cup of coffee, and a couple bourbon balls for myself.

Recipe Notes

• I opted for a mortar and pestle instead of the food processor. I used the stoneware to turn fine-grain sugar to super fine, and to crunch up the oats, pecans, and wafers.
• Wanting a strong coffee flavor, I skipped the brewing and dumped 2 Tbs straight grounds into the chocolate truffles. I worked in the requisite moisture by melting 2 oz bittersweet chocolate shavings with 2 Tbs water in what is commonly known by the Turkish word cezve, or as a surjep in Armenian. That language lesson noted, as an Anglophone I call it a coffee pot.
• The bourbon balls were a muddy mess and hard to roll. This was pretty frustrating. I had Crass and Dead Kennedys going, but my laptop's built-in speaker didn't meet the needed level of cathartic aggression.
• The coffee-flavored truffles were much easier to roll, probably because it was a base of chilled butter instead of syrup and wafers.
• I think extra oats would be good for more grit. I like that kind of texture.
• I think some of the whiskey evaporated with time. Or, I acclimated to the taste.