Beer Truffles!
With colder weather comes cooking, crock pots and feasting, and one of the flavors we love to have in our food is beer! (Shocking, I know….) While beer can chicken is a staple of summer; stews, soups, breads and rich desserts decorate our autumn and winter tables. This weekend at the taproom, we are excited to have both food trucks cooking with Burning Brothers beer. On Friday(10/28), Soup Coupe will be serving a beer cheese soup and on Saturday(10/29), Crazy Puppy will be serving their beer battered onion rings and green beans – all gluten-free of course! While that sounds like savory deliciousness, one might wonder what you could make with beer on the other end of the spectrum…
Ask the Brewer
What are some good sweet treats made with beer?
While their are lots of recipes out there for cakes, tortes and cupcakes with dark beer in them (and those are delicious), one of our favorite recipes is for chocolate truffles. We have used this recipe multiple times ourselves with good results, and it is very allergen friendly.
Chocolate Truffles
– 1/2 lb. quality chocolate, chopped into 2″ pieces
– 1/3 cup creamer, soy, almond, coconut or dairy
– 2 tablespoons beer
– Cocoa powder or other coating
In a medium sized stainless bowl, melt the chocolate over gently simmering water. The water should not touch the bottom of the bowl. Turn off the heat and let stand over the warm water until ready to use.
Scald the creamer in a small saucepan, adding the beer right at the end. Pour it into the melted chocolate and whisk together until smooth and blended. Pour the chocolate mixture into a shallow dish or pan, to form a 1″ layer – we often use a 8″x8″ cake pan for this. Chill 30 minutes or until set.
Using a melon baller, scoop out the truffles one by one, forming them into 1″ balls with your hands.. Work quickly so that the chocolate mixture does not start melting. Place the balls on a plate and refrigerate again.
Once firm, the balls are ready to be rolled in whatever topping you choose – while we list cocoa powder here, you can use chocolate shavings, coconut, nuts, cinnamon and sugar, whatever you feel will best compliment the truffle flavor. They should be stored in the refrigerator, but allowed to sit out for a few minutes before eating to maximize their flavor.
While the preference is to use a chocolate bar for these, we have done them with both the Enjoy Life and Chocolate Dream chocolate chips in order to be as allergen free as possible, and they have turned out well.
For those who really want a beer centered truffle, we point you to this recipe. If you try it and it works, let us know!
Taproom Tidings
Tap selection for the weekend includes Pyro American Pale Ale, Roasted Coffee Ale, Fused Orange Blossom Honey Ale, Cranberry Shandy, Raj-Agni India Pale Ale, Raspberry Infused Pyro (Thursday) and our Wee Heavy (starting on Friday).
Food trucks for the weekend (did we mention they are both serving food made with our beer!) are Soup Coupe on Friday (10/28), with hearty soups, including a gluten-free beer cheese soup; and on Saturday (10/29) Crazy Puppy, featuring gluten-free fair food, with both green beans and onion rings coated in Pyro based batter and deep fried to perfection.
Our cupcake this weekend is Ginger Cardamon Apple, which is a ginger cake with apple filling and cardamon cream cheese frosting.
As always, all food served at the taproom is gluten-free!
If you have questions, drop us a note via Email, Facebook or Twitter.
Cheers!