Alcohol/liqueur-filled molded chocolates

[Le Peche]

I know that Modern Spirits makes a pretty good truffle vodka, i'm not sure of the exact recipe for making alcohol filled chocolates but getting this vodka is probably your best bet since black truffle season is over. it runs for around 50 bucks.

[David J.]

since our customers want truffles, we will start making them using valrhona dark chocolate shells. i want to do a series of liquid alcohol filled truffles. so my idea was to use basically the same recipe used for sugar crust chocolates, only not to fill in a starch mold, but fill it directly into the shells, let it grow a crust, and close it. does that work ?? does anyone have reliable recipes ??

cheers

torsten s.

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JPW has a few recipies in his first book "Fine Chocolates Great Experience".

Yes, growing the crust in a shell works fine. I have done it and it's much easier than dealing with the starch.

If you start with the sphere shells you can even dispense with the sugar crust. You can seal it with a small disc of chocolate before dipping (which I did), or try the spray of cocoa butter to seal it off and then dip. I used this method to make less sweet truffles for somone who didn't like the crunch of the sugar crust.

[gap]

since our customers want truffles, we will start making them using valrhona dark chocolate shells. i want to do a series of liquid alcohol filled truffles. so my idea was to use basically the same recipe used for sugar crust chocolates, only not to fill in a starch mold, but fill it directly into the shells, let it grow a crust, and close it. does that work ?? does anyone have reliable recipes ??

cheers

torsten s.

←

I have done this. Make your sugar syrup with alcohol as you would for a sugar crusted liqueur and transfer the syrup to your depositor to cool (with minimum movement). When 30'ish, it can be deposited into the shells (once again, minimum movement) and it takes a few hours for the sugar crust to develop. In class, we only took the syrup up to about 80% of the shell and then once the sugar had crusted over, piped in a little chocolate to fill the last 20% before finishing the shell.

[John DePaula]

Kerry, I'd like to see that.  Jean-Pierre writes about the cornstarch method in the book but doesn't have any pictures.

My big question remains however.  What is the recipie for the liquid centers?  Jean-Pierre writes that the sugar concentration is extremely important for proper crystalization - too much and you get a lump of sugar, too little and it doesn't crust over.  The ingredient list is specific on the sugar and I can follow that, but I'm still confused about the alcohol content.  Does it matter much what it is?  Can I just grab a bottle of anything such as Irish Cream and pour it in?  If so, how much?  I have to believe that it matters given the specific weights given, and it seems that the alcohol content matters too, but perhaps not.  I'm just trying to understand the formula for the centers.  Not being a drinker and never having made these I don't know much about it.

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After going through all the sources I have available, it appears that to make the right crystalline structure you need 50 grams of sugar for each 1 degree of proof. So if your liquor is 50 proof, for 1 litre you would take 50 x 50g = 2500 g sugar, add half as much water 1250 g. If the liquor is 40 proof you add 40 x 50 = 2000 g sugar, 1000 grams water. Then boil to 116 C.

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Ok, so if I have an 18 proof alcohol then I would use the following quantities:

1000g 18 proof alcohol

50 x 18 = 900g Sugar

0.5 x 900g = 450g H2O

Do I have that right?

[Kerry Beal]

Kerry, I'd like to see that.  Jean-Pierre writes about the cornstarch method in the book but doesn't have any pictures.

My big question remains however.  What is the recipie for the liquid centers?  Jean-Pierre writes that the sugar concentration is extremely important for proper crystalization - too much and you get a lump of sugar, too little and it doesn't crust over.  The ingredient list is specific on the sugar and I can follow that, but I'm still confused about the alcohol content.  Does it matter much what it is?  Can I just grab a bottle of anything such as Irish Cream and pour it in?  If so, how much?  I have to believe that it matters given the specific weights given, and it seems that the alcohol content matters too, but perhaps not.  I'm just trying to understand the formula for the centers.  Not being a drinker and never having made these I don't know much about it.

←

After going through all the sources I have available, it appears that to make the right crystalline structure you need 50 grams of sugar for each 1 degree of proof. So if your liquor is 50 proof, for 1 litre you would take 50 x 50g = 2500 g sugar, add half as much water 1250 g. If the liquor is 40 proof you add 40 x 50 = 2000 g sugar, 1000 grams water. Then boil to 116 C.

←

Ok, so if I have an 18 proof alcohol then I would use the following quantities:

1000g 18 proof alcohol

50 x 18 = 900g Sugar

0.5 x 900g = 450g H2O

Do I have that right?

←

Yup, that would be right. So let us know how it turns out.

I was visiting this morning in Mississauga with a customer of mine who was down visiting from Thunder Bay. She made liquor chocolates, and had real difficulty with the starch molding. So she piped the liquid into shells and put a drop of melted cocoa butter on the top - it spread out like gasoline on water - and she was able to back them off with no liquid loss. Apparently she learned the trick on eG. I recall the discussion and I'm sure it was Elaine Gonzales (chocartist) that suggested this technique.

[mrose]

I was visiting this morning in Mississauga with a customer of mine who was down visiting from Thunder Bay.  She made liquor chocolates, and had real difficulty with the starch molding.  So she piped the liquid into shells and put a drop of melted cocoa butter on the top - it spread out like gasoline on water - and she was able to back them off with no liquid loss.  Apparently she learned the trick on eG.  I recall the discussion and I'm sure it was Elaine Gonzales (chocartist) that suggested this technique.

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Are you using this technique on the supersaturated solution or just shell filled with alcohol?

[John DePaula]

Yup, that would be right.  So let us know how it turns out.

I was visiting this morning in Mississauga with a customer of mine who was down visiting from Thunder Bay.  She made liquor chocolates, and had real difficulty with the starch molding.  So she piped the liquid into shells and put a drop of melted cocoa butter on the top - it spread out like gasoline on water - and she was able to back them off with no liquid loss.  Apparently she learned the trick on eG.  I recall the discussion and I'm sure it was Elaine Gonzales (chocartist) that suggested this technique.

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That is brilliant! So simple, so elegant. Thanks, Kerry.

[Kerry Beal]

I was visiting this morning in Mississauga with a customer of mine who was down visiting from Thunder Bay.  She made liquor chocolates, and had real difficulty with the starch molding.  So she piped the liquid into shells and put a drop of melted cocoa butter on the top - it spread out like gasoline on water - and she was able to back them off with no liquid loss.  Apparently she learned the trick on eG.  I recall the discussion and I'm sure it was Elaine Gonzales (chocartist) that suggested this technique.

←

Are you using this technique on the supersaturated solution or just shell filled with alcohol?

←

On the shell filled with the supersaturated solution. Suspect it would work just as well with plain alcohol. The true test is going to be weather or not you can use it on thicker solutions like fondant for cherry cordials - or do you have to get out the air gun to spray it on?

[schneich]

hi,

i tried kerry´s recipe, but it didnt work for us, it crystallized to a kind of mushy sugary stuff inside the shell :-(

we have great success with chef moratos recipe wich crastyllizes in 2h or so, and builds up a nice thin crust. at the moment we make williams, framboise, jack daniels, and rose liqueur (garnished with tiny crystallized rose petals)

cheers

t.

Edited April 19, 2008 by schneich (log)

[mrose]

hi,

i tried kerry´s  recipe, but it didnt work for us, it crystallized to a kind of mushy sugary stuff inside the shell :-(

we have great success with chef moratos recipe wich crastyllizes in 2h or so, and builds up a nice thin crust. at the moment we make williams, framboise, jack daniels, and rose liqueur (garnished with tiny crystallized rose petals)

cheers

t.

←

Could you post this recipe, everyone I've tried you have to let it sit overnight. What is the name of the book you are referring to? Thanks

Edited April 19, 2008 by mrose (log)

[John DePaula]

Kerry, I'd like to see that.  Jean-Pierre writes about the cornstarch method in the book but doesn't have any pictures.

My big question remains however.  What is the recipie for the liquid centers?  Jean-Pierre writes that the sugar concentration is extremely important for proper crystalization - too much and you get a lump of sugar, too little and it doesn't crust over.  The ingredient list is specific on the sugar and I can follow that, but I'm still confused about the alcohol content.  Does it matter much what it is?  Can I just grab a bottle of anything such as Irish Cream and pour it in?  If so, how much?  I have to believe that it matters given the specific weights given, and it seems that the alcohol content matters too, but perhaps not.  I'm just trying to understand the formula for the centers.  Not being a drinker and never having made these I don't know much about it.

←

After going through all the sources I have available, it appears that to make the right crystalline structure you need 50 grams of sugar for each 1 degree of proof. So if your liquor is 50 proof, for 1 litre you would take 50 x 50g = 2500 g sugar, add half as much water 1250 g. If the liquor is 40 proof you add 40 x 50 = 2000 g sugar, 1000 grams water. Then boil to 116 C.

←

Ok, so if I have an 18 proof alcohol then I would use the following quantities:

1000g 18 proof alcohol

50 x 18 = 900g Sugar

0.5 x 900g = 450g H2O

Do I have that right?

←

Yup, that would be right. So let us know how it turns out.

I was visiting this morning in Mississauga with a customer of mine who was down visiting from Thunder Bay. She made liquor chocolates, and had real difficulty with the starch molding. So she piped the liquid into shells and put a drop of melted cocoa butter on the top - it spread out like gasoline on water - and she was able to back them off with no liquid loss. Apparently she learned the trick on eG. I recall the discussion and I'm sure it was Elaine Gonzales (chocartist) that suggested this technique.

←

Ok so the nicest way to put it is that I totally botched this...

18% .IsNotEqual. 18º

Don't know what I was thinking but I saw 18% on the bottle and was thinking 18 Proof. Oh well....

Needless to say, it didn't crystallize at all. I was sort of able to seal them but it was a real mess. And I doubt the seal will hold.

[Kerry Beal]

Ok so the nicest way to put it is that I totally botched this...

18% .IsNotEqual. 18º

Don't know what I was thinking but I saw 18% on the bottle and was thinking 18 Proof. Oh well....

Needless to say, it didn't crystallize at all.  I was sort of able to seal them but it was a real mess.  And I doubt the seal will hold.

←

I should have noticed that. 18 proof is a really odd number.

If I recall correctly 18% would be 36 proof.

[judiu]

Ok so the nicest way to put it is that I totally botched this...

18% .IsNotEqual. 18º

Don't know what I was thinking but I saw 18% on the bottle and was thinking 18 Proof. Oh well....

Needless to say, it didn't crystallize at all.  I was sort of able to seal them but it was a real mess.  And I doubt the seal will hold.

←

I should have noticed that. 18 proof is a really odd number.

If I recall correctly 18% would be 36 proof.

←

Yeah, AFAIK, a proof is 1/2 a %.

[Lior]

Well Idid the liqueur filled chocolates. I made a suagr syrup- used Greweling's recipe but halved it. I tried the starch molded also.

Results:

Starch molded: did not work. It was all crystallized and not worth coating. Intothe garbage! I will try again!

Truffle shells: Worked nicely. I used a piping bag to fill the shells with the sugar and liqueur syrup. Waited a day and a half at least. A thin crust developed on most shells. I closed the opening with tempered chocolate and then dipped the truffle in chocolate. It worked just as it should. There was a thin shell of sugar crust and then all the liqueur pours out into your mouth. I was quite satisfied.

[John DePaula]

Kerry, I'd like to see that.  Jean-Pierre writes about the cornstarch method in the book but doesn't have any pictures.

My big question remains however.  What is the recipie for the liquid centers?  Jean-Pierre writes that the sugar concentration is extremely important for proper crystalization - too much and you get a lump of sugar, too little and it doesn't crust over.  The ingredient list is specific on the sugar and I can follow that, but I'm still confused about the alcohol content.  Does it matter much what it is?  Can I just grab a bottle of anything such as Irish Cream and pour it in?  If so, how much?  I have to believe that it matters given the specific weights given, and it seems that the alcohol content matters too, but perhaps not.  I'm just trying to understand the formula for the centers.  Not being a drinker and never having made these I don't know much about it.

←

After going through all the sources I have available, it appears that to make the right crystalline structure you need 50 grams of sugar for each 1 degree of proof. So if your liquor is 50 proof, for 1 litre you would take 50 x 50g = 2500 g sugar, add half as much water 1250 g. If the liquor is 40 proof you add 40 x 50 = 2000 g sugar, 1000 grams water. Then boil to 116 C.

←

Ok, so if I have an 18 proof alcohol then I would use the following quantities:

1000g 18 proof alcohol

50 x 18 = 900g Sugar

0.5 x 900g = 450g H2O

Do I have that right?

←

Yup, that would be right. So let us know how it turns out.

I was visiting this morning in Mississauga with a customer of mine who was down visiting from Thunder Bay. She made liquor chocolates, and had real difficulty with the starch molding. So she piped the liquid into shells and put a drop of melted cocoa butter on the top - it spread out like gasoline on water - and she was able to back them off with no liquid loss. Apparently she learned the trick on eG. I recall the discussion and I'm sure it was Elaine Gonzales (chocartist) that suggested this technique.

←

Ok so the nicest way to put it is that I totally botched this...

18% .IsNotEqual. 18º

Don't know what I was thinking but I saw 18% on the bottle and was thinking 18 Proof. Oh well....

Needless to say, it didn't crystallize at all. I was sort of able to seal them but it was a real mess. And I doubt the seal will hold.

←

Just a quick update...

Even though I flubbed this one, they were a big hit at the Sake Tasting party. I loved the fact that they were not too sweet. I used a Momokawa Nigori Genshu sake with 70% dark chocolate for the shell.

[Johan Sjöberg]

I have recently been thinking about incorporating some of my favorite liquors into chocolates. But the question is, how do I get the liquid liquor into the chocolates? Do you have a good method for this?

This site mentions a sugar crust containing the liquid, but it doesn't say anything about how to make it.

[Tri2Cook]

Yep, starch molding seems to be the way to go for that type of liquid center. That or fondant/invertase/booze or boozed fruit (I'm assuming if it works for cordial cherries then it will work for any boozed fruit, I haven't actually tried it). I'm working on a different type. Similar to the liquid truffles at Moto which are done with a frozen center that is dipped then allowed to thaw in the cooler. The problem I'm having is that I want to incorporate alcohol so that I basically end up with a cocktail in a chocolate shell and the alcohol makes getting a frozen center difficult since I don't have access to liquid nitrogen. I'm going to try doing it with a -100 f. bath. It should work if I can get it to freeze enough to be able to scoop balls of the filling into the bath. The only potential downside to these is they can't sit on a shelf, they have to stay in the cooler.

[Johan Sjöberg]

Thanks. As I said, I'm trying to incorporate alcoholic beverages as well, so freezing wouldn't work for me either. Does anyone have a recipe or description of starch molding?

[Tri2Cook]

You cook water and sugar, add your booze and deposit it in impressions made in a tray of starch. The outer surface will crystallize so you can carefully dip them but the center will remain syrupy. You can use anything you like to make the molds in the starch depending on the shape you're going for. Unless you're in a low humidity environment and know the starch is completely dry, give it a few hours in a low oven to be sure. If it contains too much moisture it will absorb your syrup.

1 kg sugar

400 g water

340 g booze

Cook sugar and water to 119 c. Add booze and deposit. Leave at room temp until the surface is dry. Brush off excess starch and dip.

Edited February 8, 2009 by Tri2Cook (log)

[Johan Sjöberg]

Is there any way to put the liquor into chocolate "shells" without mixing it with sugar or heating it? I would like to preserve as much of the original taste of the beverage as possible, so ideally, there would only be pure liquor inside the chocolate shells.

[Kerry Beal]

Is there any way to put the liquor into chocolate "shells" without mixing it with sugar or heating it? I would like to preserve as much of the original taste of the beverage as possible, so ideally, there would only be pure liquor inside the chocolate shells.

←

If you start with one of the round truffle shells, you can pipe to booze into it, place a small disc of chocolate over the hole and glue it into place with tempered chocolate. They don't have much of a shelf life - a few days, before the liquid finds a way to seep out.

[Johan Sjöberg]

If you start with one of the round truffle shells, you can pipe to booze into it, place a small disc of chocolate over the hole and glue it into place with tempered chocolate.  They don't have much of a shelf life - a few days, before the liquid finds a way to seep out.

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Would it be possible to coat the inside of the truffle shells with something to prevent the liquid from seeping through the chocolate?

Edited February 8, 2009 by Johan Sjöberg (log)

[Kerry Beal]

If you start with one of the round truffle shells, you can pipe to booze into it, place a small disc of chocolate over the hole and glue it into place with tempered chocolate.  They don't have much of a shelf life - a few days, before the liquid finds a way to seep out.

←

Would it be possible to coat the inside of the truffle shells with something to prevent the liquid from seeping through the chocolate?

←

Not that I'm aware of - I think that's the purpose that the crystallized sugar serves when it's done the traditional way.

[Desiderio]

Maybe an extra coating of cocoa butter inside the shells? I don't know if this is possible or practical, it will probably give a little bit more of shelf life. I haven't done booze chocolates in a while I might get my hands in it after Valentine's craziness!

[Johan Sjöberg]

Perhaps there are edible waterproof substances that you could use to coat the insides? I don't know of any, though.