These Baileys Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Truffles are melt-in-your-mouth magical with a thin dark chocolate shell filled with a creamy Baileys Salted Caramel Irish Cream truffle filling.
I've been keeping a dark, little secret, ya'll. But before I spill my beans... OMGEEE!! Did you know that Baileys is available in Salted Caramel? I wasted no time grabbing a bottle (or two) when I saw them at the LCBO. I think it worked splendidly in these Baileys Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Truffles!
Strange thing though...I've made a truckload of truffles over the years and just realized that this is the first time I'm sharing them on my blog. WHAT? I was certain I had already shared a few here, but after searching my blog, came up with a truffle-adjacent post. I clearly have a case of social media mess-up. I tend to share stuff on my Instagram account long before I post them here and in doing so, convince myself that they are also on my blog. This coffee hazelnut was one of my faves and these fifteen seconds were simply orgasmic, yet they never made it to the bog!
OK, I think I am ready to spill the beans. Hold on to your chef's hat my friends, I'm officially a bonafide Chocolatier!! Well, a trained Chocolatier that is - I'll be sticking with my full-time career for a while longer. I've dropped a few hints about my training in past chocolate-related posts, but I could not bring myself to tell you what I was up to. Then I became ill and had to take an extended break and wasn't sure when, or if, I would be picking it up again. The thing is, laying in bed gets old pretty fast, so instead of a year break, I was back at it in half the time.
The Dude and one of my best friends have been encouraging me to celebrate my successes - big and small - something I have a real tough time doing. So there, now you know and now I am in full Woody Allen mode, freaking out about whether I should have told you (enter silent scream here).
When I enrolled in my first culinary courses a few years back, I was simply looking for a way to stay occupied during the long, cold winter months. Chocolate wasn't even on my radar, unless I was savouring it, ok, stuffing my face with it. Although I have always been fascinated by it, I didn't even know studying chocolate, much less being certified in the art and science of chocolate making was in my reach.
Then, while registering for a second round of pastry program courses, I saw a few chocolate courses listed as electives. I soon discovered that it had a program all its own and yada yada yada... I'm now what the culinary college calls a Professional Certified Chocolatier! EEEEEEK!!! I haven't given up on pastry, however. I'll be picking that up that torch again soon.
I'll tell you more about the experience and share some creations and techniques with you in future posts, including my chocolate show-piece from my final. Till then, I'm pretty sure I hear these Baileys Salted Dark Chocolate Truffles whispering your name...
And they are saying bite me! These little shots of Baileys Salted Caramel in truffle form, are melt-in-your-mouth magical. The ganache on its own is sublime, but even more so when paired with the dark, paper thin, sexy snap of the chocolate shell.
I piped the ganache into truffle shells made from tempered chocolate, but you can just as easily make small recipe adjustment and pipe them with a fancy tip or scoop them into balls and dip these babes for a similar result.
Ready to make your own batch? Let's do it!!
Baileys Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Truffles
Ingredients
Ganache
- 250 grams milk chocolate 1 cup, I love and use Valrhona
- 62 grams butter ¼ cup, unsalted
- 20 grams liquid fondant 2 tablespoons, optional
- 35 grams Baileys Salted Caramel Irish Cream 2 ⅓ tablespoons
Truffle shells:
- 300 grams dark chocolate 1 ⅔ cups, tempered
- Edible paint or dust to decorate
- sea salt flakes to garnish
Instructions
To make the ganache:
- Melt the milk chocolate over a double boiler, until smooth and free of lumps.
- In a separate bowl, combine the fondant and butter.
- Pour the melted milk chocolate over the butter mixture and stir with a whisk until smooth.
- Stir in the Baileys and allow to set to a consistency fit for piping or scooping into small balls.
To make truffle shells:
- Pre-crystallize chocolate by placing in a large stainless steel bowl, fit securely over a pot of simmering water. Water should not touch the bottom of the bowl.
- I used the seed method - melt 80% of chocolate to 45ºC, remove from heat and add the remaining 20%, as needed, stirring continually until working temperature of 31-32ºC is achieved.
- If making shells, cast in appropriate molds, pour out excess and allow shells to form. Pipe truffle filling into shells and cap.
- If dipping, shape the truffle filling into balls and use a dipping fork to coat with a thin layer of chocolate. Allow to set.
- Decorate as desired.
Instead of using a knife to slice the the beets, I ran them through my spiralizer, which produced paper-thin beet ribbons. So pretty, but so very messy. On the bright side, this meant shorter drying time. When I sliced them, they would take ten to twelve hours to produce crispy chips. This spiralized method had me snacking within six to eight hours.
This time around, I decided to go the raw route - or what I refer to as the lazy route. I skipped the blanching, plunging in cold water, draining, patting with paper towels, seasoning and dehydrating and just washed, peeled, sliced, seasoned, dehydrated and snacked and snacked and snacked!
Question. If you were chocolate, which would you be - dark, milk, white, or a mashup of two or more? I know, and have known since the beginning of time, that I am fully committed to the dark camp. I'll admit to occasional, brief dalliances with milk and white, but most often in the company and with the approval of dark. Yes, we're open like that. 😉
Speaking of delicious, dark things...
It had been a while since I made mud cake (see 
Easter is almost upon us and although we don't celebrate it, I'll admit I do get a little caught up in the bunnies and chocolate side of the holiday. I mean come on...BUNNIES & CHOCOLATE...resistance is futile!
I made these 
This fun little 
Need a last minute treat that does not look last minute? Then 
The things we tell ourselves!
My very first experience with French pastry was around the age of thirteen. One of my aunts was dating a dude from France, who happened to be a chef. He was serious eye candy, but I totally fell for him and French pastry that morning years ago, when the house awakened to freshly baked croissants. One dozen, warm, flaky, buttery croissants. I would have shacked up with him right there and then had there not been the issue with age and the fact that he only had eyes for my aunt... SIGH...
Anyone who knows me well, knows that I normally steer clear of anything that has peppermint in its name. The taste is almost always too medicinal for my palate. That I am sharing these Dark Chocolate Peppermint Patties will come as a surprise, no.... utter shock, to those very folks.
Fondant on its own can be pretty disgusting, so I try to use a quality brand, or better yet, whip up your very own batch of 
To finish them off, I added a leaf pattern to half the batch using transfer sheets, which are plastic sheets printed with coloured cocoa butter. They work best when your chocolate is properly tempered. The other half were topped with gold painted lines and pieces of homemade crystallized mint leaves. I used very few of those in the photos, as I wasn't too pleased with my painting.
Of all the desserts presented on menus I've perused, cheesecake rarely ever grabbed my attention. It's a texture thing. That was until my mouth met this Fluffy 3-Ingredient Chocolate Cheesecake! 
The only cheesecake I've ever thoroughly enjoyed is my sister's - she is a baker extraordinaire! Second to that, those single serve Japanese cheesecake you find at Asian bakeries. Which is essentially what this is, but dripping with 
OK, I'm about to throw back one, who am I kidding, more like ten servings of this Cointreau Blood Orange Mimosa - three to ring in the weekend and seven to put the last few weeks behind me. Waaaay behind. Granted, these are fairly small glasses, so it may very well take more than ten to create the kind of distance a girl needs to move on.
I am super excited to bring you my next book in the line of blogger collaborative e-books - The Great Big Book of Green Smoothies! I know those of you who purchased January's 
I am not a fad dieter, nor am I on a scale everyday wondering whether that fraction of a pound is from the pasta or chocolate cake I ate an hour ago. Regardless of what the scale says, balance and moderation are key, in my opinion. I believe in eating the foods that bring you joy and satisfaction, guilt-free. That said, I am no expert on what is healthy or right for others and I don't pretend to be. I just love creating and sharing loads of deliciousness with you guys. That they are sometimes packed with naturally sweet and nutritious ingredients, well , let's just call that having our cake and eating it too! 😉
My phone recently informed me that my storage was at capacity, so I asked Siri to 'clean up my phone' and I was promptly directed to the phone app to make a call. Useless. Just for fun, I asked her to give me the 411 on Idris Elba and my screen was immediately populated with data. Yup, Siri's got her priorities straight. 😉
You may remember my love affair with 
As I was preparing to write this post, I looked back through my Baking Arts manual and was reminded of all the ways in which it helped to improve my baking and understanding of how ingredients work. The chef who taught the course is one of my favourite to date. She brought such a passion and excitement to her classes and freely shared many tips and techniques, not included in the course manual, that I still use today.
Lionel Richie totally got it when he sang '...easy like Sunday morning'. Saturdays are great for sobering up and chore-ing, depending on how quickly the former is resolved. When Sunday rolls around, however, it's over-sized t-shirt, Uggs, extra hugs and cuddles, a mug of steaming hot chai or matcha, a stack of books and my playlist.
So why is she trying to sell me granola, you might ask. Three simple reasons:
Happy Valentine's Day, ya'll!! I like to think this Easy Passion Fruit Mousse Brandy Snap Bowls dessert is all the things love should be, at its finest - uncomplicated, beautiful and sweet. Period. Oh, and if love were ever to be bottled, it would smell much like the buttery, sweet aroma these impart while baking.
Want to know how to make your love bark? No, no, no we're not talking doggy communication. Although, I may just have a trick or two up my sleeve to make that happen. We can talk about it if you like. Just sayin'... Today, however, the only barking tips I'm sharing are in this Pistachio Rose Dark Chocolate Bark.
I adore chocolate bark. Don't you? It is ridiculously simple to make and super versatile. Depending on your preference, you can start with white, milk, dark chocolate, or a combination. You can add flavour with oils, essences, liqueur, and fruit powders. Fruit powders are also great for adding a hint of colour to white chocolate. Let's not forget the toppings, that's where you can get creative and a little, or a LOT, cray-cray. From 
Most importantly, if the bark don't snap, it's basically crap. There is nothing sexy about a soft, streaky, greying bark. Follow these tips for perfectly shiny, snappable chocolate every time:
Happy first day of February, a.k.a. the love month! And let's face it, where there is love, there is chocolate and if you are super lucky loads of peanut butter too.
Prison yard antics aside, these 2-Ingredient Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars are BAD ASS! I'm a dark chocolate snob and I make no apology, but these taste great with either. I'll be sharing the dark chocolate version soon. Stay tuned... 
These Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars are just two ingredients (three if you choose to add the feuilletine), so for best results it's essential that you use good quality ingredients. For the milk chocolate, I love Valrhona's Bahibe (46%) or Jivara (40%). Although it is my preference, homemade peanut butter didn't work so well, so use your favourite all-natural, chunky peanut butter, or another nut butter of your choosing and go to town. If you only have smooth peanut butter on hand, add some coarsely chopped, roasted peanuts, because this taste so much better with the added crunch. To turn up the crunch a few notches, add the feuilletine, or a cereal like corn flakes, frosted flakes (may be too sweet) or rice crispies. The bars are 1.5" square, so your palate won't be overwhelmed with peanut butter (if that's even possible).
One more reason why so-called new year diet-related resolutions don't work - Valentine's Day. There you are guzzling smoothies three times a day, miserable as hell and a week into the new year all around you are signs of the BIG V. You know... sweets, sweets and more SWEETS packaged in shiny red boxes and displayed to entice the sentimental among us! And there goes your diet. OK, diets in general don't work in my opinion - I believe in everything in moderation and staying active, but what do I know...
They aren't always the most perfectly piped kisses, but they sure know how to make tastebuds tingle in all the right places. I tend to pipe most of the marshmallows I make - not sure why - perhaps my therapist could help me work through that. Also, not sure why I haven't shared them here before... I'll get around to that, but until then you can find marshmallow kisses in vanilla, raspberry, passion fruit and chocolate on my Instagram feed. Today, however, you will find my kisses to be a little more bubbly.
Beets and Beer Red Velvet Bundt Cake! WHAT?
A cold, tall glass of beer is great on its own. Add it to baked goods and it acts as a mild leavening agent that produces tender, perfectly crumbed cake like my 
This Beets and Beer Red Velvet Bundt Cake went over way better than expected. I love the reactions I received when I revealed the ingredients. One colleague said that it was basically like eating a delicious salad with a creamy dressing. HA!
Ahhh, Sunday... how I love to hate thee. You lull me into a false sense of leisure with your sleep 'till noon easy-going smile and in a wink, disappear my weekend before catapulting me into the harsh reality that is Monday. Is it just me, or does time pick up its pace just a little on Sundays?
That crisp, wafer finish makes the perfect bread for my dessert sandwiches. The ice cream is similar to soft serve and smushes perfectly between without breaking the crisps or making then soggy too soon. Plus, I combined some brownie crisps with the caramel to create little clusters that were added to the ice cream.
Drooling, yet? What's that, huh? You really shouldn't talk with a full mouth, but yeah, you are welcome!
Happy New Year!! I hope you all enjoyed the holiday season and all its delicious turkey, trimmings and desserts. I opted for mai tais instead of mashed potatoes and pina coladas in place of pumpkin and pecan pies.
We are in the homestretch, ya'll! You can bet that, after the year I have had, I'll be the first in line to scream sayonara to 2015. After which I'll happily raise my Blackberry Coulis Cocktail filled glass to usher in a 2016 and all that awaits me.
Self-doubt aside, time has been my fiercest foe and the source of a great deal of my anxiety. I know I am not the only one holding down a full-time career and blogging on the side - which can sometimes feel like a full-time job in itself. I've let a number of things slide, things that I thought I would attend to while I've been on medical leave, but never found the energy to tackle.
This Blackberry Coulis Cocktail is my take on a Havana Bramble recipe I saw in a past copy of the LCBO's Food & Drink magazine. I went the route of the coulis to achieve that dark, crimson colour that adds a sexy masculinity to the drink. I love using coulis to top my yogurt, or do a little fancy plating, so I tend to make and keep a variety on hand. It's so easy and delicious and keeps in the fridge for a few days, but can be frozen for a few months. The Chambord, which is a blackberry liqueur, amps up the blackberry flavour and the spicy tones of the dark rum wraps it up all nice and warm like. You may choose to skip the rum and add champagne, which is actually quite tasty.
A robust rye complemented by refreshing, aromatic ginger and rosemary, this 
This island thirst-quencher I call 
What do you get when Mozart and Elephants mingle? A composition of orgasmic proportions I like to call 
This 
Tis' the season, friends! Any of these sweaters look familiar? I am pretty certain I have one of each in my closet. KIDDING!! Although... I could probably rock the champagne polka dots with leggings and knee-high boots. Or not!
I'll admit that I've worn some pretty daring outfits, mostly concocted by yours truly, but I don't think I've ever tried to pull off a lady-of-the-night look...except for that one halloween when I was twenty-one and dressed the part so well it almost got me arrested. I. KID. YOU. NOT! But I digress...
Soooo...the only ugly sweaters you should be gifting anyone are the kind woven together with flour, sugar, egg and loads of flavourful vanilla. Agreed?
It felt great to be among my colleagues doing something that matters - because feeling sorry for one's self gets old quickly - and in case you didn't know, I am like a kid in a candy store when given pretty paper and scissors! So, as much as these boxes filled with items most of us may take for granted will benefit a few special someones, I really feel like I benefitted a great deal more. So for that, I send a great big thanks and hugs to RC, JP and the rest of my colleagues.
Cookies are synonymous with Christmas and around here the holidays are never complete without a batch, or ten, of biscotti. These Double Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti, along side a steaming mug of your favourite hot beverage, will cure your holiday headaches and horrors.
Unwrapping home-baked goodies always reminds me of childhood and all the baking my grandmother did around the holidays. I disliked being in the kitchen, but loved the wonderful aromas that would float through the house - cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, chocolate, butter, sherry (from fruits that had been soaking for months to make her famous fruit cakes) and vanilla. Oh, vanilla!
Giveaway is open to Canadian (except Quebec) and U.S. residents only. Contest closes on December 18th, 2015 11:59PM and is open to residents of legal age in the state, province or territory in which they reside at the time. Winner must answer a skill-testing question. No purchase necessary. This giveaway is sponsored by Rodelle. Prize pack will be shipped to the winner directly from the sponsor. Winner will be chosen by random using Rafflecopter. See Full Contest Rules in Rafflecopter widget below.