Chocolate Truffles with Candied Bacon and Sea Salt
Wednesday, December 21, 2011 at 8:01PM 
Can my house smell like this all the time, please?
I'm a little bit obsessed with bacon.
My boyfriend used to make fun of me for wanting to pair it with caramel, maple syrup, chocolate...all of the things that make me giddy in the kitchen.
The other day I candied an entire pack of bacon from Big Lou's Butcher Shop (see above photo) and none of it made it into an actual recipe, unless recipe magically, in some other language, also happens to mean my stomach.
Anyway, he found a few pieces of was left in my fridge when I was at work...
He's not allowed to judge anymore!
Last Christmas I did a lot of truffle-making. I love them to death (and they're so adaptable), but am so over rolling them in my hands, or using those hand-crampy springy ice cream scoopers to make large batches. Too much work!
Squares look a lot cuter, neater, and unique. Especially if you can find pretty little paper cups to put them in!
I gave these ones to a friend. Hope she liked them!
The first time I made this recipe for testing, I got kind of mad at one of my friends because he was snatching up and eating a few pieces of the candied bacon, and I had bought a measured amount specifically cooked for usage. Words to the wise: Always make extra.
These truffles are a great and easy idea if you're in a pinch and need a handy gift for a non-vegetarian/vegan party host, or if you just want to be Peggy Bundy for a day and eat bon bons on the couch while watching Oprah.
Excuse me while I drag out the leopard-print cardigan. Yeah, I actually have one somewhere.
Luxuriously rich, satisfyingly crunchy, and with a sweet, salty, smokey bacon flavour...
Chocolate Truffles with Candied Bacon and Sea Salt
Yields one 9"x5" brick to cut any size you like
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
This recipe can be adapted to use coconut milk (33% fat or higher) for lactose-intolerant folk, sans bourbon for celiacs/non-drinkers (do 300ml cream total), or turkey bacon for people who don't eat pork but still love bacon. Thinking of you, Dad!
Truffle ganache
300g (about 2 cups) chopped semisweet chocolate, chopped finely
90ml (6 tbsp, or 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp) Bulleit bourbon
210ml ( or 3/4 cup + 1 tbsp + 1 tsp) whipping cream
60ml (1/4 cup, or 4 tbsp) white sugar
pinch of salt
Topping
10 pieces thick-cut bacon
3 tbsp brown sugar for candying
Sea salt: Flaked, smoked, crystals, fleur de sel, anything you like
Coarse sugar: Raw brown, turbinado, demerara, sanding sugar, anything with a little more flavour, heft, and sparkle than regular granulated white sugar, which might dissolve
1. Preheat your oven at 375°F and place bacon on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roast the bacon until it's almost fully cooked (check it after 10 minutes), drain off the fat (don't throw it out!!), sprinkle liberally with brown sugar, and finish roasting until crisp and dry, and the sugar has caramelized. Cool the pan on a slight tilt to drain off any more excess fat.
2. Heat up the cream, sugar, and salt in a pot. Bring it up to a simmer (you just want it hot and the sugar dissolved, not boiling), take it off the stove, add the bourbon, pour everything over the chocolate, wait 2 minutes, and gently stir it until it's uniformly smooth and chocolatey. Taste it. Maybe you're a total boozehound and would prefer another splash (or three) of Bulleit. Just be aware that adding more liquid makes the truffles softer.
3. While the cream is heating, line a baking pan or food container with parchment paper. Make it neat!
4. Pour the chocolate into the pan and immediately set it on a level surface in the fridge.
5. Chop up 5 slices of the bacon. Judgement will let you know if you need any more for topping.
6. Check the surface of the chocolate in 45 minutes. You want it to be slightly firm on top, not hard or else the toppings won't stick to it, but not wet, or else the bacon will get soggy and the sugar and salt will dissolve. Sprinkle on a large pinch of each the salt and the sugar, and press on as much bacon as that thing will hold!
7. Continue chilling until firm, about 3 hours. Eat the rest of the bacon.
8. Use the parchment to lift out the brick of chocolate. Dip a knife in ridiculously hot water (wipe it off every time!!) to heat it up and cut the chocolate cleanly and easily.
9. Get your hair all pouffed up and enjoy truffles alone, or wrap them up nicely for the baconholic in your life.
Hello, holidays!
Kari
Reader Comments (2)
back when i ate bacon, i always put maple syrup on it! SOO GOOD
Yeah! It's ridiculous...fat, salt, sugar...the holy trinity...plus smoke and crunch. I don't stand a chance. Oh GOD!