Speakeasy Chocolate Stout Truffles

It's San Francisco Beer Week, and I hope to get to several of the incredible events that are going to take place. I posted about two Chocolate and Beer events earlier, but what if you're not in San Francisco? How can you celebrate? Well, you can make some Chocolate Stout Truffles, of course. I decided to make these with Speakeasy's Black Hand, a Chocolate Milk Stout, and Guittard Chocolate, two local companies. Excellent flavor with lots of chocolate notes. But, of course, you can use your favorite dark beer or stout, and your favorite chocolate (62% cacao or higher).

SPEAKEASY CHOCOLATE STOUT TRUFFLES 

Ingredients
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (Guittard)
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 1/2 Tbsp Stout beer (Speakeasy's Black Hand)
1/2 tsp Madagascar vanilla
Dash of salt
2 tsp unsalted butter, cubed and softened
Unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting

Directions
In saucepan over low heat, bring cream just to a boil and pour half over chocolate. Set aside 2 minutes. Using wooden spoon, gradually stir cream into chocolate (it should begin to look shiny and smooth). When completely smooth, bring remaining cream back up to a simmer, pour over chocolate, set aside another 2 minutes, then stir in as before. When chocolate and milk are completely combined, stir in stout, vanilla, and salt. Stir in butter last.
Pour ganache into 8-by-8-inch baking dish and set aside at room temperature 30 minutes.
Refrigerate ganache 30 minutes more, or until cold but still maleable.
Using melon baller or teaspoon, make rough ball-shapes of ganache and transfer to baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate 15 minutes.
Dust hands with cocoa powder, and coat rough-hewn shapes in remaining cocoa powder, or roll into more perfect balls and coat. Transfer truffles a few at time to small sieve and shake to remove excess cocoa. Transfer to airtight container and refrigerate.
Remove truffles from refrigerator 15 minutes before serving, re-rolling in a bit more cocoa powder.
Truffles keep, refrigerated, up to 2 weeks.

San Francisco Beer Week: Chocolate & Beer Events

San Francisco Beer Week is upon us. January 22-January 31. San Francisco is home to over 100 breweries who produce some of the best beer in the U.S. I recently attended a launch for Beer Week, and I tasted a lot of Chocolate Beers and Chocolate Ales, as well as beers that have definitely chocolate notes. I liked them all. Since I often pair chocolate with beer for tastings, I thought I'd mention a few events coming up, as well as some special Chocolate Ales. They're going to be lots of other Beer Events, too, all over the Bay Area in Bars, Breweries, restaurants, movie theatres, and even the Pinball Museum. San Francisco knows how to throw a party!

The San Francisco Brewers Guild organizes SF Beer Week, and people come from all over the world. This great festival is usually held in February (so mark your calendar for next year), but because San Francisco is hosting the Super Bowl, SF Beer Week was moved up. Brewers traditionally release their new beers during Beer Week, and I certainly tasted a lot of them at the press launch. Fabulous. Here's a short-list of fun ones.

CHOCOLATE AND BEER EVENTS:

January 23:  Chocolate Making and Beer Pairing for Charity! TCHO Chocolate Company, Pete Slosberg (Pete's Wicked Ale and Cocoa Pete's, and Thirsty Bear Brewing Co. team up for a chocolate making and beer pairing evening. Learn to make your own unique chocolates. Specialty cask conditioned Panda Bear Ale (brewed with TCHO organic coca nibs and more), and other organic ThirstyBear and SF Brewers Guild collaboration brews and taste chocolates while making your own. Proceeds benefit the Institute of Myeloma & Bone Cancer Research. ThirstyBear, 661 Howard, San Francisco. 6-9 p.m. SOLD OUT.

January 26: Chocolate & Beer Pairing. Dandelion Chocolate and Speakeasy. This is a 5-part beer and chocolate pairing featuring Dandelion Chocolate's single origin bars, paired with unique brews from Speakeasy Ales & Lagers.  Note: Speakeasy uses Dandelion chocolate nibs in their Black Hand. No tickets necessary for the event, just visit the Tap Room to purchase a flight of beer & chocolate. Flights available starting at 1 p.m. until they run out. Speakeasy Tap Room, 1195 Evans Avenue, San Francisco.

January 28. Chocolate & Beer Pairing Dandelion Chocolate and Anchor Brewing.  San Francisco's oldest brfewery and Dandelion's single origin chocolate. Pairing features new and limited-release brews from Anchor Brewing and a special selection of chocolates to compare and contrast with the beer. Chocolate making demo, too. Free. 6-9 p.m. The Chapel, 777 Valencia Street.

One of my favorite Chocolate Beers is Speakeasy's Black Hand. It's made with TCHO Ghanaian Roasted Cacao Nibs. It's a chocolate milk stout that's full-bodied and creamy, with chocolate notes. I also love the brewery graphics.. but then I'm a mystery person.

Chocolate & Beer during SF Beer Week

It's no surprise that Chocolate and Beer go well together. You can drink a good stout with a nice piece of dark chocolate at home, or you can attend one of the two Chocolate & Beer specific events coming up in the San Francisco Bay Area as Part of San Francisco Beer Week. February 5-14, 2010. Lots of great tastings, dinners, and more!

February 6: Chocolate & Beer Festival at the Craneway Pavilion, Richmond

A fun afternoon of exquisite chocolates and local brews at the Craneway Pavilion at the Richmond Marina, part of SF Beer Week. Chocolate and Beer Festival tickets get you multiple product samplings, live entertainment, and raffle prizes.

Tickets are $18 in advance (with free event parking or free BART shuttle from Richmond. $25 day of festival at the door, with additional $5 parking -- make sure to plan ahead and get your tickets early!
The Chocolate and Beer festival benefits local charity. For info, go HERE.

February 12: Beer and Chocolate Dinner by The Beer Chef, Pavilion by the Bay, Treasure Island. Chef Bruce Paton C.E.C brings you the best in pairing chocolate-inspired dishes and beer at Treasure Island's Pavilion by The Bay. More details to come.

During San Francisco Beer Week, Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream will collaborate with local breweries to create a beer ice cream explosion. Any chocolate?

Want to do a 'formal' chocolate and beer tasting for your company? Contact Frank from TeamBuilding Unlimited.