SINGLE MALT SCOTCH PEANUT CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES: World Whisky Day!

March 27 is World Whisky Day! For today's holiday, I've chosen Scotch Whisky since I've been a judge at several Scotch and Chocolate pairings. It's a hard job, but someone has to do it.

It's often difficult to decide which chocolates pair best with which Scotch, but since today is World Whisky Day, I thought I'd post a recipe for Single Malt Scotch Peanut Chocolate Truffles. It's the ultimate pairing of not two but three distinct flavors. You can decide on your own chocolate and your own Scotch. Keep the chocolate semi-sweet, so you have some sugar in there. I tend to go very dark, but not in this recipe. Recipe adapted from one by Florence Fabricant that appeared in the New York Times in 2008.

I love truffles. They're easy to prepare and look and taste great!

Single Malt Scotch Peanut Chocolate Truffles

Ingredients
1 pound--12 ounces dark chocolate (55-65% cacao-needs to be semisweet to offset the salted peanuts & Scotch)
2/3 cup heavy cream
1-1/2 tsp honey (original recipe calls for floral honey)
3 Tbsp Single Malt Scotch Whisky
6 Tbsp salted peanuts, coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
Break 8 ounces chocolate into small pieces and place in metal bowl. Heat cream to a simmer and pour over chocolate. Stir until chocolate has melted and is smooth. If necessary, place bowl briefly over low heat to finish melting.
Stir in honey, Scotch, peanuts, and vanilla. Chill until firm, 2 hours.
Use small ice cream scoop to scoop small amounts of chocolate mixture. Quickly roll into 1 inch balls. Place on platter or baking sheet lined with parchment. Put in freezer to firm up (about 30 minutes).
Break up remaining chocolate and place 16 ounces in microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on full power 2 to 3 minutes, stirring a few times, until melted. Remove from oven. Stir in remaining chocolate until melted. With two forks hold truffles and gently dip in melted chocolate to coat. Place on parchment-lined baking sheet at room temperature 15 minutes. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

BUTTER 'SCOTCH' BROWNIES: National Butterscotch Brownie Day

May 9 is yet another esoteric Food Holiday: Butterscotch Brownie Day! Butterscotch Brownies, as good as they are, do not include chocolate (well sometimes chocolate chips), so it's not really a holiday I usually celebrate. So I've changed it up a bit, while still keeping with the spirit of the day. Here's my take on Butterscotch Brownie Day: Butter "Scotch" Brownies. Add Scotch to the batter, and you're good to go.  

I've posted Bourbon Brownies, and I've posted recipes for St. Patrick's Day Irish Whiskey brownies, so it's only natural to make these brownies with Scotch for Butterscotch Brownie Day. Hey, there's butter in the recipe! 

The following recipe is adapted from DrinkoftheWeek's recipe for Whiskey Brownies. So get out your kilt and do a highland fling!

This recipe, of course, can be made without the Scotch — but why would you want to do that?

BUTTER 'SCOTCH' BROWNIES!

Ingredients
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter
2 Tbsp water
2 eggs
6 ounces dark fair-trade 65-70% chocolate, chopped
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup Scotch (yeah, they're pretty boozy!)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 and grease 9-inch pan. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt in bowl and set aside. In saucepan, combine sugar, butter, and water. Cook on low heat until boiling gently. Stir in chopped chocolate, vanilla. Then beat in eggs, one at a time. Now add flour mixture and stir well. Pour mix into pan and bake for 30 minutes. After brownies have cooled, sprinkle Scotch on top and let it soak in.

The recipe at DrinkoftheWeek has an excellent chocolate icing, but for today's holiday, I thought I'd go all the way with the "Scotch" Brownie theme, so here's a recipe for a Scotch infused icing. 

Scotch infused Icing
 
Ingredients
1-1/2 ounces unsweetened or very dark chocolate1/4 cup sweet butter
2 cups powdered sugar
3 Tbsp half-and-half
1 Tbsp good Scotch
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

In top of double boiler (or saucepan on top of saucepan with simmering water), melt chocolate with butter. Combine rest of ingredients in bowl and with electric mixer, beat in melted chocolate and butter. Beat until smooth. Mixture will be runny, but stiffens as it cools. Frost cooled brownies.

How's that for Butter "Scotch" Brownies?