caramel crunch baileys truffles;
The holidays are here, and for me, that means truffle-making time! I’ve always intended to make Irish cream truffles, but this year I finally got around to it. With an almost-4-month-old, I wanted some easy truffle options so I didn’t have to forgo my Christmas truffle-making tradition. And well, these caramel crunch baileys truffles are a perfect addition to my truffle box! They only require 5 ingredients, and I managed to steal away for less than half an hour to make these tasty little beauties.
They’re silky smooth and alllll chocolate with just a hint of that sweet and creamy Bailey’s Irish cream. I did want to add a little bit of a surprise to these bailey’s truffles, so I added a little caramel crunch! These caramel pearls (also known as crispearls) add a little crunchy texture and a sweet tone of caramel that complements the Irish cream. And thus, caramel crunch bailey’s truffles were born!
If you’ve never heard of crispearls before, don’t worry. I had never either until I started dabbling in truffle-making and tempering chocolate. They’re basically little toasted biscuit cookies coated in chocolate that pack a tiny little bite of crunch. They’re great for truffles, chocolate bars, or even as topping on ice cream or other treats!
If you’ve never heard of crispearls before, don’t worry! They’re basically little biscuit cookies coated in chocolate that pack a tiny little bite of crunch.
secret to success
I chose caramel for my caramel crunch baileys truffles because the combination sounded so tasty. A little bit of caramel adds just a touch of burnt sugar flavor to the sweet cream the baileys liqueur flavor imparts to these truffles.
I came across crispearls first at specialty chocolate stores like World Wide Chocolate (not sponsored), although at the time of writing this, I don’t see caramel as an option. But there are milk, dark, and white chocolate options to get that crunch in your caramel crunch baileys truffles! It just might be more apt to say, white chocolate crunch baileys truffles if you choose those crisp pearls. You can even find crispearls on amazon these days, if that happens to be a preferable vendor.
The key to using the crispearls is to wait for the opportune moment to add them to your truffle mixture.
secret to success
The key to using the crispearls is to wait for the opportune moment to add them to your truffle mixture. Because they’re already coated in chocolate, you don’t want that coating to melt. That coating is what helps keep the cookie inside crunchy. If you add them too early to your chocolate truffle mixture, the residual heat will melt the coating and your crunch will be less than crunchy. (It’ll still taste good, you’ll just lose a bit of texture.)
So make sure you wait long enough to keep the crunch in caramel crunch baileys truffles, but not too long that the truffle mixture hardens and you can’t incorporate your crispearls!
Of course, you can drop the caramel crunch entirely and make pure Irish cream baileys truffles. Simply follow all the same directions, but omit the crispearls. Skip the steps that mix them into the chocolate ganache, and wham bam you’re done!
Of course, you can drop the caramel crunch entirely and make pure Irish cream baileys truffles.
secret to success
I always love a good cocoa powder-dusted truffle myself. I think they look homemade classy and add a fun variety when paired with coated or molded truffles. Of course, you have to pick the right truffle recipe for it to work on. The ganache has to be firm enough not to droop over time, and yet be soft enough to make for a delicious, smooth ganache truffle.
My second go-to recipe for cocoa-dusted truffles is raspberry chambord truffles. I guess now that I think about it, liqueur-spiked truffles do well with the light dusting of cocoa powder! Partially because the liqueur flavors shine through with a classic ganache without bells and whistles; and partially because the touch of bitterness offsets the sweet and bright flavors of both raspberry and Bailey’s Irish Cream.
secrets to success;
Want all the best tips and tricks to make this recipe a success? Check out the blog post above to find out more!
more recipes;
- For a new chocolate twist on the chocolate and bailey’s combination, try my favorite bailey’s chocolate mousse. Use a piping bag to make beautiful swirls and you’ll have a gorgeous dessert to serve guests at any time of the year.
- For a sweet cheesecake treat, these mini white chocolate biscoff cheesecakes make a perfect personalized dessert.
- Cookies and cream pie is another quick and easy chocolatey dessert, the perfect pairing of chocolate and cream in every bite!
caramel crunch baileys truffles;
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- 8 oz dark chocolate
- ¼ cup caramel crispearls
- 3 Tbsp Bailey's irish cream
- cocoa powder (for rolling)
Instructions
- Add ⅓ cup heavy cream to a small pot. Scald over medium heat, heating until the edges just begin bubbling.
- Remove the cream from heat and add 8oz dark chocolate. Stir gently until chocolate is melted.
- Add in 3 Tbsp Bailey's Irish cream and stir until combined. Transfer to a medium bowl.
- Allow to cool at room temperature for 5 minutes and then add a heaping ¼ cup of caramel crisppearls and fold in so they're evenly distributed throughout the chocolate.
- Allow mixture to cool completely.
- Scoop out teaspoon balls and form a round shape in your hand. Coat with cocoa powder and set aside. Repeat to make remaining chocolate truffles.
