Holiday Eggnog Truffles

The base of this truffle is prepared with melted white chocolate, eggnog, and cream cheese. With the addition of confectioner’s sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and rum, Holiday Eggnog Truffles are the most Christmassy thing you’ll taste this season!

I cannot let a Christmas season go by without preparing at least one eggnog-flavoured treat. This year, it’s these Holiday Eggnog Truffles, but in previous years, it has been this Eggnog Bundt Cake, my Holiday Eggnog Biscotti, and my Christmas Eggnog Cookies. Every one of those desserts is loaded with eggnog flavour, which to me, is nutmeg and cinnamon. To be honest, I could do without the rest and not miss it!

Not everyone is a fan of drinking eggnog – me included – but, when it comes to baking with it, I’m in! And, I happen to think that these truffles are delicious! I’ve tried eggnog many times, and I love the flavour of it. I just find that the texture is a little too thick for my liking. But, put that stuff in a cookie or a cake, and I’m all over it!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• White Chocolate – Use good white chocolate. You don’t have to break the bank but spend the extra few cents to get one that is a brand you trust.
• Eggnog – If you do not have eggnog, you can use fatty milk, half and half, or a lighter cream. You can also use buttermilk in place of eggnog.
• Cream Cheese – Use brick-style cream cheese. It’s firmer, even when softened, which will give you a firmer truffle.
• Rum – You can use any brand, or even a rum extract if you do not have real rum on hand.
• Confectioner’s Sugar – This will not only sweeten the truffle but help the chocolate to firm up.
• Cinnamon – I can’t think of anything eggnog-flavoured without cinnamon.
• Nutmeg – I swear, this is one of the underused spices. Eggnog without nutmeg isn’t eggnog at all. Have you tried adding nutmeg to mashed potatoes? Bomb!
• Coconut Oil – This is optional, but I use it to thin the dipping chocolate, otherwise there white chocolate coating on the truffles is too thick.

EGGNOG – LOVE IT OR HATE IT?

There seem to be only two classes of people when it comes to eggnog. We either love it or we hate it. There’s rarely a person who’s in between. Personally, I can’t drink it, but I love the flavour. It’s a little too thick for my liking. That’s why I prefer to bake with it.

For this recipe, you’ll need a drop of eggnog. Most of the prepared eggnog that I see in stores is sold in one-litre bottles. That’s a lot of eggnog if you’re purchasing it only to bake with. You can substitute the eggnog if you wish. Since eggnog is thick and creamy, you’ll want something that has a similar consistency. If you want to use milk, use whole, fatty milk. I would not recommend using anything less than 3%. Alternatively, you can use half and half.

The best substitute that I have found for eggnog in baking is buttermilk. Not only is the consistency present, but I like the tangy flavour of the buttermilk in baked goods too. If you’re adding a little bit of whiskey, fatty milk, or buttermilk will do the trick nicely.

LET’S CALL IT CHRISTMAS CHEER!

Oftentimes, any drink that is alcohol based and served at Christmastime is referred to as Christmas cheer. Alcohol is quite common in baked goods, especially at this time of year. I never really cooked or baked much with alcohol until this year. We never really liked the taste of it. As it turns out, I just needed to experiment with it just a little more!

Earlier this year, I started to experiment with cocktails and mixology. I published a new cocktail every Wednesday for a few months. After spending a small fortune on building up a home bar, I find I have lots of leftover, opened bottles, so using some of it up in a truffle was a no-brainer. Holiday Eggnog Truffles has to be included in Lord Byron’s 12 Truffles of Christmas series.

Truth be told, there’s only a little over a tablespoon of rum in the entire lot, so these truffles are certainly safe for your little ones to eat as well. There’s just enough to not only flavour the truffles, but to give them that warming effect on the tongue that one usually experiences when consuming alcohol.

Real eggnog is loaded with rum. If you don’t want to use rum, you can leave it out and substitute it with either a rum extract or even vanilla extract. (Most extracts have alcohol, so keep that in mind!) Since eggnog already has a strong vanilla flavour, it will be perfect. Alternatively, if you want to use alcohol, but don’t have whiskey, you can use brandy or rum.

HOW TO MAKE HOLIDAY EGGNOG TRUFFLES:

Holiday Eggnog Truffles are super easy to make and take just a few steps to get it right. Once you get the truffle mixture combined, it’s all a breeze from there! In a large bowl, beat the softened cream cheese with a hand-held mixer until it is smooth and creamy. Add the confectioner’s sugar to the cream cheese and beat together until combined. Remember to beat on low speed until the sugar is absorbed by the cream cheese to avoid getting confectioner’s sugar all over your kitchen! Next, beat in the rum, cinnamon and nutmeg until just combined. Set aside.

Now, place one cup of white chocolate chips into a microwave-safe bowl. Add the eggnog. Microwave in 30-second increments at half speed, stirring well between each increment. Do this until the white chocolate is melted and smooth. Transfer the white chocolate mixture to the cream cheese mixture. Beat until just combined. Cover and refrigerate for one hour.

Once completely chilled, remove the truffle mixture from the fridge and measure out one tablespoon of the mixture and roll it into a ball. Place the ball on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat until you have used up all of the mixture. Place the tray in the fridge for 30 minutes. This will firm up the balls making them easier to dip into the white chocolate.

THE BEST WAY TO COAT TRUFFLES IN CHOCOLATE!

I used to think that perfectly dipped chocolate truffles were witchcraft! Of course, I’m kidding, but honestly, I could never master it. Either the chocolate was too thick, or not smooth enough. And, I was always left with a pool of chocolate at the bottom of the truffle that would harden. There’s nothing wrong with extra chocolate, but I so badly wanted to make my Holiday Eggnog Truffles look better.

I tried that fancy little tool for dipping things into chocolate. It’s like a two-tined fork with really long tines. Apparently, the truffle is supposed to balance on there, while the thin tines allow the excess chocolate to drip off. Lies! There is no fancy tool needed to get perfect chocolate-dipped truffles. All you need is melted chocolate with good consistency and two toothpicks. Here’s how I do it.

If you use melting chocolate right out of the bag, like candy melts or chocolate chips, for example, you will end up with very thick chocolate. The thicker the chocolate, the longer it will take to harden, which means more time for it to run. Thin your chocolate by adding a teaspoon of coconut oil or butter to the bowl before you start to melt it. This will thin it without any risk of your chocolate seizing or compromising the flavour.

DIP, LIFT, TAP AND TOOTHPICKS???

Working with chilled truffles, which I keep refrigerated until the chocolate is ready, I insert a toothpick about 1/3rd of an inch into the truffle. Dunk the truffle into the bowl of chocolate and gently move the toothpick in a circular motion so that the entire truffle is enrobed. Carefully lift the truffle out of the chocolate and slightly tap the toothpick on the rim of the bowl. The excess chocolate will fall back into the bowl.

I cannot stress enough the importance of using a chilled truffle center. The coldness will help to harden the chocolate right away. The rest is just semantics! With a second toothpick, run it very gently under the truffle to wipe away the excess chocolate. Do not press against the truffle; just wipe against the dripping chocolate.

Next, transfer the truffle to the prepared baking tray. You should still be holding the toothpick sticking out of the truffle and the truffle should be sitting on the parchment paper. Using the second toothpick, push it gently into the hole where the first toothpick is standing. Gently twist the first toothpick between your thumb and finger to loosen. Pull the toothpick up and out. Finally, remove the second toothpick, and use it to carefully smooth the still melted chocolate over the hole.

WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS, GARNISH!

I had to practice quite a bit to get truffles looking their best. Even now, there are sometimes when I’ll run into a problem and they don’t turn out as nicely as I’d like them to! I learned a long time ago from watching re-runs of Julia Child’s cooking series that garnish can cover up little mishaps. There’s a running joke in my family that parsley is my best friend because I love to garnish everything!

Even if you dipped the perfect truffle, it’s still nice to add something to the outside of it. As you can see in the photographs, I garnished the truffles with a sprinkle of freshly grated nutmeg. Not only does it look better, it covers any holes left behind by the toothpick!

STORING, PACKAGING, AND FREEZING

When it comes to truffles of any kind, they taste best at room temperature, but they don’t hold up well to being left out on your countertop. Store them in a food-safe container in your fridge. When you want one, two, or half a dozen, take them out of the container and place them in a single layer on a plate. Let them sit at room temperature for 5 minutes and they’re ready!

If you plan to freeze these truffles, again, pile them into a food-safe, freezer-friendly container. You’ll want to ensure a very tight-fitting lid too. (I use these quite often when freezing baked goods.) I like to place a sheet of plastic wrap over the top of the container before pushing the lid on. This helps to create a better seal. The goal is to keep all of that freshness locked in! You can freeze these for up to three months. Enjoy!