maple tequila Archives - Tequila Aficionado Magazine

Tequila Test Kitchen

After judging some stupendous Suerte Tequila Truffles by Piece, Love & Chocolate for the 2014 Brands of Promise Awards, I decided to take truffles to the Tequila Test Kitchen. The people at De La Tierre Maple Cinnamon Tequila were kind enough to provide us with samples for experimenting, so I made a variation of my Tequila Truffles that turned out to be just delicious. Here’s how you can make them:

De La Tierre Tequila Maple Cinnamon Truffles

1/4 Cup Butter (Don’t skimp on this, folks. It must be real butter.)

2 Tablespoons Heavy Cream

3 Tablespoons De La Tierre Maple Cinnamon Tequila

1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

16 Ounces White Chocolate (divided)

[Tweet “Maple Tequila + White Chocolate = Truffles to die for! @mapletequila”]

Some Assembly Required

Place the butter in a small pot and cook on high to melt.

Place 8 ounces white chocolate in a bowl, preferably ceramic to hold the temperature, and microwave for about 30 seconds to start the softening process.

Once the butter has melted and is bubbling, add the heavy cream and scald.

Pour the hot contents of the pot over the chocolate in the ceramic bowl. Allow this to sit for 5-10 minutes to soften the chocolate then whisk the contents so the chocolate is completely melted and all the contents are mixed thoroughly.

Add De La Tierre Maple Cinnamon Tequila and 1/ teaspoon cinnamon to the contents of the bowl and whisk again.

Set the bowl in the refrigerator to begin the setting process. Every 15 minutes, whisk the contents together again as they may separate as they cool. After about an hour of cooling, this should have the consistency of fudge. This is the truffle filling.

Remove the filling from the refrigerator and prepare to work quickly. Scooping one tablespoon of filling at a time, roll it into a ball and place it on a freezer-safe plate. Do this with all the filling. When you’ve finished, cover with plastic wrap and freeze until solid (about an hour).

When the filling is frozen, place the other 8 ounces of white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 15 second intervals, stirring well each time, until it is melted. Be sure not to microwave it too long as it will burn.

[Tweet “Try this recipe for @mapletequila Truffles.”]

Remove the balls of filling from the freezer and, using two forks, roll each ball through the melted white chocolate to cover it completely. (This can get messy if you don’t work quickly.) Let the excess chocolate drip off and then place on a freezer-safe plastic plate or a plate covered with wax paper.

Before the chocolate shell has set, you may choose to garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon as I did.

When all the truffles have been coated, place the plate in the freezer again for about 10 minutes or just until the chocolate coating has set completely.

Remove your truffles from the freezer and store at room temperature in an airtight container. Serve/eat within a few days for best flavor.

Salud!

[Tweet “De La Tierre Tequila Maple Cinnamon Truffles @mapletequila”]

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Maple Tequila…and a cake? What?

De La Tierre Canadian Maple Tequila. You might not think that maple and tequila go together. After all, it’s a strange mix of Canada and Mexico, right? Well, as it happens, they do go together delightfully. Read my review of this unlikely pairing here. This product goes by different names depending upon which country you’re in (labeling laws) but De La Tierre is technically a liqueur. It is a 100% agave reposado base made with real maple, not that imitation stuff, so don’t expect an overwhelming blast of maple. The maple is gentle and very subtle. Because I enjoyed this liqueur, I decided to use it in the Tequila Aficionado Test Kitchen.

[Tweet “Maple Tequila in a cake? Yeah, Tequila Aficionado did that! @MapleTequila”]

Legal note: I should mention here that the brand owner was kind enough to supply the tequila, but I’ve supplied all of the other ingredients.

My first go-round with this maple tequila was in Pumpkin Pie. That was a raging success and we haven’t made pumpkin pie without it since.

[Tweet “My first recipe with @MapleTequila was Pumpkin Pie. I haven’t made it without since!”]

Today, ~~being quite nuts…er~~…having walnuts on hand, I decided it was time for a coffee cake. I’ve made desserts, main courses and several side dishes with tequila, but this was my first shot at a breakfast item. The tricky part was making it sugar free (I have reactive hypoglycemia).

Following is the recipe as I prepared it, without sugar. I’ll include the options for a sugared version in parenthesis.

[Tweet “Maple Tequila Coffee Cake Recipe at Tequila Aficionado @MapleTequila”]