Chocolate Liqueur via Sous-Vide or Not

Happy Valentine's Day!  At the back of Lisa Q. Fetterman's Sous-Vide at Home book, I noticed she was making her own bitters and liqueurs and it occurred to me that my cacao nibs would make a lovely home-crafted Creme de Cacao. Some research pulled up a number of articles on the subject:  You don't need a sous-vide appliance.  I've added a recipe for that at the bottom.  Then there's Making cacao nib infused liquor, and a great lesson on video for using sous vide to infuse cocktails.

 The beauty of sous-vide here is that the infusing time is only hours rather than weeks, and that the flavors don't have a chance to get musty or vinegary, which can happen especially when using herbs or fruit.  Making your own liqueur also gives you control over such things as sugar content, type and amounts of flavoring ingredients. The recipe I ended up with was culled from several sources:

Chocolate Liqueur/ Crème de Cacao Recipe

1 2/3 cup Vodka
1 cup cacao nibs
1 coffee bean
1 vanilla bean
1 1/2 cups simple syrup (I used turbinado and coconut sugars)

Start by filling a heavy stock pot with water and clipping on the sous-vide appliance to the side of the pot. Set the temperature to 135ºF /57ºC though some sources say 140ºF/60ºC ) As the water heats, get a bottle prepared (an old wine bottle with a new cork?) I found a fancy one I'd never used. Funnel one and two-thirds cups of vodka into the bottle, toss in one coffee bean, then slowly pour in 1 cup of cacao nibs, using a funnel. Firmly cork the bottle and, when the water is ready, set the bottle down into the pot and set a timer for 2 hours and 15 minutes. When the time is up, split a vanilla bean, scrape the seeds into the bottle, drop in the vanilla bean, shake to combine, and set the timer for 20 more minutes.

Once the infusion is complete, strain the liqueur through a fine sieve to remove the cacao nibs, but reserve the vanilla bean. For more complete chocolate flavor, boil the strained cacao in simple syrup for a few more minutes. This is the classic alcohol+water extraction. Some of the flavor essences are soluble in water and some in alcohol apparently. I then combined the syrup with the infusion.

The last step is straining the liqueur through a coffee filter, (this takes awhile - was going drip by drip, so I switched it out for double cheesecloth) then poured it into a clean bottle and you can add in the reserved vanilla bean (if desired). If you do not run it through a filter, it will still taste good, but the cacao butter will congeal as soon as your liqueur is mixed with another spirit.  

As a later P.S. Note -  the much simpler and easier method, is to just put it into the freezer for long enough to let the butter harden, then lift off.  After bottling, allow it to rest for three days before using. In this time, the flavors of the syrup and the alcohol can meld together, resulting in a much softer flavor.  I read that if you were taste it immediately after combining, you would find a harsh ethanol note on the back-end.

Not at all harsh on the back-end, this Brandy Alexander was very fine.  I used a Chilean Pisco Brandy, equal parts with my Creme de Cacao and Cream.  Grated Scharffenberger dark and nutmeg on top.

Linking this post with Beth Fish Reads for her Weekend Cooking event, just in time to make your Valentine's Day special treat!!  My next experiment is Fetterman's (from the Sous-Vide book) Pandan-Infused Cream of Coconut.  Oh boy.   I plan on using that for coconut rice or perhaps in a Pandana Colada?

P.S.  Here's the recipe to make the liquor without a sous vide appliance:

Cacao Nib Tincture
6 to 8 ounces roasted cacao nibs
1 1/2 cups Rittenhouse 100-proof or other high-proof rye whiskey or vodka.

1 1/2  cups simple syrup

Instructions: Add cacao nibs to a pint jar until approximately 5/6 full. Fill jar with the spirits. Seal and let soak for at least 1 week. Mix in simple syrup, then strain and bottle for use.