DERBY DAY

From the Southern Foodways Alliance:

While there will never be a shortage of liquor during a Kentucky Derby celebration, the omission of bourbon balls from a festive spread would be almost as big of a faux pas as leaving the brown water at home. Proper tempering of the chocolate and preparation of the buttercream is integral for bourbon ball success, but ultimately, booze is key. Using a high quality bourbon is essential for bourbon balls, as it is one of the few candies where the flavor of the liquor is truly able to shine. (Think of each bourbon ball as a saccharine shot.)

There is a great deal of debate across Kentucky about which version of the bourbon ball is the authentic variety: those dipped in chocolate and garnished with a pecan half, or those rolled in powdered sugar.

While the Ruth Hunt candy company has popularized the chocolate-dipped variety, the earliest community cookbooks exclusively feature the powdered sugar–coated variation. When it first appearance at dinner parties and teas in the late 1800s, the bourbon ball had much more in common with the rum balls seen at holiday parties than a chocolate candy bar. The legend holds that this all changed in 1936 at the Commonwealth’s sesquicentennial celebration in Frankfort, the state capitol. An influential man-about-town suggested to a local candy maker that if the two best tastes in the world—chocolate and bourbon—were combined, it would make the perfect confection. The candymaker took this to heart, and the bourbon ball as we know it today was born.

Some argue that bourbon balls should be allowed to mellow—much like bourbon itself—overnight or for a period of days before consumption, but I’ve always found that to be an impossible task.

Bourbon BallsYield: 20 1-inch bourbon balls
Active Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours, 30 minutes
Special Tools: parchment paper, plastic wrap

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
3 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
7 tablespoons top-shelf bourbon
1/4 cup crushed pecans
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons whole milk
20 to 30 pecan halves

To Assemble:Combine butter, sugar, and bourbon in a bowl and beat with a wooden spoon or an electric mixer on low speed until smooth. Refrigerate mixture for one hour. Using a melon baller, form mixture into 1-inch balls. Place balls on a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate until firm. Remove balls, wrap individually with plastic wrap, and freeze for a minimum of two hours.

Combine chocolate chips and whole milk in double boiler over medium heat, stirring until melted. One at a time, use a dipping fork (or toothpick) to submerge buttercream balls in chocolate, coating on all sides.

Place on baking pan lined with parchment paper, garnish with pecan half. Allow balls to completely harden before eating.