I would like to make this icing in the future and was wondering about the chocolate liqueur since I've never used it before.

Is this an alcoholic beverage? If so, can you taste alcohol in the finished bc?
Can you substitute something else for it?

Yes it's an alcholic beverage it's a liquer(sp) No you can't taste it and i would think you could use coffee as a replacement.

PS this buttercream is VERY good!

hi, i make that alot.. it is really delicious.. i don,t use the liqueur.. i dont, substitute either.. thats the only thing i leave out. love it!!!

Thanks so much...I don't drink at all so I didn't have a clue.
Glad I can leave it out altogether.

Do you use semi-sweet or bittersweet choc. for the ganache? I really dislike both, and would like to use milk chocolate instead.

Make the recipe as listed the first time....then change it if you don't like it. It's got a lovely chocolate flavor. I wouldn't sub milk chocolate and I would use the liquor. It adds an amazing depth of flavor that's missing if you leave it out. It's my favorite chocolate buttercream by far!

Jodie

Jodie...that's an excellent idea...before tweaking I should at least try it once as written.

I do like to halve new recipes though, whenever possible, just in case I end up not liking it.
I see that I can do that easily with this bc.

Skipping the liquer is doable but it definitely adds a great depth of flavor as stated above. I would not use milk chocolate, I like semi sweet. And you can half the recipe, it makes a ton of icing!

i love this recipe also, i leave out the liqueur,and it still tastes great,but would image using the liqueur would taste even better.i use semi-sweet chips also.

FlourPots...hope I didn't come across as lecturing! I didn't mean to! I've just always tried recipes as written first. I mean, otherwise how do you know how it was supposed to taste? I do tweak recipes all the time afterwards though. I have made the chocolate buttercream without the liquor when I haven't had any. I do think it loses some of it's deliciousness without it.
I always crack up when I read the comments on recipes on Food Network or Epicurious. People will write "instead of using beef, I used chicken. I didn't have tomato sauce, so I subbed ketchup. I added twice as much onion and extra oregano. I HATED this recipe!" They didn't hate that recipe! They hated the new recipe THEY created!

Jodie

Jodie...you didn't come across that way at all...you were absolutely right.

I just figured since I already knew I hated semi-sweet/bittersweet ganache and also alcohol (which wasn't being cooked away) maybe I should change it more to my liking...but now I'm excited to try it as written, whenever I get the chance...I don't bake a whole lot, mainly for family, but it is at the top of my list.