JTruffles - Amazing New Truffle Line

I've raved bout the folks at Seattle Chocolates before.  But now - well - I have to tell you - they have completely blown me away.  They've developed a new, amazing truffle line (http://www.jtruffles.com/) they told me about at the Fancy Food Show.  They said they would send me some samples.  Now it has been in the 100's in North Carolina, and chocolate truffles are fragile, very fragile. 

The first set of eight they sent me contained two melted ones.  When Kirsty (their Marketing Maven) heard that, she said - "No way - melted is unacceptable" and sent out more.  All of those were melted.  But I told Kirsty it was okay, I could work with the first ones.  Oh, no - she sent a third set!!!  These people are not only passionate about chocolate, but passionate about customer service and getting it right.  I am very, very impressed!!!

I love architecture, so these designs really appeal to me - look at how cool they are!  Pyramids, deco skyscrapers - I LOVE these creative designs.  I got to meet their chocolatier at the Fancy Food show - and he's so creative and awesome!!  And excited about delicious chocolate creations.  My kinda guy!

Think Mayan and Aztec temples - where chocolate originated - and gorgeous Art Deco skyscrapers as you look at these chocolate works of art.


This is Pura Vida Cafe:

I'm usually not a big fan of coffee and chocolate, but this truffle is the perfect blend.  The milk chocolate is creamy and delish and the strong coffee flavor (actually Turkish ground espresso beans - oh la la!) is offset by the cream it's mixed with.  I loved it - that's how slight, but definitely there, the coffee taste was.  YUM!



This is Limoncello:

Wow!  If you like lemon - this is for you!  It contains a white chocolate ganache with lemon zest and fresh cream in a dark chocolate shell.  This is a super creamy lemon filling - think lemon tart - offset by dark chocolate.  Lemon lovers - this is your nirvana.

See the influence?

The Chrysler Building - one of my favorite buildings in all the world.

This is Cherry Praline:

I think this one could use a stronger cherry and pecan flavor - they were awfully subtle (the chocolate was stronger).  I really love the idea of those two flavors together!!

This is Savory Hazelnut:

Now I really like hazelnut and chocolate, so I was pretty excited about this truffle.  And it did not let me down!  It's almost like eating a hazelnut brownie.  It has tiny hazelnut pieces and a great texture.  I honestly can't think of a better way to describe it - think of the best chocolate brownie you've ever had and add hazelnuts.  That's what this is like - not as sweet as Nutella, a bit more on the salty side.  A+++ 

This is the Magma 65 Dark:

Billed as the line's signature truffle.  It is pretty damn amazing.  A flavorful, smooth dark chocolate with fruity notes.  It's fantastic and dark chocolate lovers will do back flips.  I usually am drawn to milk chocolate, but this one was so good it won me over.

This is my favorite of the shapes - so detailed and so deco!  It's Creme Brulee:

This truffle is filled with vanilla custard ganache and has a layer (at the base of the cream) of carmelized sugar.  And I thought I was going to love it more than I did.  The mixture of textures was awesome, but the slightly burnt taste of the sugar and the bitterness of the dark chocolate took away too much of the sweetness for me.  I bet I would have liked it better in milk chocolate.  But I have a crazy sweet tooth (I like frosting out of the can).  I loved the way the sugar was handled - just like on a real creme brulee (if it's done right!).

This one is Creme 40 Milk:

This is a delicious creamy milk chocolate truffle.  A great basic.  But I actually prefer a truffle with nuts or caramel or some other flavor infusion.  But for a plain milk chocolate - this is delicious.

Another art deco influence:

This is salt water caramel and it's the one I was most excited about:

HOLY SMOKES!!!!  This truffle is a world rocker!!  Chewy caramel - so so fresh and delicious with a dash of salt coated in delicious milk chocolate.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!!!!!!!

Overall I adore this new line - creative shapes - unlike any I've ever seen and delicious accessible flavors.  Not that crazy weird stuff like lavender or bacon. Glacck!  Think elegance and deliciousness.  And passion - for chocolate and for people.

Who Let the Dogs Out?

Chocolate Bark is basically a flat slab of chocolate into which nuts and dried fruit and other things are placed. I've reviewed Bissenger's awesome pumpkin bark which is a giant slab of chocolate with delicious pumpkin swirled in. I also reviewed berkshire bark's Pretzelogical Bark which I didn't care for. But berkshire makes other barks:


http://www.berkshirebark.com/


and the big thing is the ingredients are all natural - no preservatives.


Here's Mocha Buzz:

Mocha Buzz has Belgian milk chocolate, roasted almonds, cocoa nibs, crushed coffee beans and caramel. If you like coffee - you'll love this. I don't like coffee and I loved this! The chocolate really is excellent and it's packed with almonds. The caramel must have been really light because I didn't notice it. The bitterness of the nibs and the coffee beans balance it all out. Outstanding!!

Here's another coffee influenced bark - Jumpin' Java:

This one has Belgian dark chocolate, roasted almonds, Espresso toffee, crushed coffee beans and caramelized cocoa nibs. Again coffee lovers would adore this - but so did I! I was shocked!! It must be the toffee and the almonds that offset the bitterness of the coffee beans. This was a damn fine bark!

You don't see much done with white chocolate (really not chocolate at all, but you know I'm no snob!). This one is called White Lightning:

It is made of Callebaut white chocolate, roasted cashews, fresh lemon zest, ginger and sea salt. This is a good bark, but it doesn't have the depth the others do. Cashews are a sweet nut and with the white chocolate - well, it was too bland and sweet for me, especially compared to the others. Not bad in any way, just not as good.

Here's Tropical Heat:

This one is Callebaut semi-sweet chocolate, macadamia nuts, mango, papaya, pineapple, coconut, Ancho chili powder and cayenne pepper. I thought I would really like this bark. I found the chili powder and the cayenne pepper too strong - overpowering the fruits. Maybe a milk chocolate would have helped restored the sweet balance. I am so bummed - I bet I would have worshiped this bark if it didn't have the chili powder and the pepper. Wah!!!! This was my least favorite.

And finally, there is Midnight Harvest:

This one has Belgian dark chocolate, roasted almonds, roasted hazelnuts, dried cranberries, fresh orange zest. Outstanding!! A great fall bark - packed with nuts and fruit.

These are so much better than your average candy bar - you can really taste the quality of the ingredients. And the flavor mixes are creative and interesting without being weird (well, except for Tropical Heat - I just don't like my chocolate to be so peppery). If you're a chocolate lover, you owe it to yourself to try and track these barks down.

Once again - the things I thought I wouldn't like (the coffee barks), I did and the things I thought I would like (the white chocolate and the fruity tropical heat), I didn't. Keep trying new things - you don't really know what you will (or won't) like until you try it!! And this goes for people, music, places, activities etc. etc. etc. - not just chocolate. I keep saying it because it's so true for me - the hardest thing to keep open in this life is your mind.

Release the hounds of habit!! Try a new bark. (Bwah, ha, ha!)