If there’s one thing that will never make our “meh” list, it’s chocolate truffles, especially the ones so lovingly crafted at Godiva. Now, their renowned truffle-making artistry has leapt to new, irresistible heights.

At Godiva, “How can we make truffles even better?” is a mantra. How indeed?

Start with Ace of Cakes pastry czar, Duff Goldman and Godiva Executive Chef and chocolatier, Thierry Muret in the kitchen, whisk their ideas together until rich and creamy. Out comes Godiva’s first-ever special confection, The Cake Truffle Collection.

These inventions are pure genius: cake truffles without a trace of cake. That’s right. No cake.

New Cake Truffles. Photo courtesy Godiva.

The Ace of Cakes, Duff Goldman, culled his ultimate cake recipes and teamed them up with Godiva’s old-world chocolate-making techniques to create four specific cake “favorites,” using subtly flavored mousse, ganache, cream cheese and a variety of chocolates to reproduce the cake flavors.

The four cake truffles include:

 
The truffle treats are sold either individually or in collections of eight or twenty four pieces that include a vibrant, colorful keepsake box. The collection makes an ideal hostess gift or unexpected birthday surprise, wedding remembrance or anniversary delight. For more information about the Cake Truffle Collection and other Godiva products, visit Godiva.com.

The collection is certified kosher (dairy) by OU.

—Rowannn Gilman
 

Find more of our favorite chocolates.

Chocolate lovers: Have you tried Mexican chocolate?

Also called Oaxaca chocolate, Mexican chocolate is a cinnamon-scented sweet chocolate accented with cinnamon. Some varieties include clove, ground almonds and/or nutmeg.

Mexican chocolate is used primarily to make hot chocolate, but it’s also an ingredient in pork rubs, as a seasoning for beans, and of course, in Mole Poblano or Mole Negro.* You can also just eat it like candy, bake with it, make ice cream and do anything else you’d do with chocolate.

The Ibarra brand is a large commercial brand and can be found in the U.S.

But for those who want the best Mexican chocolate, take a look at the artisan product—handmade and stoneground—from the Rancho Gordo-Xoxoc Project. An American company and a Mexican company are working together to help small farmers continue to grow the indigenous foods of Mexico.

Handmade, stoneground Mexican chocolate: an artisan treat. Photo courtesy RanchoGordo.com.

From state of Guerrero, on the southwest coast of Mexico, a cooperative of women grow their own cacao and then harvest it and toast it on clay pans called comales. They then stone grind it with piloncillo (an unrefined sugar) and canela, a loose-bark variety of cinnamon grown in Ceylon (it’s easier to grind than hard-stick cinnamon).

The result is rich, dense, 70% cacao chocolate: intense, delicious and rustic with hints of smoke.

You can buy it at RanchoGordo.com.
 
*ABOUT MOLE (moe-lay): Each region of Mexico has its own mole recipe. One of the most famous, mole negro from Oaxaca, uses the base mole ingredients—roasted dried chiles, unsweetened chocolate, almonds and spices—plus peanuts, plantains, cloves, cinnamon, onion, garlic, sesame seeds and five different chiles. Mole poblano, from Pueblo, uses the base ingredients plus tomatoes, raisins, bread, lard, anise, cloves, cinnamon, three different chiles, garlic, sesame and other ingredients. The sauces accompany beef, chicken, enchiladas, seafood and turkey, and are served with rice and tortillas.

Our Top Pick Of The Week is Adult Chocolate Milk: a pour-and-serve combination that tastes like chocolate milk with a shot of vodka. It rocks!

What if you’re jonesing for a shot or two, but don’t have Adult Chocolate Milk?

If you have chocolate ice cream, coffee liqueur and vodka, you can make this Chocolate Black Russian, a cross between a cocktail and a milkshake.

Serve it for dessert. You can vary the recipe with flavored vodka: cherry, coffee, orange, raspberry and vanilla vodkas work well in this recipe.

Your next “ice cream social” will be a lot more social when you serve this!

Find more of our favorite cocktail and ice cream recipes.

Is chocolate good for your health?

For too many years, we’ve been hearing “health food” claims for dark chocolate—without any support as to what intensity of cacao (dark chocolate can range from 50% to 100% cacao) how much chocolate, and oh, by the way, how the healthfulness is offset by all the sugar (the remaining percentage, that isn’t cacao, is largely sugar).

Chocolate bars also include fat, but the fat is cocoa butter, a heart-healthy fat.(details).

And what about that industry-insider knowledge that, using conventional roasting methods, most of the flavanols (the antioxidant compounds) are roasted out of the chocolate?

There’s hope on the horizon for those who want to see chocolate as a healthy food—but it’s not going to be your basic Hershey bar.

Barry Callebaut of Switzerland, world’s largest chocolate manufacturer, has received support from the European Food Safety Authority for its claim that cocoa flavanols, the antioxidant compounds that are found in cocoa powder and dark chocolate, can be good for blood circulation (more about antioxidants).

Barry Callebaut, the world’s largest chocolate producer, has pioneered high-flavanol chocolate. Photo courtesy Barry Callebaut.

The chocolate tested was made with a special high flavanol cocoa produced by the company. If the health claim receives final approval from the European Commission later this year, European manufacturers that use high-flavanol cocoa may soon be able to make health claims on everything from candy to chocolate drinks, cereal bars and cookies.

A final decision is expected at the beginning of next year.

Since 2005, Barry Callebaut has conducted more than 20 clinical studies looking at effects of cocoa flavanols on people. The tests used cocoa powder and chocolate products made through a special process developed by the company. The process preserves up to 80% of the flavanols that normally would be destroyed in the conventional chocolate-making process.

Flavanols have been shown to lower blood pressure, improve blood flow and reduce the risk of heart disease by stimulating production of nitric oxide, which relaxes vessels.

Barry Callebaut submitted evidence from its studies, showing that the intake of 200 milligrams of cocoa flavanols a day contributes to normal blood flow. This amount can be consumed in 10 grams/.35 ounce of the specially-produced high-flavanol dark chocolate. The standard Hershey bar weights four times as much: 43grams/1.5 ounces.

Here’s the full article.

Party line party favors for July 4th. Photo
courtesy Choclatique.

If your crowd spends a preponderance of time discussing politics, serve some of these clever chocolates for July 4th.

Made by the creative L.A. chocolatier Choclatique, white chocolate shells are filled with chocolate ganache and topped with colored white chocolate donkey and elephant medallions in party colors.

They are sold in two-piece party favors (one elephant, one donkey per box in a 12-box package) and boxes of 8, 15 and 30 pieces, all ranging from $18.00 to $55.00.

And of course, given party politics, each size is available in all-donkey or all-elephant.

Head to Choclatique.com and search for “Capitol Collection.”

Find more of our favorite chocolates.

Does chocolate have a sinister side? For sure! At Sweetly Demented Chocolate, it’s creepy and it’s kooky, mysterious and spooky.

There are white chocolate skulls filled with chocolate ganache, with brains that are filled with raspberry ganache. There are standalone brains, red-colored white chocolate filled with chocolate ganache.

Sink your teeth into some eerie Bye Bye Birdie hawk skulls. The jumbo swirl Hypno Pops, white and dark chocolate filled swirled together and filled with ganache, are the kind that Pugsley Addams would enjoy.

For the merely off-kilter, there is a large silver buck’s antler (edible luster dust over chocolate) and plaques of chocolate “wood.” And some rose-garnished chocolate mementos for Miss Havisham.

Tim Burton should give them as party favors. Sharon Osboyrne should give an assortment to Ozzie. And you can buy some for anyone who likes a tasty bite of the odd or morbid.

“Cerebraloscopy” is white chocolate. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

Sweetly Demented Chocolate is the work of Sivonne Imnotelling, an artist with a background in sculpture, art and photography, who trained in chocolate at the French Culinary institute.

She hand-created the candy molds from actual deer antlers, hawk skulls and her own clay sculptures and uses Peter’s Chocolate, a quality chocolate popular with many chocolatiers and pastry chefs.

One other demented fact: There is no e-commerce on the website, or pricing either (although we found elsewhere that one two-inch brain sells for $6.00. If you want to sink your teeth into sinister chocolate, you’ll need to use the Contact form on SweetlyDemented.com.

If you’re a web designer/coder, offer to update Ms. Imnotelling’s website in exchange for chocolate. We’d like it to be easier for fans of this chocolate genre to purchase her work.

Melt-in-your-mouth salted caramels from
Sweetness And Light. Photo by Elvira Kalviste
| THE NIBBLE.

Ferndale, California is a small Victorian village located in Humboldt County, on the North Coast of California. The population was 1,371 in the 2010 census.

The town could be a movie set, with its dozens of well-preserved Victorian store fronts and homes, surrounded by evergreen-covered hills. Close by are extensive preserves of redwood forests (Humboldt County contains more than 40% of all remaining old growth Coast Redwood forests).

And there’s another reason to stop by: Sweetness & Light Handmade Confections.

Sweetness & Light has long been a fixture in the town. When current co-owner (with wife Tami) Matt Toste was in high school, he worked there and began to learn the techniques and skills required to make traditional chocolates. Five years later, he took over operations.

As they’ve been from the beginning, the confections are handmade in small batches using the freshest and best ingredients available: local butter and cream from Humboldt Creamery, real fruit flavors and fine chocolate. Working with copper kettles and marble slabs, the confectioners turn out sweet, old-fashioned goodness.

But not too sweet. The mark of good chocolate candy is that you taste chocolate, not sugar.

We received a gift of chocolate-covered salted caramels and a Moo Bar, a layer of almond-studded caramel topped with a layer of marshmallow, then dipped in chocolate.

We enjoyed them so much, we look forward to ordering a big box of assorted chocolates from the store’s classic repertoire: bonbons, fudge, toffee and truffles. And more caramels, of course.

In addition to wholesome deliciousness, the soft caramel is a bonus for people who don’t like (or can’t have) chewy candies. It melts in your mouth, the softest salted caramels we’ve ever had.

It must be all that moo-velous Humboldt County butter.

Order yourself a treat—or send a gift—at SweetnessAndLight.com.

Who wouldn’t enjoy chocolate-covered strawberries for Mother’s Day?

They’re easy to make and delight just about everyone, as a light dessert or as gifts for the moms.

You can use your favorite chocolate (dark, milk, white or all three). You can leave the chocolate-covered berries plain or decorate them with your favorite toppings: chopped nuts, crushed toffee, granola, mini-morsels, shredded coconut or sprinkles.

For the most elegant touch, decorate with gold or silver dragées or some opalescent sanding sugar.

TIP #1: QUALITY CHOCOLATE COUNTS. Your chocolate-covered strawberries will taste better, the better the chocolate you use. We buy fine quality chocolate bars, which are very well priced at Trader Joe’s.

TIP #2: SO DO DRY STRAWBERRIES. The chocolate won’t adhere well if the berries are moist from a thorough washing. Instead of washing the strawberries under running water, pat them with a damp towel to clean; then pat them dry and let them air dry (you can also use a hairdryer on the cold setting).

Mmm…we can’t wait until Mother’s Day.

Some chefs are inspired to go beyond classic recipes and create their own unusual take on a dish—or a drink.

Chef Julio Medina, who has an empire* of refined Latin cuisine restaurants in New York City, likes to create special menus, including specialty Margaritas, for each location.

His latest creation, for Toloache, is an homage to spring and Cinco de Mayo that combines traditional Mexican flavors with his classic French culinary training.

*The restaurants include Coppelia, Toloache 50, Toloache Taqueria and Toloache 82, Yerba Buena Avenue A and Yerba Buena Perry.

†Today Cinco de Mayo is primarily a regional holiday celebrated in the Mexican state of Puebla on May 5th. It is actually a bigger event in the United States than it is in Mexico, thanks to American promotional know-how, a large population of Mexican-Americans and other Americans who like Mexican food, music and a good celebration.

A different but really good Margarita. Photo courtesy Toloache 50 | New York City.

The homage to Cinco de Mayo is the name of the drink: Invaciones Frances Margarita, French Invasion Margarita. The holiday of Cinco De Mayo† commemorates the 1862 victory of a small and poorly-equipped Mexican militia led by General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguin, over the much larger French army at The Battle Of Puebla. It temporarily stopped the French invasion of the country.

The homage to spring: the fresh spring peas and tarragon in the mixture.

Peas and tarragon in a Margarita? Absolutely—and absolutely delish. We present, for your pleasure, the French Invasion Margarita.

THE FRENCH INVASION MARGARITA

Ingredients Per Drink

Remy Martin’a unaged eau de vie, V
(pronounced “vee”). Photo courtesy Remy
Martin.

Preparation

1. In a cocktail shaker, muddle together 1 sprig tarragon and the peas. Add the remaining ingredients with ice and shake well.

2. Double strain the Margarita into a rocks glass with fresh ice. Garnish with a small sprig of tarragon.
  
WHAT’S REMY MARTIN V (PRONOUNCED VEE)?

Produced by the great Cognac maker, Remy V is not a Cognac but an eau de vie. Eau de vie (plural, eaux de vie) is the name given to a spirit distilled from grapes and other fruits that has not yet been aged. At this point it is a clear liquid, like vodka.

It is through aging in oak barrels for at least 2-1/2 years that eau de vie takes on the complex aromas, color and flavors of Cognac. Instead, Remy Martin V is finished with a cold filtration process, like vodka.

Hence the name “V,” a reference to eau de vie (also pronounced “vee,” and meaning “water of life”). It’s unaged Cognac.

And now the challenge: Where to find it. Remy Martin V has limited retail distribution in the U.S.

So here‘s our recommendation: Substitute pisco, a clear, distilled grape spirit from Peru that, like Remy Martin V, is produced in the manner of Cognac. Pisco Portón is an excellent brand, with good distribution.

WHAT’S A BAR SPOON?

A bar spoon is a teaspoon on a long handle, typically 11 inches in length. It is used to measure ingredients and to layer drinks (by pouring the different layers of alcohol over the back of the spoon, where they flow gently into the glass).

The long handle lets the bartender dip deep into jars to scoop up olives and cherries. If you don’t have a bar spoon, it’s inexpensive and doesn’t take up much room. Here’s a good bar spoon.

The original dragées* (drah-ZHAY) are sugar-coated almonds. Technically, the nuts are encapsulated in a hard-shell coating. English speakers call them Jordan almonds—not because they’re from Jordan (they’re from Spain). It’s a corruption of the French word for garden, jardin, which refers to the large variety of almond). The almonds can also have a chocolate coating under the sugar. The key is the hard sugar shell.

In America, we see the word used to refer also to panned products. It’s not correct—they’re two different types of coating, dragées having a very hard (and potentially tooth-breaking) sugar shell and panned products having a softer chocolate shell.

Panning is one of the four† basic methods of coating chocolate onto a center (typically hard centers, such as nuts and crystallized ginger). In panning, chocolate is sprayed onto the centers as they rotate in revolving pans (think drums); cool air is then blown into the pan to harden the chocolates.

On a small scale (and before the industrial revolution), nuts are coated on a pan on the stovetop; hence “panning.” The centers can be rolled in cocoa powder or other coating before they harden.

Sophisticated malted milk balls that multitask. Photo courtesy Recchiuti Confections.

*In French, the word also refers to nonpareils and is slang for bullets (small shot). Dragée à la gelée de sucre is a jelly bean.
†The other methods are enrobing, panning and molding or shell molding.

RECCHIUTI CONFECTIONS MALTED DARK MILK REVOLUTION

One of our favorite chocolatiers, Recchiuti Confections, sent us a new product, called Malted Dark Milk Revolution. The confection looks like chocolate-covered macadamia nuts, but the centers are crunchy malted cookies (think malted milk balls) accented with fleur de sel. The centers are then coated with layers of dark milk chocolate (high-percentage cacao milk chocolate, typically 38% or more).

There’s no hard sugar shell, so they’re easy on the teeth.

Recchiuti calls these gourmet malted milk balls are a revolution because they use dark milk chocolate and an accent of fleur de sel, which provides a nice counterpoint to what in other hands can be a too-sweet confection.

For us, the concept of chocolate-coated malted milk centers has been around for a while, regardless of what type of chocolate or seasonings are added. So instead, we think of the name as a pun on the number of times the centers go around in the drum—from 20 to 60 “revolutions,” according to Recchiuti.

We immediately used the little bites:

 
A YUMMY GIFT

Malted Dark Milk Revolution is a lovely small gift, especially for those who like the play of sweet and salty. It’s available in two sizes at Recchiuti.com: a 5-ounce box for $11.00 and 12-ounce box for $19.00.

Recchiuti also has a sampler of panned products (called the Dragée Sampler) that we love for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day gifting, 12 ounces, $29.00. It includes Recchiuti’s heavenly Burnt Caramel Almonds, Burnt Caramel Hazelnuts, Peanut Butter Pearls and Cherries Two Ways.

Learn more at Recchiuti.com.