Champagne Truffles to Buy: Ring in the New Year!

Ring in the New Year with Champagne Truffles. Several great Chocolate Companies make Champagne Truffles. The following list is not definitive, but will get you started. Comment below with your favorites. Love to add to the list. Scroll down for an awesome video from Vosges Haute-Chocolate on the making of Champagne Truffles!

Recchiuti Chocolate Champagne Truffles
A version of a classic favorite. Dark chocolate truffle with Schramsberg Blanc de Noirs from Napa Valley and confectioner's sugar.

Seattle Chocolate Company Champagne Truffles. A bubbly truffle featuring a blended milk and dark chocolate center with natural popping candy and a bit of bite. Enrobed in dark chocolate.

ChoclatiQue Bubbly Champagne Truffles. I love these. Have tried them several times. They're light and creamy and bubbly!  Dom Perignon champagne ganache piped into a 64% cacao dark chocolate shell with 24 kt gold leaf on top

Teuscher Chocolate of Switzerland
House specialty, the famous Champagne Truffle, a blend of cream, butter and chocolate: champagne cream center surrounded by a dark chocolate ganache, covered in milk chocolate and dusted with confectioner’s sugar. Originally created by Adolf Teuscher, Sr. in 1947. Available also in an all dark version which I like even more!

Jacques Torres
Jacques' Taittinger Champagne Truffles are a combination of milk chocolate, fresh cream and Taittinger Brut La Francaise. I love the cork shape of these truffles.

Williams-Sonoma
La Maison du Chocolat selects and roasts its own cacao beans, and all of the chocolate is made from special house blends. Their collection of chocolate truffles are hand made at the La Maison du Chocolat workshop in Paris. Other truffles but includes Champagne truffles: dark chocolate truffles infused with Fine Champagne Cognac, covered with dark chocolate and dusted with cocoa powder.

Hotel Chocolate 
Luxuriously light and creamy truffles made with real champagne and cream for beautifully delicate flavours and a touch of elegant hedonism.

Payard Truffles
Champagne Truffles

Friars
White Chocolate Champagne Truffles

Neuhaus Champagne Truffles
Dark chocolate dusted with a frosting of powdered sugar with soft centers of champagne butter. Not for the superstitious. Neuhaus Champagne Truffles are sold in boxes of 13.

Godiva makes a champagne truffle, but I haven't had one in awhile. I remember it was beautiful and very smooth, but there was more chocolate taste than champagne. Still Godiva truffles are great.

Charbonnel & Walker Milk Chocolate Marc de Champagne Truffles.  Milk Chocolate with Marc de Champagne center. Also try Charbonnel & Walker Chocolate Pink Champagne Truffles. Tangy & Sweet with a strawberry dusting and Marc de Champagne truffle center. Tangy & sweet. (I saw them at Sur Le Table, but they're also at Harrod's!)

Paul A. Young Champagne Truffles.
Made with real Champagne.


MarieBelle
Soft rich hand-shaped dark chocolate truffles flavored with champagne and rolled in pure cacao.

Demarquette Champagne Truffles. These are made with vintage Dom Perignon Champagne. U.K. Brut Champagne (Dom Perignon) blended with our very own recipe of single estate and single origin cocoas from around the world and Cornish and Hampshire creams for the ultimate in pure taste. Each truffle is hand dipped in 71.1% couverture chocolate before being dusted with pure cocoa powder.

Nuubia French Champagne Truffles. Silken white ganache infused with Cognac, piped into dark chocolate shell, covered in chocolate and finished with icing sugar.

Vosges Krug Champagne Truffle. Watch this video on making Champagne Truffles.



Making of Krug® Champagne Truffles from Vosges Haut-Chocolat® on Vimeo.

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How to Make Your Own Chocolate Liqueur

Today is National Liqueur Day, and I often make Chocolate Liqueur Truffles. They're so easy to make, and you can change out the liqueur flavoring whenever you'd like. But recently I thought I should try making my own chocolate liqueur. It's simple, and you should try it. Of course you can always buy Chocolate Liqueur, and I'll have to admit that Godiva has an awesome dark chocolate liqueur. You might also want to try Mozart Black Chocolate.

Following are two great recipes for Making Your Own Chocolate Liqueur.

The following recipe is from Serious Eats, one of my favorite sites.  As always, use the best cacao nibs or cocoa, vodka and vanilla. You won't have the results to taste today, but it's worth the wait!

1. CHOCOLATE LIQUEUR

Ingredients
 2/3 cup cacao nibs
1 1/3 cup vodka
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup water
2 teaspoons Madagascar vanilla extract

Directions
Combine cacao nibs and vodka in sealable glass jar. Shake and then let steep for 8 days.
After initial steeping period, bring sugar and water to a boil. Let syrup cool, then add to jar along with vanilla extract. Let steep for additional day.
Strain out nibs through sieve and filter through a coffee filter into bottle or jar. Store in this jar.

II. CHOCOLATE LIQUEUR
This recipe from Creative Culinary uses Scharffen Berger Cocoa Powder. 

Ingredients
1/4 cup unsweetened good cocoa powder (Scharffen Berger)
1 cup boiling water
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water 1 cup vodka

Directions
In bowl, dissolve cocoa powder in boiling water.
In saucepan, bring sugar and water to simmer, stirring until sugar is dissolved.
Add sugar syrup to cocoa syrup.
Strain through fine-mesh sieve into jar with lid. Add vodka, cover and refrigerate for one week.
To serve, stir well and strain again through fine-mesh sieve.
 
These two recipes should get you started. Try less sugar and maybe add almond extract--or use run instead of vodka. Experiment!

You can drink this straight, use it in truffles or make a martini.

Have a wonderful National Liqueur Day. Make it Chocolate!

Creme Brulee Truffles: National Creme Brulee Day

J Truffles-Creme Brulee

Today is National Creme Brulee Day. I love Creme Brulee, and I love Truffles. So instead of a recipe today, I thought I'd do a mini-review of some of my favorite Creme Brulee Truffles.

One of my favorite Creme Brulee truffles is made by JTruffles (Seattle Truffles). Not just is it fabulous with a rich vanilla custard ganache made with pure vanilla, 40% cream and a layer of carmelized sugar, but it's cover in a dark chocolate shell in a classic decor pyramid shape. I love J Truffles, if I haven't mentioned it before. I was lucky to meet the creator at the Napa Chocolate Salon a few years ago. Definitely a treat into the whole candy making and design philosophy. 


Kee's Chocolates in New York also makes a great Creme Brule Truffle. It's a dark chocolate bonbon filled with creme brulee. This beauty needs to be eaten within two days. Very fresh and yummy!

Chocolatier Blue makes a mean Creme Brule Truffle. Haven't had this specific truffle in awhile, but I'm always amazed at the truffles from Chocolatier Blue! Chris Blue makes the most amazing tasting and looking truffles. Love all the truffles! Unique flavors made with fabulous organic products.

Want a unique twist on a Creme Brulee Truffle?  Moonstruck Chocolate Company makes a wicked Creme Brulee Werewolf Truffle. It's a seasonal treat composed of a milk chocolate ganache, heavy cream and carmelized sugar inside a milk chocolate werewolf shaped shell.

Godiva makes a fabulous Creme Brulee Truffle. Their Creme Brulee Truffles have a shell of white chocolate, filled with dark chocolate and vanilla ganache and an outside coating of candied sugar.

White Chocolate After Labor Day? White Chocolate Angel Food Cake

No White Chocolate After Labor Day? I don't go by those rules. Here's a White Chocolate recipe for White Chocolate Angel Food Cake from Godiva Chocolate.

White Chocolate Angel Food Cake with Whipped Cream and Fresh Berries

Cake:
1 1/2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
1 cup sifted cake flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups egg whites, at room temperature (about 11 to 12 large eggs)
1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 bars (1.5 ounces each) Godiva Ivory Chocolate, grated or finely chopped

Whipped Cream:
2 cups heavy cream, chilled
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Berries:
1 cup fresh red raspberries
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 cup fresh strawberries, sliced
1/2 cup fresh blackberries
White chocolate curls 

Make The Cake:
1. Position oven rack in lower third of oven. Heat oven to 350°F.
2. Sift together confectioners’ sugar, cake flour and salt onto a sheet of waxed paper.
3. Place egg whites in clean, dry bowl of electric mixer. Beat egg whites at medium-low speed until frothy. Add cream of tartar and beat at medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add granulated sugar in steady stream, beating just until whites are thick and form slightly stiff peaks. (Do not over-beat)
4. Gently fold in 1/3 of sifted dry ingredients over whites just until dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in remaining dry ingredients with vanilla and grated white chocolate in two additional batches.
5. Gently pour batter into ungreased 10" angel food or tube pan, spreading evenly. Tap gently on counter to remove any air bubbles. Bake 35 minutes or until top is firm and springs back when lightly touched. Invert pan on a large bottle (such as wine bottle or olive oil bottle) and cool completely.
6. To remove cake from pan, run long knife or thin metal spatula around outside edge of cake and gently remove side portion of pan. Then, run knife around inside of center tube, loosen bottom of cake with long knife or thin metal spatula and remove cake from remaining portion of pan. Place on cake plate; cover with plastic wrap if not serving immediately.

Make Whipped Cream:
1. Combine heavy cream and granulated sugar in a medium, chilled bowl. Beat at medium speed with electric mixer until soft peaks form; whisk in vanilla.
2. Place sweetened whipping cream in refrigerator until ready to serve cake, up to 2 hours.
3. Combine berries in a medium bowl and toss lightly.

Assembly:
Cut cake with serrated knife using a sawing motion. Serve with sweetened whipped cream and berry mixture. Garnish with white chocolate curls.

Photo: Godiva Chocolate

Valentine's Day Chocolate Cocktails

Oh my, how could I forget chocolate liqueur and chocolate cocktails. What was I thinking?

One of my favorites remains the Chocolate Martini, but you need to read Eric Felten's article in today's Wall Street Journal. He writes, "The Chocolate Martini has finally run its course. A bellwether of the fad for sweet, candy-flavored drinks served in Martini glasses, the Chocolate Martini started turning up at bars here and there a little over a dozen years ago and then hit its stride by 1998, when it was all of a sudden everywhere. Many were the Valentine's Days in the years since for which the Chocolate Martini was recommended as a felicitous accompaniment. Thankfully that particular dark age has passed, but it does mean we'll need to find another wooing cup."

His reasons for maligning the Chocolate Martini? "Let's start by understanding what the fundamental problems with the Chocolate Martini were: 1) The drink usurped the honorific "Martini" for a drink that had nothing in common with the original but the glass; 2) it was a one-note wonder, dominated by a single, sweet flavor."

So want to try something new? In today's Drink of the Week there was a great recipe for Godiva Royale. This drink is the perfect accompaniment to chocolate covered strawberries. I also found a recipe for a Chocolate Pinky Valentini. I'm afraid, though, that Mr. Felten would find this too sweet. Sounds good to me!

Of course, if you want to imbibe tonight, you can always get a great bottle of champagne and accompany it with high-end dark chocolate. They go together so well.

Godiva Chocolate Suite New York Contest

Janet Appel, blogger and chocoholic, sent me this link about a special February Month of Love Godiva Chocolate Getaway. Godiva loves Valentine's Day so much they're going to celebrate for an entire month -- granted, it's also the shortest month of the year.

Lucky couples who buy their sweet hearts Godiva chocolates for the holiday may get the chance to win a "fantasy weekend" which involves staying in a New York City hotel suite dedicated to chocolate. The lucky winners will not just get a box of chocolates; they'll be staying in a virtually chocolate-covered suite in the Bryant Park Hotel. Brooke Shields helped unveil this delicious room, designed by Jonathan Adler, so it's all ready for the winners. In addition, the love birds will be treated to a chocolate tasting, fine dining around Manhattan and other "surprises".
Those lusting for that trip to NYC can buy up all the boxes of Godiva chocolates between now and February 27, 2009. You'll know which boxes are the potential winners by the heart marking the store's display. When you open the box, look for an envelope and open it to see your instant win message. If it says, "Congratulations" -- you're the winner so follow the instructions on your card. And go to the official site for the specific rules.

Aside from the grand prize winner, 100 other first place winners will earn a year's supply of Godiva chocolate. Good luck!