CHOCOLATE & CHEESE PAIRING & CREAM CHEESE TRUFFLE RECIPE: National Cheese Day

Today is National Cheese Day, and Chocolate and Cheese go perfectly together. You just have to have the right pairing.

Here are a few guidelines for the perfect CHEESE and CHOCOLATE pairing. Foods with similar flavor profiles work best together. For Darker Chocolates, choose a more complex, aged cheese. For Milk Chocolates choose a buttery cheese such as a Triple Brie. For Fruity Chocolates pair with a sharper cheese. For Nuttier chocolates pair with cheese high in butterfat. Spicy chocolates pair with sharp cheeses,

A few examples of Savory-Sweet Pairings:
Dark chocolate (80% or more cocoa) with a delicious true Blue cheese.
Burnt caramel chocolates with a beer-washed Cheese.
Bordeaux-style chocolate with a creamy triple crème Brie.
Citrus-y chocolate with a semi-hard, buttery table cheese (feta or havarti).

Here's an easy recipe for Cream Cheese Chocolate Truffles. You might also want to try my recipes for Goat Cheese Truffles or Blue Cheese Truffles.

Cream Cheese Chocolate Truffles

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
8 ounces softened cream cheese
4 ounces unsweetened or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup DARK cocoa powder, for rolling (or ground/chopped walnuts)

Directions
Pour cocoa powder or nuts into a shallow pie pan and set aside.
Chop chocolate into small pieces and melt in top of doubleboiler (or a pot over a pot of simmering water), stirring after every 45 seconds to prevent overheating. Set chocolate aside.
In large bowl of electric mixer, beat softened cream cheese. Gradually add powdered sugar. Beat mixture on medium speed for a few minutes, until well-blended.
Stop mixer and stir in melted chocolate. Beat until well combined.
Remove bowl from mixer, cover it with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until firm enough to scoop, about 20-30 minutes.
Once candy is firm but not hard, scoop into 1 inch balls using teaspoon or candy/cookie scoop.
Roll truffles in cocoa powder or ground/chopped walnuts.
Serve truffles at room temperature, but if you're not eating right away, put in airtight container and keep in refrigerator.

THIN MINTS: Wine, Beer, and Spirit Pairings

In my 'real' life  (www.teambuilding-unlimited.com), I facilitate chocolate pairings--with wine or with beer..and sometimes with Scotch and other Spirits. So because it's the weekend, I thought I'd do a mini-round-up of Girl Scout Cookie/ alcohol pairings and drinks, focusing on my favorite Girl Scout Cookie - Thin Mints.

Vivino is a wine app that allows users (over 13 million members) to snap a shot of a wine label or list and receive ratings and reviews. They've also put together a guide to pairing wine with other Girl Scout cookies. How awesome is this? Since my favorite Girl Scout Cookies are Thin Mints, I immediately checked that out. Be sure and look at the entire list or get the app. Quite fun! You can do a pairing at home! Invite friends.

Babble has an infograph (on the right)

So maybe you're not a wine drinker. You're more of a stout or ale type of person? Beer & Brewing has a great pairing for you, with a 2019 update. Once again, there are several pairings, but I'm sticking with Thin Mints. Recommendation from Beer & Brewing consists of several stouts and ales.

Perennial Artisan Ales 17
Alesmith Speedway Stout
Shipyard Mint Chocolate Stout
Epic Big Bad Baptist
Hardywood Sidamo Coffee Stout

I would add Speakeasy Chocolate Stout, and be sure and put the Thin Mints in the Freezer before your pairing. I think it enhances the tasting flavors. Check out other Girl Scout Cookie/Beer pairings here.

O.K.  So maybe you're a Bourbon drinker?  The Bourbon Review suggests Thin Mints & Basil Hayden's Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. Be sure and go to Bourbon Review if you're partial to another cookie.

Scotch? Lagavulin goes well with Thin Mints.

Girl Scout Cookies: Wine, Beer, and Bourbon Pairings and Thin Mint Cocktail Recipes

Yesterday I posted about the History of the Girl Scouts and Girl Scout Cookies. In my 'real' life I facilitate chocolate pairings--with wine or with beer..and sometimes with Scotch and other spirits. So with the weekend coming up, I thought I'd do a mini-round-up of Girl Scout Cookie alcohol pairings, focusing on Thin Mints.


Vivino is a wine app that allows users (over 13 million members) to snap a shot of a wine label or list and receive ratings and reviews. They've also put together a guide to pairing wine with Girl Scout cookies. How awesome is this? My favorite Girl Scout Cookies are Thin Mints, so I immediately checked that out. Be sure and look at the entire list or get the app. Quite fun!

So maybe you're not a wine drinker. You're more of a stout or ale type of person? Beer & Brewing has a great pairing for you, with a 2016 update. Once again, there are several pairings, but I'm sticking with Thin Mints. Recommendation from Beer & Brewing consists of several stouts and ales.
Perennial Artisan Ales 17
Alesmith Speedway Stout
Shipyard Mint Chocolate Stout
Epic Big Bad Baptist
Hardywood Sidamo Coffee Stout
I would add Speakeasy Chocolate Stout, and be sure and put the Thin Mints in the Freezer before your pairing. I think it enhances the tasting flavors. Check out all the other Girl Scout Cookie pairings here.

O.K. And maybe you're a Bourbon drinker?  The Bourbon Review suggests Thin Mints & Basil Hayden's Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey. Be sure and go to Bourbon Review if you're partial to another cookie.

Scotch?  Lagavulin goes well with Thin Mints.

In case you just want your cookies and alcohol blended into a cocktail, here are two recipes for Thin Mint Cocktails. Yes!

Thin Mint Martini

1 tsp chocolate syrup
1 ounce peppermint schnapps
2 ounces chocolate liqueur
2 ounces half & half

Drizzle chocolate syrup around and inside edge of martini glass. Put glass in freezer
Fill cocktail shaker with ice. Pour peppermint schnapps, chocolate liqueur, and 1/2 and 1/2 into shaker. cover, shake, and strain martini into prepared glass.

Thin Mint Cocktail
(recipe from Drinking in America)
In cocktail shaker, put 2 chopped springs of fresh mint and 1.5 ounces vodka. Add 1-12 ounces Baileys, 1 Tbsp chocolate syrup, and ice. Shake. Add more chocolate if needed. Add some chocolate syrup at bottom of cocktail glass.