Past Newsletters

May 2008

Charlie's Handcrafted, Special Gourmet Treats!

It is our pleasure at Chocolate of the Month Club to present once again the excellence of a chocolatier from right here in the US ... Charlie's Chocolates from Vista, California.

Charlie's Chocolates, a small California confectioner, creates the epitome of fresh, handmade chocolates. These gourmet chocolates are made by using the world's most popular and most flavorful Belgian Callebaut chocolate, which is then blended to make the unique ganaches used in the variety of centers and then later to surround these delicious centers when being hand dipped. Warm chocolate flows around cool centers, drenching them completely before they are placed to set, allowing them to form small "feet," as known in the business—a naturally occurring skirt-like curve from the chocolate runoff at the base, which is the ultimate sign of handmade quality chocolates. In Charlie's Chocolates, you will experience delicious, fresh cream infused chocolate ganache centers. You will discover the direct flavor of a single note, as in the specially formulated, slightly liqueur enhanced dark chocolate coated, dark centered truffle, meant to soothe the passion of the focused dark chocolate lover. You will savor white chocolate ganaches infused with cream and freshly prepared intense, tangy fruit puree, resulting in the most fragrantly flavorful fruit truffles imaginable with thick coats of milk or dark chocolate. And then there are the multi-layered centers. Complementary ganaches are paired with each other to intermix and finish in two-toned harmony. Some are paired with accenting layers of sweet fondant flavored with mint or vanilla-butterscotch. One truffle has a layer of savory, aromatic caramel and nuts, topped with creamy ganache, finished with a sweet note of thin fondant, all surrounded by a coat of rich Belgian chocolate. For those who love caramel, there's the jumbo caramel turtle—a generous caramel patty with chopped nuts, hand layered underneath and on top with a broad swirl of thick chocolate that runs down the sides from the top with oozing caramel and nuts peeking out. Charlie's finely tuned recipes, selection of top-of-the-line gourmet ingredients, and the artful and striking added touches to the old fashioned chocolate is certainly something not to be missed.

Here at Chocolate of the Month Club, we have had a delightful time getting to know Charlie and learning about how he carefully makes these culinary delicacies. Each of these handmade chocolates is made from finest ingredients with only freshness and perfection in mind. Even as delicious as these goodies are, whenever we talked with Charlie about them, he would still be seeking to improve them. Charlie reflects on his recipes saying, "As time goes on, the recipes for these candies are changed a little (for the sake of better satisfaction). It's usually just a minor change, for more flavor impact, or clarity or intensity, or about improving the presence of what people look forward to when eating the candy, like its level of sweetness maybe balanced with richness or saltiness. A lot of the time it's bringing something out about the taste of a chocolate, maybe something too flat or distant about it, and bringing out what is desired about it, that taste, but not go over the line with it. It can be tricky trying to come up to that line and not go over. I could say I'm always thinking this way about all the different candies, and I am, even when I'm happy with something."

The selections of chocolates this month may include:

• dark chocolate coated, dark ganache centered truffle
• dark chocolate coated, milk chocolate mint truffle
• dark chocolate coated, intensely natural lemon juice flavored white chocolate ganache truffle
• milk chocolate coated, two toned milk chocolate truffle
• milk chocolate coated strawberry truffle
• milk chocolate coated, multi-layer centered chocolate
• dark chocolate coated, jumbo caramel turtle with walnuts

The dark chocolate coated, dark ganache centered truffle is slightly enhanced by a blend of fine liqueurs to complement and round out the flavor of the chocolate. The dark chocolate coated, milk chocolate mint truffle is made with a tall layer of milk chocolate mint ganache, over which rests a second thin layer of sweet white mint fondant. One of the dark chocolates is intensely natural lemon juice flavored white chocolate ganache truffles. One of the milk chocolate coated, two toned milk chocolate truffle has a center that is made of a half layer of lightly vanilla-butterscotch flavored white chocolate ganache, over a half layer of milk chocolate ganache. One of the milk chocolates is a strawberry truffle, whose center is made up of a fragrant, fresh strawberry puree and cream-infused white chocolate ganache that rests upon a thin layer of specially prepared graham cracker crust. Other milk chocolates are multi-layer candies with centers built with a layer of savory-sweet vanilla caramel and nuts, which is then layered with one to two kinds of chocolate ganache, and finished with a thin sweet layer of vanilla-butterscotch or maple-walnut fondant. Charlie suggests that you take a knife and slice these chocolates in half to see what you are eating. A tip for cleaner slicing is to put a chocolate on a cutting board and take a chef's knife, or some strong, sharp knife, and slice down from the top.

Truffles

"The first truffles were made from the scraps left over from cutting dipped chocolates into uniform shapes. At the end of the day, all scraps would be combined, placed in a mixer, and beaten. The result was piped out into small irregular balls, chilled, roughly coated with tempered chocolate, and rolled in cocoa, so they looked like Périgord truffles covered with earth. Nowadays, ganache is prepared specially to make truffles. It is allowed to set, then whipped so it lightens. After that, the procedure is the same. The truffle centers are piped out and chilled, then coated with tempered chocolate and cocoa, confectioner's sugar, ground nuts, or pralin powder." (from Chocolate: From Simple Cookies to Extravagant Showstoppers)

Storage Tips

Like fine wines, chocolates should be stored in a cool, dry and dark area. Since chocolate is highly susceptible to absorbing odors, your chocolates should be kept away from other strongly fragrant foods. Optimally, you should store your chocolates at 59° to 65° F (15° to 18 °C), and under 65% humidity. If you keep them in an ambient temperature below 72°F (21°C), there is no need to refrigerate your chocolates if they can be eaten within three weeks. And let's face it, these chocolates will most likely be eaten within the first few days! Hide them somewhere safe if you want to get a chance to try all the flavors!