2023 Christmas Assortment

Now that the majority of the boxes have been delivered, I can blog more specifically about this year's Christmas assortment!

For 2023, I made 30 four-flavour boxes, up from last year's 24. This was deliberate on my part, since I had planned to offer a few up for sale on Facebook for those who don't normally get to try my chocolates. Thanks to slightly larger batch sizes for two of the recipes, I also unexpectedly had enough pieces to pack 12 two-flavour boxes, half of which I also intended to sell. Unfortunately, my plan was foiled last week when my travel itinerary abruptly changed due to weather and I left for home two days early. I handed out the extra four-flavour boxes to individuals in the hall before leaving campus and tossed the six remaining two-flavour boxes into my carry-on to give out at our annual Crappy Craft Night. 

The four-flavour box included a salted caramel enrobed in dark chocolate, an orange cardamom truffle hand-rolled in dark chocolate, an apricot brandy praline with a dark chocolate shell, and a milk chocolate peanut butter meltaway. The salted caramel featured Sonoran sea salt, given to me by a friend who lives in Arizona. The orange cardamom truffle was prepared using whole cardamom pods, given to me by another friend earlier in the year. The peanut butter meltaway contained no special ingredients, but was a departure from the usual mint meltaway (and I think it would make a delicious filling in the future). But the really special creation this year was the apricot brandy praline.

A nod to my grandmother, who was known to keep a bottle of apricot brandy in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator, this praline has been in the works since January. It was then that I decided I would try a layered bonbon, initially thinking I would pair an apricot brandy ganache with a layer of marzipan, since I love the combination of apricots and almonds. In July, while in Newfoundland, I purchased a bottle of apricot brandy, since it doesn't appear to be available in any Nova Scotian liquor stores (in comparison, NLC had several different brands to choose from -- obviously Newfoundlanders like their apricot brandy). By the fall, my thinking had evolved and instead of pairing the ganache with marzipan, I decided to pair it with apricot jam to brighten and emphasize the apricot flavour. Featuring a dark chocolate shell decorated with copper edible luster dust, the final product had a dollop of apricot jam encased in apricot brandy ganache. And while I only got to try one of them before packaging, I think the jam was the right decision to create a burst of flavour. I was thrilled with the results -- a true homage to Honora. 

After filling 30 shells with apricot brandy ganache, I found myself with enough ganache to make another 20 truffles, and so I piped and rolled and hand-enrobed those as well. They were paired with the remaining peanut butter meltaways to create smaller treat boxes. While the truffles hit a little different than the pralines, due to the absence of the apricot jam, they still pack a flavour punch. 

I'm very pleased with how this year's assortment turned out. I think it's some of my best work, not only in terms of the flavours, but also in terms of the execution. This is the first year that I've nailed the temper of my chocolate for every piece that I produced. And I finally feel like I'm getting the hang of hand-rolling truffles. 

Hopefully those lucky enough to receive these boxes enjoyed them. Chocolate made in truly small batch quantities is qualitatively different from that which is mass-produced. And every piece is a labour of love. 

The best things really do come in small packages. 

Chocolate Inspiration

About a month ago, I saw a several of my coworkers leaving campus with beautiful gift boxes that smelled heavenly -- presents from a partnership meeting that occurred earlier in the day. I admit I was mildly jealous. I'd been in marathon meetings for what seemed like weeks, but there were no presents to be had. Then, just as I was packing up for the day, a colleague popped by my office and gave me her gift box. I was thrilled -- especially when I opened it to find inside a selection of beautifully aromatic spices. I promised that I would put them to good use making curries. I had one particular curry in mind -- Restaurant Style Egg Masala Curry (do yourself a favour and make this -- watch the video here). 

What my colleague didn't know was that only a week earlier, I had been at Bulk Barn looking at spices and was utterly horrified by the price of cardamom pods. I knew I was getting low, but decided to take a pass in the hope that I would find a more economical source (knowing, of course, that I'd likely end up back at Bulk Barn in a few weeks buying them there anyway). 

Only I didn't! Inside this beautiful gift box were cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and black peppercorns. The scent was magnificent. 

It took me a few weeks to get some new spice jars for my growing collection and then I set about separating the peppercorns from the cloves, since they had mingled during transport. And as I stood there engaged in some aromatherapy, my mind wandered from curry to chai. And then it hit me. Sure, this spice stash promised many delicious meals and beverages in the future, but it also could serve as chocolate inspiration. 

"Think. Think. Think," I urged my brain, channeling my inner (Winnie the) Pooh Bear. Clove would be overpowering. Usually pink peppercorns are the preferred pairing for chocolate. Cardamom...

Cardamom! Member of the ginger family. I was sure I'd seen a cardamom praline before and so I took to Google to confirm. Sure enough, several chocolatiers offer cardamom chocolate combinations in a variety of forms -- bars, drinking chocolate, pralines. And given that these warm spices are so closely associated with Christmas, my mind leapt to the idea of using this flavour combination for my annual four-piece box. 

And so the die is cast. It's now my goal to develop an orange cardamom truffle this fall when my chocolate laboratory reopens. While I've seen a few recipes that call for Grand Marnier with cardamom, I suspect that the boozy flavour might overpower the delicate spice. Instead, my plan is to infuse cream using the cardamom pods and some orange zest, and then prepare a dark chocolate ganache for hand-rolled truffles. 

One piece down, three to go!

Returning to Chocolate

I've been on hiatus from blogging for longer than I realized. It was surprising to log in this morning and see 2018 as the year of my last post. In 2023, I'm hoping to get back into blogging and trying new chocolate techniques, which was a focus of my writing in 2018 when I did my professional chocolatier course. 

The inspiration for this reorientation came late last year. As I was planning my four-piece chocolate box for the year, I turned to Ewald Notter's The Art of the Chocolatier and found a recipe for a cointreau truffle that used butter instead of cream. I decided to try it. I made a half batch and was thrilled with the results -- the ganache was easy to work with and the shelf life would be longer than one made with cream. 

I scooped the centres, refined the shape into a sphere, and then rolled them by hand in two coats of tempered chocolate. They were delicious. 

But while I had followed Notter's recipe, I didn't attempt his method, which called for piping the ganache onto a chocolate disc and then dipping the piece into tempered chocolate. The resulting truffle would have a sort of peaked dome shape. I didn't have the time to experiment with this technique before Christmas, but made a mental note that I should try it in the new year.

The cointreau truffle joined a spiced molasses honeycomb toffee enrobed in chocolate, a salted caramel enrobed in milk chocolate, and a white chocolate fruit and nut cup featuring dried cranberries and pistachios. I packaged 24 boxes to give out to family, friends, and colleagues. They were a hit.

Over Christmas, I reflected on my chocolate training, as well as my desire to continue learning new techniques and to maintain what I've already learned. I decided that the best way to do this wouldn't be to register in another course, but to commit to self-directed study. Notter's book is the assigned reading for Monday nights going forward. And I'm excited to try new recipes and techniques in the not-so-distant future!

And that means, I hope, the return of this blog.

Happy 2023!