Tag: Bonbons

L is for Laphroaig

Imagine the intensity of 100% cacao, a chocolate without ANY sugar! Next, imagine the intensity a Laphroaig Single Malt Scotch Whisky, which is known to be smoky and peaty. Now, what if you combined those two very polarizing flavors?! These Mademoiselle Miel smoked honey bon-bons with scotch will blow your mind! 🤯

Thanks to Susan Brown (aka Madamoiselle Miel) for sending me a couple of sets of these bonbons for this Alphabet project. My apologies for not tasting them sooner, but I can assure you they were still SO VIBRANTLY flavored!

I enjoyed learning that Susan, who is both a beekeeper and an award winning chocolatier, collects honey from rooftop hives throughout the Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota). If you’d like to learn more about Susan and Mademoiselle Miel, here is the link to a Well Tempered podcast episode.

Let me be honest, I’m not a big fan of unsweetened chocolate…it’s a little overwhelming for my palate. Scotch whisky, especially one that is smoky/peaty, won’t be at the top of my wish list either. BUT WOW, combining those two ingredients together is a revelation.

These bonbons are like tiny jewels unto themselves. Just look at how the edible, copper colored lustre dust shimmers in the sunlight.

Popping one of these morsels in your mouth is a multi-layered experience. The thin, bitter outer shell easily gives way to the semi-liquid center. The honey is smoked over sweet hickory wood and then paired with the Laphroaig. Not sure if the mouthfeel is supposed to be slightly grainy/crystallized; maybe it’s because I waited a little too long or perhaps that’s just what happens when alcohol interacts with honey. The comparatively sweet center disappears quickly and the smoky/leathery taste coats your palate. The flavors linger and there is a short-lived astringency/drying of the mouth once the chocolate is gone.

With 3 more bonbons left, now I’m curious to pair them with a dram of Laphroaig. Wish me luck! 😲

According to a Laphroaig timeline, their whisky was “officially” born in 1815 when they decided that it was more cost effective to distill alcohol than raise cattle. Check out their website to learn more about their products.

If there is a whisky or chocolate lover in your life, might I remind you that Valentine’s Day is just around the corner! ❤️

Visit https://www.mademoisellemiel.com/ to get some. Let me know your thoughts if you do!

Slàinte or Cheers on this Thirsty Thursday!

F is for Fernet

Oh, the things we do for this Alphabet project…and by *we* (in this case), I mean both my “anything can be found on the internet if you try hard enough” boyfriend as well as Jess (aka Dessert Geek), the most intrepid and knowledgeable vlogger I know.

About a decade ago, I was introduced to fernet by someone I was dating at the time. He mentioned that it was an acquired taste, but that bartenders and restaurant industry types swore by this liqueur for an end of a long shift pick-me-up. I was game to taste it & instantly hated it the moment I took a sniff, let alone when it touched my lips! That initial disgust faded from memory such that I was genuinely eager to feature fernet as part of this project, the only issue was actually finding it combined with chocolate!

A couple of months ago, a mysterious package arrived addressed to me & I noticed that the shipping origin was a company in Italy. I know I probably should have waited until my boyfriend visited that weekend before snooping since he was secretly so proud of himself for saving the day yet again…but, I couldn’t help myself. Not patient enough to be surprised, I googled the business name (Dulcioliva) & discovered that they have a licensing partnership with Fratelli Branca Distillerie and make fernet branca bonbons! I excitedly called up my boyfriend profusely thanking him for finding my elusive alcohol-related chocolate & he was perplexed as to how I knew that information or that the box had come from him. ;-p

Since it’s always better to have options rather than to be left empty-handed, Jess was simultaneously working her magic with Intrigue Chocolate Company, because she remembered in the past they had made fernet flavored truffles. I ended up receiving THE LAST ONE in existence!

What is fernet, you might ask? Well, the simple answer is that it’s a type of amaro, a bitter and aromatic spirit. Fernet Branca happens to be one of the most popular brands of fernet.

According to the Ultimate Bar Book: The Comprehensive Guide to Over 1,000 Cocktails by Mittie Hellmich, fernet branca is “[a] slightly peppermint-accented bitter [that] is enjoyed not only as an aperitif to stimulate the appetite, but also as a digestif that is highly regarded as a hangover cure, settling digestive distress. A deep brown liquid with an extremely aggressive flavor made from 40 herbs and spices.” The exact recipe is a trade secret known only to the generations of the Branca family who have made this liqueur in Milan, Italy since 1845.

While taking photos yesterday, I decided to re-acquaint myself with fernet. It smells and tastes like Pine Sol or an antiseptic mouthwash. WHY do people like drinking this intensely resinous concoction?!

However, did you know that this liqueur has a cult-like following in Argentina? Fernet con coca (or Fernando) is essentially that nation’s unofficial drink, making them one of the biggest consumers of Coca Cola in the world!

Now for the chocolate tastings…

First up, Intrigue Chocolate’s Fernet & Ginger truffle:

The truffle is roughly the size of a Starburst candy, but WOW looks can be deceiving. This tiny morsel is creamy, unctuous, fudgey, buttery and quick to melt on the tongue. It’s like a flourless cake that can be devoured in just a single bite.

Lucky for me, the ginger flavor dominates this chocolate and has none of the intense pine notes that are the hallmark to fernet.

Next, is the cioccolatino al Fernet-Branca from Italy:

The individually wrapped, half dome bonbons all arrived slightly bloomed, but that’s merely a cosmetic defect.

Your teeth sink effortlessly through the thick chocolate shell to the generous amount of dense and lightly boozy ganache.

Again, thankfully this bonbon has obliterated fernet’s signature taste until the very end when there is a burst of bitterness as the melted chocolate slides down your throat.

I’m very glad to have featured this unique alcohol as part of the Eating the Chocolate Alphabet project, but NOW what am I going to do with the rest of the mostly full bottle? Any takers?! 😆

D is for Disaronno

{Note from Trish at ETCA: This post is LONG overdue. I really should have written this more than 2 months ago; however, for the second year in a row, June was an AWFUL month for me personally. I appreciate your patience during the hiatus & please imagine this was written earlier.}

Up until a few weeks ago, I was fully prepared to skip this letter of the Alphabet until I could find a suitable alcohol-related chocolate. Then, one evening, I received an urgent text message from my boyfriend with a link to a company that would be able to supply me with the chocolate of my dreams: DISARONNO! [cue a choir of angels singing!]

Even though it was well past bedtime, I hurried downstairs to my laptop to place an order. I needed those bonbons like yesterday since my conscience couldn’t let me move forward with the Alphabet without them. I explained my project in the “notes” section of the order system and the next day I received the nicest of notes from Barbara and Terri (the “Ba” and “Ter” of BaTer Chocolates in Goldvein, Virginia).

They took extra precautions with packaging and shipping to ensure that these tiny gems, carefully nestled in an oversized jewelry box, arrive intact!

It wasn’t until I opened the box that I learned the mission and purpose behind these chocolates:

As you can see, in a dream they were guided to create a company that would support women in need; a way for those women to make better life choices by working for a company that could empower them.

It makes sense for them to include a crown, since their tagline is “Eat Like Royalty,” but they also honor that founding dream by including a cross as part of their logo on the vellum tasting sheet.

Scrolling down the legend, I noticed the name associated with this particular bonbon and wondered why are they calling this one “Saronno” when all the others had cute nicknames?! All of a sudden (well, it dawned on me after seeing the country of origin on the namesake bottle’s label); I realized that, in Italian, “Disaronno” meant “of or from the city of Saronno” where this alcohol has been made since 1525!

The Disaronno website provides a timeline of how this unique Italian liqueur’s legend began during the Renaissance. They dropped the “amaretto” part of their description in 2001 as a way to distinguish themselves from other competitors and their label proudly states that this is “The world’s favorite Italian liqueur.”

On a relatively cool summer day (at least by Southern California standards), I took these bonbons out to my backyard for their photo shoot along with a bottle of the liqueur I had acquired at a local shop.

You probably won’t notice this detail, so I’ll mention it to you, I’ve arranged the 3 bonbons into the Braille letter “D”! Pretty clever, if I say so myself :-p

Biting into the thin chocolate domed shell, the boozy/creamy/whipped liquor filling couldn’t wait to escape…I was almost unable to capture the perfect cross section photo!

Since then, I’ve discovered a new technique: putting the whole bonbon in my mouth to “collapse” (or sandwich) the morsel, letting the filling ooze into my mouth instead of onto the plate. It’s boozy, sweet and nutty all at the same time + the thicker chocolate base melts slowly on the tongue.

The alcohol on its own smells enticingly of almonds & can be added to cocktails or served neat. Personally, I prefer it as part of a chocolate treat since there’s no “back of the throat” burn on the finish.

Have YOU tried Disaronno? Leave me a comment to let me know!

Interested in learning more about BaTer and order goodies for yourself? Then, please visit their website at: https://www.baterchocolates.com/ or their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BaTerChocolates/

To Barbara & Terri: your warmth, generosity and EXCEPTIONAL customer service throughout the process make me smile to this day! If I could give you a hug, I would! Please accept this post as my way of thanking you for everything you did for me to make sure my project could move forward!

P.S. In the months to come, you’ll see more of those bonbons since the set includes other crucial letters of the Alphabet.

Cheers on this “Thirsty Thursday”!