Playing with Chocolate

Last week I had the opportunity to play with chocolate with a new friend, Shari. I am working on a new flavor, lavender, and Shari had some ideas for me. To make my lavender truffle, I have infused the dried lavender flowers into the cream. This is done by steeping the cream with the flowers and letting it sit for about 10 minutes. The flowers are then strained out and the cream is added to the chocolate. The whole beautiful combination is stirred until all of the chocolate is melted. Then a bit of butter is added to enhance the smoothness of the truffle. Shari thought that this would be a good time to add lavender essence to boost the flavor. It was a strong addition.

It made me think about my taste palette. I have always worked at making my truffles delicious, but I have steered away from flavors that will be so strong that the chocolate gets lost in the flavor. My chocolate philosophy is to enhance the flavor of the chocolate and not overpower it. Sometimes, it's a very subtle difference.

While we were playing with flavor combinations, we also tried adding blood orange essense to bittersweet chocolate. This was a great combination. The orange could be tasted and smelled, but it didn't overpower.

I am thinking about creating a dairy free truffle and we played with different ways of substituting for both the cream and the butter. We used a nut based product called Mimiccream and coconut oil to replace the butter. I was curious about adding saffron to the dark chocolate. This was a very complex truffle flavor combination. Our flavors weren't quite right, but we felt like we were on to something and I will definately be playing with those flavors more.

What a wonderful time. Thanks, Shari!

Yours in chocolate,

Emily
The Truffle Lady

Chocolate Covered stawberries

Chocolate covered strawberries are a great way to say thank you or I love you to a special someone. If you don't have time to make a batch of truffles, try making some chocolate covered strawberries. It's easy! This is what you need:

about 8 oz. of melting chocolate (I suggest Bakers semi sweet chocolate baking bars), a box of large strawberries cleaned and patted dry (pull out any soft strawberries and use for another dish), a cookie sheet lined with wax paper, and an microwave safe medium bowl.

Break up the chocolate and put it into a clean microwave safe bowl. Put it into the microwave on power 8 for 1 minute. Stir. Repeat for 30 second intervals at power 5 until the chocolate is fully melted.

Take the strawberries and holding them delicately at the top (not by the greens) dip them into the chocolate about 3/4 of the way in. The idea is to leave some of the red from the strawberry show. Let the extra chocolate drip back into the bowl and place very delicately onto the wax paper lined cookie sheet. Continue until all of the strawberries are dipped!

If you have left over chocolate, find some yummies from your pantry that you might like to dip into the chocolate. Here are some examples: graham crackers or your favorite cookies, pretzels, potato chips, marshmallows, dried apricots. The list can go on and on so be creative and have fun!!

And of course, let me know if you have any questions.

Yours in chocolate!

Emily Marcovitz
The Truffle Lady

Put some "sin" in your truffle

The winner of the most recent truffle naming contest is Sharon of Reisterstown. Her winning name is Almond Sin-amon! We thought it was to the point while adding some fun to the title. Let me know if you would like to try this new flavor, maybe a nice early summer gift just for you!

Order your Almond Sin-amon truffles by visiting the website at Emily.

Yours in chocolate,

Emily
The Truffle Lady

Cinnamon Almond Truffle Naming Contest

It's time for another truffle naming contest. This new flavor is made with bittersweet chocolate, almond paste and cinnamon in the ganache. On the outside is more bittersweet chocolate and chopped almonds on top. It is not a very sweet truffle, but a very rich truffle that will be enjoyed by those that love dark chocolate.

Now is the fun part for you!

To enter the truffle contest, send an email with your truffle flavor name to yummy@TrufflesByEmily.com Make sure to include your name. Please, limit your entries to 2 per person. I will be taking truffle flavor names until 8pm Wednesday, June 4th.

The contest will be judged by a select group of truffle eaters. The names of the submitters will be kept anonymous to them. I will post the winning entry here on my blog by Friday, June 6th.

The winner of the contest will receive a FREE 10 piece box of this new flavor delivered (if local.) If the winning entry comes from someone out of the local delivery area, that person will be shipped a 10 piece box at the earliest time that shipping is resumed. (Truffles by Emily does not ship in warm weather months.) In the event of multiple entries of a winning flavor, the prize will go to the first person to submit the entry.

One note of advice, the name should give some indication of what flavors the person is about to eat.

Email any questions to emily@trufflesbyemily.com.

Have fun and good luck!

Emily
The Truffle Lady

Cool Networking

One of the things that I love about having a small business is the wonderful people that I've met in my networking encounters. I started going to networking meetings in Howard County with a friend who owns her own business. This wonderful group is called Mom's Inc. This organization was founded by a woman named Nancy Daniels. It meets in Clarksville and is set up as a networking/support group that meets monthly. The group is friendly towards women with children and has it's meetings in the daytime. Check out their website for more info. on location and meeting times.
Lisa Jo Finstrom was so excited about Mom's Inc. that she started a Mom's Inc. group in Bethesda. Check out their website for info. on members and meeting times and location.

Yihung Mohs of Dream Dinners in Cloverly also started coming to Mom's Inc. in Howard County and decided to start a group closer to her home and business. It is Mom's Inc. in Silver Spring and it just celebrated it's one year anniversary.

The women that come to these networking meetings have diverse businesses. If you or someone you know owns a small business feel free to come and visit a meeting. There is no charge to attend a meeting. This is a non-profit organization. Attendies are highly encouraged to join the chapter after the third visit. Annual dues are minimal and go towards meeting costs.

Yours in chocolate,

Emily
The Truffle Lady

Upcoming with Truffles by Emily

Couture and Confection
On April 26th at Cloverly Day in Silver Springs, MD, Truffles by Emily will be selling 4 piece boxes of truffles in a handmade cigar purse. This collaboration with Kimberlee Billok of Custom Gift Basket Design will be available for purchase. This FREE event will be held in front of Dream Dinners at the corner of Briggs Cheney Road and New Hampshire Avenue from 11-3.

Your purse and truffles can be purchased through Mother's Day, email Emily for more details.

Made for Mom A Mother's Day Special
On May 10th from 1-3 pm, come to Dream Dinners Cloverly Street with your kids and make truffles, dinner and a creative card. Age 5 and up welcome (with a parent). Cost is $10 and up. RSVP to CloverlyStreetMD@dreamdinners.com.

Bloomin Arts Fest
This Annual Craft Festival will be held on Saturday, May 31st from 10-5. It is located on the grounds of Franklin Middle School on Reisterstown Road in Reisterstown. Truffles by Emily will be there selling truffles and sampling new flavors and creations. Come and visit and have a free sample and enjoy springtime in Reisterstown.

Chocolate and Herbs Workshop
Have you ever wanted to make your own truffles? Have you ever wanted to taste chocolate infused with lavender? Are you looking for something fun to do with your friends? If you have answered yes to any of these questions, then come to this fun workshop on June 8th at Blue Heron Wellness in Silver Spring. This event will take place at 1:30. More details to come!

Need a quick delicious gift, check out Joshua's Garden Gift Shop in Reisterstown. They are now carrying boxes of Truffles by Emily. They are open Thursday-Sunday 11-4. Call 410- 517- 0200 for directions.

See you soon!

Yours in chocolate,

Emily
The Truffle Lady

New Crunch Product

So, I had a request for an even healthier alternative to the Crunch Munch. Crunch Munch is made with Corn Chex cereal. Today I made a version using Wheat Chex. The texture is different and it is much crunchier. I'm trying to determine if this is a snack that appeals to my customers. Please, let me know what you think!

I'm working hard in the kitchen, infusing herbs into chocolate and getting ready for some new food adventures.

Yours in chocolate,

Emily
The Truffle Lady