Wine Country Chocolates: Chocolate Cocoa Nib Truffles.
"Ganache" means "fool", a chef's rebuke to an apprentice who mistakenly added cream to a batch of melting chocolate. The mixture turned out to be delightful and the name stuck. Don't confuse it with the widely planted red wine varietal: Grenache.
One bottle of wine makes about 60 truffles.
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Butter, Cream and Chocolate!
Wine Country Chocolates
December 5, 2008
How about a mouth-watering end to your next at home wine tasting party? Betty and Caroline Kelly, a mother-daughter team of chocolatiers, offer a fresh, delicious choice: a vintner's blend of cab, zin, port or champagne truffles. The key to their success, "Butter, Cream, and Chocolate" explains Kelly. And as the Minute 00:60 experienced, hard work and TLC.
Each day they blend fresh dairy cream, butter and chocolate to make a rich ganache. Chocolate is sourced from two Northern California manufacturers: Guittard Chocolate Company and Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker. The ganache is infused with one of 23 flavors, including Sonoma and Napa wines. Ordinarily a ganache is just dusted with cocoa powder, but Betty's are wrapped in a luscious layer of dark chocolate, with no preservatives or waxes.
If kept cool, the truffles last up to three weeks. But we recon the chance of them surviving uneaten that long are nil. Ordering through the firm's web site is easy. Signing up for the winery-like Truffle Club will land you at least a box of truffles a month.
The shop in Glen Ellen, according to Betty, is Sonoma Valley's first chocolate tasting room. Stop by and watch Betty hand craft these delights, one by one. We especially liked the truffles shaped like pumpkins with notes of spicy pumpkin pie.
For a special gift or party favor, bring a bottle of your favorite wine and have Betty blend it into one-of-a-kind truffles just for you. Full bodied reds and late harvest wines work best.
Wine Country Chocolates
14301 Arnold Drive
Glen Ellen, CA 95442
Phone: 707 996-1010
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