Here’s part 2 of my re-review of French Broad Chocolates (part 1 ran on Monday). This review is on fresh truffles sent from French Broad Chocolates as free samples, while the original ones (part 1 and part 2) were on truffles purchased at A Southern Season, a candy reseller.
Canela Picante was described as “cayenne pepper, cinnamon, and 73% cacao bittersweet chocolate.” Alas, its outer chile dusting didn’t stay put and migrated to some of my other truffles, lending them some extra heat. You can see it in the close-up of the pomegranate ginger below.
I usually love chile chocolate, but?I wasn’t able to handle more than one bite of this truffle. It was just too spicy and left me in tongue-tingling pain.
If you have more heat mojo, you may like this, but it was too much for me. An O for the experience, but it’s not one I would want to repeat.
Pomegranate ginger was described as “bright pomegranate reduction, ginger, coconut oil, and dark chocolate.” It was topped with a bit of candied ginger.
I loved the intensely bright and tart initial flavor of this truffle. It reminded me of fresh, tangy red fruits, like cranberry or pomegranate juice.
That juiciness persisted throughout the ganache’s melt instead of immediately dissipating. It finally disappeared near the end, letting the chocolate come through.
I didn’t get any ginger flavors here except for when I ate the topper, but I loved the?pomegranate?side. An OMG.
Finally, the maple was “maple syrup, sweet butter, and a blend of dark and milk chocolates. Covered with milk chocolate, sprinkled with smoked sea salt.”
This ganache was thinner than the rest with a smooth, cool melt that was pleasant on the tongue. There were light maple undertones to its sweetness.
My favorite part of this truffle was that added sea salt. It added a light, smokiness to the semisweet ganache and made for a great chocolate and salt finish.
The salty sweet balance was just perfect in this truffle, so perfect that I managed to forget to photograph the cross-section while I ate them. Another OMG.
French Broad Chocolates is doing some great work. I’d buy them again if I could get them fresh, and if I ever make it to Asheville, I will be sure to visit their shop in person.
As for A Southern Season, I’ve learned my lesson and will stick to their chocolate bars rather than shopping at their truffle bar. Because who knows how long those truffles have been sitting their, losing their flavors?
Varsha