Probably not fresh or organic either . . .
How do I make my champagne sparkling wine truffles (don’t want any irate Frenchies arresting me for my loose terminology) remind the palate of those delightfully romantic bubbles? Though the taste of the champag, er, sparkling wine does infuse the ganache with a wonderful richness and dynamic layering of flavors, it unfortunately loses its bubbles during truffle production.
So I set my mind to finding some way of translating the bubbles through alternate means . . . and my mind immediately went to Pop Rocks!
Oh how I used to adore these strange little bits of magic. I’d mix them in my cereal, put them on buttered toast, put them in my juice; you name it, I put Pop Rocks there (well, not in/on everything . . . ). So of course, I thought of Pop Rocks.
So I tried topping some of the experimental batch with a few fruity Pop Rocks, along with the obligatory dash of salt. I then placed the truffle salt side down on my tongue to taste-test the creation and . . . wow! Bubbles! No really, the candy popped in my mouth and gave me the sensation of sparkling flavors erupting in my mouth. How cool!
But then I remembered my commitment to creating truffles without preservatives from all natural and local ingredients. Dang it!
So I checked the Pop Rocks website to see if by the off-chance they are produced in Healdsburg using ingredients from a local farm. Um yeah . . . no dice (apropos, I did enjoy reading about why they pop).
I have to say, I was still tempted. I mean, it’s such a small part of the truffle; just one or two for garnish. But then I remembered why I made the commitment to use fresh ingredients and poured the rest of the Pop Rocks down my throat (had to get rid of the evidence). Fresh local ingredients just plain taste the best. If I spend all this time toiling away, hand-rolling, hand-dipping, and hand-garnishing, each and every truffle, shouldn’t I want to make sure the ingredients I’m using are the best? At the end of the day, my truffles will only taste as good as the raw ingredients I use.
So, though this week’s Sparkling Raspberry truffle may not have the pop of bubbles, it still tastes decadently delicious and oh-so-fresh. Not much of a sacrifice after all 🙂 Stop by the Occidental Farmers Market to try a sample!
Salt Side Down Chocolates Blog 