Infusion Series: Spearmint Chocolate Truffles
For the past two Summers we have run a delightful Spearmint chocolate truffle. As a child I was a big fan of Andes Candies. These little mint chocolate squares we’re just a favorite. Then over time I started finding that I had a mild allergic reaction to them. Maybe too much of a good thing, maybe the ingredients shifted into something cheaper and that created the issue. Whatever the case I could no longer have something I really enjoyed.
Until The Secret Chocolatier that is!
The Mint Monster
Our Spearmint is something we can easily source locally. It has a very fast and very aggressive growth here in the South and a dear friend of the family, Anita Skogland, allows us entry into her beautiful garden to cut back her voracious mint plant as needed.
If the mint goes too crazy for her, we’ve even been greeted with a giant bag of it at the door!
Extracting the Minty Goodness
Like preparing a quality mojito or mint julep bruising the mint before we steep it in cream helps get the full essence out of the mint. We let it steep for a few hours depending on how much ganache we are preparing. Our goal is to have the mint be strong enough to remember the leaf but not so overpowering that it blots out the chocolate. It’s very important to strive for a balance in your flavor combinations.
Spearmint during the Summer, Peppermint (or as we call it Pep-O-Mint) during the Winter are some delicious cooling and enjoyable mints we use in our infusion series. We hope you can grab one and enjoy the flavor at a market, regional retail partners or if you’re far from us–let us ship you a box!