Saturday Sacrament, May 9, 2009

Monica Chocolates sent us two offerings to try, Sisters and Brothers. The first your Chocolate Priestess will reveal to you is the "Raspberry Wine Truffles," which came in a 6 count box that you see to the right. These are one of seven flavors of truffles you can get from Monica's.

Upon opening the box, the scent of dark chocolate hit me hard; after a few minutes in close proximity to these offerings my eyes were starting to glaze over, suggesting this would be a very, very good potential Sacrament for us to consider. Each piece is very round, measuring almost 1.5 inches across the base and rising another 1.5 inches high, with a crosshatch pattern on top.

These are fairly simple in terms of ingredients: bittersweet chocolate, dried raspberries, raspberry wine, cream, corn syrup, and butter are the only materials used to make them. I could not find any nutritional information on the website, and none was included, so exercise moderation.

Picking up one, I take a deep whiff and can only smell cocoa. Figuring out how to take a bite is a bit of a trick, given its circumference, so I take a nibble from the bottom first. The ganache breaks softly, and the rest of the truffle starts to collapse in my fingers. This first bite is only dark chocolate, really, and it sends an immediate buzz from my tongue and mouth up to my head and down into my chest.

The second bit is smooth except for these little crunches and pieces that I assume are the raspberries, which always have little seeds. These make an interesting texture, and though this flavor is not my favorite, it blends very well with the cocoa. The chocolate lingers on my palate for several moments while the fruit flavor dissipates, though the seeds remain, fighting to stay on my teeth.

I rinse my mouth with water and try another bite, this one with more of the coating. This third bite is the same as the second in terms of quality, though pieces of the ganache are falling off because it is a thin layer, so you get mostly the creamy filling with these truffles.

Each truffle is between 5-6 bites depending on how much you want to take. The cocoa rush builds up, as do the slightly annoying seeds on my teeth. For people who love raspberries, this will be no problem at all but simply part of the joy of eating the berries. You must like raspberries to enjoy these, so consider that when thinking about flavors. Personally the other six flavors sound more enjoyable to me, but these "Raspberry Wine Truffles" were good, had a nice blend of flavors, and delivered the cocoa rush consistently. Monica Chocolates has succeeded with their offering.

Sisters and Brothers, may you too take the time to slowly appreciate what the Divine and human ingenuity have offered you in chocolate.