I was recently contacted by Gail Ambrosius Chocolatier in Madison, WI because she wanted to send me her latest truffle collection -- The Parisian Praline Collection. I had been sent some of her truffles for review last year and thought they were wonderful, so I was happy to be sent this new collection for review.
The collection consists of four different truffles, all molded and with dark chocolate shells. The flavors are inspired by the chocolate shops of Paris. I sampled three of the four flavors (I would have happily sampled the fourth, but it was not gluten free.) All the chocolates were beautiful, well tempered, had a lovely thin chocolate shell and were very fresh.
Pecan -- This truffle contains pecan butter, candied toasted pecans, applewood-smoked sea salt and milk and dark chocolate. This was my absolute favorite and I could eat these every day! The pecans were fresh, very flavorful and nutty. The salt was subtle and really brought out the flavor of the chocolate and the overall texture was crunchy and almost flaky. This was not a sweet truffle, but rather beautifully balanced.
Pistachio Bomb -- A wonderful combination of sweet and spicy -- lime zest, white chocolate, chili verde salt and a whole toasted pistachio make up the filling here. Fresh, tangy and with the perfect hint of heat. This truffle was a close second for me.
Orange Almond -- A much more solid filling, this truffle consists of crushed candied almond, marzipan, chopped orange peel and spices. The solid center is nutty, with a hint of orange and a background of warm spice. A lovely addition to the collection.
The only flavor I did not sample was the Hazelnut, which has a center of hazelnut butter, crushed buckwheat crepes and milk chocolate. I'm sure this one would have been a hit with me!
This collection is wonderful and all pieces I sampled were beautifully made and wonderfully fresh and flavorful. You can read more about this collection at the Gail Ambrosius website.
