Sugar Savvy

Living in coastal California, I see lemon trees everywhere and once had a Meyer lemon tree to call my own. Alas, that house was a rental and we never got around to planting our own lemon tree, very pretty, at this house.

California grows most of the commercial lemons available in the United States and supplies about a third of the world with the tartly sweet, mouth-puckering fruit. While lemons are harvested all year, one of the fruit’s seasonal spikes is in May. (For more lemon facts click here.)

No wonder it seems like I’ve been seeing lemons everywhere from on the street where I live to piles like heaps of golden treasure in the markets. That and my fondness for the lemon’s lively taste made me want to try a new-to-me See’s Candies variety for The Chocolate Box. Just in time for Mother’s Day, I can recommend the See’s Lemon Truffle.asting Report

Description: The Lemon Truffle is described by See’s as having a “rich lemon chiffon buttercream” filling. It is a rounded triangularly shaped candy, somewhat like a lemon with one end flattened or a heart shape without the indent. Its chocolate covering is a deeper color than See’s milk chocolate but not as deep as the dark chocolate, and it is covered with a delicate white chocolate netting. The inside is a smooth, pale yellow with a nice lemon aroma. It is piece number 31 on the website and in the catalog.

Truffles are See’s “gourmet” line of chocolate candies.

Taste: Light and lively from the first bite, with a distinctive lemon tingle, the filling and its chocolate covering go well together with the deeper, warmer chocolate notes smoothing out the slight sharpness of the citrus. At first bite, I thought we might have a new contender for best in box, but then the filling’s sweetness came into play. The candy is just sweeter than it needs to be. I wish See’s had trusted its chocolate to do the job of taming the fruit’s tartness. However, the sweetness was not overwhelming, just distracting from the clean, cool, flavor of lemons and lemon zest.

See’s Trivia: Each of See’s truffles has a distinctive pattern of white chocolate lace or a topping of nuts and chocolate. Which means, with practice, you can tell them apart before you bite.

Ingredients: Sugar, chocolate, cream, milk, cocoa butter, lemon concentrate, corn syrup, butter, freeze-dried lemon, salt, soy lecithin, vanilla, vanillin

Well Fed Network Rating: As compared to other See’s Candies, I would rate the Lemon Truffle as an 8.75 on a scale of one to 10. Pros: Real lemon flavor almost makes you pucker up when you suddenly get a wonderful chocolate kiss to balance everything out. Cons: This sweet is a bit too sweet, which affects its ranking.
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Photo credit: www.sees.com