The Chocolate Box — See’s Piece by Piece #30 — Café Hazelnut Truffle
This is Part One of See’s Piece by Piece’s exploration of See’s Candies’ coffee flavored truffles. This week, The Chocolate Box tastes the Café Hazelnut Truffle.
First, some true confessions. You should know that I have a bias for coffee flavored chocolates. If you do not share this quirk, please take that into account. Second, I ate the test subject before I could capture the image, so the only illustration of this candy will be a grainy blow up cropped from a box of truffles shown on the See’s website.
Tasting Report:
Description: Oops, I did it again. I picked a candy that is sold by the piece at the See’s stores and not available as part of the “custom mix” on the website. However, the Café Hazelnut Truffle is available through the website as part of a truffle assortment.
The milk chocolate covered truffle is a rectangle about an inch long and sports slanting, dark chocolate stripes on the top. A faint coffee aroma emanates from it, just a hint of what’s to come once you bite into the truffle. The inside is a soft, dark tawny-colored creamy paste with tiny bits of nuts.
Taste: With your very first bite of the Café Hazelnut Truffle, you’ll wake up and smell the coffee. Once the candy’s chocolate cocoon is punctured, out wafts a scent that’s reminiscent of a pot of espresso. While the coffee flavor is not subtle, the hazelnut flavor is. The hazelnuts add a light, praline-like note that almost heightens the coffee experience. The only taming influence is the milk chocolate which, until it melts away, softens the taste of the truffle. While the coffee taste is strong, I didn’t find it harsh or bitter, and the candy’s sweetness was well balanced.
See’s Trivia: See’s offers a variety of coffee and chocolate combinations featuring Columbian coffee. The Milk Chocolate Mocha Buttercream, a relatively milder coffee experience, was rated a 9+ in a previous See’s Piece by Piece. Watch for the Café Au Lait Truffle next week. The Kona Mocha Truffle has a white chocolate coating. See’s also is known for its Café Latte flavored lollypops and sucking candies.
Ingredients: Sugar, chocolate, cream, milk, filbert paste, cocoa butter, corn syrup, coffee, salt, soy lecithin, vanilla, vanillin
Well Fed Network Rating: As compared to other See’s Candies, I’d rate the Café Hazelnut an 8.5 out of a possible 10. Pros: Wonderful coffee taste. Cons: Not for those who don’t like their coffee (candy) strong. Could use more of a chocolate and hazelnut punch.
