Teuscher Boston: Dark Chocolate Caramel Truffle

As with the dark chocolate buttercrunch, a dark chocolate caramel truffle found its way into my box at the Boston Teuscher shop because I’d been impressed with the milk chocolate version in my assortment from Chicago.

Given that this truffle was from Teuscher, the outside featured that full-flavored, smooth dark chocolate that is the signature of the dark chocolate Teuscher creations. Intriguingly, it seemed to also have a bit of a vanilla undertone.

Inside, I found a silky smooth ganache that was also dark chocolate based, and was unfortunately just a bit too soft for the outer shell, which snapped away from the interior. Another disappointing aspect of the filling was that the caramel taste was not very apparent, as the dark chocolate flavor dominated the entire truffle. While the dark chocolate of the shell and the ganache was flavorful and high-quality, the caramel flavor was too subtle for this truffle to be much more than a simple high-quality dark chocolate truffle. In this case, I think I like the milk chocolate version better.

Vosges Caramels: Tarte

One of the more intriguing-sounding caramels in the Vosges exotic caramel box I picked up was the Tarte caramel, which includes blood orange and hibiscus powder.

The caramel itself is coated with dark chocolate, and sprinkled with some very tart hibiscus powder that adds another delicious dimension to the treat.

Inside is a caramel with a bit of a tart kick that is just sweet enough to contrast the super-tart exterior dusting and dark chocolate coating. Texture-wise, the caramel is a bit chewier than I personally like, but not excessively so, and the dark chocolate is soft enough that the two meld together perfectly in each bite. The combination of tart, sweet, and chocolate is spot on, and the texture contrast is nearly perfect as well. By far my favorite caramel from this collection, which I regret to report I have polished off completely.

Vosges Caramels: Crema

Since I thoroughly enjoyed the Vosges Dulce de Leche truffle, I was very excited about trying out the Crèma caramel, which involved dulce de leche caramel. They had to be similar, no?

There are cashews on top of the milk chocolate, which was the first similarity with the truffle, so my anticipation grew before I bit in.

Sadly, the caramel inside was very chewy, which resulted in the milk chocolate crumbling away with every bite. Now the milk chocolate was the signature ultra-smooth Vosges milk chocolate, so this tells me that the caramel was super chewy. Though the texture was disappointing from my perspective, I did detect a pleasing cream flavor in the caramel, and thought that a dark chocolate might blend better with the sweet dulce de leche caramel. However, a dark chocolate would have certainly crumbled if molded against this ultra-chewy caramel, so the final product still would have been a tad disappointing. While I enjoyed the flavor of this caramel, I had a difficult time overcoming the chewy texture. Other caramels in the collection are better.

Vosges Caramels: Maple

Having enjoyed the Sunshine caramel, which incorporated honey into the caramel, I moved along to another Vosges caramel that utilized a non-traditional sweetening agent: the Maple, which used, well, maple syrup.

Before I got to that caramel, I found a sprinkling of sugar on top of some soft dark chocolate. While the sugar didn’t add much, it didn’t interfere with the taste or texture.

Inside, some walnuts give a nice crunch to contrast with the slightly chewy caramel, which imparts a definite maple aftertaste. The soft dark chocolate blends well with the caramel texture and doesn’t crumble at all. In terms of the overall texture, this caramel has diversity and harmony, but the taste doesn’t involve anything too notable aside from the hint of maple. It’s a neat idea, but it wasn’t my favorite from the collection.

Vosges Caramels: Sunshine

The final bit of loot I have to report on from my trip to Chicago is a box of exotic caramels from Vosges.

These caramels all sounded intriguing, but the most exotic-sounding of all was the Sunshine caramel, which included honey and bee pollen.

Bee pollen! Sprinkled right on top of that milk chocolate coating. The bee pollen itself was a little tart and added a nice zing to contrast with the sweet milk chocolate exterior.

Inside, the caramel itself was a little more standard, though there was certainly a distinct honey flavor that was noticeably different from standard sugar-based caramel. The caramel was nearly halfway between liquid and chewy, but did trend a bit towards chewy. Fortunately, the soft milk chocolate accommodated this so that each bite included chocolate and caramel, and there was no crumbling from mis-matched textures like there are in some less superb chocolate-covered caramels. I liked this caramel overall, and the bee pollen was a great touch.