It’s luscious, yes.
It’s gooey, rich, bittersweet organic dark chocolate bursting with bright strawberry flavor—and we wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s also gorgeous! I mean:
It’s only worth destroying because that means you get to take a bite and experience the taste for yourself.
The Strawberry Champagne is a Divine Treasures customer-favorite, and an elusive confection that only comes out for special occasions like this year’s fast-approaching Mother’s Day, Christmas, and of course Valentine’s Day.
And there’s a bonus! Just like everything else we make, it’s completely vegan and gluten-free, which means you—or your vegan daughter-in-law, or your Celiac son—can indulge as much as desired! But what exactly is it? Let’s follow DT owner Diane into the kitchen and find out!
Strawberry Inspiration
Champagne truffles are a common European chocolate staple, but almost always paired with sweet milk chocolate because of its dry flavor. While traveling Europe in her pre-vegan days, Diane loved the taste of that combination, but our organic European dark chocolate is already an ideal blend of bitter and sweet that, when paired with the dry undertones of champagne, turns the flavor a bit too bitter to be palatable. So how did we create a vegan dark chocolate truffle that strikes the perfect balance?
The Chocolate that Changed the Game
Enter Valrhona’s strawberry “white chocolate,” aptly titled Strawberry Inspiration.
If you’re well-versed in the chocolate world, you know that this name is a heavyweight in the premium European chocolate game—perhaps the most expensive in the wholesale market.
If you don’t know your chocolate (and no judgement here if you don’t), they are a French manufacturer, and one day got in touch to present their new product; a South American-sourced cocoa butter blended with flavors derived from their real fruit ingredients.
Consider us inspired!
Diane thought it’d be fun to taste these new creations—and only not did she taste its smooth, melt-in-your-mouth, buttery texture, but she noticed how sweet and potent the strawberry flavor was. Like a burst of early summer on your taste buds!
Could it be the perfect strength of sweet fruit flavor to pair with with a dry champagne?
“Champagne truffles were everywhere in Europe. But champagne just doesn’t go with our dark chocolate by itself. It’s too dry. When we got the strawberry, I knew right away it would pair well. I knew I had to try it.”
(Keep reading for a limited-time discount code!)
Making the Strawberry Champagne Truffle
Step 1: Swirling
The signature look of this truffle is actually the very first step! Diane tempers the strawberry “white chocolate” in its own mini tempering machine. Once it’s ready, she swirls it into the mold with a gloved finger, one by one, until each truffle design is unique and ready to set. The best part is, that bright red color comes only from strawberry powder, which comes only from dried organic strawberries!
Step 2: Molding
When the strawberry swirl has set, we turn on our molding machine to add the organic dark chocolate and set the temperature.
Once the chocolate is (as we like to say) “in-temp,” we fill the strawberry-swirled molds with dark chocolate, let them sit for moment, then pour the excess back into the machine until all that’s left is a shell. Not too thick or the filling won’t fit, but not too thin or the truffle will crack.
Molding is tricky! It requires finesse and intuition, but the more you do it, the more you get the hang of it!
Step 3: Filling
You can’t make a champagne truffle without champagne! This is the part where Diane gets to unleash the true chef within.
We blend champagne into a rich creamy filling base and cook it over the stove to let it thicken and allow the flavors to meld together. Then we blend in more strawberry-infused cocoa butter to create that beautiful red strawberry color!
We try to let the molded shells set for a day before piping the filling into each shell by hand. If there’s a rush (hello, Christmas), then at least a few hours. Ahh, it’s almost ready!
Step 4: Capping
Of course, we have to close the truffle or else all that lusciousness would spill right out the bottom. Capping happens the next day, after the filling has some time to set.
We’re back at the molding machine, tempering the dark chocolate. When ready, the machine drops perfect dollops of dark chocolate onto each truffle, and we scrape the excess back into the machine so the bottom is perfectly flat and smooth, ready to sit in our chocolate case.
Step 5: Sweet Release!
Finally, it’s time to pop them out! We twist the mold to loosen them, then tap the mold on the tray to release them into the world. The trick is to coax them out confidently, but not too forcefully, or they might break from the pressure. We have to be gentle with these little guys! Now, all that’s left is to take a bite.
Where to Taste the Strawberry Champagne Truffle
The final—and by far best—part of the process is giving it to you!
This week (5/9/23 - 5/15/23) we are offering a special discount on our Strawberry Champagne Truffle with code DTSTRAWBERRY. Use the code at checkout for 10% off the Strawberry Champagne!
You can also often find our 4-piece Strawberry Champagne boxes on PETA’s online shop, (just note the discount code is only valid on our site!)
We’d love to share more insight on stages of the craft like molding, tempering, and enrobing. Don’t be shy; let us know what interests you, or if there are any specific products you were especially curious about. Like, comment, and share this post to let us know!
WANT TO SEE THE PROCESS IN ACTION? HEAD OVER TO OUR INSTAGRAM!
Ready to gift and devour!