Bittersweet chocolate truffles from La Maison du Chocolat on Madison Avenue
are dusted with cocoa and filled with coffee-flavored dark chocolate ganache.
B returned from New York Thursday night, bearing surprise early birthday gifts—forty-eight, to be exact, and all in one box.
The surprise? Oh, just a quarter pound of the most exquisite bittersweet chocolate truffles from La Maison du Chocolat on Madison Avenue. Two layers of handmade cocoa-dusted morsels, filled with unctuous dark chocolate ganache subtly flavored with coffee. Unwrapping the signature cocoa-hued box, tied up with a café au lait-colored ribbon, was almost as delicious.
I was transported to Paris, momentarily. One blustery January afternoon Alexandra and I lingered on the rue Sevres, savoring Robert Linxe’s irresistible truffles. There was one spiced with ginger, another infused with two varieties of fresh mint, another with, yes, that same coffee. Bliss.
An earlier memory: In the pre-hedge fund days, when Greenwich, Connecticut was a small town with a certain drowsy charm, B and I would often have Saturday lunch, babies in tow, at a chic French charcuterie. At the counter, displayed like jewels in a chilled case, were plain Maison du Chocolat truffles and jellied pate de fruits sparkling with sugar. We’d devour the pate de fruits for dessert, but the truffles were another matter. We’d nibble one apiece, slowly savoring the rich bittersweet chocolate, then stash the rest in the refrigerator where they would stay until the following weekend. Then out came the box. Two more truffles were consumed. We could make a dozen last for a month of weekends.
Fast forward to the present: The Madison Avenue Maison du Chocolat is offering tasting sessions in its cacao-colored café. Tamanaco traces the history and production of chocolate from growing through finished production. Participants will taste a range of couverture and ganaches before preparing a fresh ganache to taste. (Sign me up!) The Duo explores “the interaction of flavors of three oolong teas and two coffees paired with specific chocolates.” Each $70 class is offered twice a month through July. Call for dates and reservations.
La Maison du Chocolate, 1018 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10021. Telephone: 212-744-7117. Website: www.lamaisonduchocolat.com.