Artisanal Hand-Crafted Fine Chocolate

These are unsettling times. I hope you all  are taking good care of you and yours, getting outside, and checking on your neighbors and friends.  I wanted to let you know how our small team is handling things here in the time of COVID-19.  We are open, taking stringent precautions and are here for you.

Because we are in food manufacturing (we are certified food handlers) we have always followed impeccable hygiene and sanitation practices. At our certified kitchen we will be making chocolate, packing it up and delivering it with our usual utmost care, and following current CDC recommendations.

For delivery or pick up click here.  Or give Pam a call at 203.491.6041.

As always please don’t hesitate to reach out to Pam personally at pam@plumbrookchocolate.com or by phone 203.491.6041.

April 21 – UPDATE   I am hoping you and yours are healthy and hanging in there.  For us with the Litchfield Farmer’s Market closed for now (stay tuned here), events cancelled, orders put on hold as celebrations are postponed, production came to a grinding halt.

But then something changed!  The Easter season got very busy.  It became another Christmas-time business and we found ourselves happily running extra production, working longer hours, packing boxes and setting up a porch-side pick up.

So after taking a break we are back open.  We’ve put together a few chocolate “packages” to make staying home a little easier.  Treat yourself and your loved ones to let them know you’re thinking of them.  To order click here.

From the bottom of my heart I am wishing you all the best.  My continued thanks for your support and patience in this uncertain time.   XO, Pam

Origin of the Mendiant

Mendiant is French for a beggar of alms, and refers to the four orders of mendicant monks. The chocolates known as mendiants are thin rounds of crisp perfectly tempered chocolate. The word derives from the Latin root mendicans, which means “begging,” in reference to those beggars of alms — monks or friars in religious orders who adopted a lifestyle of poverty for the purpose of preaching and ministry.

Traditional Mendiants

Historically, mendiants were offered at Christmas time and have four traditional toppings representing the white, gray, brown, and purple robes of the Dominican, Franciscan, Carmelite, and Augustinian friars.

Modern Day Mendiants

Modern-day mendiants are offered year round and sprinkled with any number of tasty and beautiful ingredients, and in countless combinations.

Recently perusing past lessons from my Ecole Chocolat training I came across the chapter on mendiants and decided to give them a try. They are fun and easy to make!

Hazelnut Espresso Dark

Here’s my take on our Hazelnut Espresso Dark Bark.  I made these for an art gallery opening recently and they were a big hit!  Give them a try.  The possibilities are endless but keep the toppings to no more than 3 or they get a bit messy looking.  Perfect for parties and gift-giving!

Cacao Tree – Hacienda Jeanmarie in Aguada Puerto Rico

Single-origin chocolate is chocolate that’s made from one variety of cacao harvested in one region, small family-owned farm or even a specific country.  Cacao is a plant whose beans take on the characteristics of the region where it’s grown. This is called terroir.  Like grapes grown for wine, cacao from specific regions can be fruity, earthy, floral or berry to name a few.  Tasting single-origin chocolate is a fun, sensory-driven experience.

When cacao from different regions or countries is blended, the effect of terroir is lost. That doesn’t mean that blended chocolates are not as good. In fact, blends are used by some of the world’s finest chocolate makers and chocolatiers. Some cocoa beans that are ordinary on their own can be great in blends. (Beware that the big mass market producers will use blends to improve the flavor of inferior cheaper beans).  

While I love the distinct flavor of single-origin chocolate, I use Guittard Chocolate blends for most of my creations because their chocolate is of the highest quality, some of the best in flavor, always fair-trade and transparent (able to trace the crop directly back to the source. This term can relate to either blends or single-origin).  Their beans come from small farms with long family traditions and they work closely with cacao growers to develop desired chocolate flavors in the beans.

Single-Origin Peruvian Truffles with Peruvian Cacao Nibs

Inspired by my trips to Cusco, Peru and the Hacienda Jeanmarie in Aguada, Puerto Rico, I’m using single-origin chocolate for two new truffle creations this season. And our solid Plum Brook Dragonflies will now be crafted from single-origin chocolate from different countries.  They are like a passport to the world of chocolate!

At Plum Brook Chocolate our mission is to create fine quality, handmade artisan chocolate while enriching the local community and the communities of cacao farmers far away.

Since this post 3 years ago, I visited the Maras Salt Ponds just a few weeks ago.  Words cannot describe the magnificence of the Sacred Valley we traveled from Cusco to Machu Picchu. It was the trip of a lifetime!

I am excited about the next chocolate season and using Maras Salt in one or more of my creations. The  chocolate I had in Peru was out-of-this-world so I’d like to do a combination of Peruvian Chocolate and Maras Salt. Yum!  It is an earthy, robust, salty salt.  Plum Brook Chocolate won the 2016 CT Specialty Food Awards in the Chocolate Category for our salted caramels with Maras Salt!  Who knows what next season will bring?

Here I am at the Maras Salt Ponds, Peru

Original Post: This week we made a fresh batch of salted caramel topped with Inca salt brought to me by my brother-in-law John and his wife Helen who recently returned from a trip to Peru. Maras is a town along the slopes of the Sacred Valley of the Incas and known for its salt evaporation ponds. People here still collect salt from the ponds just as they did thousands of years ago.

Peruvian women collecting salt from Maras salt pond. (photo courtesy of JC Dorgan)

Since pre-Inca times, salt has been obtained in Maras by evaporating salty water from a local subterranean stream. This highly salty water emerges at a spring from the underground stream. The flow is directed into an intricate system of tiny channels down onto the several hundred ancient terraced ponds. Maras is near the city of Cusco that was once the capital of the Inca Empire. Set at an altitude of 11,150 feet, it’s the gateway to the Inca Trail that ends at the mountain citadel of Machu Picchu.

Peru and cacao share an age-old intimate relationship. It has been said that the cacao shrub originated in the foothills of the Andes where it was domesticated then introduced by the Maya in Central America and Mexico.  Today Peruvian cacao is recognized for its superb flavor and exports are on the rise.

So it seemed very fitting that we give this ancient salt a try!  Flor de Sal is a very robust and salty salt, more so than the milder French Fleur de Sel we usually use to top our caramels.

Plum Brook Chocolate Salted Caramels topped with Maras “Flor de Sal”. 

We love the taste of Maras salt on our caramels!

UPDATE!  Our salted caramels with Maras salt received the blue ribbon – first place – in Connecticut from the CT Specialty Foods Awards 2016!

Tis the season of entertaining, merry-making and cookie baking.  Why not add interest to your cookie platter with the addition of delicious homemade truffles?  You will delight your guests and have fun making them.

Bourbon and Chocolate are one of those matches made in heaven.  A natural pairing.  I can’t keep my bourbon truffles in stock!  It is such a great combination I thought you all would like to give the flavors a try at home.  And this at-home recipe is about about as easy as it gets.  The results are spectacular!  Be sure to use the best quality chocolate you can find.

Method

Bring whipping cream just to boil.

Pour slowly over the chocolate and mix rapidly to create an elastic and shiny mixture. Add butter and mix it again with the spatula. Add bourbon whiskey and mix to incorporate.

Let ganache set in the refrigerator. Dust hands with cocoa powder, scoop ganache with a tablespoon and shape truffles before rolling in cocoa powder. Serve at room temperature.

Enjoy!

We opened our season a little early this year to make and deliver chocolate favors for 160 special guests at the beautiful wedding of Hilary Dees who married Rickey Rodriquez last month on the campus of Salve Regina College in Newport, RI. Yes it is a challenge to make and deliver chocolate in hot weather but for Hillary an exception was gladly made!

The title of this blog is “Perks of the Job” but then there’s the old saying “Find a job you love and never work another day in your life”.  Well I guess that means I don’t really have a job!  I love what I do and to be able to do it and play a part in such a special celebration doesn’t seem like work at all.  Instead it was 3 days spent in lively, historical and gorgeous Newport with old friends and fun people coming together from everywhere for Hilary’s special day.

The ceremony took place in an intimate and lovely chapel right next to the Ochre Court, a perfectly maintained historical building from the days when well-heeled families built their summer homes along the coast.  Now famously known as the Cliff Walk.   It was here that the reception was held, and walking into the festivities felt like a scene right out of the Great Gatsby. Champagne poured into elegant flutes, delicious hors d’oeuvres passed by uniformed servers on the back lawn sloping down to the rocky coastline.

Here I am with my hubby Peter and caramel maker extraordinaire in front of the elegant Ochre Court on our way into the festivities.  It was a fabulous time!

The big bonus for us was an overnight visit from our daughter Genny who jumped at the opportunity to add Newport to her New England travel blog,  The Waterfowl.  Visit her Newport post HERE!

We managed some fun outings during Genny’s visit, walking around, eating good food and exploring some of Newport’s many neighborhoods.  One historical home we passed had a sign that read:

I couldn’t resist this photo of Peter and Genny in front of the 1750s confectioner’s shop and home!

It was a  perfect weekend full of sweet memories. It was also an inspiration for the start of yet another chocolate season.  Season number FIVE!  Where will it lead me?  Who knows but if it’s more travel to new and fun places, and friends and family that works for me!

OPTIMISM & PASSION AFTER HURRICANE MARIA

I’ve just returned from visiting Puerto Rico’s west coast and am full of inspiration!  It is inspiring to personally witness the optimism and resiliency of the western folks since the ravage of Hurricane Maria.

The Hotel Cofresi, oldest on the coast, was severely damaged and reopened more beautiful than ever in mid December after much hard work.  They opened their doors immediately after the storm to citizens and FEMA staff to offer shelter and provide meals.  They gave FEMA a headquarters to work from.  Here I am at the newly renovated lobby and bar right on the water!

HACIENDA JEANMARIE – A YEAR LATER

And nowhere has passion and optimism been more on display than at the Hacienda Jeanmarie.  Last year I posted my excitement (Hacienda Jeanmarie – Visiting a Puerto Rican Cacao Farm) to meet Juan Echevarria, leader of the Puerto Rico Cacao Project, and visit his family’s beautiful farm, the Hacienda Jeanmarie.

The project’s goal is to build a working cooperative that connects small organic Puerto Rican cacao famers to the fine chocolate industry through direct, transparent relationships. Many farmers on the island joined the project and the fine cacao industry was beginning to take hold again in PR.

Hurricane Maria devastated most of this hard work. Juan’s large farm, purchased in 2014, is 90% lost. The smaller, old family farm (which I visited in 2016) survives. Of his 30,000 trees before Maria there are now 3,000.

Juan has started to produce new trees to replant for his and other farms and has resumed holding workshops to teach others. Since cacao trees take at least 2 1/2 years to make pods, he and other farmers in the project are targeting 2021 to be back. This target assumes all goes well and requires at least 3 full time workers at his farm.

TO LEARN MORE

More than 200,000 cacao trees were planted through the cacao project initiative since Juan began in 2009. Since cacao is considered a new crop in Puerto Rico, the Agriculture Dept does not offer insurance so all losses are personal.

For lots more information or to make a contribution towards rebuilding the island’s economy by providing high quality trees to farmers visit   https://www.facebook.com/jeanmariechocolat/

I look forward to returning to the Hacienda Jeanmarie and watching the rebuilding of Project Cacao under Juan’s leadership.  Yet another wonderful place that chocolate has led me.

TRUFFLES FOR THE HOLIDAYS

The year-end holiday season – whether it involves Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or some other treasured family celebration – evokes nostalgia in many of us. Many of you bake homemade goodies to give as gifts or take to cookie swaps and what is more appreciated than something from the heart and the kitchen?

Creamy and elegant, these truffles have a soft, melt-in-your-mouth filling. Beautiful enough to give as gifts or serve to guests, this truffle recipe is easy, too!

The key is to keep it simple and use the best ingredients you can find and you will end up with a rich, creamy ganache. What is “ganache” and how did it get that name? It’s simply a mixture of chocolate and cream. Rumor has it that a chef called an assistant a “ganache” (French word for idiot) when he dumped hot cream into a bowl of chocolate. Serendipity I say!

Be prepared to get your hands “dirty” with chocolate!

SPIRITED DARK CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES

Yield: 12-15 truffles

Ingredients

4 oz. whipping cream
7 oz. finest quality dark chocolate (61% or higher)*
1/2 oz. butter, very soft but not melted
1 oz. bourbon whiskey (if you’re not a fan of bourbon, substitute another liquor)
1/2 cup cocoa powder

Bring whipping cream just to boil.

Pour slowly over the chocolate and mix rapidly to create an elastic and shiny mixture. Add butter and mix it again with the spatula. Add bourbon whiskey and mix to incorporate.

Let ganache set for 12 hours in the refrigerator or till firm enough to handle. Dust hands with cocoa powder and shape into one inch balls using a scoop or teaspoon and roll in cocoa to coat surface.

Drop in cocoa powder and roll around with a fork.

Store covered in refrigerator until ready to serve. Serve at room temperature. Enjoy compliments!

Variation: After rolling in cocoa powder, drop into finely chopped nuts (we like hazelnuts), pressing lightly.

*I use Guittard Chocolate, a 4th generation family owned San Francisco chocolate maker.

Photos courtesy of Ecole Chocolat.

If cacao trees only thrive 20 degrees north or south of the equator, why doesn’t Puerto Rico have any industry?  Every year I wondered this as I made my way to west-coast Rincon where my parents winter. I’d check out the latest on cacao production there hoping to find a farm nearby. During a visit to the agricultural research center in Mayaguez a few years ago I learned that Puerto Rico has an interesting cacao story (see my blog post “At The Foot of a Cacao Tree“).  In the 17th century a hurricane wiped out most of the cacao crop and it was abandoned for easier-to-grow sugar cane and coffee.

Thanks to the Puerto Rico Cacao Project, farms are cropping up again and Juan Echevarria is leading the way.  He began to grow cacao on his family’s farm when he found some 17th century prized criollo trees on the land.  I was thrilled to visit  his Hacienda Jeanmarie a few weeks ago, walking among healthy cacao trees growing in the shade of other crops, seeing the different species and colors of pods and gaining knowledge from this passionate, articulate and intelligent man.

Juan explained how he harvests, ferments, dries and processes his beans in a traditional hand cultivated fashion.  He is dedicated to teaching and assisting others with the goal of eventually building a working cooperative that connects small organic cocoa farmers in Puerto Rico to the fine chocolate industry through direct, transparent relationships.

Historically cacao farmers are impoverished because – put simply – the revenue they receive does not cover their cost of production.  By removing middlemen, farmers increase their value and quality, creating a positive social impact to farming communities while delivering premium quality cocoa to chocolate makers.  Juan is trying to drive this business model in Puerto Rico and to one day have his country recognized as producing some of the world’s best chocolate.

Taking advantage of Juan’s hospitality, I stayed and chatted long after the group on our little tour left.  I sampled his 100% chocolate bar, a rich melody of rustic fruity chocolate flavor and left with enough to make a batch of truffles (a future blog post!).

I will go back to Juan’s farm again and look forward to witnessing the thoughtful growth of cacao production in Puerto Rico through his efforts.  Another incredible experience, place and friendship made in my lifelong chocolate journey.

There’s an old saying ‘find the work you love and you’ll never work a day in your life’.

I use to have a job, now I have a passion! Don’t always know what drives me but that’s how passions are. Autumn is here and with that begins Season Number 4 (!) for Plum Brook Chocolate. I love what I do.  Working with amazing chocolate and making people happy one chocolate at a time. It’s very satisfying putting a smile on people’s faces.

I’ve recently moved production to The Mindful Kitchen, a little commercial kitchen in New Preston CT. My landlord Harold is a great guy who is dedicated to fostering local food and small businesses. I’m there producing every Sunday and Monday right next to The Smithy Market. It’s a bright happy place and fun to be part of a new vibe.

It’s another place my chocolate life has taken me. There’s still so much to learn and see. What’s next? I’m not sure but willing to stay open, keep learning and put one foot in front of the other. Right now festivals and orders are keeping me busy and I’m excited for the season ahead!