Family Birthdays

Each year our children get their choice of dessert for their birthday.

A Chocolate Bundt Cake for One

This past November, Jason (our son-in-law) became the first one to indulge in our Chocolate Bundt Cake with Caramel and Chocolate Sauces for his birthday celebration.  Melinda loves to surprise people so she hid the treasure deep in the trunk of their car as they traveled to Florida for a friend’s wedding.  They shared with friends who gathered from all over the country and we were awakened at 2 a.m. with a text message – thanks for the “Awesome Gift”.  We smiled and went back to sleep.

A Boston Cream Pie for Another

A year ago Melinda, our oldest daughter who lives in Myrtle Beach decided she wanted a Boston Cream Pie.  This really isn’t a pie at all but a different sort of cake.  Bill thought it would be tricky driving 3 ½ hours to Myrtle Beach with it so he decided to bring it to her in parts.  Then part of the celebration was her putting it together herself.  This is such a fun thing parents can do it with their kids we decided to share it with you.

This is an old New England Recipe that uses powdered sugar on top.  We use our own chocolate fudge sauce on top (sorry it’s still a secret) which you can pick up from us, dust with cocoa enriched powdered sugar, or make a quick chocolate glaze (we’ll give you that one..but don’t go sharing it hehe!)

Boston Cream Pie Recipe

• ½ cup butter or margarine
• 2 ½ sifted cake flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
• ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs

• Cream Filling
• Confectioner’s sugar or Chocolate Glaze

Making a Boston Cream Pie

1. Stir butter just to soften
2. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar and add to butter
3. Add ¾ cup milk and the vanilla.
4. Mix until dry ingredients are dampened.
5. Beat for 2 minutes at low speed.
6. Add eggs and remaining milk.
7. Beat for 1 minute longer.
8. Pour into 2 -9 inch layer cake pans
9. Bake in preheated oven at 375 degree F for 20 to 25 minutes.
10. Turn out on cake racks, cool, and put together with Cream Filling
11. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar or top with chocolate glaze.

Cream Filling Recipe

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 ½ Tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1½ cups milk
• 2 egg yolks, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Making Cream Filling

1. In a heavy saucepan mix sugar, cornstarch, and salt.
2. Add ½ cup milk, and stir until smooth.
3. Add remaining milk, and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until smooth and thickened.
4. Stir mixture into egg yolks.
5. Pour back into saucepan, and cook for 2 minutes longer, stirring constantly.
6. Cool, and add vanilla.

If you want to keep it easy and be done, top with some confectioners sugar (or confectioner sugar mixed with cocoa powder!)

A chocolate fudge sauce is also a great way to enjoy it but the time making a fudge sauce may be more hassle at this point.  If you don’t have any of ours a last ditch quick and easy idea is to make a fast chocolate glaze for it.

Quick Chocolate Glaze Recipe

• 1 cup whipping cream
• 8oz semi-sweet (50-55%) chocolate chips or broken chocolate
• 2 tbs unsalted butter

Making Chocolate Glaze

1. Cut the butter into chunks and let come to room temp.
2. Put chocolate into medium sized bowl
3. Heat whipping cream in small sauce pan to near boiling (but not boiling)
4. Pour hot cream over chocolate and stir until smooth.
5. Stir in butter completely.
6. Pour over cake.

There are lots of old family variants of these recipes, do you have one to share?

Related posts:

1. Good Homemade Chocolate Frosting Recipes
2. Make Halloween Safer with Homemade Chocolate

A few new secrets coming to light, a white chocolate truffle and a milk chocolate truffle. We’ve desired to create a best of class version of both but we’re really sticklers for quality, taste, and texture. Developing that takes time but the rewards are going to be so very sweet.

We know you have preferences and with that you’re allowed to vote for more than one. While we’re guessing there are a majority of dark chocolate lovers who are here I bet there is a desire for some quality milk chocolate and white chocolate delights. What say you?

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The Center City Green Market in Charlotte has been bouncing around the last couple of years uptown and while our own commitments have precluded us from being as involved as we’d like we still like to support local farms, artisans, and crafters in our region.

Ted Boyd had a simple idea that took a lot of engineering to deliver. Take an empty box store in the center of the city and turn it into a beautiful holiday market. With little time to spare he and his team of volunteers pulled it off, and quite well I must say.

Located near the heart of Charlotte at 101 N. Tryon. We were there for their opening on December 3rd but they are also open December 5th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th. The Secret Chocolatier will definitely be there the 16th through the 19th. We might be able to do more but we’re running around pretty heavily as it is.

Twelve has a variety of local and regional crafters from homemade spices, neighborhood honey, jewlery, kids t-shirts, a wreath bar, our chocolates, David French & local artists, and more.

If you’re in the area or know those who are, won’t you join us at supporting local?

Related posts:

1. Chocolate at Social Fresh Charlotte

While our season for these has concluded we’ll still happily make these delicious chocolates on special request.

Unlocking Molasses in Chocolate

We have been trying to figure out a good way to intertwine chocolate and what are basically the sugar waters (fructose) of the cane and tree families.  It is not easy. We want the flavor but not the added water and sugar. In the end sometimes you can reduce the natural syrups further increasing the flavor.  Others you will begin removing some of your cream to balance the water.  It took us a while to find a balance where we didn’t compromise the creamy texture of the chocolate truffle ganache.

by Claus Rebler

Sorghum Molasses from Underwood Family Farm

There are many types of molasses out there.  Sugar cane or sugar beet molasses is usually called Blackstrap but I don’t know any regional farmers that raise cane (well..hehe!) in our area.  I do however know that Underwood Farms has a field of sorghum that they harvest. Christy gave us the heads up this year and I really wanted to be there for the harvesting but like many weekends we were overcommitted as it was.

Christy , Michael and a team of others helped them break down the sorghum over a week and we took charge of many a liter of dark amber molasses.  The stuff is straight up delicious.  In our truffles it adds a savory sweet quality.  Overtones of oak, dark vanilla sugar like a crisp waffle, even a light overtone of wood–maybe a young oak.  Very interesting and nuanced.

We will continue to refine our recipe and usage over time and we really want to since maple syrup is an option I’d like to see too!

Have you experimented with molasses in a non-traditional use?  Let us know!

– if you want to try some of Underwood Family Farms beef or pork it’ll treat you right as well.  Visit them at the NCDA Market in Charlotte.

Related posts:

1. Infusion Series: Ancho Pepper Chocolate Truffle
2. What is a Chocolate Infusion?
3. Searching for Chocolate Truffles

As Hot As Possible at the Market

Adding hot peppers to chocolate is a very binary experience. Meaning you either love it, or hate it. We have a large following locally who desire our ancho pepper chocolate truffles and chide us all year long waiting for their return. During our first week of Fall infusions we couldn’t keep them stocked at any of our markets.

Sourcing Ancho Peppers

Ancho is another thing we can proudly source locally.  We use Eric and Cathy of As Hot As Possible for our ancho peppers.

We had been growing peppers in our backyard garden for about 8 years and then……  WE MOVED. So, we went from our tiny backyard space to 4 acres of open horse pasture. A “blank canvas of green space” to cultivate. Very exciting. [...] We had no idea what our first year vegetable garden would produce. We planted our primary crop of hot chili peppers, tomatoes and a few other veggies to try. Everything did remarkably well.

They support the community in many ways. We are very happy to be friends and source from people who steward their land with love and care.

Everything is grown without chemical fertilizers or insecticides. All natural, Earth friendly produce. We practice sustainable gardening principles. What is good for the earth is good for us.

Dried Ancho Pepper

Dark Chocolate Ancho Infusion Magic

It takes a little work getting the infusion right. We take beautiful dried anchos and weigh out the fleshy parts against the seeds and have found a balance we enjoy.

We wanted to capture that something, the essence, of a really tasty ancho. Smokey, earthy, a little raisin or currant. It should make your tongue tingle but not set you on fire. Topping it all off is a nice kick of heat when you swallow. It’s really quite a nice experience if you’re a fan of savory-sweet chocolate.

We’re going to have anchos until we run out which if we’re lucky will give you a long enough time with them before we let the flavor rest until next they bloom again. Then once again we will hear the chiding of desire for them to return. Seasons are so much fun.

Check the Matthews Community Farmers Market website for availability of ourselves or As Hot As Possible.

Related posts:

1. Infusion Series: Molasses Chocolate Truffles
2. What is a Chocolate Infusion?
3. Searching for Chocolate Truffles

We’re always enthused to support local groups when we are able.  The Secret Chocolatier will be giving out free samples of chocolate to those attending the upcoming Santa Paws Preview in Charlotte, NC.

November 18, 2009

5:00-8:00 pm
Canine Cafe Charlotte
1447 South Tryon St.
Charlotte, NC 28203
704.588.3647

Preview all the new Holiday gifts for the canine kids on your list!
Get in the spirit by listening to Holiday music and enjoying complimentary wine tasting, cheese & delicious chocolate samples while you shop.

Plus pick up something special for yourself from the Stella & Dot Jewelry Collection.

*With each purchase you’ll receive a Christmas tree Pupsicle for your furry friend.
10% of all purchases benefit Dogswalk Against Cancer.

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“The Confessions of The Secret Chocolatiers Wife”
Part II
- The Ciordia’s

The Secret Chocolatier family has spent an extra amount of time together recently reflecting on where we are and where we may be headed. What are the choices ahead of us and what part do we each feel called to fill? But more importantly here it is fall! All of the new seasonal flavors have been tested, tasted, and our final line up is out and being enjoyed by more and more smiling people. When all the time has been spent developing recipes, trying the different available local products in our recipes, tasting, balancing flavors to find the right balance, which is different for each flavor it is still all about the look of satisfaction and smile on the face of those who partake in these wonderful chocolates we all work hard to finish for each order, each market day and each special event.

But since this is part II, (if you haven’t read part I you may want to do that) I will move on in the telling of some of my own insights into where we are.

The Ciordia’s

The Ciordia’s are our youngest daughter, Robin, and our son-in-law, Andy. While Bill and I were just moving along with our truffle making thinking this was a fun way to bring in some extra money, they said – this is such a great product and everyone who tries it loves it so “do you want to make this a real business”. We said “sure” (we’ll try anything) and that is exactly what they have done. They’ve taken the chocolate and gone forward with amazing commitment and determination. They have worked to get us into more markets and other venues and continue the push forward. Robin and Andy have gotten the word out to the rest of Charlotte and beyond to make this business happen.

Growing into the Chocolate Role

Over the past year, our daughter Robin has taken on more of a role in assisting her father in the kitchen. She does every step of the truffle making, and brownie dipping, and soon will be moving into learning the cakes. I guess you would call her the “Chocolatier’s Apprentice” . Watching us all around the kitchen with chocolate flying everywhere it does seem more like the “Sorcerer’s Apprentice”.

Robin's First Chocolate Cake

Chocolate Child

Robin has always been an extreme chocolate lover and with that love of chocolate she has evolved into one who creates chocolates; just as her love for children led her to a career as a teacher. –And just to boast for a moment, she is and extremely gifted teacher, not just because she’s my daughter because as a former teacher and administrator I am extremely hard in judgments of other educators. If she wasn’t terrific I just wouldn’t say anything.

Then when she started doing some of the chocolate work with her father and learning so much, I realized I was seeing a whole new and bright future for her. Bill follows generations of family members who lived there lives as bakers and pastry chefs and when Robin said she would really like to keep the family tradition going we were really excited.

The Mad Hatter

Andy, my son-in-law, has a role in our business that I don’t think any of us could fill or do without. When people are first drawn to our table at the markets, they see photographs of our truffles and signs with logos that he has designed. Our website, marketing, photography, etc., everything that puts our business out for the public to see is done by Andy. Because of the great web design and getting connected with other chocolate sites we have seen our truffles travel to every corner of the country. The packaging for shipment is so well done by Robin and him that even truffles sent to Southern California in the middle of the summer arrived in perfect condition- to the delight of the recipient.

Andy has an amazing social network that seems to have tentacles reaching all across the Charlotte area, and maybe even the country. He works tirelessly to drive (or propel) us forward and continue our growth

Besides all of that he too is skilled in the making of our products. One Friday when we were trying to get everything finished for our Saturday markets and fill special orders he decided to nudge me a little and get me to dip some of the brownie pops. I broke a few (which we unfortunately were forced to eat) but he patiently continued to instruct me until I was able to do it.

I am now going to work on preparing the Chai for infusion into the next batch of chocolate truffles MMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Related posts:

1. The Confessions of The Secret Chocolatiers Wife, Part I
2. Homemade Chocolate Resolution

What began as something for nobility (and a story for another day) is now available for all.  The chocolate delight of the ages, the chocolate truffle. Readily available though might not translate into great for  you or great tasting.  How will you know?

What are you looking for?

Favorite chocolates are usually stuck in your head from when you were a child.

• Was it a truffle that you bit in to and it had snap, or was the chocolate soft to the tooth?
• Textured or smooth?
• Did the chocolate melt in your mouth or dissolve over time?
• Milk, Semi, Dark Semi, Dark, Deeply Dark?

The point of this little exercise is that one thing that will make something great is how well it naturally aligns with your expectations.  It’s also a good idea to every once in a while test your old favorites.  How has your palate changed?  Ponder how much the product might have changed in that time.

Buying Chocolate Truffles, Buyer Beware

As a consumer you are faced with a barrage of opportunities at buying sub-par products.  Picking and choosing at most chains and grocers will leave you less than satisfied.  Reading the label doesn’t illuminate much more either.  Can you trace the chocolates origin?  Is it even chocolate? Why was malt added?  Where’s the chocolate and what is this mockolate?

Industrial chocolate makers are tirelessly laboring to reduce cost while still giving some form of “chocolate experience”.  The industry has found that it can add fillers like additional sugars, sucrose, cellulose and wheat fiber. These false agents can replace natural components.  Add on to that heat and shelf stabilizers (the joys of science) which may make a product last a year, but should it?

Reducing the cost by removing a real sensory experience.  It’s really a sad state of affairs and you have to be on your toes to find a real treat.

Source from Artisan Chocolate Makers

People who look at their craft like an art will lead you to great finds. If you want to find some real chocolate truffles, divine chocolate truffles, find your artisan chocolatier.

Artisan work is usually carried out as a small to mid-sized business. You can’t exactly keep making things by hand when you’ve gone large. Artisan chocolatiers usually support others in their area and source more local for their ingredients. They also work at making products with a more traditional approach and time tested recipes.

Passion in, passion out.

Keep an eye out in your paper during the holidays and gift giving seasons and you’ll see writeups of area shops. It’s one of the easier ways of finding new places to visit in your area.

Of course if you’re looking for chocolate in Charlotte or just want to support us, The Secret Chocolatier, we always appreciate it. 

It’s a good idea to investigate your local farmers markets too.  I’ve found many a delightful confection at the markets with usually the maker and a great story to go with it.

Searching more online you can support new up and comers like Forte Chocolates or the mature Recchiuti. The point is to treat yourself with something special and memorable. If you are just eating filler from others what kind of worth are you really setting for yourself?

Do It Yourself! Making Chocolate Truffles

Chocolate truffle making is not very complicated & everyone does it a bit differently. That’s what makes it an art. You can tinker with (in our case) cream / butter / chocolate ratios to get a consistency you are looking for but people often miss sourcing their own quality goods. It’s silly! If you’re going to go through the time to make something homemade–do it right, buy good ingredients!

Do I need good chocolate?

Seriously? Robin’s been fielding some DIY questions on Twitter lately and the final results have been to the tune of, ‘It was a great attempt but I think I need better chocolate.’ Well of course!

One place we’ll often source samples from is Chocosphere. They import quite a few hard to find chocolate from around the world. With this comes a caveat, it’s not all about the brand, it’s about the taste. Being that there are so many tastes out there you should order a sampling of a few chocolates and find what you like.

Quality, Quality, Quality

When searching for great chocolate truffles (or making your own) you have to find those who believe in uncompromising quality. As soon as quality is sacrificed for cost or industrial distribution you are quickly sloping towards something below average. Look for those who put their passions and knowledge of the craft into their products and I guarantee you’ll never go wrong.

Oh, and if you find something delicious, let me know. I love going on chocolate truffle tours!

Related posts:

1. When times are tough, Chocolate is King.
2. Infusion Series: Molasses Chocolate Truffles
3. Infusion Series: Ancho Pepper Chocolate Truffle

Social Media & Charlotte, NC

Charlotte has one of the fastest growing social networks in the US. I’m not sure if it’s because the area is so affluent with b2b technology or if we’re just chatty but it’s always been nice to be a part of the local community.

I’ve had my own twitter account (@ciordia9) for some time now and enjoy the relationships I have built with so many regional people and those far away. Beyond the banal, twitter, or better yet social media in general is a very diverse ecosystem that one can learn quite a lot from.

Grassroots and Social Media

The Secret Chocolatier has benefited from our active region on twitter (@SecretChocolate). We’re a family business that has started with nothing but an idea and some domain expertise. Nurturing that through the local and digital grapevine has been amazing.

We source great ideas, lift up our new offerings, invite all to so many of our events in Charlotte. It’s been a great help that we couldn’t have afforded otherwise.

We heard it through the twitter-vine that #SoFresh was looking for some goodies.

What is Social Fresh?

Social Fresh is your opportunity to learn how to make the social web work for real business. Social networking and online word-of-mouth tools are getting faster and providing more access to the customer every day. To remain competitive, every company needs to discover how to make social media work for their bottom line. –Social Fresh

Orange Chocolate Truffles

If you didn’t already notice Social Fresh is “juicy” and we know how to create some phenomenal citrus truffles. Pink grapefruit, lemon, lime, and our foundation flavor orange.

For SoFresh we packaged up hundreds of orange chocolate truffles for the event sponsors and speakers and hope they enjoy them and their stay in our area. We’re always striving to find a better way to communicate and get participation from our growing community.

If you have knowledge to share, let us know! If you’re going to be at Social Fresh in Charlotte let’s connect!

Related posts:

1. Is That In Chocolate Years?
2. Searching for Chocolate Truffles
3. The Confessions of The Secret Chocolatiers Wife, Part II

I’ve found myself in a reflective mood lately. Maybe because I’m spending more and more time staring down into a bowl of melted chocolate with the aroma of fresh roasted coffee beans. I’ve been thinking about what it’s like to be a part of this small, growing family business and how I found myself here after years in a completely different profession.

After years of teaching, I went into administration of religious education in South Carolina. Along with that I spent numerous years on religious education advisory boards and as a consultant for a religion textbook publishing company on an as needed basis.

Melting in Chocolate

So how did I end up here staring down into a bowl of melted chocolate? The answer is- I have absolutely no idea! But isn’t that one of the joys of life, to find ourselves doing things we never imagined we could or would do and loving it. I have found that through my experiences in life I have grown and changed, and developed new gifts and talents. I believe that as we evolve throughout life we are called to give of ourselves in different ways. What a person does now may not fit 5 or 10 years from now. I certainly never dreamed of this!

I still enjoy being with small children. Would I be in a classroom with first graders full time now? Probably not. I love engaging in conversation with young people and enjoy their enthusiasm and energy about everything that they do. But I don’t think I would benefit anyone by being in full time youth ministry as I once was.

Now that our little truffle making endeavor has turned out to be the beginning of a very real small family business I have to rethink some of the notions I have of each of us involved, including myself.

Having a Laugh

Chocolate Truffle Making is a Busy Business

My husband Bill has been a pastry chef for many years so it is easy for me to see him in that role. However, to be a real part of what he does is a very different experience for me. During the 25 years Bill worked in restaurants I had a great appreciation for the work he did and enjoyed indulging in what he made. However, to actually watch how he functions as a professional is quite different. It’s amazing to see the meticulous care he takes with each step of making the different parts of a truffle or how he layers each cake so carefully as if he was handling a newborn. I always knew by eating what he made that he was amazing at what he did, but after all these years to observe him work is sometimes like watching art being made.

For a recent event Bill was asked to make a wedding cake that was suggestive of the artwork of Gustav Klimt. Bill’s inspiration came from his painting “Tree of Life”. It was so amazing to see him express the work of this artist of the Art Nouveau Era on the cake. But seeing the bride’s face when she saw the cake was his greatest reward. Then there was the enthusiastic smile and thumbs up when she took that first bite. What a privilege it is for us to be a part of it all.

How Many Mint Leaves . . .

Then there are the times when he’s developing recipes for a new infused flavor.
How many mint leaves does it take to get the desired taste for the mint truffle?
How much of the espresso bean is needed to bring out the perfect balance of chocolate and coffee so that each is enriched by the other. He is like a scientist experimenting to find the correct formula to bring a little smile and mmmmmmm to the face of as many people as possible.

A Part of Something Special

I think I am still a part of something that brings a little bit of joy to people; it is just in a different (and tastier) way. We help a woman express her love for her daughter who is away at school by making and sending the truffles that were specially picked out by her mother. We help with the celebration of a new marriage or a new baby. And we make many, many new friends. As I get more and more involved in the truffle making process I understand why one of our banners says simply “Hypnotic Dark Chocolates”.

Thank you for letting us be a part of the many ways you celebrate life.

—tune in next time for Part II of “Confessions of the Chocolatier’s wife”

Related posts:

1. The Confessions of The Secret Chocolatiers Wife, Part II
2. A Great Tasting Chocolate Wedding Cake
3. Wedding Chocolate In the New York Times