For the past two Summers we have run a delightful Spearmint chocolate truffle.  As a child I was a big fan of Andes Candies.  These little mint chocolate squares we’re just a favorite.  Then over time I started finding that I had a mild allergic reaction to them.  Maybe too much of a good thing, maybe the ingredients shifted into something cheaper and that created the issue.  Whatever the case I could no longer have something I really enjoyed.

Until The Secret Chocolatier that is!

The Mint Monster

Our Spearmint is something we can easily source locally.  It has a very fast and very aggressive growth here in the South and a dear friend of the family, Anita Skogland, allows us entry into her beautiful garden to cut back her voracious mint plant as needed.

If the mint goes too crazy for her, we’ve even been greeted with a giant bag of it at the door!

Extracting the Minty Goodness

Like preparing a quality mojito or mint julep bruising the mint before we steep it in cream helps get the full essence out of the mint. We let it steep for a few hours depending on how much ganache we are preparing.  Our goal is to have the mint be strong enough to remember the leaf but not so overpowering that it blots out the chocolate.  It’s very important to strive for a balance in your flavor combinations.

Spearmint during the Summer, Peppermint (or as we call it Pep-O-Mint) during the Winter are some delicious cooling and enjoyable mints we use in our infusion series.  We hope you can grab one and enjoy the flavor at a market, regional retail partners or if you’re far from us–let us ship you a box!

Related posts:

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

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 Charlotte Area Markets
2. Chocolate at Social Fresh Charlotte
3. What is Holiday Chocolate?