Katie's Chocolate Club: April

I am continuing my monthly chocolate club with a collection from William Dean, a Florida based chocolatier. I was immediately intrigued by the packaging of the 36 piece collection I selected. The tiered trays fit nicely into a compact box, as opposed to a large flat box with only one layer. Their branded packaging is a nice blue/charcoal gray color with gold embellishments. 

 

There were a few repeats in the assortment, but they were all very visually pleasing truffles. Some molded chocolates, some slabs with cocoa butter transfers. 

 Close ups of each tray:

 ROW #1

Amaretto: A layer of morello cherry pate de fruit then a layer of milk chocolate & marzipan with amaretto enrobed in dark chocolate

Macadamia Caramel: Soft caramel infused with roasted & salted macadamia nuts

Biscotti: A layer of milk chocolate infused with honey & anise on top of a layer of crushed biscotti cookies

Hazelnut: A layer of hazelnut ganache on top of a layer of hazelnut praline & feuilletine

PB Krunch: Milk chocolate & peanut butter with bits of peanut brittle

Amaretto: A layer of morello cherry pate de fruit then a layer of milk chocolate & marzipan with amaretto enrobed in dark chocolate

Macadamia Caramel: Soft caramel infused with roasted & salted macadamia nuts

Pistachio: Milk chocolate ganache infused with vanilla bean, pistachio paste & chopped pistachios with a hint of kirsch

Earl Grey: A milk chocolate infused earl grey ganache topped with a lemon-vanilla jelly in a milk chocolate shell

Dulce de Leche: Caramelized white chocolate ganache with vanilla bean enrobed in dark chocolate

Tropical Caramel: Caramel of Passion fruit, Mango & Coconut in a white chocolate shell

Hazelnut: A layer of hazelnut ganache on top of a layer of hazelnut praline & feuilletine

ROW #2

PB&J: Milk chocolate and peanut butter with bits of peanut brittle topped by a blend of 3 jellies

Bananas Foster: Milk Chocolate ganache made with bananas, dark rum & pecans in a white chocolate shell

Lemongrass & Coconut: White chocolate ganache infused with fresh lemongrass & coconut milk

Grand Marnier Caramel: No description given- though this was an orange flavored caramel

Strawberry Caramel: A soft caramel made from strawberry puree in a dark chocolate shell

Coffee Caramel: Dark caramel infused with espresso

Mystery Flavor: I could not find the name or description of this truffle on their website but my mediocre palette tasted some sort of fruit/berry.

PB Krunch: Milk chocolate & peanut butter with bits of peanut brittle

Raspberry Brule: A layer of raspberry pate de fruit topped by a layer of white chocolate & vanilla bean ganache enrobed in dark chocolate

Passion Fruit: White chocolate ganache infused with passion fruit puree

Lavender: Dark chocolate ganache infused with lavender & vanilla bean

Key Lime: White chocolate ganache infused with fresh lime juice

ROW #3

Salted Caramel: Soft caramel infused with Fleur de Sel sea salt

Dulce de Leche: Caramelized white chocolate ganache with vanilla bean enrobed in dark chocolate

Pear & Ginger Caramel: Soft Caramel of pear puree infused with fresh ginger in a dark chocolate shell

Espresso: No description given- but no description necessary. Strong coffee flavor.

Cappuccino: Milk chocolate ganache infused with vanilla bean, espresso & the best Vietnamese cinnamon

Venezuelan: Ganache of 72% cacao from Venezuela

Coconut Caramel: A soft caramel made from coconut puree, vanilla bean & grated coconut in a dark chocolate shell

Mystery Flavor: I could not find the name or description of this truffle on their website but my mediocre palette tasted licorice.

PB&J: Milk chocolate and peanut butter with bits of peanut brittle topped by a blend of 3 jellies

Mint Pie: No description given: though I could taste real mint, not fake flavoring!

Salted Caramel: Soft caramel infused with Fleur de Sel sea salt

Raspberry: Dark chocolate ganache infused with raspberry

There were a lot of fancy caramels; my favorite being the Pear & Ginger for its uniqueness. The Raspberry Brule was really tasty too. It was nice to try raspberry in a truffle that wasn't just dark chocolate, though there was one of those in the variety too. I liked the use of pate de fruit (pronounced: pat du fuey) throughout the collection. The gummy fruit texture is different than that of a ganache or a liquid caramel. 

My one complaint is that I did type a gift message to myself but it was not included with the package. I checked the entire box and the shipping label. Not a big deal, but if I were to have sent these to someone else they would not have known who they came from. 

To check out my older chocolate clubs visit these links: March, February, January, December, November, October, September, August, July, June.

*all names/descriptions were copied directly from the guides provided with the collection.