Posted by Intern Ken:

This week I kicked off my training wheels, designing and creating my first original batch of truffles– with a little help from my friends, of course.

We’re calling it Salt and Malt for the no-nonsense chocolate connoisseurs, although among friends they’re known as Salty Malties. Since I tend to appreciate potent, powerful, intense experiences in life, this initial batch catered to those sensibilities exactly to my liking. I love a thick chocolate milkshake, but any time I can add malt for an extra quarter or two, I’ll make a point of adding it, double  if possible. In fact, I love that malt so much, that dusting the top of a hand dipped truffle with extra malt just wasn’t  going to cut it, so I decided to try a natural truffle, rolled in a salt and malt mixture to get those flavors right up front to really kick you in the teeth. That’s where the salt comes in.

In most recipes, salt is a dimension of taste, not a feature flavor, but to make that dry malt really grab you, I wanted to amp it up with a salty I Warned You kind of kick. What I came up with delivers that. I tried to get a smooth chocolate base by using a milk chocolate shell and ganache to finish, though I’m having some concerns that it doesn’t balance the power of the malt. I’m reluctant to deviate from the chocolate malt milkshake inspiration with a darker chocolate, but I may need it to bring focus back to the chocolate faster and harder, or even out the delivery a little bit by using cocoa powder on the truffle’s exterior.

First tasting is this weekend, I’m excited to talk about it with people who have discriminating palates. If you get a chance to stop by the kitchen, ask Jennie if it’s available and let me know what you think. It’s still a work in progress, so if you can help me make it better, now’s the time, let’s do it!