Hazelnut CoffeeTruffles

Ragged Coast Chocolates

Photos by Liz Caron

Last November, my life long fantasy of working with chocolate came true. Ragged Coast Chocolates co-owner Kate Shaffer was kind enough to hire me as a seasonal extra pair of hands, which I have changed to the grand title of “kitchen assistant” on my resume. On any given day, I might be enrobing caramels or ganache in dark chocolate; garnishing the chocolates with little touches like smoked sea salt or candied ginger; stuffing dates with almonds to make the adorable hedgehogs; or loading and unloading the dishwasher. Each task was a learning experience, some obviously more enjoyable than others. Meanwhile, it was always a treat to watch Kate do her thing, pouring a kettle of hot flagship caramel onto the smooth stainless steel table or embellishing chocolates with just a twist of a parchment cone.

Every type of confection at Ragged Coast was developed by Kate, and made using fresh ingredients. Cream is delivered from Baker Brook Farm in old-fashioned glass bottles, butter comes from Casco Bay Creamery and produce is sourced as much as possible from nearby farms. Of course there’s no cacao grown in Maine, so that comes from socially and environmentally-friendly sources in South America and beyond.

It’s hard to pin down a favorite, but for me the one that checks all my “ must-haves” is the hazelnut coffee truffle. Toasted nuts, check. Coffee, check. Milk chocolate, yes. When I asked Kate about the inspiration for this sweet, she laughed and explained. “One of my guilty pleasures is that cheap hazelnut-flavored coffee at gas stations,” she says. “I love that flavor and I always got it at the start of a road trip, so it has a happy association for me.” With that coffee as the core concept, Kate has created an exceptional confection.

It starts with the ganache, a super silky mixture of chocolate, cream and added flavors. Whole French Roast coffee beans from Coffee By Design are steeped on the stovetop in heavy cream, while a she roasts raw hazelnuts with honey. Can you imagine how incredible this smells? The nuts are ground into a smooth praline butter, to which coffee liqueur, butter and invert sugar is added. “At this point,” says Kate, “it’s delicious enough to just spread on toast.” But, the nut mixture is added to a container of chocolate fevés, hot cream is poured over the whole thing and it’s blended with an immersion mixer. The soft ganache is used to fill milk chocolate domes, then decorated with white chocolate stripes.

The truffles are included in several of the Ragged Coast Assortments, and I’d certainly recommend buying them rather than trying to make them at home. BUT, Kate’s book, Chocolate for Beginners, is an excellent guide for learning to work with chocolate, and create your own confections. The honeyed hazelnuts are simple to do yourself, and enjoy as is, or as an ingredient in Hazelnut-Frangelico Toffee, a recipe found in the book.

Honeyed Hazelnuts

2 cups raw or blanched hazelnuts

2 Tbsps. honey

Heat the oven to 350F. While the oven is heating, put the hazelnuts into a medium bowl. Add the honey and stir until all the nuts are evenly coated. Spread the nuts onto a baking sheet lined with well-oiled parchment paper. Roast the nuts 20-25 minutes, stirring three times during the roasting time. When the nuts look lacquered and have darkened to a rich mahogany color (or dark golden if you’ve used blanched hazelnuts), remove from oven and allow to cool completely.