The Trouble with Truffles

Anyone who isn't aware that Valentine’s Day is almost upon us has probably been living under a rock for the past month. Luckily for the procrastinators who still haven’t gotten around to picking up a gift for their sweetie, we braved the blustery winter weather to check out a few of Toronto’s finest chocolatiers. (Yeah, it’s a tough job sometimes.)

First up in our hunt for chocolate nirvana is the the elder statesman of Toronto's gourmet chocolate scene: Soma (55 Mill Street). Their cozy brick-and-wood space in the Distillery District is filled with dozens of baskets stacked full of assorted chocolate-based goodies, including hot chocolate mixes, gourmet chocolate bars and various chocolate-covered edibles. We're here for the truffles, though, which range from classics like salted caramel and whiskey, to more adventurous flavours like balsamic vinegar and Douglas fir. Purists will be happy to hear that they also make several single-origin 70% chocolate truffles.

We end up choosing an Arbequina olive oil truffle and a pecan butter crunch. The olive oil has a thin bittersweet chocolate shell that’s sweet and fruity, but the filling is a little disappointing – while the oil does give the filling a rich slippery mouthfeel, the flavour doesn’t stand up to the dark chocolate ganache as much as I’d like. However, the pecan butter crunch helps soothe my disappointment, with a smooth milk chocolate coating that pairs well with the buttery crisp toffee and the fresh pecan halves nestled inside.

Heading east, we find Kakayo Chocolatier (1584 Queen Street East). The bright white shop is located along a stretch of Queen Street East smack dab between Leslieville and The Beaches. Owner Colleen Wong-Sala specializes in organic, fair-trade and gluten-free chocolates. Chocolates are handmade on the premises, filled with flavours like salted caramel, green tea matcha and grains of paradise. Their selection also includes a few vegan options made with rice or soy milk, including chai spice and banana split.

We start off with one of Kakayo’s top sellers, the rainforest mocha truffle. The milk chocolate shell is creamy and slightly nutty, and the Panama coffee ganache centre has just a little touch of vanilla to temper the coffee's bitterness. We follow it up with the hot tamale, which has a dark, fruity, barely-sweet chocolate coating and an equally dark ganache filling that provides a gentle afterburn thanks to a dash of chili. Kakayo's truffles are hand-dipped, which makes their shell a little thicker than some of the other truffles we sampled, but there's still a good ratio of chocolate to filling.

Over in Yorkville, MoRoCo's (99 Yorkville Ave) white-and-pastel space feels more like a Victorian boudoir than a chocolatier, with several glass cases showing off pretty pastel-coloured rows of French macarons and various confections arranged in artfully trimmed alcoves. Many of their truffles have cheeky names that hint at the flavours nestled beneath their colourfully printed chocolate shells such as; monkey in the middle (tangy berry gelee with peanut gianduja), sourpuss (bittersweet chocolate with passionfruit and ginger) or thai me up (white chocolate with lemon, basil and mint), among others.

At $3 a piece, these truffles are a little more expensive than the rest, but it should be noted that we’re in Yorkville, daaah-link. We begin with the curry in a hurry, which has a pleasantly silky milk chocolate coating, but while the coconut milk ganache is creamy and sweet, there's only the barest hint of curry spice to be found (so bare, in fact, that I'm not sure I'd have noticed it if I wasn't expecting it to be there). A truffle named "fresh one" is a winner, though - the bittersweet chocolate coating has a satisfying snap and isn’t overly sweet, while the balsamic and strawberry cream filling finds a perfect balance of tangy, sweet and creamy with vibrant berry notes.

Over in the West End, Delight’s (3040 Dundas Street West) small storefront in the Junction is worth seeking out. Their chocolates are handmade on site using only fair trade and organic ingredients. Their small but varied selection includes flavours like cardamom lime, maple cream, hazelnut and chili chocolate, some of which are also vegan.

We decide to try the earl grey vanilla and the Quebec blue cheese. The milk chocolate of the earl grey vanilla is soothingly creamy, with a pronounced earl grey flavour. The star attraction is definitely the blue cheese, though, which turns out to be a delightful surprise (pun totally intended) - its salty-sweet dark chocolate filling is reminiscent of cheesecake, with a hint of pungent blue that comes through in the finish.

Lastly, we head north to Midtown to check out Xococava (1560 Yonge Street). The menu here reads more like a tapas joint than a chocolate shop, with options like chorizo, black olive, trumpet mushroom or preserved lemon (no surprise, since they’re an offshoot of Cava, the tapas place next door). If this all sounds a little too adventurous, rest assured that they do have a few more traditional choices, including raspberry, mint, and chai masala.

We can't pass up a chance to try the signature chorizo truffle, which is flavoured with a blend of paprika and lapsang souchong tea to mimic chorizo’s distinctive smoky spice. The smokiness is a little overwhelming at first, but it’s soon tempered by the sweetness of the milk chocolate coating. It’s a jarring, but not entirely unpleasant, combination. We then move on to a Spanish coffee truffle, which has a fruity dark chocolate shell and dark roasted coffee filling that strikes a good balance of sweetness and acidity.

Bottom line, there’s clearly no shortage of well-crafted, high-quality chocolate in Toronto. You can't really go wrong with any of these chocolatiers - eco-conscious types will probably be most pleased with Kakayo and Delight’s range of organic and fair-trade confections, fashionistas will appreciate MoRoCo and Soma’s sleek presentation, and adventurous food lovers will swoon over Xococava’s exotic flavourings. Let's face it, as long as there's some form of chocolate involved, it's sure to be a happy Valentine's Day.

Isabelle Boucher works as a flunkie in the telecom industry by day, and as a mad scientist in her kitchen by night. You can catch her recipe-related meanderings on her blog, Good Food, Good Wine and a Bad Girl. She'll be asking her Valentine for a heart-shaped box of carrot sticks.