Someone I hold near and dear recently commented that I talk about some, well, strange food combinations on this blog, and I know he’s sitting out there somewhere looking at the title of this recipe and shaking his head. Because it is not every day that you run into a combination of chocolate and merlot in the same truffle, not to mention the tarragon. I’ll get to the tarragon in a sec, but this gives me yet another opportunity to mention my favorite merlot…Red Bicyclette.
It’s a little hard to track down, but if you ever spot it and you are a merlot-lover like me, give it a try. Yum. Meanwhile, back at the tarragon…I know you might be thinking, why on earth would I toss some herbs into a mixture of perfectly good chocolate? Merlot maybe, but tarragon? But be brave and do it…tarragon gives these babies just a teeny hint of that anise flavor that cuts the sweetness just the right amount. That and rolling the truffles in a nice coating of unsweetened cocoa powder.
I’m pretty much in love with this recipe, and I think it has all kinds of possibilities. Next time (and there WILL be a next time) I might swap out the tarragon for a little bit of cayenne pepper to get a sweet and spicy thing going on.
Fun fact: this recipe was created by Giada de Laurentiis, who made them for Prince William and his new bride when they visited the States. I’m guessing that once they had a bite of these, they started planning their return trip.
Ingredients Directions
Chocolate Merlot Tarragon Truffles, from Giada de Laurentiis
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You are worse than me with the thyme in my muffins! My mom is always complaining that my food is "weird". However…she thinks chickpeas are an exotic food. So I can't go by her. I think these sound crazy awesome!
You had me at "Hello…Chocolate!" LOL You pretty much couldn't go wrong after that…unless you put something really weird in there like 'hair'!!! ewwwwwww! ^_^
so delicious food and drink. http://www.dvdhamlet.com/
Wow… these sound decadent and delicious! Can't wait to make some of these for myself! Thanks for sharing your recipe!
I just made these and imho the anise flavor is a bit on the subtle side. I tried reinforcing by toasting 1 tsp fennel seed and powdering it and mixing it with the cocoa, bit it was still more of an aroma than a flavor. Maybe some pastis along with the wine next time?