Matters of Taste

Sunshine on a Plate: Lemon Tart at Crescent Heights

Many restaurants across the country feature lemon tart on their dessert menus these days. Few do it as well as Crescent Heights pastry chef Regan Briggs.

Open  just a couple months, Crescent Heights, in downtown San Diego,  is already making big waves with the imaginative, well-executed dishes of chef/owner David McIntyre; a simple, sophisticated décor; and the limited but lovely selection of desserts by Briggs.

This Lemon Ricotta Tart captures the very essence of a San Diego day -- bright, breezy, radiant. The richness of ricotta and eggs is well balanced by the acidic jolt of fresh lemons in both custard and curd. It’s the rare dessert that actually perks up the palate rather than KOing it.

Here’s Briggs’ recipe. If you’re short on time or energy, you can skip the compote. The beauty of this creation lies in the luminous filling.

Any by the way….if you choose to skip the baking experience altogether, and go to Crescent Heights to taste the Lemon Ricotta Tart instead, be sure to also try Chef McIntyre’s superlative Sauteed Diver Scallops, anointed with brown butter and set atop some of the most perfect renditions of risotto I’ve had in years; and his salad of Chino Farms beets and first-rate burrata cheese moistened with 25-year-old balsamic vinegar.

CRESCENT HEIGHTS LEMON RICOTTA TART

Yield – 1 8”-9” tart

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

SWEET DOUGH
5 oz butter, soft
2.5 oz sugar
1 egg, lightly whisked
7.5 oz pastry flour

FILLING
4 oz sugar
¼ oz all purpose flour
4 oz ricotta
½ each vanilla bean (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
2  eggs
4  egg yolks
¼ c. lemon juice
1 lemon zested
1.5 oz cream

CURD
4 oz lemon juice
3 oz sugar
2 eggs
1.5 egg yolks
3 oz butter, cut into cubes

COMPOTE
4 oz red wine
4oz port
1 oz sugar
8 oz huckleberries

FOR THE CRUST
-    In a stand mixer using a paddle attachment, mix butter & sugar together
-    Alternately add your dry & wet ingredients starting with the flour
-    Mix until the dough comes together & no streaks remain
-    Wrap tightly in saran wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.
-    Roll chilled dough to ¼” thickness. Lay rolled dough on into 9” fluted tart shell. Press the dough firmly to the pan removing any air bubbles. Cut off any excess dough from edges.
-    Poke holes using fork on bottom of shell. Bake for 5 min. turn shell for even baking and bake for another 5 min. Let cool.

FOR THE FILLING
-    Using whisk attachment in a stand mixer, mix sugar, flour, ricotta & vanilla bean until combined.
-    Continue by adding eggs & yolks. Scraping the bowl well after each edition.
-    Add the lemon juice & lemon zest mix & scrape.
-    Add the cream & mix on speed for 30 seconds
-    Use immediately or store for 3 days
-    Line a baking sheet w/ parchment paper & place prebaked (cooled) tart onto sheet.
-    Pour filling 1/4” inch below top of shell.
-    Bake for 10 min, turn the tart in the oven and continue to bake until set, approximately 8 to 10 minutes.

FOR THE CURD
-    Over a double boiler on medium to low heat, whisk together lemon juice, sugar, eggs & yolks
-    Continue whisking until the thin mixture becomes pudding like in texture (approximately 12 min.)
-    Remove thickened curd from heat & place on heat safe surface.  Gently whisk in butter
-    Store in airtight container with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the curd.  Chill for 1 hour before serving.

FOR THE COMPOTE
-    In a sauté pan, combine port, red wine & sugar
-    Over a med – high heat reduce the mixture to a quarter of its original volume
-    Add in huckleberries & remove from heat.  Stir the huckleberries just until combined.  Cool the compote. Store until ready to plate. (***Note – if huckleberries aren’t available  use a combination blueberries & raspberries)

ASSEMBLY
- Cut a slice of the lemon ricotta tart & place atop a spoonful of lemon curd. Drizzle some of the huckleberry compote onto the plate around the tart.

 

Donuts on My Mind

On a day when everyone is quoting the eloquent prose and poetry of John Updike (the brilliant author who died yesterday with more than 50 published books to his credit), I feel kinda bad quoting Homer Simpson…..but here goes:

“DONUTS!  Is there anything they can’t do?”

According to this morning’s New York Times, they even do great things when they’re stale.

I read Alex Witchel’s clever piece about how Eli Zabar – he of the New York City food emporium of the same name – makes bread pudding out of his famous jelly donuts. Witchel said  “when warm, it tasted like pie, a sweet fresh fruit pie, which left raspberry seeds in my teeth;” when cold “it tasted like ice cream.”

I haven’t been able to get jelly donuts out of my head all day.

It’s not that I eat donuts willy-nilly, mind you. In fact, I probably haven’t had one since the heydays of Krispie Kreme. (When the chain moved into San Diego it was my duty as a journalist to sample all the flavors and report on them. Tough job……..)

But reading about Zabar’s “tall, powder white and spotlight ready” jelly donuts really grabbed me.  I’ve spent the day reminiscing about the great donuts of my lifetime. The lemon-filled globes, caught in a blizzard of powered sugar, that my family got at Mrs. Foster’s Donuts in Lynn, Massachusetts after Mass on Sunday mornings. The slippery-with-grease “honey-dip” donuts at a hole-in-the-wall shop on Washington Street in Jamaica Plain. (Honey-dip is Bostonian for “glazed” donuts.)

Then there was the single best donut I ever ate.

This puff of perfection wasn’t actually called a donut, but rather krapfen, because I discovered it in the German-speaking part of Italy called the Sud-Tirol (South Tyrol). My husband and I were staying overnight with a half dozen friends at a tiny inn called Solerhof in the Grödnertal (Val Gardena in Italian; Gardena Valley in English). It was October and we were there for Törgellen.

One of the coolest traditions in the world, Törgellen means you stay in a little inn set in a meadow where cows with bells around their necks graze, and every young lady that passes by looks like Heidi. You go  hiking in a spectacular landscape all day long, then gather in the inn for an evening in front the a fire -- drinking young wine, feasting on just-picked chestnuts, speck (bacon) and local dishes, singing and yodeling (I’m not kidding); then collapsing into bed under a massive pouf of goosefeathers.

At Solerhof, the innkeeper went one better than other innkeepers in the area. When we arrived home from hiking in late afternoon, she greeted us with hot-from-the-fryer krapfen, each a masterpiece of yeastiness, tongue—tickling sugar, and warm preserves made of berries from the neighboring woods. It was like biting into a cloud. I ate several and felt a little guilty. Now, of course, I wish I had eaten a lot more.

The Solerhof building is still there tucked into woods at the end of a dirt road. But it’s just a family home now, no longer a gasthaus (guest house).

So, now I guess I’ll have to try Zabar’s jelly donuts the next time I’m in New York. And in the meantime, I’m going out to buy some jelly donuts this weekend and make the Jelly Doughnut Pudding of Eli Zabar.

Check out Witchel’s recipe. It’s impossible to go wrong with something that contains heavy cream, whole milk, sugar, eggs, vanilla and “14 jelly doughnuts, preferably filled with raspberry jam.”

Next on the National Agenda: BEETS

OK. So what do we know about Barack Obama now that he’s been our President for a whole week? Sure, sure. He wants to close Gitmo;; stimulate the economy; and hang on to his beloved Blackberry. But most important, from the perspective of this blog, we now know that he “doesn’t eat beets.”

Clearly this guy hasn’t been dining in the right places…contemporary American eateries where cooks celebrate local, seasonal foods and add their touches of creativity to ubiquitous and low-cost ingredients like, say, beets.

If Obama could just get a taste of the colorful, comforting Penne with Gorgonzola, Beets and Toasted Walnuts that’s one of my favorites at New York City’s Union Square Café, he’d probably re-think this silliness. And if he’d be willing to try chef Jody Adams’ sophisticated yet satisfying Beet and Spinach Salad, then maybe, just maybe, he’d earn the title “open-minded” that’s being applied to him in the press.

Jody’s restaurant is Rialto (between the Charles River and Harvard Square in Cambridge, MA) and her cookbook “In the Hands of a Chef” is one of the all-time greats. I featured it -- one of the best I discovered in 25-plus years as Food Editor and Columnist -- in my farewell column in the Union-Tribune last year. It’s available at Amazon.com.

“The Union Square Café Cookbook” by restaurateur extraordinaire Danny Meyer and Café chef Michael Romano, was also on the “Thirteen Treasured Cookbooks” list. It’s also available at Amazon.com.

PENNE WITH GORGONZOLA, BEETS and TOASTED WALNUTS

2 medium beets (about 1 pound), scrubbed
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 ½ cups sliced red onion
1 cup white wine
2 cups heavy cream
¼ pound Gorgonzola, crumbled
1 tablespoon plus ½ teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground white pepper
¾ pound penne
¾ cup toasted walnuts
2 tablespoons finely grated Pecorino Romano
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Trim the tops and root ends of the beets (save the green leaves if they are fresh and cook them like spinach). Cook the beets, unpeeled, in lightly salted water until they are easily pierced by a paring knife, about 45 minutes.  Cool, peel away the loosened skin, and cut into strips as long as the penne and ¼ inch thick. Reserve.
 Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a saucepan or skillet large enough to hold all the cooked pasta. Cook the garlic and onions to soften but not color, 5 to 7 minutes. Pour the wine into the pan and raise the heat. Reduce  the wine until syrupy.
Stir in the heavy cream, lower to a simmer, and reduce the sauce until it very lightly coats the back of a spoon. Strain over a bowl, pressing the onions and garlic with a ladle. Return the straine\d sauce to the sauce pan and bring back to a simmer. Reduce the heat and slowly whisk in the Gorgonzola until it is completely melted. Season with ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper and set aside.
Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil and add 1 tablespoon salt. Cook the pasta until al dente and drain. Return the sauce to a simmer over a medium flame and add the pasta, stirring until coated. Toss in the beets and the walnuts, mixing lightly just until the sauce turns pink. Transfer the pasta to a warm bowl, sprinkle with the Pecorino and parsley and serve.

BEET AND SPINACH SALAD WITH GOAT CHEESE AND GRILLED FRESH FIGS  

4 small beets, washed
2 orange quarters
Kosher salt
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon crushed toasted anise seeds
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon minced shallots
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
8 fresh figs, cut lengthwise in half
3 cups lightly packed baby spinach leaves
¼ pound fresh goat cheese
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed

Put the beets in a saucepan large enough to accommodate them in a single layer. Squeeze the juice from the orange quarters into the pan. Add the rinds and enough water to cover the beets by an inch. Season with salt, cover and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook until the beets are tender, about 45 minutes. Allow the beets to cool in the cooking liquid.
Drain the beets, then remove the skins by rubbing them with an old kitchen towel. Cut each beet into 8 wedges. Place the wedges in a large bowl and toss with the orange zest and 1 tablespoon of the balsamic vinegar. Whisk together the anise seeds, mustard and shallots with the remaining 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar in a small bowl. Add 1/2 cup of the olive oil in a thin steady stream, whisking constantly, until the vinaigrette is smooth and completely blended. Season with salt and pepper.
Preheat a grill pan over high heat. Brush the grill pan with 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Toss the figs with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Grill figs cut side down until browned and tender, about  a minute. Remove from the heat and toss with 1 tablepoon of the vinaigrette.
Add the spinach and the remaining vinaigrette to the bowl with the beets. Toss well. Then arrange on four plates. Crumble the goat cheese over the beets, garnish with the grilled figs and capers and serve.

A Taste of 2009 -- The Fancy Food Show, Part II

It’s a tough job…but someone’s gotta go out there and taste the 80,000-plus specialty food items that will be competing for your precious dollar in 2009.

Here are some of the “best bites” that I found at this week’s 34th Winter Fancy Food Show, held at San Francisco’s Moscone Center. (For an overview of the annual food-fest, please see yesterday’s post, below.)

CHOC-O-LAIT is a swizzle stick with a luscious cube of Belgian chocolate and creamy ganache at one end. Said to be the original way to make hot chocolate (funny, I thought Nestle’s Quik got that honor), the Choc-o-lait is designed to be plunged into a cup of steamed milk, and swirled around ‘til the cube turns the milk into haute cocoa. It comes in four flavors (dark, milk, nut and Cointreau). The elegant cubes are just coming into the American marketplace (from England). You can find them on-line at ChocolateSource.com for about $2 each.

JOSEPH BANKS CASSAVA CHIPS Introduced to the marketplace last summer, these root chips are terrific. Impeccable crisp texture. Excellent vitamin C and fiber profile. Four flavors, including an irresistible “Chilli and Kaffir Lime.” But there are a couple factoids about the chips worth noting. First, they’re cooked in palm oil, which a spokesperson said makes the extreme crispiness possible.  Also, the chips come from Indonesia, a part of the world not particularly known for strict quality control and one with plenty of problems these days. I’m not saying the Indonesia passport would keep me from buying a product…but it seems to me that there might be an equally good product made elsewhere?

B. T. MC ELRATH CHOCOLATE BARS. Brian McElrath, one of my favorite chocolatiers, has “reinterpreted” his best-selling truffles into bars. Unlike the truffles (pictured here), the bars contain no cream and have a longer shelf life. I loved the simple, sublime Salty Dog Chocolate Bar of dark chocolate, toffee bits and salt. Let it melt slowly on your tongue and you’ll be amazed at the many layers of flavor and texture sensation. The Passion Fruit and Tangerine Chocolate bar is delicious, too. The new bars are due in markets and specialty stores on February 16th.

HOT SQUEEZE SWEET HEAT CHIPOTLE SAUCE.  Nothing fancy. Just  a well-made, sweet-smoky-spicy sauce that makes everything taste better. About 7 bucks in such stores as Metropolitan Market, Whole Foods, Krogers and Cost Plus.

 

 

BALSAMIC HONEY VINEGAR is, first off, not really balsamic vinegar, the best of which comes from Italy. Rather, this tasty product is made right here in the US of A by a  fifth-generation family of beekeepers. It’s made from pure honey in the style of balsamic vinegar which involves fermentation and aging in oak among other steps.
I tasted it plain and loved the hint of sweetness and the sassy tang. It’s very smooth, without the “catch” in the throat of other vinegars. It’s available on-line for about $12 (8.5 ounces) at HoneyRidgeFarms.com and at Amazon.com.

BELLA CHI-CHA TORTAS With these layered cheese-and-pesto concoctions on hand in the fridge, impromptu happy hours get a lot happier.  Six flavors are offered including a three-layered affair with fresh basil and sun-dried tomatoes and, my favorite, a gorgonzola wonder with figs, honey and balsamic vinegar.

 

SILVER MOON LIQUEUR-INFUSED ICE CREAM & SORBETS will not be on store shelves until March. I’m planning to be first in line to get another slurp of the Orange Creamsicle ice cream made with crème fraiche, Cointreau and swirls of candied orange peel.  That happened to be my favorite at the show, but I’m not likely to turn down a bowl of Bourbon Vanilla Bean, Lavender Limoncello or Crème de Mint Chip either.

VOSGES BLACK PEARLS are as elegant as classic white pearls on a little black dress. Made by the high-profile Chicago chocolatier Vosges, the Black Pearl Bombolinas are dark chocolate-covered cashews with wasabi and ginger. I also loved the Naga Mango, thin wisps of dried mango dusted with sweet curry and enrobed in 62 percent dark chocolate. They cost about $9 a box at Vosges.com

FIGAMAJIGS. One of the most interesting of the many figgy items on display, these bars are made of ground figs, cocoa, and a  bit of rice flour. They’re delicious, filling and good for you, thanks to a desirable amount of calcium, fiber and minerals in the fruit. Available in four flavors: almond, mint, raspberry and original. They cost about $1.75 each.

HAZELNUT OIL from Pariani. One of the most opulent products at this year’s show, this elegant oil will dress up everything from melon and prosciutto and risotto to fresh peaches, chocolate ice cream and shaved sunchokes. The folks at the Manicaretti (importer) booth couldn’t tell me the price but I’m guessing it will be wildly expensive. Check it out at Manicaretti.com.

FIELD ROAST GRAIN MEAT CO. Doesn’t exactly make your mouth water, does it? But folks who eschew meat as well as those who’d just like to try something different, will be thrilled with the “vegan grain meats” from this Seattle company. I especially liked the coarse texture and bold flavors of the Italian Sausage which is made with eggplant, fennel, garlic and red wine. The Mexican Chipotle (with chilies, garlic, onions, cumin seed and oregano) will make a mighty fine breakfast burrito. Widely available in supermarkets.

MARBLE POP. Economic wobbles notwithstanding, this year’s show featured start-up companies fervently hoping that the marketplace might make room for yet another chip, cheese torte or Chukar cherry. One dramatic example is the Marble Pop, a glass bottle of soda pop that is guaranteed to captivate kiddies and parents alike. Modelled after a popular Japanese soda pop, the bottle has a glass marble embedded in the top, said to be held in place by the carbonation within the bottle. Remove the plastic safety cap. Press it firmly on the marble. The marble pops and drops into the bottle. The soda flows out and the marble rattles around in the bottle. At about 2 bucks a bottle, it’s not going to replace Pepsi or Dr. Pepper. But it might make for fun birthday party entertainment….and it’s cheaper than pony rides! A box of 16 bottles is $32 on Amazon.com.

Food Lover's Crystal Ball -- The 2009 Fancy Food Show

 

I HAVE SEEN THE FUTURE...and it’s full of flavored waters and “functional” drinks;  exotic ketchups; dog biscuits made from organic flour; a tsunami of tea including Venga Health&Zen made with “virgin white tea and Swiss Alpine water;” chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate; and enough figs to dress up a thousand Davids.

 

This week the 34th annual Winter Fancy Food Show turned San Francisco’s cavernous Moscone Center into a food-lover’s paradise.  Staged each year by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade, the three-day trade show features some 80,000 specialty foods and beverages from 35 countries. (NASFT also hosts an annual Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City.)

Open only to people in the industry (such as producers, retailers and chefs), this year’s show peddled delectable cheeses such as a soft-ripened, bloomy-rind cow’s milk Riesling Sylvaner from Switzerland; hundreds of nutty products including Top It Off, a crunchy  topping for ice cream, oatmeal and salads from the uniquely named Nutorious Nuts Co.; dozens of variations on the white chocolate-cranberry-oatmeal cookie theme (clearly poised to be the poster cookie for 2009); granola that proclaims “I look like a hippie but I taste like a movie star;” ethnic tastes such as mole and shelf-stable Indian meals; and even a few political statements such as the Obamaccino from the McSteven’s hot chocolate company. The colorful little tin is labeled: "2008-2016 Limited Edition." Now that’s what you call positive thinking!

Hot sauces and salsas,  toffee and caramels were also front and center, as were flavored mustards, crackers of every imaginable (and some unimaginable) variety, and the aforementioned figs that lured buyers with their myriad forms: powders, granules, pastes, slurries, chips, flakes, nuggets and discs, wrapped in chocolate, folded into tapenades and tucked into puff pastry pouches.

Economists and trend-spotters claim that cash-strapped Americans will still splurge on good things to eat, even as they scrap plans for ski vacations and new cars. The marketplace seems prepared to respond with scads of up-dated and up-graded comfort foods such as Marie Callender’s new “Southwestern” version of its beloved cornbread; Otis & Betty’s upscale Chex-like mixes; and Rice Krispie treats shaped like voluptuous donuts and uber-trendy cupcakes (from Selma's). Then there’s the Elvis Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich Cocoa mix from McSteven’s. What could possible be more uplifting?

Old-fashioned pancakes get some new-fangled looks. For Jimmie Johnson wannabes, there’s the Nascar Complete Pancake Mix (Chocolate Chunk Brownie Mix too).  For Dads who want to be “the man” on Sunday morning (but apparently don’t have enough smarts to dump some flour, milk and melted butter in a bowl) there’s the new-to-the-show Daddy Cakes, an add-water-only pancake mix. Both plain and blueberry samples were offered; I found both monumentally bland. 

Tomorrow I'll blog about the most delicious items I discovered at the show. Come back for a taste of gorgonzola tortas, Balsamic Honey Vinegar, the Figamajig Chocolate Bar, and cassava root chips.

No matter what your politics, you gotta love the dedication and artistic talent involved in this "portrait" of the President-Elect, fashioned from 1, 240 cupcakes (and reported on msnbc).

Baker Zilly Rosen created the giant dessert during the campaign and gave it to election workers in Buffalo, NY to enjoy.

She is now working on a 5,600-cupcake installation of Obama and Abraham Lincoln for the Smithsonian American Art Museum, on display Feb. 14.

Puttin' on the Dog!

Hot dogs topped with cheese, pineapple, mustard, crumbled potato chips and thousand island dressing?

Wow. And I thought the “curry wurst" I ate and wrote about In Berlin last summer was wild and crazy.

Yesterday’s short in The New York Times by Jennifer 8. Lee shed a whole new light on the ethnic pup. Specifically the ethnic pups to be found on the streets of New York.

In addition to the cheese-and-pineapple wonder (which hails from Colombia, by the way), Lee writes about the Korean dog (slathered with bulgogi which is basically soy-barbecued beef and pictured here); the Mexican dog (with guacamole and chilies); and the perro caliente con salchicha at Cositas Ricas (considered the IHOP of the Latino Jackson Heights neighborhood). This multi-cultural breed involves Parmesan cheese, potatoes, cheese, mayo, crumbled potato chips and pineapple “sauce.”

For decades the Chicago dog, with its colorful tossed salad of tomato, pickle, onion and hot peppers, was considered the audacious, flamboyant version of the beloved all-American icon. But the melting pot continues to bubble....and we food lovers are richer for it.

"FLAVOR OF THE YEAR"

Nothing gets tongues wagging and mouths watering more than the suggestion that a particular foodstuff is dubbed the Best Bite of 2008.

A recent article in The New York Times claims that salted caramels get to wear the beauty queen’s sash  this year.  Reporter Kim Severson says the buttery candies that are dusted with chi-chi finishing salts and, often, enrobed in rich chocolate, are “one of those rare flavors that works its way from an elite culinary obsession to the American mass market.”

To prove the point, Severson talks about Haagen-Dazs’ introduction last spring of a “reserve” brand of salted caramel ice cream, as well as Starbucks’ recent salted caramel hot chocolate drink. Just before the holidays, Wal-Mart gave the sweet-salty confection a vote of confidence by creating a store-brand salted caramel truffle.

I’m happy to give credit to the French for the original idea of teaming up sweet, buttery cooked sugar with crunchy salt grains. (Salted caramel is an art form in Brittany where the local marshes surrender the top-of-the-line finishing salt called Fleur de Sel, “ flower of the salt.”)

However, having eaten my weight in salted caramels over the years, I’m convinced that some of the best are produced right here in the U. S. of A.

These are my favorites. If I’ve missed a great one, PLEASE let me know. I wouldn't want to miss out on a single brilliant bite.

RECCHIUTI CONFECTIONS

Michael Recchiuti’s fleur de sel caramels are out of this world – smooth, soft, buttery, ever-so-slightly smoky, with a few tiny grains to tickle your tongue for an instant before giving way to overwhelming richness.
A 16-piece box costs $23 at Recchuiti.com and at their store in the Ferry Building Marketplace in San Francisco. 

FRAN’S SALT CARAMELS

 President-Elect Obama is about to make Fran’s of Seattle’s salted caramels the 2009 equivalent of the Ronald Reagan Jelly-Belly.

But those in the know have been swooning over this company’s products for years.  Fran Bigelow’s Salt Caramels are beautiful -- plump, pliant, cloaked in dark or milk chocolate and artistically sprinkled with gray sea salt or Welsh smoked sea salt. Aficionados claim these have the highest “salty” quotient of all the upscale caramels out there.

A 16-piece box costs  $24 at the Fran’s Web site as well as in many upscale supermarkets and gourmet shops.

Fran’s also offers an excellent Caramel Sauce in a pretty jar (pour it on ice cream and sprinkle your own favorite finishing salt on top).  Unfortunately, the company stopped making my favorite, Espresso Caramel Sauce, years ago.

L.A. BURDICK

L.A. Burdick won my heart years ago with their adorable “mousie” truffles. Recently, they extended their winning streak with two new amazing caramels dusted with fine salt.  They are pure and buttery, with the salt adding lovely crunch. The company’s original caramels—mocha, apricot and vanilla – may not have the salt but are definitely worth tasting too.  A very pretty “collection” box costs $44 on the L.A. Burdick Web site.

CHARLES CHOCOLATES

This San Fran-based company is one of my favorites for chocolates that are gorgeous to look at and heavenly to eat.  The Charles dark, rich caramel square is dusted with fleur de sel and enrobed in 65 percent bittersweet chocolate. You can also get the Pecan Caramel which features the fleur de sel, a freshly roasted pecan and the same dreamy chocolate coat.  The caramels cost $30 for a 20-piece package at Charles Chocolates.

POCO DOLCE

OK. So technically, the exquisite salt-dusted chocolate “tiles” from this relatively new little company, aren’t real caramels. But they do feature burnt caramel toffee, toasted almonds, bittersweet chocolate and sea salt….and they ARE scrumptious. $34 buys 16 pieces at PocoDolce.com.

VOSGES HAUT-CHOCOLAT

Vosges Chocolates, the Chicago purveyor of extravagant, expensive and, sometimes, way-out confections, does a  Marchesa Casati caramel truffle that involves black sea salt,  85% dark chocolate and, get this,  real freshwater pearl dust.. According to the Web site, the marvelous morsels are only made during holiday seasons and are currently sold out. Since the pricetag is 45 bucks for 9 pieces, I’m not exactly boo-hooing the scarcity. In fact, I’m quite content with the company’s delicious Blush Caramels that are sprinkled with Hawaiian red sea salt and something called li hing powder (which apparently is salty dried plum powder). They cost $9.50 for a package of four “exotic” caramels.