Lindsay Truffler located at 801 Columbus Ave., Bay City, MI
Look Mom! I'm a Chocolatier!
It's Chocolate Heaven at Lindsay Truffler Artisan Chocolates
December 11, 2011
By: Diane Szczepanski
Lindsay Coonan gets ready to make some delicious chocolates
It all started with good wine.
Lindsay, her husband Brian and Lindsay's parents, Mike and Kay Salogar, had several conversations about opening their own business, over glasses of wine.
"My dad had started experimenting and making truffles at home", said Lindsay. "We're all 'foodies' and we finally said we'd had enough talking about it, let's just do it and well, here we are!".
They officially opened in August 2010.
"Here" is at their shop on Columbus Ave., kitty-corner from St. James Church and is where my chocolate making experience begins.
The tempering kettle is where all the sweetness begins
The first thing I learned was making a variety of chocolates, involves precision in the consistency of melted 'seeds' as Lindsay calls them. The tempering kettle keeps melted chocolate a constant temperature and provides continuous stirring.
Lindsay pours chocolate into the prepared mold
The second thing I learned is, there is a LOT to learn about making the kind of great candy that comes out of Lindsay Truffler's kitchen!
In addition to a large variety of flavors of truffles, (or 'pralines' as the Europeans would call them) and caramels that are available, Lindsay Truffler also creates seasonal flavors.
2011's Holiday flavors are: Blackbottom Pecan Pie, Gingerbread Caramel, Egg Nog, Figgy Pudding, Candy Cane and Champurrado (a milk chocolate ganache in a dark chocolate shell inspired by a Mexican hot chocolate that is accented with cinnamon and hints of anise.)
The excess from filled molds gets poured into bowl
"Cherry Bombs are also another very popular item", remarked Lindsay. She went on to say, "It's our own version of the chocolate covered cherry, but waaaay better".
The store also offers Macaron's in a variety of flavors. "We have a lot of people who travel that come to our store for our Macaron's, which are a popular European, particularly French, item".
In addition, they also have dark chocolate brownies, cocoa mix, bark and a delicious treat which originated in the Netherlands, called a 'Stroopwaffle'. Lindsay described this as "two thin waffles that are bonded together with a sweet, gooey, caramely center and can be placed for a couple minutes over a hot coffee or cocoa to gently warm them".
Lindsay shows me how to dip the caramels we will be finishing
The care, creativity and skill it takes to make all these delectable goodies is evident in everything Lindsay does. From using all natural ingredients, to experimenting with new recipes, to a stringent quality control system of what comes out of her kitchen.
"A lot of factors can effect the chocolate and it is very sensitive to temperature and humidity", she explained. "Summer is much more difficult than winter for handling chocolate, from my experience".
Lindsay said learning to multi-task is a must, as is having an organization to the whole process. For instance, a batch of truffles ideally takes 3 days to complete.
Dipping is MUCH harder than it looks
After a couple of demonstrations from Lindsay, I tried my hand at dipping a caramel in the tempering kettle to make gingerbread topped caramels. She had made the quick swipe thru the kettle look effortless. However, it's not quite that easy.
The first one I did, I dropped more than swooped, and was not very 'pretty'. But I did slightly better on the second one. Lindsay sent me home with the one I made and I have to say it was the most delicious caramel I have ever eaten.
I'm going back for more soon. There is someone on my Christmas list that is going to be a lucky (and very happy) person!
Gingerbread cookie gets sprinkled on top of just dipped caramels
As I left the store, I realized just how passionate and creative the Coonan's and Salogar's are, about the products they make.
I also realized how lucky Bay City is to have our own little Artisan Chocolate shop!
Look them up at:
www.lindsaytruffler.com
Or on Facebook and Twitter
Or call (989)391-9480
Store hours are Wednesday thru Saturday from Noon-6pm.
There are MANY flavors and varieties of treats at Lindsay Truffler and special orders are also available
A sleigh full of sweetness would make a great Christmas gift!
Boxes of goodies are available in different sizes