Thursday, February 10, 2011

Valentine’s Chocolates Done Right

Valentine’s Chocolates Done Right - Dara & Co. - February 2011 - Minnesota

I’m not a chocolate connoisseur, but I do like to nibble on a bit of chocolate, especially when it’s from my sweetheart on St. Valentine’s Day. Of course, I’d enjoy a bar from Rogue Chocolate, but I go bonkers for the intensely flavored and mind-blowingly rich truffles from Legacy Chocolates, made nearby in Menomonie, WI.

The owners of Legacy Chocolates, Mike and Cathy Roberts, are passionate about ingredients. You’ll find high quality local ingredients in their chocolate products, including cultured butter from Hope Creamery and fresh cream from Pride of Main Street Dairy in Sauk Centre. And the cocoa? Legacy uses chocolate made from the Criollo cacao bean produced by small-scale, sustainable farmers in South America.

Their truffles come in boxes of 6, 12, 24, or 48, and you can specify one cocoa intensity (41%, 68%, 85% or 99%), or create an assortment with a few of each. You can go for flavors if you want, such as raspberry or mint, which vary by season. My favorite is the smooth and singular cocoa flavor of their 99% double-chocolate truffle.

You might recognize the name Legacy Chocolates. They used to have a shop in Merriam Park, but that location closed. Their current shop is located in Menomonie, along Chippewa River in western Wisconsin, where they run a small farm complete with Scottish highland beef cattle. If you stop in their shop in Menomonie, you might even be able to order a sandwich made with beef from their farm.

Since there are no preservatives in Legacy Truffles, consume immediately, or refrigerate. And please, if you do refrigerate, allow them to come to room temperature before you dig in—like cheese, they’re better that way.

Legacy Chocolates
632 Broadway St. S.
Menomonie, WI 54751-2456
715-231-2580



[where: Sustainable Food, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Twin Cities, Minnesota]