With its adorable boxes in colors reminiscent of Tiffany blue, lined in a chocolate brown clearly meant as a wink to its contents, Sucré New Orleans is the gastronomical definition of Southern genteel. Its offerings range from the tame, like chicory ganache truffles, to the thrilling, with confections like the sicilian pistachio and absinthe truffle, but always seem to be appropriate and fitting for any range of occasions.
Sucré recently sent us a few offerings, one of which happened to be their Salted Caramel gift box, chock full of goodies that eloquently displayed their range of expertise in chocolate making, baking, and gorgeous presentation. This box included a fifteen piece box of their Avery truffles, which features dark chocolate covering a chocolate caramel ganache with sea salt sprinkled on top, three of Sucré's famous dark chocolate caramel cookies, and two flavored chocolate bars, salted pretzel and nibs 'n' brittle.
The cookies illustrated on their website looked large, but nothing could compare to the actual size of these behemoths. Seriously, they looked like edible Rai stones, but instead of a hole in the middle, there was an Avery truffle. I've long since attempted to get my cookies thick, chewy, and tall, and these were either baked in miniature springform pans or clearly beamed down from space. They are unworldly. The flavor is redolent with brown butter and the cookies are not shy about using salt as an accentuating component in their overall development. The dark chocolate drizzles on top of the cookie and the central truffle add a distinguishing textural difference to the cookie's body. With the nutty, salty scent wafting up from the bag and the crumbly, cakey chew, these are not so much an assault to the senses so much as a duet with them.
After those cookies, which tasted freshly baked, the ensuing confections would have to be solid gold or rolled up dollar bills to compete. Luckily, their simplicity and quality ingredients were all it took. Sucré's offerings rarely offend. While they aren't necessarily as strange or unusual as other chocolatey offerings I've been privy to, they are always consistent in their usage of fine, locally sourced ingredients and generously proportioned quantities for your money. The chocolate bars are probably the best example of this general credo. I've previously reviewed the Sicilian pistachio and rose petal bar and with that in mind, tried these bars. The pretzel bar is a classic. In the past, I've seen it done with pretzel twists. I liked the pretzel stick idea, as it made the bar visually appealing in a classic geometric fashion, but there were far too few pretzels and far too much blank space in between them. One out of three bites had pretzel in it. When it was there, it was delicious. Crispy, slightly metallic, salty, and balanced perfectly with the chocolate. But other bites were just chocolate. Delicious chocolate, but not what was advertised and somewhat deadened by the lack of toppings.
The other bar didn't suffer from this as much. It had a few different toppings, including a beautiful, glassy pecan brittle. In this bar, the salted element was much bolder. Then again, it was also lightly dusted with fleur de sel. This provided a sweet, non-astringent note to the creamy chocolate. I think this was my favorite bar of the two as it had a buttery, nutty flavor throughout and reminded me of a high-end Skor bar. I really loved the translucent amber-colored brittle.
The Avery truffles were delicate, bite-sized jewels sprinkled with a conservative, yet perfect amount of salt. Oddly enough, this was the least salted-caramel tasting confection of all the candies, yet was delicious in a unique fashion. Because the Avery isn't so much a chocolate covered caramel so much as it is a chocolate covered chocolate caramel ganache, it had a dulled caramel flavor overall. However, mixed with the dark chocolate, it took on a flavor and consistency very similar to molasses mixed with the tang of salt, which we loved. It was a different take on a popular treat, and offered up some pleasant irregularity in the mix.
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