Cupcakes, Truffles, and… Tequila?

Remember Cupcake Camp? That is where I first encountered the mini beauty that is the white velvet cupcake from The Chocolate Tarte. Yes you read that right: a white velvet cupcake. It was made with a velvet cake (just like red velvet but without the red dye) and luscious buttercream frosting. I’ve been thinking about that cupcake since then. Last week we met again, and I was re-introduced to an old friend, tequila.

I was invited to a small dessert tasting at The Chocolate Tarte (thanks to Elizabeth for coordinating everything!) and we had some delectable chocolate goodies: there were tarts, cupcakes, gourmet chocolates, truffles, cake and brownies galore.

cute mini cupcakes: red velvet, chocolate, and white velvet

fudgy brownies

different kinds of gourmet chocolate (some were alcohol-infused)

and I fell in love with the ones with tequila!

I don’t usually think of tequila as a good pairing with chocolate; I’m more used to sweeter rum or brandy-infused chocolates.  But these pretty white chocolate tequila babies had just the right amount of subtle duskiness from the tequila, with a very mild bite from the alcohol, and an overall smoothness. Sometimes I think of tequila and I associate it with rowdy parties and strong margaritas, but this did not remind me of those. This was all classy and sophisticated, the Patron of chocolates.

the silkiest, sexiest, cocoa-dusted dark chocolate truffles

These truffles were pure decadence. Linda Hein, owner The Chocolate Tarte, uses only the purest ingredients: she mixes chocolate and cream (that’s it, nothing else), hand rolls each truffle center, and then dips each one, again by hand, into more chocolate and finally coat it in a bitter chocolate powder. The end result is a little ball of sin (or rather, heaven).

rosemary-chocolate tarts

and a beautiful red velvet cake - look at that icing!

I also had a taste of SoCo Creamery ice cream. I tried the Mission fig flavor and it tasted fresh and light – words I would not usually use to describe ice cream, but this ice cream was really refreshing, and offered a little flavor deviation from all the chocolate.

The Chocolate Tarte does a lot of custom orders and dessert catering, but you can also visit their store in Somerville. So aside from Bergamot and Posto, I now have another Somerville destination to frequent.

And it was great seeing fellow bloggers as usual, and letting my chocoholic freak flag fly. It was definitely a sweet night to hang out with Elizabeth, Emily, Megan, Justin, Amanda, Kathy, Pam, and finally meeting Michelle!

we didn't plan on all wearing white

Thank you again to Linda for having us. The treats were all decadent, and I couldn’t get enough of the white velvet cupcake, the classic truffle, and of course the chocolate with tequila. Te-qui-la!

Have you ever had chocolate with tequila?

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