Chocolate confections with Crêpes Dentelles

Cocoa Confectionery with Crêpes Dentelles. Alsatian Cocoa Truffle with Breton Wafer Splinters.

Cocoa Confectionery with Crêpes Dentelles is a French cocoa truffle from Chocolaterie Bruntz, 16 pieces per box, interspersed with splinters of wafer-thin sheets. Not a filled praline, no bar, no chocolate bar.

Cocoa Confectionery with Crêpes Dentelles is a Truffes Fantaisie from Chocolaterie Bruntz in Kingersheim, Alsace. Compared to a praline with brittle, this variety seems almost reserved. The crunch here is not hard, but flaky and subtle. The wafer splinters briefly crackle between the teeth before the soft cocoa core encloses them again. Those who like texture but are not looking for resistance will find the more refined version here.

Flaky instead of Cracking

The truffle opens dry and tart, because there is dark cocoa powder on the outside. Beneath it follows a soft core of dark cocoa and cooked cream. Five percent Crêpes Dentelles pieces bring butter, roasted aroma, and a hint of barley malt. The malt provides the golden-brown color of the wafer and the subtle toasted note in the aftertaste. The splinters are so thin that they do not disturb, but only briefly crack. This is more comparable to puff pastry than to brittle or nut crunch. It is precisely this fineness that keeps the truffle light, even though it starts sweet. The core works without cocoa butter and binds vegetable fat from copra and palm kernel. This fat already melts at around 24 degrees and therefore disintegrates on the tongue. Those who expect a clearly audible crack, like with brittle or cantuccini, will find this variety too reserved. The wafer content also remains an accessory and never takes the lead.

After swallowing, a buttery note remains on the palate, reminiscent of freshly baked goods. This aftertaste clearly distinguishes this variety from the other two from the same house. Nuttiness and salt recede here, making way for a bakery-like quality. For guests who otherwise find chocolate too intense, this is the most accessible of the three varieties.

The sweetness is in the medium range and is curbed by the cocoa powder. A sugar shock is avoided, even after the third piece. However, those accustomed to distinctly dark chocolate with a high cocoa content will still perceive the core as milky. Truffes Fantaisie are confectionery and not couverture, and they do not pretend to be anything else.

Sunday Morning, Café au Lait, Two Truffles

A café au lait is the most suitable accompaniment, as coffee and wafer speak the same roasting language. Two truffles are enough for breakfast; three are already a dessert. For afternoon tea, a malty Assam works better than a green tea, which is too grassy in contrast. If you want to get to know the wafer pure, place a Crêpe Dentelle from Brittany next to it and compare the original product and the result. For a quick dessert, crumble two truffles over a chocolate mousse; the cocoa powder then provides the bitterness. The same trick works on a scoop of caramel ice cream, but only if the truffle is at room temperature. If you are looking for a comparison within the house, reach for the Cocoa Confectionery with Salted Caramel. The confectionery is not suitable for baking, as the mixture would run out in the oven and the wafer would become soft.

The variety has no place on a cheese platter; the core is too sweet for that. However, it pairs well with a glass of brut cider, as the acidity catches the buttery note. A matured Calvados also readily picks up the roasted note of the wafer. For children, this is the most uncomplicated of the three varieties, as neither nuts nor salt pose a hurdle.

From experience: Serve the truffles at about 18 degrees and no colder. In the refrigerator, the powder draws moisture and the wafer splinters lose their crispness. Half an hour out of the cool room before serving is sufficient.

A Wafer Sheet from Quimper in the Alsatian Truffle

The Crêpe Dentelle originated in 1893 in Quimper, Brittany. The baker Marie-Catherine Cornic left a crêpe on the griddle for too long. Instead of throwing it away, she rolled up the thin dough, and the wafer sheet was born. Since then, Brittany has baked these sheets from wheat flour, sugar, butter, skim milk, barley malt, and salt. Bruntz breaks them and stirs the splinters into a base mixture of vegetable fat, sugar, low-fat cocoa powder, and whey powder. Because cocoa butter is absent, the result is called cocoa confectionery in Germany and not chocolate. The chocolaterie itself has been operating in Kingersheim, north of Mulhouse, since 1960, founded by three brothers. Since 1978, it has been located on Rue de l'Industrie, now with about ten employees. In 2005, the Ricou family joined, and in 2024, Quentin Ricou and Laurent Kalis took over. In the 1980s, the company made a name for itself with Truffes Fantaisie in Kougelhopf form. This fluted silhouette is still the company's signature today. As a partner of Marque Alsace, Bruntz officially carries its origin on the packaging.

The wafer splinters are only added to the cooled mass. If they were in contact with warm fat beforehand, they would soak up and lose their crispness. This sequence is the reason why the crackle survives the journey from the box to the customer at all.

The cocoa powder on the outside also serves a function beyond aesthetics. It binds residual moisture on the surface and prevents the truffles from sticking together. At the same time, it provides the tart counterpoint to the sweet core. In Kingersheim, dragées and hand-poured chocolate figures for Easter and Christmas are also produced. The cocoa confectionery runs year-round and is therefore the constant in the company's assortment.

The Blue Box as a Small Assortment

The blue box has a printed black and white ribbon with a bow and does not require gift wrapping. 100 grams, 16 truffles, a format between a souvenir and a supply. Together with the green and orange varieties, it forms a trio from a single manufactory. As a gift for hosts, the combination works better than a single box. For a larger group, calculate three to four pieces per person. The confectionery is not suitable for shipping on hot summer days, as the core melts too quickly. On a dessert buffet, place the truffles individually in paper cups so that the powder remains intact.

The box stands upright, can be stacked, and withstands a bag without pressure marks. This makes it suitable for a short visit as well as for storage in the cupboard. Once opened, it will keep for several weeks if stored cool and dry.

Breton wafer in an Alsatian truffle: This is less a contradiction than a French matter of course. Both regions work with butter, both with patience.

A truffle that still has something to say as it melts.