Cocoa Confection with Hazelnut Crunch

Cocoa Confectionery with Hazelnut Crunch. Powdery Cocoa Truffle from Alsace with Caramelized Nut.

Cocoa Confectionery with Hazelnut Crunch is a French cocoa truffle from Chocolaterie Bruntz, 16 pieces per box, rolled in dark cocoa powder on the outside. Not a filled praline, no bar, no nougat.

Cocoa Confectionery with Hazelnut Crunch is a Truffes Fantaisie from Chocolaterie Bruntz in Kingersheim, Alsace. When you open the box, you initially expect a solid chocolate shell. Instead, you'll find matte, irregularly shaped truffles in dark cocoa powder. The mass yields slightly even between your fingers. It crumbles in your mouth, then the caramelized hazelnut crunches. This sequence is the whole character of the product.

Why this truffle tastes dry at first

The first impression is tart and bone-dry, as there's pure cocoa powder without sugar on the outside. Only then does the core open up. It tastes of dark cocoa, cooked cream, and milk sugar. Finally, roasted caramel from the hazelnut splinters emerges. These splinters make up six percent of the mass and remain crunchy until the last bite. They are coarse enough to be noticeable, and fine enough not to get stuck between your teeth. The texture is significantly softer than what you're used to from classic pralines. The core works without cocoa butter, instead binding vegetable fat from copra and palm kernel. This fat melts at around 24 degrees Celsius, well below body temperature. This is precisely why it crumbles on the tongue without sticking to the palate. If you expect a strict, bitter cocoa tone like a single-origin bar with 70 percent, you'll find the truffle too milky. Truffes Fantaisie are sweet, creamy, and soft. They are closer to confectionery than to dark chocolate bars, and that's precisely their appeal. The aftertaste is short and clean, making a second truffle easier than planned.

The hazelnut never takes the lead. It adds accents, while the cocoa and milk notes maintain the framework. If you're looking for a dominant nut filling like in a Gianduja praline, you'll find less nut here than the name suggests. Six percent is a deliberate dosage: enough for texture, too little for a pure nut product.

Two pieces with espresso, that's all it takes

A strong espresso is the most obvious partner because the bitterness reduces the sweetness of the core. Two truffles are enough for a coffee break, so the box lasts well over a week. For dessert, serve three pieces per person on a small plate, along with a glass of dry Crémant. The fine perlage removes the fat film and frees the palate for the next bite. For a hazelnut tasting, place the Giandujotto from Piedmont next to it: one firm and sliceable, the other powdery and soft. Two countries, one nut, two completely different textures. If you're looking for the French classic in a direct comparison, grab the Truffes Fantaisie in a ballotin. Crumble two truffles over a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and the cocoa powder will spread like coarse sprinkles. This confectionery has no place on a cheese board, however; it's too sweet for that. It's also not suitable for baking, as the mass simply runs out in the oven.

On an etagere next to pastries, however, the box makes a good impression. Place the truffles individually there, not in a heap, otherwise they will rub off their cocoa powder on each other. For afternoon tea, a strong Assam is better suited than a delicate Darjeeling, as it picks up the milk note in the core.

Our tip: Take the box out of the cool room half an hour before serving. At 18 degrees Celsius, the core reveals its full melt. Directly from the refrigerator, it appears dull, and the powder draws moisture from the air.

Kingersheim, 1960, and a truffle in Kougelhopf shape

Three brothers named Bruntz founded a Chocolaterie in Kingersheim, north of Mulhouse, in 1960. Since 1978, the company has been operating on Rue de l'Industrie, now with about ten employees. In 2005, the Ricou family took over, and in 2024, the parents passed it on to Quentin Ricou and Laurent Kalis. The business became famous in the 1980s with an unusual idea: Truffes Fantaisie in the ribbed shape of the Alsatian Kougelhopf. These Kougelhopf truffles are still the house's signature and the reason why Bruntz is known far beyond Alsace. The genre itself is older. Since the 1930s, France has been stirring vegetable fat, sugar, low-fat cocoa powder, and whey powder into a mass, shaping it, and rolling it in cocoa. The renunciation of cocoa butter was originally a matter of price, but became a characteristic of its own confectionery genre. Because cocoa butter is absent, the result cannot be called chocolate in Germany, but rather cocoa confectionery. The name sounds sober and accurately describes what is in the box. Bruntz adds caramelized hazelnut splinters, which have been previously coated with sugar, to this basic mass. As a partner of the Marque Alsace, the company is officially allowed to state its origin on the packaging.

The manufacturing process itself remains manageable. The mass is tempered, portioned, shaped, and then rolled in cocoa powder before being hand-packed into boxes. Ten employees mean short distances between cauldron and carton. In addition to truffles, dragées and hand-poured chocolate figures are produced in Kingersheim, which determine the company's annual cycle. The cocoa confectionery, however, runs all year round and is the constant of the house.

A box that is already wrapped

The green box has a printed black and white ribbon with a bow and doesn't need gift wrapping. 100 grams, 16 truffles, a format between a small gift and a supply. It works just as well as a small gesture for dinner as it does as a reserve in a desk drawer. Three varieties stand side by side, and if you take all three, you have an assortment from a single house in your bag. For large gatherings, however, one box will not go far. Plan for three to four pieces per guest; then you'll need a second pack for five people or more. The confectionery is not suitable for shipping on a hot summer day, as the core melts too early.

As a guest gift, the box has a practical advantage: it stands upright, can be stacked, and survives a handbag without damage. To conclude a meal, simply place the open box on the table instead of setting individual plates. This takes away the formality of dessert and invites people to help themselves.

One last note on quantity: 16 truffles seem like a lot, but they disappear quickly. If you're trying the variety for the first time, it makes sense to get two boxes right away.

A truffle for those who value melt higher than cocoa content.