Alter Eco – Creme Brulee Truffle Thins
As I work my way through the catalogue of Alter Eco products, my favourite line so far is their truffle thins. The concept of a truffle being thin is still somewhat new to me, because most of the truffles I’ve had growing up were in the shape of a ball, or at least a rectangle so that the filling had some space to work with. There’s not much luxury for space here, so to emulate that smoothness is tough but I like how Alter Eco has executed it.
These are thin indeed, and have a minute layer of what would be the creme brulee filling. Overall the flavour is mostly dark chocolate with a slight hint of sweet and salty from the filling. Honestly the filling itself is relatively mild. Either that or the dark chocolate is just overpowering in it’s flavour. it’s sort of like drinking sparkling water – it’s water with the slight flavour of a fruit that was soaking in it for a few hours. In this case though, the water is a rich dark chocolate so while the creme brulee isn’t exactly front and center, it’s still present and backed up enough by the rest of the bar to be delicious.
The texture is very soft, and while it still holds up it’s structural integrity, it doesn’t take much to make it give. When in the mouth, it begins to melt very quickly, and has a nice smooth melt at that which does the truffle experience quite well. The creme brulee filling does have a bit of the crunchy bits, which emulate the top layer, but they aren’t hard or jagged. They are more of a mild crunch so that it doesn’t detract too much from the overall smoothness of the melt. Obviously it won’t have the same contrast as a traditional truffle would, with the hard outer shell working with the soft ganache center, but I think the overall mouthfeel is still quite satisfying and does a good job, given the limited room to work with.
Execution wise this is very similar to the other truffle thins that Alter Eco has done, and is just as thoroughly enjoyable as the others. Anyone looking for a very vibrant or strong, punchy creme brulee flavour may be disappointed, but I personally think it works quite well with the dark chocolate and is an overall tasty piece. I would get truffle thins again for sure, but I am relatively indifferent on whether this is the flavour I get or another one. Honestly I’ve enjoyed all of them so far.
