Blissful Wunders Chocolates — Family, Food & Frolic

Today, I have the opportunity to review some amazing chocolates. Even though my day was filled with packing for my move, I had one more review that I *knew* I couldn't leave Washington without doing. In March, I met Bliss at the Capital Food & Wine Festival. Of course, his chocolate stand caught my eye. He asked me to stand by his stand at the Olympia Farmer's Market sometime and review his truffles. A week or so later, "Just Jay" (my little one, who hasn't been fully introduced yet, unless you've visited our about page) and I were at the farmer's market. We came across the Blissful Wunders chocolate stand. I offered to buy Jay a truffle, gave her the $3, and told her to pick any truffle that she wanted. Okay- maybe I coaxed her a little towards the caramel one. Jay went to pay Bliss for her truffle, but he told her that her mom was one of his favorite food bloggers and was going to write a review for him as soon as I got my website back up, and gave her the truffle for free. Okay...review chocolate. I love chocolate...sure, I could do that.

When we got home, I talked Jay into splitting her caramel with me. Oh my goodness...heaven. I've lived in Washington State, down to California, over to Florida, and up to Maryland. I have travelled almost every state in between. I have also lived in Europe and experienced true European chocolates and truffles. However, I can say hands down that Blissful Wunders chocolates are the best that I have ever eaten. Bliss named his chocolates appropriately. They truly are blissful wonders that create a happiness. Each of his chocolates list an ingredient list that has "love" listed as the first ingredient. You truly can taste the love in these truffles. Bliss doesn't know this, but he helped me stop procrastinating and get my website back up, this time as an E-zine. I knew that I could not move back to California without reviewing his chocolates. Both of the girls and I headed off to the farmer's market today to pick out some truffles to review. We were not disappointed.

The first chocolate that we tasted today derailed our whole plan for chocolates...in a good way. This chocolate was so good that we decided we needed to savor the bliss that it gave us before moving on to other flavors. Which chocolate was so blissful? The Lavender Mint Truffle. While I love the smell of lavender, I wasn't sure that I would be too huge of a fan of it within chocolate. Some of things with lavender can come off as a bit earthy or almost medicinal. Not this one. Brother Bliss was able to achieve the proper mix of lavender and mint so that each flavor was able to shine through without coming off as overwhelming. The actual base of the truffle was a nice organic dark chocolate mixture that was so silk smooth that it just melted in your mouth. I know that lavender has a calming effect when you smell it. I don't know if it has the same quality when you eat it or if Bliss's chocolates are just that heavenly, but both Kristin and I found the Lavender Mint Truffle to have a soothing effect...to the point that we just wanted to savor this feeling before trying more chocolate. It was also a nice added touch having the lavender petals sprinkled on top.

The Milk Chocolate Truffle make look basic, but it anything but basic. You can taste every ingredient in it, especially that first one-- love. Bliss's chocolates are a step above anything else as you can taste not only the fresh ingredients that goes into them, but the love and care he takes in preparing them. The Milk Chocolate Truffle has a nice crisp milk chocolate outside with a silky smooth center filling. If you are into classic flavors, then this is the perfect truffle for you. With that said, you definitely are not just settling when you try the Milk Chocolate Truffle.

Blissful Wunders Blackberry Wine Truffle

Full bodied wines pair nicely with chocolates. Brother Bliss took that concept and merged an organic blackberry wine with nice dark chocolate in his Blackberry Wine Truffle. You can definitely taste the bold blackberry wine; however, Bliss balances it well enough that the flavor of the wine does not overwhelm the chocolate. I will admit that my wine preference is sweeter dessert style of wines and the blackberry wine almost resembles a bold red. Bliss's truffle recipe blends enough sweetness so that it kept the truffle enjoyable, even though I normally avoid darker wines. Now, if you are a true red wine person, Bliss also offers a Cabernet Sauvignon Truffle. Bliss offers seven wine and liquor inspired wines on his website. The Blueberry Wine Truffle has caught my eye as something that I need to try in the future.

Bliss incorporates another flower into his truffles in this seasonal speciality that is around just in time for Mother's Day. While it's a little late for those ordering chocolates online to get the White Rose Truffle as a special way of treating mom, those in the Olympia area can find Bliss charming his customers at the Olympia Farmer's Market this weekend. Bliss has delightfully blended white chocolate, cream, and rose water to make the creamy truffle center. Once again, the flavor is more than a hint, but not enough to overwhelm. It is definitely a special treat for a rose lover like myself. Don't bother bringing your date chocolates and roses, bring her rose chocolates. My only critique is not anything that Bliss did wrong, but my own preference. I am not much of a white chocolate fan; however, I wanted the rose flavor. My one suggestion to Bliss would be to offer two editions next year, adding a dark chocolate version for people like me.

In person, Blissful Wunders offers two varieties of cheesecake truffles, the Cheesy Cheesecake Truffle and the Goat Cheesecake Truffle. Only the Cheesy Cheesecake is available on their website. We decided to try the Goat Cheesecake Truffle as Miss Kristin loves goat cheese. Don't let the thought of goat cheese in a truffle scare you. The goat cheese was very subtle and actually added a delicate creaminess (even more so than the normal creaminess) to these truffles. Instead, the major flavor profile for this truffle was the unique blend of lemon and orange zest, vanilla, organic cinnamon, and honey. When it lists fresh orange zest, it is really true. Mine had a small bit of zest that didn't get fully blended into the cream, which is not a complaint...that was actually a nice surprise. It actually inspired me for my small hint to Bliss. His Goat Cheesecake Truffle is topped with a vanilla sea salt. I think if he was to top it with orange zest, it would really kick up these already good truffles to another level.

In Blissful Wunders Strawberry Truffle, Bliss has found a way to incorporate strawberry without gaining an overwhelming fruitiness. By creating his own fresh strawberry puree, there is a subtle strawberry flavor that combines with the decadence of the dark chocolate truffle. Normally, things flavored with strawberry come across with having a fake strawberry flavor. Since Bliss uses all natural ingredients, the flavor of true strawberry shines through. This was a nice surprise for Kristin, who doesn't normally like strawberries. This was also one of the favorites for "Just Jay."

Chocolate and chilis go natural together. Blissful Wunders Smoked Chipolte w/ Orange Truffle has a smokey flavor with a mild heat to it. Bliss uses the Guajilo chili, which adds a little bit of Mexican flavor to this smooth dark chocolate truffle. The Chipolte was the dominant flavor in this truffle, which made it a little hard to catch the hints of orange. My preference would be to add a stronger orange flavor to this truffle. Blissful Wunder also offers a vegan version of this truffle, as well as several other vegan options. Kristin is all about spicy things and wants to try Bliss's Chili Kahlua. Since she knows that Bliss will be reading our review, she has a request. Can you please create a truffle with Cayenne in it? She thinks it would be heavenly.

Introducing Blissful Wunders new Whilk Truffle. Bliss was eager to show us his new Whilk Truffle. He had reason to be. This truffle is wonderful...Kristin says pretty close to perfection (maybe if her requested Cayenne was added she'd find it perfect). The Whilk Truffle comes with a thicker milk chocolate shell and filled with a creamy white chocolate truffle filling. White chocolate + Milk Chocolate = Whilk. Kristin is right. I'm normally not a huge white chocolate fan, but combining it with the milk chocolate gives it a perfect blend. My favorite part of the Whilk was actually the creamy filling made with fair trade organic white chocolate.

I can use one word to describe Blissful Wunders Coconut Truffle: wow! Coconut can be a hard flavor to capture using organic products as the coconut meat does not alway produce a strong flavor. Bliss worked magic with this truffle. The second I bit into it, I had flashbacks to high school summers laying in the sun lathered in Hawaiian Tropic coconut suntan oil. One bite of this truffle will have you reminiscing for days in the sun with your toes in the sand.

I saved the best for last. The original truffle that made me fall in love with Blissful Wunders' truffles: the Caramel Truffle. Okay, in all honesty, I don't know if I would call this one a true truffle. It is more chocolate covered caramel. That is not a complaint at all. The caramel is AMAZING! You can totally taste that magic ingredient of love. Beyond tasting love, you can taste the flavor of every ingredient of the caramel: fresh butter, cream, vanilla. My mom was a busy woman growing up, but one great memory that I have is her homemade caramels. Maybe that is where my love of caramels began. If you have never tasted real homemade caramel, you are missing out. Bliss's truffles totally capture that flavor. Try it for yourself and see why I fell in love with theses truffles.

Summing it up: Our Favorite Truffles

We all agree that our number one choice is the caramels...that they are "to die for."
Kristin and I were both amazed by the Lavender Mint Truffles. We don't know how Bliss came up with the flavor, but he had amazing execution of his idea, and it resulted in a truffle that provides a true sense of euphoria.
Since Kristin and I gave our second favorite, it is only fair to mention "Just Jay"'s second favorite also. Jay really liked the Strawberry Truffle.
Our fourth favorite would be the Blackberry Wine Truffle, as it intrigued me to try more of the wine and liquor inspired truffles.

One thing that I really love about Bliss's chocolates, besides the amazing quality and taste, is that he lists all of the ingredients. I have food allergies, including to nuts, and so many chocolates have an issue with allergens. Many of the truffles I tried did have coconut in them, which coconut oil is becoming a very common component in most chocolates these days. However, there was not enough of anything to give me an allergic reaction. Blissful Wonders does offer truffle flavors with nuts; however, I chose not to buy any and did not have any cross contamination issues. Obviously, be mindful if you have allergies, but *for me* these were not an issue.