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Deloache Chocolate!
There’s a story... which seems fairly well accepted — that the Aztec king Montezuma (or Moctezuma)...always had jugs of frothed chocolate brought to him before visiting his many dozens of young wives. What a lucky guy, huh? Wouldn’t it be great to have chocolate like that any time you wanted? Walking into Deloache Chocolates, where the aroma swirls around you like a snowstorm, is a little like being lucky. Everywhere you look, there are bars of chocolate, books about chocolate, trays of chocolate, displays of chocolate, people working with chocolate, wrapping chocolate, talking about chocolate, stirring chocolate, decorating with chocolate…. It was hard to stay focused.
Anyway.... Deloache Chocolates opened in Annapolis on Pearl Harbor Day in 2004. Philip
Deloache, the chocolatier, had worked for months on his business plan, and his recipe. What lured him to chocoate was not
what one might expect, the swoony love of chocolate. That remains for us, the consumers. “It was fun to work with,”
he says. “I saw an opportunity for a high-end product, not mass-produced, but handmade — and fresh. Candy bars
on the shelves in stores are not only a poorer quality of chocolate, they're old. "On the average about 14 months
old.”
Philip decided to create chocolate collections — “identity” chocolates — designed and decorated. But finding the right recipe took Philip about six months. There are many, many variables.
There’s a lot to get right (or wrong). Taste, of course. But you also want a smooth,
flawless texture, a good “mouth feel.” There’s fat content, shelf-life. “Chocolate is finicky,”
says Philip. “Just the slightest change in temperature or humidity changes the product while you’re working with
it.”
Today’s chocolates at Deloache – the signature “palet” or square chocolate truffle — is 60% cacao from Callebaut, a well-known importer that sources much of its cacao from the Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire). “It has a lot of big, forward flavor.” To the fine, dried cacao, Philip adds cream, French Normandy butter, Madagascar vanilla
and Champagne cognac for a background note. The resulting ganache, or mousse, of chocolate is enrobed in a 56% cacao
chocolate “extra brut” from Valrhonas, the famous French chocolate company.
Then the 3-mm by 3-mm square truffles are hand-trimmed. Most also receive a decorative chocolate design that’s created in colored cocoa butter and hand-applied. The original decorated collection is the Bay Collection. Other designs include a winter snowflake collection, a pink shopping collection — and you can also create your own signature collection, if you want. Many organizations do. To have your own signature collection takes a couple of weeks, but it’s a beautiful thing. Companies, weddings, charities – even the Navy has them made. Beyond the square truffles, which come in wooden boxes from 6 to
15 pieces, Deloache also makes chocolate bars, drinking chocolate, cocoa almonds and citrus sticks. And you can buy the different
chocolates in various collections.
And finally, here’s a cool idea for a great gift: A chocolate tasting kit! Six kinds of chocolate. (One milk chocolate, five types of dark. Four have the same percentage of cacao but come from different areas. Two have different percentages.) It’s 39.95 and there are samples and tasting grids for ten people. If you call Deloache, they can have it packaged up and ready for you within a week or so.
Where Foodies can find Deloache Chocolates
There
are several ways to get your hands on Deloache chocolates. Certain stores carry their confections — The Butcher’s
Block, Palate Pleasers, Annebeth’s, all in Annapolis, and Chestertown Antiques. You can also purchase at the company;
there’s a gift counter as you walk in. It’s located in an office park in Annapolis, and the thrill of tracking
down the store is a bit of the fun.
Deloache Chocolates
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