Total Indulgence – William Curley with Laurent-Perrier

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Who knew? Hidden in the depth of the basement in Harrods is an epicurean treasure trove. You have to walk through the super expensive mortgage your house “watch gallery” to get there. This is where the wine cellar and specialty Italian deli is housed.

To celebrate Chocolate week, Laurent-Perrier seeked out William Curley, the award winning chocolatier,  to create some exclusive Champagne Truffles. Out of this collaboration came the hand crafted Laurent-Perrier Vintage Bellini couture chocolate (made with a peach pate de fruits and Laurent Perrier’s Vintage 2002) and the Laurent-Perrier Champagne Truffle (made with Amadei’s 70% Toscano and Laurent Perrier’s Brut Champagne).

William Curley Laurent-Perrier Champagne Truffles

William Curley Laurent-Perrier Champagne Truffles

At this launch, William did a little Chocolate Truffle Class. A plate of chocolate kisses were brought out together with a bowl of melted chocolate and some cocoa for rolling. Guests were invited to have a go at rolling. I’m always up for getting my hands dirty and while doing so discovered the cutest little implement used to fish out the chocolate from the bowl of melted chocolate, a little spiral chocolate wand which perfectly cradles the soft chocolate and allows the excess melting chocolate to drip away.

Making Chocolate Truffles with William Curley

Cocooned down in the tasting room, the Laurent-Perrier Champagne was flowing and we were so spoiled with a selection of delicious pastries that William had made. My favourite was the raspberry macarons with pistachio. They looked and tasted wonderful.

William Curley Laurent-Perrier Champagne Truffles

Champagne and chocolate are very difficult flavours to pair together. Most Champagne truffles on the market are not made with real Champagne due to the cost and also the difficulty of using Champagne. Here, William Curley has excelled.

The elegant Bellini Truffle had a layer of peach jelly topped with the Champagne flavoured chocolate and then coated. The peach jelly added a nice sweetness to balance the dark chocolate.

The Vintage Champagne truffle (pictured bottom left above) is a soft ganache centre coated with a harder shell and then rolled in cocoa, like the ones we were attempting to make above. You bite through the crunch to the softer centre and it just melts, allowing you to savour the layers of flavours. Noticably, there isn’t a harsh taste of alcohol and the subtle Champagne flavour does comes through.

William Curley and Laurent-Perrier has created a special selection for Christmas and it’s exclusive to Harrods. Go indulge someone for Christmas!

 


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