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[Cinnamon, salted caramel, ginger and vanilla truffles]

I am currently working on the impact of colour - and more generally vision – on perceived flavour.
Many studies have shown that the colour of food has an influence on flavour.
what happens when one gets no visual hints? When the food eaten has the same exact form but different flavours?

Sugar High Friday was the perfect occasion for me to experiment.
I would make four different truffles but instead of shaping the ganaches into different forms and them dipping them into different tempered chocolate (for example, white chocolate speckled with vanilla seeds for the vanilla truffles), I would roll them in cocoa powder to get the same look and avoid a fashion kitchen faux-pas (it seems the current rule is to wear skinny jeans – preferably grey – with flats and a long sweater).

The results were astonishing – though predictable.
With visual clue (i.e. ganaches dipped in different chocolate)
The people detected the flavour almost immediately and the resulting perceived flavour was stronger.

Without visual clue (i.e. plain truffles rolled in cocoa powder)
It took a longer time for the people to guess the flavours which are now considered more subtle.

Apart from the experiment I am glad to say that these truffles - from Pierre Hermé's PH 10 - are a pure delight.
The invert sugar and good amount of butter make them smooth, sweet and strong.

- Balthazar or cinnamon truffles
This is always a winner combination. The cinnamon adds warmness to the already rich ganache.

- Makassar or salted caramel truffles
These were very mellow and had a great caramel au beurre salé flavour. They definitely were a favourite.

- Lou or ginger truffles
These had the most robust flavour; tangy and powerful. I really liked it at first but quickly got bored.

- Barbade or vanilla truffles
Probably the most difficult flavour to detect – very delicate at first but then you get a burst of banana/vanilla taste which is due to the vanilla-enriched ganaches.

It was very funny and exciting to pick a truffle, not knowing what taste it would have.
As we say in French: 'le hasard fait bien les choses'.

Labels: chocolate, favourites, pierre hermé

 Anonymous said something sweet:

tu es mon héroine, c'est tout.

27 November, 2006 18:13 

 Anonymous said something sweet:

Hi Fanny -
First time here, and I'm sure I'll be back :)! Interesting test for 'Impact of Color', I think along with color, texture also has a lot with perceived flavour. The truffles look great!

27 November, 2006 18:35 

 Anonymous said something sweet:

the recipes!!!pleasee!!!

27 November, 2006 18:37 

 Fabienne said something sweet:

Je cours feuilleter le PH 10 !

27 November, 2006 21:52 

 Anonymous said something sweet:

You are convincing me ever more to buy PH10 when it is translated! Beautiful job!

28 November, 2006 03:40 

 Anonymous said something sweet:

Delicious looking (and sounding!) truffles! One of my favorite truffles are called "trufas de vainilla" and they are really dark with just this perfect vanilla undertone...BUT who knows if I would have noticed it so readily if they were just called "trufas"? I guess what they say about those indicators are quite true :)

28 November, 2006 03:43 

 Anonymous said something sweet:

Vite les recettes!

28 November, 2006 04:30 

 Anonymous said something sweet:

C'est fou, je prends au moins 500grammes à chaque fois que j'arrive ici...

28 November, 2006 09:08 

 Anonymous said something sweet:

Aura t'on droit à la recette?

28 November, 2006 10:11 

 Jeanne said something sweet:

Oh what a clever idea! I always like food that makes you think - this would make a great party game of "guess the truffle" ;-) I suspect I would like the salted butter caramel ones the best, although I adore ginger too. Thanks for a great post :)

29 November, 2006 12:56 

 Jocelyn:McAuliflower said something sweet:

this is why I love rolling my truffles in powdered fruits... it preps the brain into knowing that something is coming its way.

But I do love the idea of waiting in anticipation to detect the flavors of the mystery truffle.

29 November, 2006 19:29 

 Anonymous said something sweet:

What wonderful flavor combinations, looks beautiful!

29 November, 2006 20:56 

 Anonymous said something sweet:

love your blog, the photos and designs are great.pls keep up your good work....^_^

30 November, 2006 17:21 

 Camille Clech said something sweet:

Super jolies les nouvelles couleurs de Food beam... et pourtant j'adorais déjà le rose.
Quant à ces truffes... c'est un enchantement !

01 December, 2006 12:33 

 Anonymous said something sweet:

Fanny, i love the sound of the cinnamon, salted caramel, ginger and vanilla all put together!

I've eaten far too much chocolate truffles lately that i'm afraid i wouldn't fit into my skinny jeans... :)

01 December, 2006 12:44 

 Anonymous said something sweet:

je decouvre à peine votre blog bravo c'est vraiment genial vos photos sont superbes les recettes ont l'air top je vais m'y collais au plutot !!!!

02 December, 2006 11:43 

 Anonymous said something sweet:

elles sont magnifiques tes truffes!! dommage que je ne comprend pas l'anglais!! bonne soirée petite fée. bises micheline

06 December, 2006 18:21 

 Anonymous said something sweet:

Arghhhhh mais c'est trop bien ton blog!
Pourquoi je ne l'ai pas decouvert avant
Have happy holidays Pretty Girl
NYC Girl

07 December, 2006 22:27 

 *fanny* said something sweet:

Coucou Anna-Sarah - tu es trop sweet. Merci.

Hi Monisha - texture has indeed a great impact on the perception of flavour.

Hi Jana - i think i've already posted too many Pierre Hermé's recipes.

Coucou Fabienne - ah PH10 ma bible, mon livre adoré.

Hi Anita - this is the bext book EVER.

Hi Joey - trufas de vainilla sounds SO good.

Coucou Hélène et Auré - je crois que j'ai déjà publié trop de recettes de Pierre Hermé.

Coucou Mlle E - j'ai la solution: faire du stepper devant son ordi!

Hi Jeanne - you totally catched the concept; a kind of bling tatsing party. Very funny and yummy!!!

Hi McAuliflower - i love the idea of rolling truffles in powedered fruits.

Hi Dianka - thank you so much.

Hi M from HK - that's SO nice. Thank you.

Coucou Camille - merci c'est gentil. J'avoue que j'ai un petit faible pour le rose, mais bon pour Noel, je peux faire une exception!

Hi Mae - think i've eaten too much chocolate too with all this experiments!

Coucou Mimi - merci, ca me fait plaisir.

Coucou Micheline - un jour j'ecrirais peut etre en français.
Merci en tous cas pour ta gentillesse.

Hi NYC girl - merci t'es trop 'nice'.

13 December, 2006 14:40 

 Ziz said something sweet:

oh wow. perfection!

15 December, 2006 23:27 

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