Inspired By Chocolate and Festive Candies

Creative ideas and recipes based around a single flavor

In the original recipe, the chocolate truffle is a small ball of soft ganache coated with unsweetened cocoa powder and flavored with vanilla, coffee, and kirsch....

The delicacy is said to have been invented in the late 19th century by Louis Dufour, a pastry chef and chocolatier from Chambéry (he was the great-uncle of Maurice Opinel, creator of the famous Opinel knife). Legend has it that in 1895, as the festive season approached, Louis Dufour ran out of raw materials to make his chocolates. Out of pride, he refused to ask one of his colleagues for help, and came up with a new recipe for chocolate truffles. The innovation is said to have been an immediate success. Mendiants, these chocolate palets filled with dried fruit, originally referred to four "mendicant orders" originating in the Middle Ages. The color of the fruit was said to correspond to the color of the monks' robes. Malaga raisins were generally associated with the Dominicans, hazelnuts with the Augustinians, almonds with the Carmelites and dried figs with the Franciscans. Today's chocolate mendiants can include other fillings such as pistachios or candied orange peel.

Original Chocolate Creations

In recent years, so-called "Christmas" chocolates have emerged. They often feature spices and offer gourmets flavors "specially designed for the holidays". You can enjoy cinnamon-cassis ganache or ginger pralines, for example. Sometimes these Christmas chocolates find their way into Advent calendars, where they replace the former pious images. Some artisans make chocolate moldings and sculptures depicting winter scenes (such as a chocolate iceberg), animals (reindeer, etc.), characters (elves, Santas, etc.) or even traditional Christmas toys (a rocking horse). There are also chocolate Christmas ornaments and snowflakes with white and dark chocolate branches. Chocolate bars also have their "Christmas" versions: one artisan had the simple idea of creating a bar in the shape of a Christmas tree to celebrate this iconic Christmas greenery.

Christmas Chocolates Often Feature Spices

Why Give Chocolates at Christmas?

This custom is thought to have originated in the late 19th century, but its origins remain a mystery. Is it because Christmas is the gift-giving season, and giving chocolate is a sure-fire way to please those with a sweet tooth? Or because cocoa, native to Mexico, was for the Mayas and Aztecs, who transformed it into a sacred beverage, the most beautiful offering they could make to their gods? Perhaps it's simply because chocolate was once a rare and luxurious commodity, reserved for special occasions... like Christmas. Or because highly talented artisans and master chocolatiers have created confections of the highest sophistication. Another hypothesis refers to the feast of Saint Nicholas. In Eastern European countries, tradition has it that this saint brings candy to children on the night of December 6. Santa then stole the limelight, carrying on this tradition for little ones and their parents.

Festive Candies

When we think of the confectionery of the festive season, we sometimes think of the thirteen desserts of Provençal Christmas (thirteen in the image of Christ and his twelve apostles). Of these, nine are considered must-haves: black nougat, white nougat, candied fruit, dates, orange and the four mendiants. For the remaining four desserts, you can choose from fresh fruit and local gourmet specialties, such as Aix calissons. This soft pastry made with almonds and candied melon is flavored with orange blossom water; it rests on wafer paper and is covered with royal icing sugar. The etymology of "calisson" remains unknown... One of the most fanciful hypotheses is that in 1476, King René (Count of Provence) is said to have offered calissons to his wife on their wedding day. The latter, reputedly not very pleasant, then smiled... prompting one of the guests to say: Di calin soun ("these are hugs")!

When you think of festive confectionery, the image of the thirteen Provençal desserts comes to mind

The thirteen Provençal desserts always contain nougat. White and black, the latter being harder and more brittle. In the past, black nougat from Provence was made at home using honey from the family apiary. It was made after the autumn harvest and eaten at Christmas time. The classic nougat recipe contains honey, sugar, sweet almonds and sometimes pistachios. Yet etymologically, nougat means "walnut mixture". These were present in ancient recipes, but as they go rancid quickly, they have been ousted over the centuries in favor of almonds and other nuts.

Another iconic confection for the festive season is candied chestnut, one of the most prestigious products in today's confectionery world. And yet, for centuries, chestnuts have been a staple food of the lower classes. For a long time, the peasants of certain regions in the south of France owed their survival to the fruits of the chestnut tree, once known as the "breadfruit tree". In 1882, Clément Faugier, a Ponts- et-Chaussées engineer, set up the first industrial candied chestnut workshop in Privas, Ardèche. Likely invented during the Renaissance, the origin of this product remains uncertain: some say it originated in Lyon, others in Cuneo, in the Italian Piedmont. The new business creates jobs in the Ardèche region, which has been hit hard by the silkworm rearing crisis. Today, as in the past, making candied chestnuts is a meticulous art. This explains the high price of this product and its presence on festive tables at the end of the year.