Dean’s Sweets – A Review

We recently had the great pleasure of trying some hand-dipped truffles from Dean’s Sweets in Portland, Maine. Dean’s Sweets uses no nuts or nut products in their truffles, and several are also gluten-free. With intriguing flavours like Stout, Ginger, and Cayenne, we could hardly wait to get tasting.

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One thing our tasting panel noticed right off the bat was the wonderful quality of the chocolate. It was a deliciously rich, dark chocolate. It wasn’t the slightest bit waxy and it delivered a warm, slightly sweet cocoa flavour. The second thing we noticed was the absolutely natural flavour of the fillings. And the flavour intensity of the fillings was in perfect balance with that of the chocolate.

We sampled eight flavours — Maple, Stout (which is also dairy-free and vegan), Ginger, Salt Caramel, Blueberry, Lemon-Apricot-Chevre, Coffee, and Cayenne. Top favourites of the tasting panel were the Salt Caramel, which would have quite a broad appeal (who doesn’t love sweet mixed with salty?), and Cayenne, which had a devilishly spicy punch. However, we enjoyed every one we tried.

There was one child on our five-person panel, whose clear favourite was the Maple variety. But, these sweets are really geared toward those who really appreciate fine foods and are perfectly suited for adults to indulge in. Intriguing and satisfying, these are truffles are to savour and discuss.

Dean’s Sweets is now also offering a collection of chocolate bars (un-tested )

Before and after the review. Phew!
   

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