Truffle Truffle Hand-Made Artisan Chocolates, Truffles, Caramels, S'mores And Candies

Salt is an essential component of pastry. Anything beyond that–say, hand-blended curry powder, roasted pumpkin, or truffle shavings–is just a fun perk.

It's savory elements like these that make Truffle Truffle, a new line of confections from recent Chicago transplant Nicole Greene, stand out.

After nearly a decade working in government, Greene went to pastry school, and soon after began making sweets that combined her new skills with lessons in flavor learned from a lifetime of serious eating.

The result is gourmet candy, often with savory notes–like chewy caramels infused with a hand-blended curry mix that leaves a lingering heat (pictured). She cooks down Rogue chocolate stout for salty-sweet beer and pretzel brittle, and uses fresh herbs to flavor marshmallows for s'mores.

And then there are the truffles. Greene makes 26 different hand-dipped chocolate truffles, many with single-origin chocolate, like Valrhona Manjari (used in the Pinot Noir–though our favorite, and hers, is the mascarpone).

The other truffles–the black, earthy, French kind–appear at least once in each category. And we're not talking truffle oil; Greene uses fresh truffle shavings whenever she can.

We're willing to wager that her buttery, crumbly black-truffle shortbread will become your new favorite snack with tea–or maybe a bottle of earthy Côtes du Rhône wine.