Sea Salt Chocolate Truffles

Sea Salt Chocolate Truffles in a Cocoa Dusting from Sweden

La Praline’s Seasalt chocolate truffles are cocoa-dusted truffles from Gothenburg with 0.6% sea salt incorporated directly into the ganache. The salt is not in a filling, but throughout the entire truffle, appearing not as individual crystals, but as a subtle thread running through every bite.

The Seasalt chocolate truffles are the salty staple variety from the Swedish manufacturer La Praline: the same soft cocoa mass as the original plain variety, rolled thickly in low-fat cocoa powder, with 0.6% sea salt, finely ground and evenly mixed in. No filling, no caramel, no secondary ingredients. There are approximately 20 truffles in the 200g decorative box.

Bitter, sweet, and salty flavors follow one another in the mouth in that exact order. First the dry cocoa powder, then the melt, and only when the truffle has almost vanished does the salt emerge. It doesn’t crunch, it doesn't sting; it simply makes the cocoa linger a little longer.

Six tenths of a percent changes everything

Sea salt makes up 0.6% of the truffle mass. That sounds like nothing, yet it is exactly the amount that can ruin a sweet treat if exceeded.

For comparison: the plain variety contains 0.3g of salt per 100g, while this one has 0.9g. The difference is half a gram, yet the truffle tastes like an entirely different product. Salt dampens the perception of bitterness and makes the sweetness appear more rounded, which is why the cocoa stands out more clearly without becoming more bitter. Those familiar with the original variety will recognize the base, but still be surprised.

For this to work, the salt must be finely ground, uniform, and unobtrusive. Coarse flakes would pop individually on the tongue, breaking the truffle down into salty and sweet moments instead of holding it together. That is precisely why there is no fleur de sel on top, but fine sea salt incorporated throughout.

Two salty varieties, two different ideas

La Praline offers two salted truffles, and they differ not in the quantity of salt, but in its placement.

In the Salted Caramel chocolate truffles, the salt is inside incorporated pieces of caramel that crunch between the teeth; that bite has two textures and an added caramel tone. With the Seasalt variety, the texture remains consistent throughout; the salt is everywhere yet nowhere to be caught. One is a truffle with an inclusion, the other is a truffle with character.

The Seasalt truffle is a delight with a glass of cold water after a meal, when you don’t want anything else to interfere. It pairs just as well with unsweetened filter coffee as it does with salty liquorice from Sweden, with which it shares a preference for the bitter-sweet. It does not pair well with sweet wine or liqueurs; it is too precisely tuned for that.

Coconut fat needs to be kept cool

Like all the truffles from this producer, this one contains no cocoa butter. Its melt comes from non-hydrogenated coconut and palm kernel fat, which begins to soften at around 25 degrees Celsius.

For this reason, the product is shipped chilled and belongs in the refrigerator during the summer; otherwise, the truffle will lose its shape and the powder will become sticky. Taken out a quarter of an hour before eating, it is firm enough to pick up and soft enough to melt on the tongue.

The Seasalt chocolate truffles are rolled in Viared near Borås, where Katharina and Jean-Claude Eggel moved into a new facility in 2019 after starting their own production in Gothenburg in 2011. “A supplier you can trust,” says Katharina regarding the company’s standards. Today, there are sixteen varieties in the range, and sea salt is among those that are universally popular. You can find the other varieties from Gothenburg in our shop, along with our entire Swedish range.