A Bunny Friend For You

This may surprise you . . . but in the Truffle shop, our favorite holiday for chocolate munching is Easter!  Christmas is nice, and Valentine’s Day too, but we really like nothing better than the cute little bunnies that hop around the shop every spring.  We also like all the options – solid chocolate, and truffle filled, and crispy eggs, and let’s not forget the handcrafted fresh marshmallow!  Our “peeps” are nothing like the store bought versions, and we mean that in the best possible way.

Large Milk/Dark Easter Assortment

This year we’re bringing back the bunnies, including our very own uber-popular edible chocolate bowls (the best part of our Easter assortments, according to our loyal customers).  We’re squeezing our Easter production in between all of our ongoing corporate accounts, which means there will only be a LIMITED NUMBER of bunnies and assortments available.  We don’t want you to miss out on the goodness, so we highly recommend you order early.  As in, this week!

To order, click on through to the main Truffle website.  Here’s the rest of the deets:

Gourmet Easter Assortments

*Sorry, edible bowls not available for shipped orders. 

Stock your own basket!

Filled Chocolate Hearts

A lot has been going on in the Truffle world, despite the utter lack of posting on this blog.  The second half of 2010 brought lots of new business, and a new focus on corporate customers and the hospitality industry.  Several local Portland area hotels have become ongoing customers, and in fact are ordering in such large quantities that we are currently unable to take orders from anyone else!

As we move into 2011, we are continuing to focus on our current corporate customers, but also looking to expand our production capacity to be able to offer products to more corporate customers, and to also come back to our retail and online roots.  We’ll be changing lots of things, potentially hiring new chocolate elves for the shop, and generally refocusing our efforts on all fronts.  But it’s going to take time!  We hope you will continue to visit the website and blog for updates – occasional though they may be – as we continue to shake things out.

For now, here’s a bit more of an update on some of the fun chocolates we’ve worked on over the past few months:

Lexus Logo on Chocolate Tiles, 8pc Favor Boxes

This order came from a marketing firm in California, and was for the Lexus logo on our Chocolate Tiles in lots and lots (and lots) of eight piece clear favor boxes, with a custom ribbon and hang tag provided by the customer.  End product was shipped to an orchestra company (yes, really) in the midwest.  Odd.

Custom Chocolate Slice(s)

We created these custom Chocolate Slice chocolates in the shape of pizza slices, with sprinkles to mimic cheese and toppings, for one of our favorite local vendors – Liquid Gratitude.  They were creating a custom gift basket with a pizza theme for one of their corporate customers, good fun!

Oodles of goods for RiverPlace Hotel Gift Shop

We’ve been providing turn down service chocolates for RiverPlace Hotel (downtown Portland, right on the water) for months now, and they loved them so much that they have recently expanded to offering our goods in their gift shop as well!

RiverPlace VIP Gift - 4pc Tile Sampler Box

RiverPlace Hotel has also recently ordered VIP gift boxes, each including a custom logo Tile, a custom designed phone image on a Tile, and two stock designs on Tiles – all spelling out their own secret message!

The Paramount Hotel, also located in downtown Portland, has been quite a loyal Truffle customer as well.  Shown above is their custom logo Tile, which they use in a variety of VIP gift boxes and smaller gift bags for their guests.  In addition, Truffle is proud to note that the Paramount Hotel uses Truffle chocolates (shown below) for their Romance Package!

The Paramount Hotel, 9pc filled chocolates for romance package

The chocolates in the romance package pictured above include Dark Chocolate, Kahlua, and Dark Chocolate Cinnamon Chile.  Sweet!

Not to be outdone, the Inn at Northrup Station, located on the streetcar line in the upscale Northwest area of Portland, also has a custom logo Tile!

Boly Welch, custom anniversary Tile

Local heavyweight in the recruiting and temping arena, Boly Welch celebrated 25 years in style with a custom chocolate for their gala event.  Classy and yummy too!

Wedding Tiles with custom labels

Wedding favors are always a favorite at Truffle – these are from last fall, but we’ve done lots more since then, including event favors for Ruby Receptionists, favors for baby showers, and grab bag chocolates for a local marketing firm!

Breakapart Art Bar, solid chocolate, 6.5 total ounces

And last but not least, we’ve made more of these art bars than we can count – and they aren’t even on our website!  We had them in the shop last December for our annual holiday sale, and blew out of them immediately.  Made of solid chocolate and decorated with assorted designs, just like our Chocolate Tiles, these large (approximately 6 inches square) bars break into smaller pieces, perfect for snacking or sharing.  For now, you can only get them at the RiverPlace gift shop, or by emailing a special order (i.e. begging and pleading) directly to us!

Truffle Shop

It’s that time of year again – the time we open up the Truffle storefront for one crazy day of holiday retail fun!  Don’t miss your chance to stock up on fabulous goodies for all your favorite people.  We’ve got stocking stuffers, hostess gifts, teacher gifts and more, and our prices start at just $1 per piece!

We’ll have lots of decadent truffles . . .

Dipped Cinnamon Chile Truffles

Plenty of solid chocolate Santas and novelties . . .

Novelty Chocolates

The best Gourmet Hot Cocoa and Fresh Marshmallow you’ve ever tasted (and free samples!) . . .

Gourmet Cocoa & Marshmallow in a Truffle Mug

And fun specialty items you won’t even find on our website!

Peppermint Bark Tree Box

And, we’re excited to announce that Wildflour Cookies will be joining us again this year, for one day only!  Make sure you stock up on these cookies, once you try them you will be addicted.  And then you’ll have to drive all the way to Bethany Village on the west side to get your fix!

Stop by, say hello, sample the cocoa and marshmallows, and do a little holiday treat shopping:

Saturday, December 18th

9am to 5pm

CASH AND CHECK SALES ONLY

5400 NE 30th Ave #103

(just south of NE Killingsworth St, in a courtyard building across from Yakuza and Beast restaurants)

Chocolate Tiles, fall assortment

We’ve fallen a bit behind here on the Truffle blog, but we’re aiming to catch up – starting with some recent hospitality chocolates we’ve done.

If you’ve stayed at Portland’s RiverPlace Hotel recently, you may have found one of the cuties pictured above on your pillow at night.  How’s that for a turn down chocolate?!

Or, maybe you need a little romance in your life?  Check out The Paramount Hotel‘s romance package, with chocolates from Truffle!

Cinnamon Chile Hearts, Dark Chocolate Squares, Kahlua logo

Or perhaps you might go for the urban experience, and take the streetcar to the Inn at Northrup Station – where, if you’ll lucky, you just might get one of these goodies . . .

Milk Chocolate Tile, streetcar logo

Whether you are visiting Portland, have friends or family coming to town, or just need a night away from your to-do list you can’t go wrong with any of these fabulous establishments!

Work with your cake maker of choice, choose any cake design you like, and then top it off perfectly with gourmet chocolate truffles in your favorite flavor.  Expand on the theme by offering your guests a “toasting truffle” – truffles in mini wine glasses at each place setting!

No matter what you choose, chocolate from Truffle can make your wedding even more delicious and memorable for you and all your guests!

Cake by Melissa of Sweet Cakes; photos by Stephen Hamilton of Remembrance Photography.

As we’ve stated before, we’re on a mission to make sure that every business out there has an edible logo (in chocolate, of course!) – because the world would be such a happier place!  And why stop at businesses?  We think you should have a gorgeous, custom designed chocolate for all of life’s important events – weddings, anniversaries, landmark birthdays, grand openings, graduations . . . anything worth celebrating is worth celebrating in chocolate!

To further that goal, we have a very special offer available through the end of August:

NO CUSTOM SET UP FEES*!  A $150 value!

Whether you need party favors or client gifts, edible business cards or hospitality chocolates, we’ve got the perfect fit for your needs – and your budget!

Check out more info on the main Truffle website, or call or email us today to get started on your own custom chocolates.

*new custom one-color setup, with 300 piece minimum order.

Make your next event unique – offer custom chocolates in your swag bags and promo materials!  Check out more details and ideas on the Custom! page of the Truffle website – or call or email us today to start your own custom chocolate!

Truffle Gourmet Advent Calender

Our apologies for the old “Christmas in July” approach – but this one is with good reason!  Last year we introduced our handcrafted gourmet chocolate Advent Calendars for the first time, and were so overwhelmed with the enthusiastic response that we sold out in just 5 days.  We sold every single calendar that we could possibly make, and left y’all clamoring for more!

This year, we want to make sure that no chocolate wish goes left unfulfilled – so we are offering you a chance to pre-order your calendar.  Order by August 15th and not only will you guarantee yourself a daily chocolate treat all through December, but you’ll also pay last year’s prices!

Each calendar is crafted from chocolate truffle boxes, filled with a wide variety of our favorite Truffle chocolates and confection (including foil-wrapped novelty chocolates, fresh marshmallow, peppermint bark and more) and finished off with ribbon and a beautiful design in your choice of Holly on a white background or Holiday Tree on a brown background.  As always, we offer the option to customize your calendar with a message printed right in the design.   And the calendars are refillable (!) and we also offer refill packs online.

Since each calendar is handcrafted from start to finish, we only sell a limited supply – so don’t wait and miss out!

You can see more pictures and a lovely write up of our calendars here on the Sugarplum blog.

Order online here!

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Truffle Stock Design Guide

From the day Truffle first opened, the Chocolate Tile has been our most popular chocolate – due in large part to the unusual, eye-catching designs we use.  From florals to stripes, geometrics to custom designs, we’ve got something for everyone.  Until now, the hardest part was giving our customers an idea of exactly how many options they have!  To solve that problem, we’re happy to introduce our brand new Stock Design Guide for Truffle Chocolates.

The design guide provides answers to frequently asked questions, and snapshot images of many of our most popular designs.  We hope the guide will help you visualize the perfect chocolate for your next party, event, or client gift.  We’ll be updating the guide on a regular basis, so you’ll see new designs as soon as we have them available!

Check out the full design guide on the “Chocolates” page of the Truffle website – and as always, feel free to call or email us with questions or to place an order!

Maxim Chocolate Trio for Nike

some gorgeous, custom molded logo chocolates for Nike’s annual Maxim awards, in white, milk, and dark chocolates . . .

Moon and Star Square, custom order

dark chocolate squares with custom molded moon & star design, wrapped in gold foil for a custom order . . .

Double Dipped Dark Truffles for a wedding

oodles and oodles of Double Dipped Dark Truffles to decorate a wedding cake . . .

Individual Truffle Favors with custom ribbon

lots of adorable truffle-filled favors tied up with custom colored ribbons for another wedding . . .

Chocolate Tile Favors with custom message labels

And Chocolate Tiles in white chocolate with our stock design (Red/Green Flowers) and a custom message label for a bridal shower.

All of our custom molds are created locally in Portland by our partners in crime at Precision Craft!

For your own custom order, check out the “Custom” page on the main Truffle website, email us at orders@portlandtruffle.com, or call us at 503-913-5055.