The old adage “It’s what’s on the inside that counts” couldn’t be truer than it is for Sherri Athay.

After winning the Americas competition in three categories for her patent-pending chocolate truffle shots, the Essex chocolatier was named world finalist going into the 2015 International Chocolate Awards competition. The contest will be held Oct. 16 to 18 in London during Chocolate Week.

What exactly is a chocolate truffle shot?

Athay and her daughter Lauren conceived the idea of discarding the exterior shell of a truffle and going right to the good stuff in the center, which Athay sells in sealed glass shot glasses (minus alcohol) in her downtown Essex store. This is where she also creates her scrumptious confections in a kitchen behind the retail area.

What led to Athay’s status as a chocolate champ was a “recreational” chocolate-truffle-making class she took about five years ago with some friends.

“We found as we experimented with different recipes for the fillings, we would just break open the shells and break out the middles and throw away the shells because the filling is the best part of a chocolate truffle,” she says.

“My daughter and I thought there had to be a better way to get to the heart of a chocolate truffle,” Athay continues. “We went shopping and saw these tall shot glasses in a store and she said, ‘Wouldn’t these be beautiful with chocolate in them?’ and I said, ‘Chocolate shots!’”

Although Athay had never worked in the food industry, she and her husband Larry owned an ice cream store in Centerbrook for a several years that they opened for Lauren, who needed a summer job before starting college.

“We took (chocolate-making) classes and started making the truffle shots and just gave them to friends initially,” Athay says. “And our friends started giving them to their neighbors, and their neighbors tracked us down at the ice cream store to buy them. We then converted our laundry room at home into a commercial kitchen where we made the truffles and sold them from the ice cream store.”

Athay says they immediately applied for a patent, started on a business plan, came up with recipes, learned all they could about the science behind chocolate and the regulations for producing it, and opened their present location in Essex. Lauren has since married and moved out of state, but Larry, who calls himself his wife’s “kitchen ninja,” works with Athay in the business. 

Guiltless pleasures

Athay attributes the current chocolate craze to the fact that a lot more people are getting into the manufacturing of chocolate.

“A decade ago, it seems there were only a handful or two handfuls of chocolate makers in the country,” she says. “Now there are a lot of people interested in actually sourcing the beans and making it into the chocolate. That’s not what we do — that’s what the people do (from whom) we buy the chocolate disks, blocks, etc. Then the chocolatiers, artisans (like us) take that product and turn it into the confections people buy.

“I think it’s part of the whole food movement,” she adds. “People are more and more into what they’re eating and I think chocolate is just an extension of that. People want to know where it comes from, how it’s made.”

Athay explains that because she doesn’t put preservatives or alternative sugars into the truffle shots, they have a relatively short shelf life.

“We’re just very reluctant to put anything in then that isn’t natural. It’s really worth eating them when they’re fresh,” she stresses. “Our biggest challenge is educating people that this isn’t something you can keep around for months like a box of chocolate. And, as a dark chocolate, it has less sugar, which also extends shelf life.”

Less sugar, Athay points out, means that the truffle shots have fewer calories than people might think.

“I thought they’d be 400 or 500 calories a piece, but what we estimate is 257 calories, which isn’t so much for your whole dessert, and it reseals, so you don’t have to eat it all at once.” 

Chocolate truffles go head to head

Athay wasn’t familiar with the world chocolate competition until one of the judges, who is from Venezuela and lives in New York and Old Saybrook, came into the store and introduced herself.

“She tasted the chocolate and insisted we entered the competition in Europe,” Athay recalls. “I said, ‘We’re new, we’ve never (competed), we don’t have a chance. And she said, ‘You really do.” I still wasn’t convinced, but she told us even if we didn’t place, we would get feedback from the judges, and I really wanted that feedback.

“We try to make this the best experience it can be, and if there’s somebody who can tell us how we can do that better, that’s what I wanted and the reason we entered.”

The most creative and enjoyable part of the experience has been coming up with new flavors, she says.

“Knowing we’d get feedback from food writers, editors, professional chefs and chocolate tasters, we wanted to submit some new flavors. We created seven new flavors in the seven days prior to submitting (the truffle shots).”

Athay’s winning entries in three categories are: Caramel Buerre Noisette - flavored dark chocolate; Tellicherry Cardamom - milk chocolate; and Signature Dark - unflavored dark chocolate.

“We have over 30 flavors now and are always adding to them and rotating them,” Athay says. “Some are seasonal flavors, others we have all the time like the sea salted caramel, the balsamic fig, the straight dark, and raspberry. We created our signature dark for the competition, blending three different chocolates together.”

Like wine, Athay points out that there are obvious differences in chocolate, depending on where and how the beans are grown and roasted.

“Some have very pronounced fruity notes (for example) like wine, but even more flavor profiles than in wine. It’s amazing,” she says.

Like wine connoisseurs, people learn to become chocolate connoisseurs by attending chocolate tastings.

“Some are bright, fruity, have a cherry or raisin taste. They may have leather or tobacco notes or a longer finish,” Athay notes.

There are endless combinations and Athay is constantly experimenting.

“Some of our truffle shots are layered with a gelate, some are infused with spices or pepper. We also put fruit concentrates or crushed fruit into the ganache, or add peppermint oil. There’s lots of ways to do it.”

Sample a shot

Samples of the winning entries — and more — can be tasted at Truffle Shots, 1 North Main St., in Essex village. For more information, visit www.truffleshots.com or call (860) 581-8351. To learn more about the contest, go to www.internationalchocolateawards.com.