Serious about Truffles

With years of testing, encouragement from friends and
feedback from a roommate who didn’t mind getting buzzed on sugar,
Patty Denny launched Telluride Truffle.

By Patricia D. Sherman

Many celebrity chefs and chocolatiers interviewed for ChocolateAtlas.com say they set their sights on culinary careers very early, some as young as eight of nine. Not so Patty Denny, owner of Telluride Truffle, based in one of Colorado’s premier ski towns. She had to try several professions and make a move across the country before she discovered her genius for truffles.

After working several years in New York as an actor, the St. Louis native decided acting wasn’t her long term goal. As she looked for a new profession, a friend asked, “When you were a kid, what did you want to be?” She remembered that as a child she loved making elaborate mud pies. Soon she enrolled in a baking course. "I made wedding cakes," says Denny. "After a while I realized, I love this but I don't want to do this here in New York."

Denny moved to Telluride in 1993. A stint as an assistant pastry chef at The Peaks introduced her to truffles. “The pastry chef at the time (a mad man with a sweet heart) taught me how to make truffles, or his rendition of them, anyway,” says Denny. She left that job for one as a manager of the Telluride Ski and Snowboard School, but she continued to perfect her truffle creations.

“I would whip up truffles flavored with Jack Daniel's to take to pot lucks (a favorite pastime of locals here.) My friends raved about them and told me to start selling them, but since they were friends, I thought they were biased,” says Denny.

She tested different flavorings, giving them to her roommate to judge. “She was about 5 feet 6 inches and 100 pounds and had an unbelievable ability to eat 10 truffles at one sitting. Of course she was a raving lunatic after eating that many, sugar buzz and all. But she was great to have around when I wanted feedback,” Denny recalls.

Denny remembers exactly when she decided to get serious about selling her truffles. “One summer evening, I took truffles to a big party where I didn't know many people. Everybody was asking who made these chocolate things. Finally some guy, holding one up in the air (the room was packed), yelled, ‘Who made this?’”

Denny sold her first Telluride Truffle in November 1997. “I packaged them in a little white box with a red ribbon and a chocolate colored tag. During my lunch break I went around town with 20 boxes in my back pack and a tray of samples. I went to one real estate office after another. If you've ever been to a ski town, you know we have quite a few of these. Actually I only made it to about 5 of them - everyone who tried one, bought a box or two. I was thrilled and shocked. I had one box left and, feeling empowered by all the good comments, I walked into one of the best gift stores in town and asked if the proprietor would be interested. She took a bite and wanted to know how fast I could get them to her. I floated back to work. By golly, I thought, this may just work.”

In January 2002, Denny left her day job. A friend rented her a commercial kitchen at a modest rate and she began making truffles in quantity. The size of the business has increased every year and the truffles are available in selected stores. Check www.telluridetruffle.com  for ordering and locations.

Denny has changed the shape of the truffles to triangular and had the packaging professionally designed. But the truffles are still made by hand under her supervision, with Belgian chocolate and no waxes or preservatives. The shelf life is about one month, but customers can be sure that the product is always fresh, says Denny.

Patty Denny recently talked to ChocolateAtlas.com:

CA: What is your chocolate philosophy?
DENNY: Make sure you get what you pay for.  There are less expensive chocolate companies and more expensive ones. My problem is when a low quality chocolate is being sold at the price of high quality because of glitzy packaging and marketing buzz words.  There are quite a few of those out there.

CA: What is your favorite chocolate?
DENNY: I really like couverture because of the depth of the flavor. You can judge a chocolate by the journey it gives as you taste it.  Like fine wine, the flavor keeps going and going – developing and changing on the palate.

CA: What are your favorite chocolate dessert recipes?
DENNY: Since I own a chocolate truffle company, my signature is my truffles. But I have a recipe for Milk Chocolate Crème Brulee that I like quite a bit. (Read recipe.) Not so much because it is the best, but because it’s different. Milk chocolate gets a bad rap from many chocolate lovers, but I think it’s a viable contender. For dark chocolate lovers, I also like Chocolate Apricot Torte. It’s great. (Read  recipe.)

CA: What are your first chocolate memories?
DENNY: Chocolate bunnies and chocolate eggs. It’s weird, but I still like those little chocolate eggs in tin foil. All that wax! But it’s not about the taste; it’s about the fun and the memories!

Patricia D. Sherman is editor of ChocolateAtlas.com.

Photos courtesy Telluride Truffle.

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