Ottawa Foodies

Thought I'd toss a mention of this in here: The Stubbe location in Toronto does chocolate making classes in the spring and summer. Their website doesn't indicate if the Ottawa location also does classes, but if you might be interested, you can always call them and ask.

Here's a look at one of their shelves full of products. A good place to pop into if you need a tasty little gift or just a jolt of chocolatey energy after a big Mexican meal. ;-)

Stubbe has great chocolate, and the owners (Heinrich + wife?) are super nice. We usually get an extra large Truffle Tree every year at Christmas, to consume at our annual fete. I think I can take credit for the fact that his Truffle Trees now have colourful marzipan 'lights' on them, as this was a request of mine some years back.... Ah the memories...

I went to Stubbe over 6 years ago first and liked it enough, then discovered the numerous chocolatiers in Montreal and Gatineau and left this one a little behind in my mind; I shouldn't have.

I am used to a very French type of chocolate-making (Chalouin, Miss Chocolat), or what I'd dub the "North American" style (Truffle Treasures) which is a modified German style - and in doing so I didn't properly check out the origin of that style available right here. One can't compare the two quite directly since the aims are a little different.

I also think their quality has gone up since then, too.

In particular, the lemongrass bar is an odd-but-excellent mix of two flavours I would never have thought to mix; the freshness of the lemongrass actually balances the bitterness of the dark chocolate, but in a direction I'm not used (often in a sweet part of the tongue). As well, the Gewurstraminer truffle is just excellent, the spicy wine coming through effortlessly but never dominating. I also love their banana truffle but they either rarely make it, or I always get there between batches after tasting it the first time I was there. (I tried asking to have some made some years ago for an event I was doing, and was told then that they didn't do special batches for the truffles. This may have changed.)

I'm also told by an aficionado that their marzipan is pretty nice, too. :)

So, more for me to rediscover here...

We were happy to find out that their is another Stubbe location in the city - in Kanata. It is located in the corner of the mall found at Hazeldean Rd. and Terry Fox (south east corner). Margaret Stubbe runs this location and has a few different items as well as the gorgeous and delish truffles and cakes. She had dipped chocolate chuck cookies that were totally decadent and of course disappeared incredibly quickly - yum!

The Stubbe truffle tree is to die for. I simply must experiment and consume more of their chocolates.

Glinda: You can pre-order any of the things Stubbe makes to guarantee that they have it. You can also make custom requests. A friend of mine who briefly worked there (Where are you now Katherine?), told me he once made a wicked confectionary chess board...players and all... mmmm. As for me, I can take credit (maybe?) for the addition of coloured marzipan balls on his Christmas truffle trees. I asked for this on my special order many years ago, and noticed he has done it every year since!

I always trot down a week or so before Valentine's Day and get one of their truffle-stuffed chocolate hearts. They are very romantic, and you can choose the truffles you want inside.

I probably shouldn't have said anything--last year I went several days early and they were all out! Maybe you have to phone first.

Their truffle-stuffed Easter eggs are great, too.

Glinda

good truffles supearb baume kukken 'tree cake '
they dont always have this in germany this cake has to be mastered before ther apprentice chefs gradate it is challenging to make has marking in side resembling the rings on a tree produced by using a batter painted on a specil spit to cook this tool the owners inported from germany i am told i have eaten this in germany theres is very authentic.

These guys are terrific. I don't think I've ever had anything bad here, though some might find the white chocolate kirschtorte a bit incendiary, on account of how much kirsch it's soaked in! ;)

3 other friends and I are born around the same time and when we all lived here, we would host a mass birthday party and always got our cakes here. Except for one disastrous year when we went or a change and tried, G-d save us, pastries at (don't laugh too hard) Tim Horton's! Let me tell you - we went right back to Stubbe's, having learned our lesson!

Try the chocolate covered candied orange peel.

You can also get a cup of coffee or tea to go with your sweets.

Stubbe's does everything well. Their truffles are fabulous, but so are their cakes/tortes. Their streusel cake is a regular at our breakfast table.

I say this is really good chocolate and I'm a chocolate snob by birth! :)

I will not have a dinner party without topping the meal with Stubbe's Truffle Torte. Make sure to leave the cake outside the fridge until serving time and don't expect any leftover. Your guests will rejoice in the wonderfully soft, spongy and chocolatey taste of this cake marvel. I will not serve any other dessert even though I have lots of favourites in town.

I had Stubbe's chocolate-orange cake at a wedding last year and it was so so so so so good!
The host asked Stubbe for all organic, fairly traded dark chocolate for the wedding cake. It was moist and had just the right amount of sugar in it. I will definitely order one for myself one day.