Will Work for Chocolate

I think it would be a dream to work in a chocolate factory. Not the kind of candy you get off grocery store or corner store shelves. Something slightly more upscale, like Godiva's or See's. Some of you are probably laughing at that comparison, but once I found See's, Godiva chocolates were just same old same old (Ok, not their chocolate-covered strawberries. Those are always phenomenal). And it's because of one flavor.

See's brown sugar buttercream.

Covered in dark chocolate or milk, this thing has made me its slave. I have scoured the internet for a recipe for a brown sugar buttercream filling I can make for myself, and have yet to find one. I fear I may have to become a chocolatier just to reverse-engineer it for myself. Not that I'd find that a hardship by any means, but I'm a little short on cash for classes.

Combined with the chocolate coating, this filling is very close to taste perfection for me; I could eat a whole box and not grow tired of it. Coming in a close second is the solid brown sugar filling; no cream (or less cream) involved. Yum. I enjoy soft centers the best of most types of filled chocolates, although I will eat nearly any type. I'll even eat coconut-filled chocolates although I despise them. I can't very well waste the chocolate enrobing the vile stuff now can I? If I happen to bite into one by accident, it's grin and bear it and chew and swallow it quickly, followed immediately by a tastier one. Orange or lemon or possibly strawberry filled.

Nuts add a nice variety now and then, and chewy caramel is alright, though I place it one step above coconut if it's very chewy, as in jaw-breaking, tooth-filling-destroying chewy. Soft caramel can be divine, and I only recently discovered salted caramels. Mmmm.

Chocolate lovers can get pretty passionate about their centers, I've found. I was insulted to overhear a classmate in college going on and on about how soft centers were disgusting and only chewy caramels were good. I've heard strong arguments for nut clusters and toffee centers too.

But still, the fillings are only as good as the chocolate enrobing them. If I'm willing to eat a coconut center just to avoid wasting the chocolate on the outside, it's good chocolate. (And no, I will NOT push a thumb into the bottom of the chocolate to see what it is, then put it back if I don't want it. Barbarians do that. It's chocolate for god's sake. EAT IT.) You don't have to pay extravagant prices for great chocolates, just hunt around a little.

But all the brown sugar buttercreams are mine.