[Gift] Secret Ingredients

Secret ingredients. 

Brew had always wondered what that entailed. 

Was it something soppy like love or passion? Or something simple like chili flakes or salt. Something you wouldn’t think belonged in chocolate or cakes. 

Surely not. 

There was something, though. Something that made Payton’s chocolate taste so irresistibly delicious. 

When one tried the chocolates from the chocolatier’s shop, they were filled with something that could only be described as…bliss. 

It was a scrumptious flavor, an angelic texture, and an experience that would wash around the consumer’s mouth for what would seem like an eternity. Whether the chocolate is filled with ganache or is a simply rich truffle, the very taste of Payton’s creations is renowned across Burrowgatory. 

“Mmmm,” Brew grumbled as he stared at the white chocolate and raspberry truffle that lay on a square of napkin, printed with the shop’s logo. 

“What are you mmmming about?” Payton asked as he came around the corner, a bowl of ganache, a whisk lying slick in the mixture, covered and dripping with delicious looking chocolate. 

Payton was a round and chubby Succubun, always smiling, always happy - especially when food was involved. 

“Oh, well, I was just pondering your chocolates,” Brew replied as he looked back at the white chocolate truffle. He sighed before popping it into his mouth. He made a mmmmmm noise as he chewed slowly. But less a thinking mmm and more a melting mmm. As if his body was about to collapse due to the pleasure of taste that washed itself around his taste buds. 

Payton chuckled at the reaction. It was always so nice to watch. 

“Tasty?” he asked him and Brew could only nod as he continued to take in the scrumptious flavours that danced around his mouth and filled his brain and body with all the good endorphins. 

“It’s so good Payton, how on earth do you make these so devilishly delicious,” Brew asked him his tail wagging from side to side as his tongue ran along his pearly white teeth. 

“Oh you know, this and that, just a standard white chocolate truffle recipe,” Payton replied humbly and Brew looked at him shocked. 

“No no, I don’t believe you, there’s no way that something that good is just a simple recipe…” he stammered. 

“Well it is, sorry Brew, no secret ingredients here,” Payton smiled with an all knowing smile. He held out the bowl of ganache and Brew paused before taking a teaspoon from the counter and dipping it in. 

He sampled the ganache and sighed with content as the taste of hazelnut and chocolate washed over him. 

But, there was something else. 

A flavour in there that he…knew. Something he knew quite well. 

“Hmmmm,” he said, spoon still hanging in his mouth. 

“Can you taste it?” Payton asked him as he put the bowl down and walked behind the counter to Brew’s station. Brew was his in house barista and a very good one at that!

“This flavour…hmmm, it’s…coffee?” he said with a questioning tilt of his head. Payton nodded and held up the can of ground coffee. 

“Yup, that’s it, coffee is often used to create a richer chocolate flavour, which is why I like to use it in a lot of my chocolates,” Payton told him and Brew made an ‘oh’ face as he watched Payton take back the bowl of ganache. 

“Oh wait…Payton, I know you’re using coffee for the ganache but I didn’t taste any in the white truffle…what do you use to make them so…creamy?” Brew asked him and Payton laughed softly. 

“Just a little bit of love,” he told him with a wink and disappeared into the kitchen again.