New Artisan Chocolatier Makes Beloved Bonbons for Mother’s Day & Beyond
New artisan chocolatier, Chocolatl, makes their beloved bonbons for Mother’s Day or any occasion!
Nothing says, “I love you, Mom” more than chocolate, which is why this is wonderful timing for San Antonio, Texas and, in fact, the whole United States! Chocolatl Chocolates & Confections is a new online chocolatier that creates and ships elegant artisan chocolates, primarily hand-crafted bonbons, nationwide.
Imagine popping a delicate, sinfully-delicious bonbon into your mouth, crafted to perfection with scrumptious flavors like crème brûlée, guava cheesecake, mango margarita and key lime pie and you get a tasty glimpse into Chocolatl.
Chocolatl is owned and operated by San Antonio-based chocolatier and pastry chef, Alessia Benavides, who is also a pastry chef instructor at the Art Institute of San Antonio and offers private classes as well.
Alessia, who has been a pastry chef for over 10 years, has always adored finely-crafted chocolates but struggled to find good quality chocolates in San Antonio.
“So, I decided I was going to open up my own virtual chocolate shop. I would like to show people about the good quality chocolates that I love,” says Chef Benavides.
Alessia started enrolling in classes and found she was a natural at it since, as a trained pastry chef, she was already familiar with the process of making chocolates.
“Since I understood the basics it was easy for me to master all of it. I just didn’t know the intricacies, the depth, of making bonbons, but now I know how to formulate flavors and I create my own recipes,” says Chef Benavides.
She launched Chocolatl just a few months ago, in January of 2023, after graduating from San Antonio’s lauded culinary business incubator program, Break Fast & Launch.
Now, chocolate lovers can order online through the website, Chocolatl.shop and have their goodies shipped either locally, regionally or nationally. San Antonians also have the option to pick up.
WHAT MAKES CHOCOLATL’S BON BONS MAGNIFICENT
According to Alessia, finding (and gloriously eating) exceptional bonbons isn’t as easy as you might think. In fact, they’re kind of the unicorns of chocolates.
Often, commercial bonbons are not made with the precise layering of flavors that Alessia does so well. Additionally, they’re often made with shells that are too thick and lack the balance between shell and filling that make for that delectable melt-in-your mouth bite.
Chocolatl makes all of its chocolates with Valrhona, known world-wide for making the best chocolate and then incorporates two or three layers of fillings into each bonbon, such as pâté de fruit, cheesecake ganache and a graham cracker duja, which make up the Guava Cheesecake Bonbon.
“My inspiration for flavors are just things that I want to eat. What I feel is what I make. My current personal favorite is the Dulce de Leche with coconut. That one’s really good,” says Chef Benavides.
Although customer favorites will likely stick around for some time, Alessia is always playing with new flavors and ideas, which find their time to shine in seasonal offerings and specials, such as the new Mother’s Day Gift Bag.
MOTHER’S DAY GIFT BAG from CHOCOLATL
For Mother’s Day, Alessia wanted to design something special that would make moms across the country feel truly loved and appreciated.
Chocolatl’s Mother’s Day Gift Bag is actually a stunning hand bag filled with confections. Specifically, the bag comes with a small box of five bonbons in mixed flavors, a small container of nuts and chocolate covered shortbread sticks that are so good you can’t eat just one.
Additionally, for Mother’s Day, Chocolatl will be offering a variety of heart-shaped boxes in different sizes (4, 14, 16 and 26) filled with bonbons in an assortment of flavors, also guaranteed to impress mom.
To order or for more information, visit Chocolatl.shop. Mother’s Day Gift Bags will be available for purchase until they sell out, so be sure to order as soon as possible.
