GOSHEN, Conn. — You may have heard of single-malt scotch (which must be made from malted barley and distilled at a single distillery), but how about single-cow-origin chocolates? At Milk House Chocolates at Thorncrest Farm, Kimberly Thorn crafts certain flavors of chocolates with the milk from individual cows. Karissma, for example, provides the milk for the cabernet sauvignon truffles, while Daydream owns the sea salt caramels. Thorn says that when a pail of milk is delivered to the creamery, she can tell by the smell which cow it’s from.
Thorn says she discovered the technique by accident. She had been making chocolates with combined milk from the farm’s cows, but one day she forgot to bring home the milk to make the candies. She went back to the barn and milked one cow. The chocolates made from that milk, she said, “came out so much better than anything I had ever made before.” Today she depends on 10-12 cows of the farm’s 70 for specific flavors, while the rest of the chocolates are made with careful combinations of milk. Connecticut Magazine has listed Milk House Chocolates as among the best in the state for two years running.
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Single-cow-origin flavors have become so successful that Thorncrest breeds cows for specific milk/chocolate flavors. The other element is what they eat, said Thorn’s husband, Clint, who oversees genetics and feeding. The farm uses six different types of hay, as well as natural products that influence flavor. Along with some 90 varieties of chocolates, Thorncrest sells milk and yogurt, but no butter or cream — that all goes into the chocolates. Milk House Chocolates, 280 Town Hill Road, Goshen, Conn., 860-309-2545, milkhousechocolates.net. Open Thursday-Sunday.