Prime your sweet tooth for these delectable treats
I have not had fast food since January as I have been on this journey of digestible discovery, trying to figure out what is good for my body versus what is conveniently at my fast-paced fingertips.
Being a woman who used to put 3,000 miles on my car a month, I often received my meals through my car window. And, after reading Michael Pollan’s “Food Rules”, I really comprehended that the bagged lunches I was getting in adulthood were not as fulfilling as the ones I got as a child.
In Pollan’s short rule book, which is perfect in length for my short attention span, he provides 64 one-sentenced rules that revolutionized the way that I eat now. Rule #20—“It’s not food if it arrived through the window of your car.” So does that mean it’s okay if I walk into Cook Out to pick up my side of corn dog? With his guidelines, I made a vow for no more fast food. I did break my vow in April for a cherry limeade but that’s not really food. However, I still received it through the window of my car which made me contemplate it, with every sip, on the way home.
How could I make my own cherry limeade? What did people do before the convenience of fast food? More of society is asking similar questions because the price of scientifically created, massively produced “food” has decreased, while our waistlines and blood pressures increase.
Which leads me to Pollan’s rule #39: “Eat all the junk food you want, as long as you cook it yourself.” You mean I can have all the cake and cookies I want?! Oh, but as long as I cook it. That’s where you lost me. Coming from a girl who has burned hard boiled eggs on multiple occasions, you may have well asked me to perform brain surgery. That whole process of mixing your dry goods separately from the wet, that’s too much science for me.
I had found ways to support my diet while supporting local farmers with meat, veggies, fruit, bread, cheese, kombucha, coffee, and tea. It was now time to support my sweet tooth in a similar manner.
Little Leda
Popping Zebra Cakes like Tic Tacs is no great feat and eating Little Debbie is supporting local but can we take it up a notch? Enter Leda Phillips, owner of Noogarons. Standing at a strong five feet tall (so she says), she is preceded by her brightly colored homemade macarons and even brighter smile.
Leda has always been around baking, as her mom owned a little coffee shop bakery that was—awesomely—inside the dentist office her mom owned, too. You read that right. In my opinion, the smartest dentist in the world. “Folks would just come in to pick up little treats.” Leda’s mom offered sweets before and after a teeth cleaning in the same building.
The family passion for baking is also shared by Leda’s sister, who owns a bakery in the Philippines. While visiting her sister last year, Leda made her first batch of macarons and, since that visit, she makes macarons whenever she feels homesick. “I guess there is just a sense of nostalgia and wistfulness to baking that keeps me connected to my family.”
Noogarons officially launched in 2018 after Leda made lemon ones for her own wedding cake and a friend attending the wedding told Leda she would pay for some. As I had never had one, I was confused on the “macaroon” versus the “macaron”. The chocolate coconut sweet cookies are macaroons. Egg-white, sugary-crispy sandwiched sweets are macarons.
Now you know the difference, get some! I have been treating myself to a half dozen once a month since I found Noogarons. Since they are so delicate and time consuming to make, it makes me savor them instead of mindlessly inhaling. “It’s almost like a mental vacation,” Leda continues, describing how making them is equally as enjoyable as eating them.
“Weighing every ingredient and achieving the perfect ‘macronage’ is a standard in every batch, so I never get bored. Any mistakes can ruin a whole batch so that keeps me humble and focused. It’s a good way for me to decompress and truly focus on something outside of the day to day.”
Leda is a nurse anesthetist (CRNA) and finds the baking helps her decompress while providing a creative outlet. “It encourages me to work with the season, cater to the occasion, and seek out great products from local businesses.” Her recent bourbon macaron is made from Chattanooga Whiskey’s 1816 Reserve and she offers an apple pie one that uses Wheeler’s Orchard apples.
In regards to her most beloved creations, I asked for her top three. “Coffee macarons are my weakness, as I am an avid coffee drinker. Please don’t tell lemon, pistachio, or mango (her other favorites). I don’t think they could handle it.”
However, when it comes to her top-selling flavors, Key Lime Pie (which is my favorite) is a fan favorite but with new flavors coming out weekly, the ranks are constantly revolving.
As Noogarons website is still in the works and there is not a storefront, Leda takes orders through Instagram and Facebook. I had to ask how she resisted eating all her work. “I have at least one macaron per batch for quality control purposes. Yes, that’s right, quality control.”
Raising The Bar
Quality control is one of the main reasons Brendan Patrick started Belle Chocolates in 2019. “Part of what I value as a chef is the ingredients and I could never find quality chocolate to please my palate.”
He explained how even premium brands like Ghirardelli and Godiva use emulsifiers, like soy lecithin, to give it a snap. Brendan uses no emulsifiers and only organic, single origin, fair trade cacao and organic sugar.
Brendan began experimenting with bean-to-bar chocolate after a trip to California in 2017. As former executive sous chef at Main Street Meats and chef de partie at Easy Bistro, he was given opportunities to incorporate his new hobby onto menus but he yearned for the chocolate to be the main course. “Food has been my love language and I had the right technique, right product and then it was just a matter of time and chocolate requires a lot of time.”
So after a holiday break in 2018, he started Belle Chocolates January 2019. Deciding to risk everything and start a business wasn’t the hard part. For Brendan, naming it was the most difficult part of entrepreneurship. “I don’t consider myself the most creative and was talking to Belle when I was trying to come up with a name.” Belle is his five-year-old muted calico kitty. “It’s kind of southern, kind of fancy but not snooty.”
As there are no other employees, it is only Brendan who, under Belle’s supervision of course, has processed almost 600 pounds of cocoa beans this year and there are more months to come. Chattanooga’s first bean-to-bar chocolate headquarters is in Plus Coffee at 3800 St. Elmo Avenue.
The full Belle Chocolates line is available, including their number one seller, the Sea Salt Chocolate Bar, and Brendan’s favorite, the Peanut Butter Bon Bon.
You can find Belle bars at Four Bridges Outfitters, Niedlov’s, Velo, Bleu Fox Cheese Shop, both Local Juicery & Kitchen locations, Goodman Coffee, Southern Squeeze, Riverside Wine and Spirits, Bread & Butter, and all three Locals Only locations. Divine Goods can make custom gift baskets using bars or bonbons.
Alongside the Belle bars, Niedlov’s and Bleu Fox also carry the bon bon sampler containing the caramel cream, 80 percent dark ganache, peanut butter, and espresso ganache. Boneshaker Coffee bon bons are only available at Velo and Chattanooga Whiskey flavored bon bons are only available at Riverside Wine and Spirits. As a vendor at the Wednesday Main Street Farmers Market, Brendan works directly with farmers sourcing the freshest ingredients like blueberries and strawberries to create seasonal sensations.
Though I am graced with a stomach that can handle most anything, it is still good to know that Belle’s treats are vegan, soy free, dairy free, and only contain, like, three ingredients max. They also make a cocoa nib brittle that is delicious straight out the bag or can enhance your yogurt or ice cream.
You can follow Belle Chocolate’s social media to see what new flavors may arise but to request a treat for yourself or a large gathering, email Bellechocolates@gmail.com
Life is like a box of locally made sweet desserts—it’s better if its shared. Both Noogarons and Belle Chocolates cater their bite-size sweets to fill large orders for elaborate events.
Enjoy towers of macarons to wow wedding guests or tables of bon bons to tantalize party goers. And there is no shame in hosting a party of one. As Oscar Wilde said, “Everything in moderation, including moderation.”