Lillie Belle Farms is a certified organic farm in Southern Oregon and the home of Lillie Belle Farm Handmade Chocolates. The chocolatiers at Lillie Belle use the farm's homegrown fruits and berries to make fruit-infused chocolate truffles and confections. At the San Francisco International Chocolate Salon last week, I had the pleasure of chatting with founder Jeff Shepherd about his latest chocolate creation.

The Smokey Blue Truffle: The almond-encrusted ganache of the Smokey Blue is made of milk chocolate and award-winning Smoked Oregon Blue cheese made by Rogue Creamery, a neighbor of Lillie Belle Farms. This is a delicious and fascinating truffle. The first sensation is the tang of the cheese, then the smokiness plays off of the almond while the milk chocolate brings it all together for a delightful, balanced finish. I've always been enthralled by the combination of chocolate and cheese, and this truffle is a real winner.

Rogue Creamery has won multiple awards for their Smoked Oregon Blue Cheese. Jeff told me that one day sometime this past year, some folks from Rogue came over to Lillie Belle and asked him if he could somehow incorporate the cheese into something chocolate. Between their tastebuds and his, it took him around 20 trials to find the exact recipe to balance the flavors and make it work as well as it does. Some of the changes to the first run of the recipe include incorporating milk chocolate (instead of only dark) and finding that almonds make for a better outer layer than hazelnuts, which were too overpowering. (Rogue Creamery ages their Smoked Oregon Blue under hazelnut shells, hence the original choice.) The Smokey Blue Truffle became officially available about a month ago.

Jeff also mentioned that the truffles go fabulously well with a good Pinot.