By Virginia M. Wright
Photos by Derek Bissonnette
From our November 2023 issue
Over the past 16 years, Westbrook-based confectionery Ragged Coast built a pretty sweet reputation on exquisitely crafted truffles and bonbons. Now, owner Kate Shaffer has found another way into home pantries, with a line of chocolaty baking mixes.
The scone mix is laced with chunks of the same Ecuadorian dark chocolate Shaffer uses in truffles that have won multiple Good Food Foundation awards. Stirred with unsalted butter, an egg yolk, and a little heavy cream, the mix produces a crumbly dough. Press it into a disc, cut into wedges, and bake. The scones emerge flaky and lightly sweet, with pops of chocolate in every bite — perfect foils for coffee or tea. No surprise, her chocolate-cake mix mirrors the recipe Shaffer used for years at her former Blue Hill coffee shop, and her brownie mix yields fudgy bars with glossy, crinkly tops. All the mixes use organic sugar, sea salt, and wheat flours from Skowhegan’s Maine Grains that retain most of their nutritious germ, which might assuage some of the guilt that comes with indulging in these guilty pleasures.
