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Seattle Chocolates ~ Birthday Cake

 

 

Seattle Chocolates 

Birthday Cake filled truffle bar in milk chocolate. Yellow cake mix with confetti bits wrapped in milk chocolate. 

 

Birthday Cake

Type: Filled, truffle/candy bar.

Bean Varietal: N/A

Ingredients: White Chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, whey powder, soya lecithin, pure vanillia), Milk Chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, chocolate liquor, soya lecithin, pure vanilla), Confetti cake mix (unbleached wheat flour, sugar, colored bits [sugar, corn syrup, corn, palm oil, modified food starch, colors {elderberry juice, spinach extract, paprika, tumeric, citric acid}, baking soda, natural vanilla flavor, cream of tartar, salt, carob bean gum, guar gum), palm kernal oil. 

Sample Size: 2.5oz or 70g

 

Milk chocolate surface with Seattle Chocolates signature wavy patterned surface. Four large tablets. Shiny surface and creamy milk chocolate color with some slight surface marks. 

Smelled a bit artificial out of the package. The milk chocolate gives off a bit of a smoky and creamy aroma. Once spilt open, the center gives way to a creamy milk chocolate aroma. 

Nice and fully filled center. The center was a blend of white chocolate with cake mix and confetti's. The center was a little hard at first with crispy crunchy confetti bits. It melts away to a softer creamier texture. 

The white chocolate is a big distraction. If you are a white chocolate fan than this will be good, but if you were expecting cake flavor, it's dominated by the white chocolate. The milk chocolate was artificial tasting too and ends up being more distracting to the cake idea too. There is nothing really cake-like about this bar at all. Except with it's appearance when you break into the bar. It looks like a layer of cake covered in chocolate but the confetti's barely pop out. 

I wanted to like this bar because it sounded like fun and it sounded like a good idea. They ruined it with white chocolate in the center and the white and milk chocolate tasted completely artificial which ruined the taste for me completely. I don't mind white chocolate that much but it overpowered this bar and left no yellow cake taste. The confetti's added a fun crunchy texture, but the rest of it was hard and waxy at first until it began to open up and melt on the palate. 

Playful? Yes. Tasty? Disappointed. 

 

  score
 D-

 

Supporting Your Local

 

 

I support my local. If given a chance to order chocolate from far away or support the local makers in my community, obviously I am going to support the local makers. With more and more people venturing in to making their own chocolate or making their own truffles and confections, the choice is pretty easy these days. I count my blessings for all the new shops and new makers in the Boston area opening up. 

Over Thanksgiving, I decided I was already baking and making enough food to feed a small army. I didn't want to spend that much time baking more desserts. I had already made my own fig jam and port wine truffles and chocolate cake, not to mention several other things. I remembered a great local truffle maker in my area, Valerie Conyngham of Vianne Chocolat. I had tasted some of her treats before, but she now has several new truffles. She tweeted out that she had some Mulled Cider Caramels. That's what I had to have. That's what I wanted on Thanksgiving Day. It just sounds like the holidays. It was cold that day too. They worked like a charm. Plus I love her packaging. It's so cute and makes for great little gifts to pass around with the family and taste all the yummy goodness. 

Luckily for me, she came and met me for a drink and delivered me a nice big order of fun things. I ordered Mulled Cider Caramel Cups, Peanut Butter Hives with a Kick, Irish Whiskey Truffles, and Pumpkin Cups. 

The Peanut Hives with a Kick were my favorite. Lovely peanut butter truffles with a touch of honey and a really nice kick of heat from cayenne pepper that does exactly what I want, slowly build on the palate. I am a wuss about hot and spicy food. So if it's not a slow builder, then I don't want it. These were great. I don't have pictures of them because they were very popular at Thanksgiving. But they come in cute hive-shaped truffle molds. 

 

 

Irish Whiskey Caramel Cups

This wasn't supposed to happen. They are pretty popular and she said didn't have any left, but fortunately one box did make it into my bag. Thank you Valerie! 

These are my kind of caramels. Belgian chocolate shells, boozy aroma straight away, as soon as you open the box as a matter of fact. A little green shimmer hand painted on each one. Soft, runny burnt caramel center with a nice boozy kick of whiskey. What's not to love? Butter, caramel, nutty chocolate, and whiskey. Good stuff. 

 

 

Pumpkin Cups

Dark chocolate shell with pumpkin seeds on the top and real pumpkin puree in the center. So many times things that say pumpkin are usually about the pie spices and not actually about the squash itself. This is largely the case with many pumpkin ales, but that's a story for another blog. This has the puree in it and you can taste it. The spices were great too because the truffles were lightly spiced. Pumpkin pie spices tend to be over done and end up cloying. Add a little but of nuttiness from the pumpkin seed and we got a winner here. Perfect holiday truffle. 

 

 

Mulled Cider Caramel Cups

The reason I'm here with this post today. Dark chocolate cups filled with mulled cider caramel and dried apple bits on the top. Very sweet and buttery. Spiced just right like the Pumpkin Cups, soft and runny, buttery burnt caramel center flavored with mulled cider. The dark chocolate leaves a nice lingering coffee-like flavor. Perfect after dinner caramel. 

 

Valerie is really nailing it with these wonderful caramel cups and truffles. I recommend sneaking in a last minute order for your holiday gatherings. A box of one of these these flavors would make for a really nice gift for someone at work too. The packaging is so cute and chic. 

Galler ~ Kaori

 

I have to preface this post by saying my customer service experience at Galler has changed. And when I say changed I mean it was a night and day difference in the attitudes of the people who work there. 

The first time I walked into Galler, in Central Place in Brussels, the woman behind the counter was rude, bored, and barely lifted a finger to help me. Offered no information about anything and it wasn't because of a language barrier. She spoke English and was completely rude. But that was last year. 

This year I was back in Belgium only this time I was in Bruges, when I found another Galler store. I reluctantly went in, but found an excellent shop person behind the counter. He not only talked to me, he went through every product, even let me sample some of the chocolates on his own prompting. He gave me a curry truffle and it was fantastic. Beautifully spiced, not over done and balanced well with milk chocolate. I was so happy and completely over the moon with the night and day difference in customer service. I even told him about what happened the last time I was in Belgium. He said no more. Galler had made it a point to focus more on customer service. This makes me wonder who else had issues in the past. But no matter, things have definitely changed and for the better. They have also taken a more hands on approach to the chocolate. When I went to buy the Kaori sets, he told me he just packaged them. They make and package certain things right there in the small stores now. Freshness is important. I couldn't be more pleased. 

 

Kaori: Perfume, scent, fragrance. 

"The Japanese call a beautiful calligraphy 'calligraphy with taste'. The emotion is in the movement and in the expression of what resonates within us." 

 

Chocolates: 

Saffron

Cardamon

Yuzu

Ginger

Vanilla and Coconut

Strawberry and Balsamic

 

Compositions: 

Orange and Cocoa Nibs

Matcha and Opium Poppy

Kalamansi

 

The idea is to take each flavored chocolate stick, which is kind of like a truffle or bon bon stick, and dip them into the flavor pots creating different flavor combinations. Unless you lick each chocolate before dipping, it doesn't work so well without the Kalamansi which is the pot that looks like honey. Kalamansi is an Asian citrus fruit with tangy, sour notes. 

The orange and nib pot is pretty flavorful with orange and slight tannins with the bitter cocoa nibs. The matcha and opium poppy pot is very earthy. 

 

The best flavor profiles: 

Vanilla and Coconut with the Kalamansi and Matcha and Opium Poppy.

Cardamom with Kalamansi and Orange and Cocoa Nibs.

Ginger with Kalamansi and Matcha and Opium Poppy.

Saffron with Kalamansi and Orange and Cocao Nibs.

Yuzu (so tangy and powerful in it's own right) works well with both. 

Strawberry and Balsamic with Matcha and Opium Poppy. 

 

This is a wonderful and unique tasting experience. The flavors and spices were perfect and the tasting cups were a fun and interesting mix and match set up. This is a perfect gift to bring over to a dinner party or to share with friends who really like tastings and flavors. For people who really appreciate this kind of thing. And no, I won't say foodies because I deeply hate the term and the obnoxious trends around it. This is for people who enjoy nice things. 

Really fun, really tasty, and a simple elegant design. You can sit around for ages reflecting on each flavor and each combination. Cardamon was my favorite stick flavor. The yuzu was my least favorite only because it's tanginess surpassed the other flavor combinations. Though it did work quite well with both, it was just a bit too tangy.

If you bring one of these over for a dinner party, you will be a big hit amongst your friends.  

**Forgive the appearance of the chocolate sticks. They suffered through some heat issues traveling back to the States with me. This was due to the aggravating situation at the Le Meridian Hotel in Brussels. They had no working a/c, only heat and it was dreadful and miserable for the one night staying there. It was the reason my Westvleteren 12 truffles had melted to ugly shapes. That's in another post. I expect other chocolates that I brought back in bar form to have the same issues. But the ashy appearance is due to that. When I opened one of the Kaori boxes on our beer boat cruise in Belgium, they were shiny and beautiful. 

Dan's Chocolates

 

Local handmade truffles by Dan Cunningham in Vermont, to be found at Whole Foods and natural grocery stores. Made with ingredients sourced from 100 miles (as much as possible) of the factory except the cacao beans of course. Consciously made chocolate truffles and bars. They use Blommer as their chocolate base. 

This is a perfect way for Evil Wholefoods to snag you with an impulse buy at the register. Only instead of using crappy Lindt truffles, they use a locally made version. 

 

Via their website:

Local Ingredients, Local Producers

In the past few years we have tried to locate all of our supplies within 100 miles of our factory. This is not always possible, so we are not at 100%. But it accomplishes several things:

• It reduces the amount of fuel, and hence carbon emissions, as ingredients and packaging is shipped to Dan's.
• It supports local producers and the local economy around us. While many bigger companies such as Hersheys move their chocolate factories to Mexico to save on wages and health care, Dan's is actively supporting local producers.
• It saves us money, as fuel and transportation is expensive.
• It allows us to save money in both inventory and cooling, as we need fewer supplies on hand, because we can inventory less.

 

Peppy-R-Mint Peppermint Chocolate Truffle (64% cocoa)
 
 

Trail Hound Cranberry Raisin Truffle (Milk Chocolate)

PB Ecstasy Peanut Butter Truffle (64% Cocoa)

Orangadu Orange Chocolate Truffle (64% Cocoa)

Caramel River Caramel Chocolate Truffle (Milk Chocolate)

Chocolate Truffles And Other Noshes

 

 

Looking at my inventory of chocolate to be reviewed, I asked that if anyone had anything to bring me by way of chocolate that it not be be bars, but rather truffles or other chocolates to be eaten right away. I have a library of over 50 bars. All in due time for those reviews. For now it's nice to break up the reviews with fun things.

 

Angelo Scarnera brought me a nice little collection from London again. If you will remember, he is the person responsible for the British Chocolate Invasion. This time he came through with specific requests. One of those requests were more Milk Chocolate Bars with Welsh Sea Salt from Rococo. With it were two truffle bites.

 

Rococo has become a favorite of mine. That milk seas salt bar is ridiculously good. It snapped me out of this constant string of dark chocolate reviews and reminded me how good milk chocolate can be.

These truffle were lovely and rich raspberry truffle. Really clean finish. It opens up bright, bold and full of tangy raspberry. Follows through with some coffee notes of the rich chocolate but finishes clean. I am not sure of the cocoa percentage but it is a Valrhona single origin chocolate. I would be impressed with myself if I could identify the region, but the raspberry is the dominating factor. Tasty little treats.

 

Ahh Liddabits. Fun makers from Brooklyn, Ny. After having previously tried their pate de fruits and chocolate bar "The Snacker," which is sort of their version of a Snickers, I was given a bar of "Chocolate Doom." These are adult candy bars. Handmade, super rich, and super good.

"Chocolate Doom" is a chocolate sable cookie, milk chocolate ganache, white chocolate ganache, and dipped in chocolate. The cookie is a lot saltier than anticipated but is actually a nice break up to what would be an overly sweet candy bar. It ends up tasting like an Oreo cookie candy bar. Very rich. I could have done without the white chocolate, but that's just me being overly picky about white chocolate. The white chocolate gives off a weird artificial flavor. Again, this is just me being weird about white chocolate. I have never really liked white chocolate all that much except in obligatory things like white chocolate chunk macadamia nut cookies.

 

I liked this bar quite a bit. But I didn't think it was as good as "The Snacker." The peanuts in "The Snacker" end up being a more natural salty break up to the sweet handmade nougat in the bar. Still, anything called "Chocolate Doom" is worth having a go at.

 

 

Another William Curley truffle collection courtesy of Angelo. Can't ever be without a William Curley product within my reach. I've previously reviewed this truffle collection. I had a great time going through these truffles. They were very sophisticated. I had reviewed most of these but there were a few new ones in the box I hadn't tried before. The hand rolled collection.

The House Dark, Cassis and Hibiscus, House Milk, Framboise, Rothschild Champagne, and Yamazaki Malt Whiskey.

"Our fresh chocolates are made without additives or preservatives and have a shelf life of 14 days."

 

 







House Dark: Fairly intense truffle. Handrolled chocolate shell, with a deeply rich, creamy, and bittersweet ganache filling. Dusted in unsweetened cocoa powder.

"William Curley's Classic Truffles are made with a blend of Amedei's 9 and Toscano 70%. It has a fresh soft intense ganache, with a light coating of chocolate and cocoa. The House Dark has won Gold for Best Dark Truffle in 2006, 2007 and 2008."

Cassis and Hibiscus: Very tangy! The coating has a tangy cassis powder with a bump of rich and also tangy ganche right in the center, and finishes with a delicate hibiscus flowery finish. This isn't my favorite truffle, but I thought it was pretty cool. Certainly wakes your palate up.

I don't have the ingredient list for this one but I am pretty sure Amedei Toscano is one of the chocolates used.

House Milk: Much softer center and delicate flavors but still a fairly rich chocolate shell and unsweetened cocoa powder coating the truffle. This is still a very rich truffle it just has a creamier and milkier ganache filling. I liked this one much better than the house dark.

"The House Milk Truffle is another classic, rich and creamy made with a 32% Toscano chocolate. Enrobed in dark couverture and cocoa, this compliments the sweeter ganache creating a perfect balance. The House Milk has won Silver for Best Milk Truffle in 2007 and 2008."

Framboise: Tastes similar to the house dark with a delicate raspberry ganache filling. Mostly you find super tangy and overly flavored raspberry flavors. This is a lot softer and allows for more chocolate interaction.

"Fresh raspberry puree has been blended with Toscano 63% complimenting the acidity of the raspberry, coated with dark chocolate and cocoa. The Framboise has won Gold in 2008."

Rothschild Champagne: Very sweet with powdered sugar coating, and lightly flavored with champagne. You can taste classic champagne flavors but it's so subtle the sugars and chocolate over take it quickly. Still very nice though because of how sweet it is.

"Our Champagne truffles are made with Champagne Moutard which only uses the pinot noir grapes. It is an elegant and subtle light ganache dusted with icing sugar."

Yamazaki Malt Whiskey: Single malt whiskey from Japan. Very subtle. I am not sure what this whiskey is supposed to taste like though it's website mentions honey flavors. It doesn't taste like scotch or American whiskeys. I also don't know exactly what it's coated in but it's a clean tasting powder but a bit chalky.

It's interesting and soft. But perhaps if I knew the flavors better, I would understand what I was tasting. I could taste the Amedei flavors coming through but the the whiskey was so subtle I wish it were more bold.

 

Then Emily Shartin of Formaggio Kitchen, came through with some little noshes. She also brought the Liddabits candy bar. She likes the local Brooklyn food scene as much as do. She brought me a chocolate cluster, a small turtle, and two little truffles. I am not sure of the sources of these bits, but I will be sure to add an update to this post when I find out. Again, keeping with my theme of no more bars for the time being but bringing me small things I can eat and enjoy without deeper reviews.

 

Buttery pecan turtles with candied pecans. Soft chewy caramel with a slight bit of chocolate. This thing is all butter and it's all good. I am usually not a fan of turtles, but these are fantastic. I would love to cut these up in large chunks for the ultimate butter pecan ice cream.

 

The Cluster is chocolate covered nuts and corn flakes!! Simple yet so delicious. I should have saved it for breakfast. Pretty salty and barely sweet at all. This is something for someone who professes they don't have a sweet tooth. I think Jacques Torres had some of these clusters in his DUMBO store.

 

The polka dotted truffle turns out not to be a truffle at all but a chocolate shell filled with the softest, gooiest caramel. Nice little surprise. I almost ended up wearing it. But managed to recover it. The chocolate added some nice rich coffee notes. Sweet, sticky, and delicious. Nice little treat.

 

The dark purple lustered truffle was super rich and made with something from South America, possibly a Rio Caribe or something equally bold and deeply complex. Something coastal of Venezuela. At first I thought it was Madagascar cocoa with the strong wood characters, but it has to be something else based on the big tar, berries, and pen ink characters. I will be curious to see if I was in the right direction when Emily tells me what it is. Sweet caramel center but more of a creamed truffle texture instead of the runny and gooey caramel. The Center isn't the main attraction of this little nosh. It's the strength of the chocolate flavors carrying through to be the last thing you focus on as it lingers on the palate.

 

Update: Emily has advised me that these treats came from Elaine Hsieh in Somerville, Ma. Now I know where to buy in bulk, the Pecan Clusters. (Fresh pecans roasted in maple syrup and a touch of sea salt surrounded with soft Knob Creek Bourbon caramel and topped with E. Guittard’s 65% dark chocolate and a sprinkle of fleur de sel. Each box is 6.5 oz and contains approximately 12 pieces.) I want to large chop them and toss them into an ultra exquisite batch of butter pecan ice cream. It would be dope yo!

She also made those incredible Rochers. (A "haystack" of crunchy caramelized flakes, roasted and candied almonds, covered in dark and milk chocolate. Each box is 6 oz and contains approximately 8 pieces.)

The polka dotted caramel was a Bourbon Caramel. I feel way off the mark with that because I didn't notice the bourbon in it at all. It just means they are getting another day in court. (Bourbon Caramel - Bourbon Caramel - Buttery soft caramel with a touch of Knob Creek bourbon.)

 

Hot chocolate spoons seems to be all the rage in the UK. Large chocolate squares on stir spoons from Melt, and now these chocolate cups with spoons for easy stirring into a hot mug of steamed milk. Angelo, knowing that I wanted more drinking chocolate this time around, spotted this little gem at L'Artisan du Chocolat.

It's called First Crush. Dark chocolate with salted caramel spoon.

 

I scaled a cup of vanilla almond milk for this cup. Scalded vanilla almond milk smells like toasted marshmallows when coming off the stove. Stirring in the chocolate cup, it took a while to melt it all down but it made a nice rich brew. I licked the spoon at the end like advised on the package. It was really good rich dark chocolate and sugary just like the UK likes it.

I didn't get much of a salt caramel taste until the finish of one sip. The almond milk made it taste like I had stirred a peanut butter cup into hot milk. Very tasty. Super rich brew too.The almond milk is sweet already and flavored with vanilla so it added more sweetness to the drink as did the dark chocolate.

After not have a good introduction with L'Artisan du Chocolat's Jamaican bar, I was very impressed with this cup of hot chocolate. Nice and rich and sugary. I am kicking myself however, I should have had this in the morning and not after 5pm. I am going to be jacked for the rest of the night.

One thing I didn't like was the wooden spoon. I had to be very careful licking the rest of the chocolate off. I have a serious aversion to wooden spoons. It's cringe worthy and gag inducing for me like nails on a chalk board. Teeth scraping wooden spoons is a horrible thing and makes my teeth ache just thinking of it. I am not the only one with a reaction like this. My husband has it too. We both cannot deal with doctors office tongue depressors, flat wooden sticks for Italian icees, or Popsicle sticks. I freely admit that this is not their fault but my own weirdo aversions.

 

Just look at that thing. You can tell that sucker is rich and I am in for a long night of being awake. I didn't taste all of this in one day either. Okay, two days is still pretty gluttoness. But these are items with a very short shelf life. I HAD to do it, right?

Amano Truffles

 

 

 

This was a nice surprise. I was contacted by the awesome Amano people about tasting the Chuao bar. I told them I actually had it already for review They sent me chocolate anyway. And with that was a bar of Cuyagua and a box of their 12 piece truffles using various spices and different chocolates such as Ocumare, Dos Rios, Guayas, and Madagascar.

I love this life.

 

 

Amano Chocolate:
Cocoa Beans, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Whole Milk Powder (Ocumare Milk and White), and Whole Vanilla Beans

Centers:
Cream, Whole Milk, Glucose, Butter, Honey, Raspberries, Lime, Tangerine, Vanilla, Salt, Cardamom, Black Pepper, Pecans, Yuzu, Lemon Juice, Morello cherries, Morello cherry juice, Citric acid, Sugar, Invertase.

Click this entry to view the reviews and details of these truffles.

 

Halloween Chocolate 2010

 

 

What is cool and scary looking for Halloween this year? I have decided to highlight some awesome winners for this season. And not the corny stuff either. Some stuff that I like, that I think is cool.

 

Life size and realistic chocolate skulls anyone? Pictured above. There is little information about these except that they make them using Belgian chocolate. You can get them in blends to look more realistic. And they cost about $120 bucks. I hope they come in the cool case that is pictured on their website. They better for $120 bones.

Source: Chocolateskulls.com

 

 

How about some angels and demons? Chocolate icons from Alma Chocolate in Oregon. The Charming Devil or the Anatomical Heart might be right for Halloween. Or an Our Lady Gualalupe for Dia De Los Muertos. Or perhaps a Celtic Cross to fend off any other nasties?

 

 

Source: Alma Chocolate

Skeleton/Heart image via: Oregon Live

 

 

 

 

Speaking of Icons, Alma isn't the only game in town running that offer. Bond Street Chocolate in New York, also has a selection of deities to worship in chocolate form. And the offer high cocoa percentage (72%) skulls.

 

We all know Jesus wasn't really a white man, so a chocolate Jesus just might be in order. Just don't let it get too close to your prayer candles.

Source: Bond Street Chocolate

 

 

 

Let's get morbid shall we?  Chocolate artist Stephen Shanabrook with Body Parts, wounds, and incision wounds box set lovingly called "Morgue." How about a chocolate sculpture called "The Remnants of a Suicide Bomber?" Maybe some Choir boy's being water boarded? It's Halloween after all. Just because we turn the scary into cartoon-ish images, doesn't mean there isn't some real creepy stuff out there. If you are going to do gross, go big or go home!

Wonder what kind of chocolate he uses?

 

Source: Eat Me Daily

 

 

 

For something less offensive and more tasty, how about some skull and ghost truffles? Vianne Chocolat Nibs-n-skulls truffle and L.A. Burdick's Ghost truffles. Keeping in with the spirit of Halloween without getting too gross about it. Cute and tasty.

 

Source: Vianne Chocolat

Source: L.A. Burdick's

 

 

And since Halloween seems to be the time to pull out the hot spices or peppers in chocolate, why not go with this slick Mutha Fuckin' bar of chocolate right here? Mast Brothers Dark Chocolate + Serrano Peppers.

Brooklyn-based, American Craft Chocolate producers, and now friends of mine, Rick and Michael Mast. Dope packaging, spicy chocolate, Dominican Republic beans. You can't go wrong.

This bar is in my own personal collection right now just waiting to be reviewed. Soon, my spicy friend. Soon you will be eaten and destroyed.

Source: Mast Brothers

Laurent Gerbaud, Belgium

Image via Station Gourmande

I recently got back from a quick trip to Belgium. The point of the trip was to witness my husband Todd and his brother Jason, get knighted by the Knighthood of the Brewers' Mash Staff (Belgian Brewers' Guild). Yes, it was a trip all about beer. But the beer helped me with a good tip on chocolate.

While visiting Moeder Lambic (probably one of the best beer bars in the world), Jean Hummler of Moeder Lambic recommended Laurent Gerbaud to me. We were discussing side hobbies and passions outside of beer. I told him I write about chocolate and that I am staying the most touristy part of Brussels, the chocolate shops were plentiful and equally touristy. A couple of saving graces for the serious chocolate fan were Valrhona, Galler, and of course the famed Pierre Marcolini. 

Jean told me Laurent's shop was very close to the bar. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make it over there in time. I also, wasn't able to make it to Pierre Marcolini. This is okay with me because it just means I HAVE to go back now and maybe I will be back for Christmas. Imagine all the special treats at Christmas time. Nothing is more special than a gaudy European chocolate shop at Christmas time.

Not to worry. On one of our hardcore drinking nights, we naturally ended up back at the Moeder Lambic and amazingly, Jean took time out of his own personal day to get me a few noshes from Laurent Gerbaud. 

Since I wasn't able to visit his shop or speak with him directly, here are some blurbs about Laurent, his concept, and his special blend of couverture chocolate via his website:

LAURENT GERBAUD, chocolatier in Brussels marries chocolate, fruit and spices for 7 years. During a prolonged stay in China, he discovers the rich realm of Asian tastes and smells and begins to coat delicious kumquats (small candied oranges) with dark chocolate: an unexpected delicacy. Back in Belgium he passionately continues to create tasty combinations : "I do only what I like. When I am developing products, my only guide is my personal taste". The ingredients that compose each of his creations are all selected among the best ones in their league, and each delicacy is hand-made: " The chocolate and every ingredient we use are noble and precious: their character can be preserved only through a hand-made treatment."

These jewels are presented in a sophisticated packaging that visually enhances each product and turns them into irresistible temptations: precious gifts or a personal treat. The very distinctive LAURENT GERBAUD's logo features a red seal with the word 'chocolate' in Chinese. The deep and bright colours help create a distinctive identity to the range and contribute to evoke the world of tastes and travels in store.

LAURENT GERBAUD's chocolates are currently sold in more than fifty delicacy stores and specialized tea shops in Brussels, Paris, Berlin, London and other main cities in Europe.

The new range of LAURENT GERBAUD Dark Chocolate 70% is built around an exceptional chocolate couverture prepared by Domori according to an exclusive recipe. Domori, one of the best luxury couverture chocolate makers in Europe, works only with the best cocoa beans in very small quantities, using a manufacturing process that allows the expression of all aromas of the chocolate. This philosophy met exactly LAURENT GERBAUD's own objectives, and so began a very nice partnership. This exclusive Chocolate is to be compared with vintage wines: these wines are made of specific types of grapes which develop special aromas according to their growing soil. The same happens with chocolates: they are made of specific cocoa beans selected for their aromatic and tasting qualities. LAURENT GERBAUD's exclusive mix is composed of Trinitario beans (5% of global cocoa production) originating from the Sambirano Valley in Madagascar and of Nacional beans (2% of global production), a Forastero unique of its kind, exclusively grown in Ecuador. The Trinitario beans give the chocolate its richness and aromatic intensity whilst the Nacional beans care for its exceptional length.

Treatment of small quantities of beans as well as low temperatures during the whole manufacturing process are essential factors to the preservation of the subtle and unique aromas of those noble cocoas. Not using soy lecithin ensures the mix is closer to the original chocolate recipe. This Dark Chocolate with intense and powerful taste has been developed especially to fit perfectly with the fruits used by LAURENT GERBAUD in his compositions.

The Milk Chocolate 50% designed by Domori for LAURENT GERBAUD is also a mix of rare Nacional beans from Ecuador. It holds 50% of cocoa, has exceptional sweetness and softness. A touch of Guérande salt completes this subtle picture. The Milk Chocolate contains a very small percentage of soy lecithin.

Now, these got back to the States in the best condition I could manage. They were stashed in my carry on, kept close to me without a lot of bumping. But being loosely packed, don't expect shining displays of glory. I was meant to eat these in Belgium, but selfishly, I stowed them away to write about when I got home. 

 

 

The plain disks were loaded with the aromas from the candied orange peels and candied ginger. But you can taste the cedar wood notes from the Madagascar beans and the drying effect and rounded edges from the Nacional beans. Hints of cinnamon, cherries, cedar wood, and some hidden berries.

Excellent quality. Rich, bittersweet, not heavily sweetened. With the salted cashews, this is the prefect blend. I like that the salt and cashew oils tone down a lot of that cinnamon flavor.

**Todd loved cashews. Too bad for Todd, he was Knighted in Belgium. He got a medal and all the attention he could handle. I am not sharing my Belgian prize of these cashew chocolate disks with him. 

 

Prunes dipped in chocolate. Again this blend works wonderfully with dried fruits. Sweet, prunes, but not overly sweet, and rich dominating chocolate.

However, the dried fruits draw out more of the cinnamon notes. I like the salted cashews which tame the cinnamon notes and allow for more of the raw cocoa taste to come through while being blended with the cashew flavors.

The second picture are chocolate balls filled with a gorgeous hazelnut paste of butter. Lightly sweetened and naturally oily. Like a chunky peanut butter filling but better because it's delicious hazelnuts. Simply fantastic.

The candied ginger and orange peel I passed on to my husband. I am not a fan of candied peels, and I really don't like ginger all that much. I did take a nibble into the ginger, and I can say it did work with really well with the chocolate blend. If I can recognize a good match in something I don't even like, then that is worth noting. Again, not my favorite so I passed it to my husband.

And the other are assorted truffles or bonbons. Again, using the house blended cocoa. Lovely flavors with that awesome finishing touch of Madagascar cedar wood flavors, cherries, and that clean drying finish of the Nacional beans. 

I am so glad this was recommended to me. In a sea of tourist chocolate like Godiva and Neuhaus, this comes a great treat and a shining beacon for Belgian chocolate. 

Next time I am in Belgium, I will have this chocolate with Jean, and take his beer list and do a real comprehensive Belgian beer and chocolate tasting. Those will be true notes to look forward to.

Truffles and Wine

My husband was wrapping up a meeting in Boston yesterday, when he stopped by Au Chocolat and picked up a wine sampler box of mixed truffles from Belgian Chocolatiers Neuhaus.

He found a collection of truffles meant for pairing with wine. The "sommelier" collection. Maxim de Muynck voted Sommelier of the Year in 2009 by Gault & Milau has designed this collection.

There is some good news for beer lovers. Two beer selections made into the booklet for a pairing recommendations.

He chose Lindemans Framboise for the Suzanne. It makes sense being a Belgian beer paired with Belgian chocolate truffles. Also raspberry on raspberry flavor profiles for both the chocolate and the beer.

However, to many beer lovers Lindemans is like "Kool-Aid." While it tastes awesome and is perfect for desserts and is very interesting for what can be done with beer, it tastes nothing like what we would consider traditional beer. However, for chocolate this is not the wrong way to go as it is very much like a dessert on it's own.

Lambics are a style of beer classic to Belgium made by a process called spontaneous open air fermentation. I am sure many beer geeks can break this process down better than I can, so I will spare you all the geek talk, but it's basically beer fermented by wild yeast in the air and other funky bacterias. This particular beer is then dosed with 500 lbs or more of various fruits and sugar. These are known as lambics which are wild ales. Many different styles have similar processes such as geueze, and other Belgian sours or unsweetened lambics. Lindemans happens to be the fruitiest, sweetest, and most palatable to the average person.

The other beer recommendation was Mc Chouffe from Brasserie d' Achouffe in Belgium. This is a spectacular Belgian-style brown ale which is unfiltered and then re-fermented in the bottles or a process known as bottle conditioning. It's an 8% abv beer with big sweet malts, a bit roasted, and fruity. Perfect for desserts and chocolate.

When Maxim chose this beer for the 1875, this made perfect sense with the cinnamon biscuit center of the truffle. The cinnamon and the toasted biscuit flavors.
 

I chose Heron Pinot Noir Vin de Pays de la Mediteranée to go through the truffles with. Next time I will take a collection like this and take to a wine bar and work out various combinations with wines. Otherwise it's unrealistic to sit here on my own and crack open various wines to fit the suggestions of the sommelier.
 



The Suzanne; Infused chocolate ganache with raspberries.

Light subtle flavors of raspberries on the  soft centered ganache, waxy chocolate shell, dried bits of tart raspberries on top.

Works lovely with the Heron Pinot Noir. Allows some drier woody, and more tart notes to come out on the wine. Tames it makes it a little earthy.






Maxim de Muynck Suggestions:

Cuvee Sakura 2003 raspberry and cherry wines from Roisin, Belgium

Lindemans Framboise Raspberry Lambic, Belgium

Zéro Pointé Rosé, Loire, France

Bugey-Balivery Cerdon Sparkling wine, Bugey, France




Grand Place; Dark chocolate shell coated with sugar with a soft ganached hinted with nigella.

Nigella is a spice that is mainly used when cooking Indian flat breads, such as naan, and vegetarian dishes.

The spice has a strong taste that is similar to oregano.

The Nigella spice is the seeds of the plant called Nigella Sativa. The seeds are tiny and black in colour. The seeds themselves don’t have much of an aroma but the oregano aroma is released when the seeds are fried or crushed. The taste is a bit like cracked pepper and is bitter.

Via Curry Focus


Deep rich chocolate shell, once again waxy mass produced taste, but extremely soft ganache center with big sweet caramel notes and a peppery nigella taste, sweet lingering sugar notes from the chocolate.

Works fairly good with the Pinot Noir. A bit borderline meaning there was almost too much alcohol overbearing on the palate. The major indications that you have a wrong pairing with wine and food. Same rules apply for beer. But still fairly good pairing.






Maxim de Muynck Suggestions:

Ojai Santa Barabra 2006 Syrah California.

5 year old Malmsey Blandy Madeira, Portugal.

Commandaria Ekto or Keo Sweet dessert wines, Cyprus

Marsala Vecchio Samperi de Bartoli, Italy




Criollo; Bitter dark chocolate with a fresh butter cream center.

Bitter, sweet, dry, soft center, still has a waxy taste that so far all of the truffles have had. Roasted cocoa and coffee notes underneath this trademark waxy taste.

Works very well with the Pinot Noir. Enhances the wine to be more earthy, but the bittersweet chocolate lingers on the palate to be fairly dominant.








Maxim de Muynck Suggestions:

Darroze Bas Armagnac, France

Ojai Santa Barbra Syrah, California

A generic recommendation of Bordeaux wines from the left bank.



Ganache Amère; "A happy marriage of the sweetness of créme fraîche and the magic power of chocolate, with a sublime, pure bitter flavour."


Sweet, rich, same waxy taste, roasted cocoa, slightly spicy in the beginning.

So far it works the best with the Pinot Noir. They tame each other. The rich sweet chocolate is toned down by the earthy wine, but the creaminess allows them the marry instead of contrast. The earthy notes on the wine tone down and let spicy characters come out.

Maxim de Muynck Suggestions:

Monastrell Dulce, Alceno

Pedro Ximénez, Toro Albala, Spain

Monastrell Dulce, Alceno, Spain

Maury Vintage, Dessert wine, France



1857; Milk praline with cinnamon biscuit-y center known as speculoos.

Light, milky creamy taste coupled with the same waxy taste, crunchy center, light cinnamon hints.

Works okay with the wine. It's borderline. The crunchy center wants to clash with the wine, but the creamy, milky chocolate taste recovers it and rounds out the wine stopping it from being a wrong pairing. It's not exact, but it's not bad either.






Maxim de Muynck Suggestions:


Mc Chouffe, Brown, strong ale, Belgium

10 year old Grant Burge Tawney, dessert wine, Australia

Domaine des Rosiers, Confidence 2005 vintage, France




Sapho; Milk chocolate with almond praline center.

Basically a milk chocolate shell with a super soft almond-chocolate center. Kind of like giandja made with hazelnuts. Same waxy taste, but a hit of pepper up front. The waxy taste makes it practically no different than gianduja since this waxy hallmarks has hazelnuts. It's just a bit butterier than gianduja.

This works really well with the Pinot Noir. It's all about the nuttiness playing off the earthiness, and creamy texture smoothing out the alcohol edges of the wine. This was pretty good. Not exact, but very close.







Maxim de Muynck Suggestions:

Neipoort or Burmester tawny port, Both from Portugal.

Chȃteauneuf du Pape or a Domaine Gremenon La Mémé 2006, France




Galerie; Caramel center, with chocolate center in a chocolate shell.


Salty and very gooey caramel with a thin layer of a chocolate ganache in the center gives off sweet and salty contrast, but that same damn waxy chocolate taste overtakes the lingering palate.. This would have been the best balanced truffle if it wasn't coated with this generic chocolate shell. That waxy taste ruins the balance.

The wine works well with the pairing based on all other descriptions from the previous truffles. It's creamy and salty and the butters work well with the earthiness of the wine. The sweet chocolate brings out more of the earthy flavors.








Maxim de Muynck Suggestions:

East India Solera de Lustau, Sherry, Spain

Neisson Rhum Agricole, Rum,  Martinque

Rivesaltes Ambré, Domaine de Rancy, France

Domaine des Rosiers, Confidence 2005 Vintage, France

Generic recommendation of Red Bordeaux from the left bank, France

Le Chȃteau La Rame, Cuvee La Charmille, I ères Cȏtes de Bordeaux, France



Passion Amande; White chocolate shell, cocoa butter, sugar, and caramlized salted almonds.

This is basically a white chocolate shell with soft chocolate and minced almond center. Barely salty, barely noticeable almonds, and it tastes like gianduja more than it does almonds.

Having said that, it's creamy, and the white chocolate is not over powering with a dominate milky or cocoa fat taste. It is like all other truffles in the collection, waxy and nutty. I wish the almonds were not minced to a finite crunch. There is no sense of caramelized anything let alone being barely salty enough to handle the chocolate.






Maxim de Muynck Suggestions:

Bartoli Moscato del panteliria, Italy

Chȃteauneuf du Pape or a Domaine Gremenon La Mémé 2006, France

Le Chȃteau La Rame, appelation Sainte Croix du Mont, France



More specific wine pairings:


Elysium Black Muscat

Suzanne

Grand Place

Criollo

Passion Amère



Oloroso Sherry

Sapho

Passion Amande

1857

Galerie


Overall this is a decent collection to share with friends. But you might have noticed my impatience with this collection. It's all same-y, and mass produced. The trademark waxy quality on these truffles leaves little to be desired. It's an odd milky, waxy, and nutty (hazelnut) flavor that permeated all of the truffles. This is a hallmark I have noticed on other Belgian chocolates as well. I am not sure if it's because it's mass produced with additives and preservatives or if it's just from blending chocolates. The single origin bars from Neuhaus are spared of this effect.

I am wondering if it's just a Belgian hallmark in general. I have been noticing regional hallmarks lately. England chocolate bars tend to be a lot sweeter than the American, French, and Italian versions. European chocolate in general tends to be milky, and creamier Especially with Swiss, German, and Belgian chocolates.

It also could be because these came in a sealed mass produced collection box. I am willing to bet if these truffles were made fresh and bought from a tiny shop in Belgium it would taste worlds different. It's always different when you are traveling and in the moment.

Still fun none the less trying to figure out which one of these truffles would end up clashing with the wine I chose. Interestingly enough none of them did clash, though a few came close to not working.

Get some wine, get some friends and crack open a box of truffles. Even if you don't choose Neuhaus, there are plenty of truffle makers locally you can chose from and go from there.

Tonight's focus was all about wine, and while I will always worship wine and chocolate, I am going to say that beer and chocolate is much cooler to work with and much more interesting finding out why things work and why they may not have worked. I love vino, but I am always going to be a beer girl at heart.

Fine & Raw ~ Bonbon Bar

Oh yes! A bar of chocolate made with all natural ingredients and filled with a truffle center.  The Bonbon bar. Word to your moms!

This bar was given to me by my friend Emily Shartin, the chocolate buyer of Formaggio Kitchen. She wanted me to try a very flavorful bar of chocolate from a solid chocolate maker in Brooklyn, NY.

Fine & Raw is a chocolate company out of Brooklyn using natural ingredients and green methods of sustainability.

FINE & RAW is a fresh new company that believes the future is beautiful. To help bring this thought to life we strive to be green and sustainable where ever possible.

We'll be the first to admit we're not perfect. From the big issues, like fairtrade and carbon foot prints, down to using energy efficient light bulbs, we're learning to be greener all the time.

Our cacao is fairtrade and comes from a small cacao farmers co-op that practices sustainable farming. Cacao is a shade grown plant requiring a foliage canopy to grow. Our cacao farmers maintain the rainforests which provide natural symbiotic canopies for the plant. The farmers also grow an heirloom variety of cacao, which promotes bio-diversity of plant species within the rainforest ecosystem.

All our ingredients are organic, which means no unnecessary toxins, chemicals or pollutants are pumped into the environment. Our packaging is recycled and the inks we use are non-toxic and vegetable based.

We want the planet to be strong so it can grow more chocolate.

I have only had one previous experience with Fine & Raw. I reviewed their Mesquite bar. A strange bar that one was. Funky flavors mixed with chocolate. Bizarre yet fun. It's one of those bars that you have to try at least once and you might not enjoy it just as a bar. I found it kind of odd but then I started to think about melting it down and making variants of Mole sauces with it. It was only after thinking about what could be done with it that I fully began to appreciate it. 

I am not going to lie though. I was mostly excited for the Mesquite bar because of the wrapper. A vintage cowgirl with a lasso. It's pretty bad ass. 

Type: Filled bar.

Bean Varietal: Unknown, beans from Ecuador.

Ingredients: Raw cacao paste, cacao butter, blue agave, virgin coconut oil, cacao powder, himalayan sea salt.

Sample Size: 2oz or 54g

Description:

Dark raw chocolate bar with a thin line of bonbon truffle running down the inside center (2oz).

Appearance: Very damaged. This could come from a number of reasons, but it had a very oily and greasy feel to the bar. The oils in this bar began to separate from the cocoa. The foil wrapper was completely saturated with oils. It has a soft truffle center but the shell of the filled bar was very soft. This gave way to a poor snap character. I doubt there would have been a viable snap character anyway with the soft truffle center. But there would have been a small sound with a crisp chocolate shell. I don't know if this bar is always supposed to be this soft or if some how there was an issue along the way with heat exposure or any other reasons. 

I have had a similar experience with a set of truffles that came to me from Patric. They were Elbow truffles made with Patric chocolate. They tasted so fantastic, but they got damaged along the way some how. They had a matted appearance and a bit of a sunken in effect from super soft truffle centers. It's a hard call when things like this happen. They might look messed up, but still they tasted like heaven. This bar was no exception.

Because of this I am not reviewing this chocolate like a standard bar. I am going to talk about the taste, texture, and aroma. I will give it one overall score.

Aroma: Huge coconuts, almonds, and rich roasted cocoa. Once again, a bar of chocolate that smells like a deeply rich Almond Joy. Obviously the coconut oils impact the aroma. I was hoping that the coconut was a natural aroma based on other chocolates I have reviewed with a robust coconut and almond aroma. But none the less, this aroma is unbelievably good. The bar was so fragrant that my entire living room smelled like rich coconut and almonds.

Taste: Coconuts, lovely hits of sea salt, rich roasted cocoa, nice bitter notes blended with sweet cocoa notes, and slight bit of astringency on the first taste.

Balanced flavors with the sea salt, richly roasted cocoa, and coconut make for a fantastic tasting bar. It's delicious and robust. It has a good balance of sweet salty, and bitter cocoa.

Texture: Soft chocolate shell, a bit oily on the surface, smooth soft center, creamy, melts fast.

The taste, creamy texture, and aroma completely save the day for this bar. I just wanted to eat more and more of it. The sea salt gave this bar a perfect balance. Rich cocoa notes big coconut taste and aroma, bittersweet and sweet cocoa tastes where rounded out by the contrasting sea salt taste. Excellent flavors and tastes.

It may not be totally fair to not score this bar based on appearance and snap, but this is an unusual bar of chocolate as it's filled with a truffle center. I am not sure where the issue happened with it's appearance, but it deserves a solid letter grade based on how good it smells and tastes. It's quite a fantastic bar of chocolate overall.

score
A