20°N & 20°S

Mast Brothers ~ Dark Chocolate + Cocoa Nibs (Revisited)

 

This is an evolution of taste and review skills. The whole point of this blog is to watch me grow into tasting chocolate. Learning and understand chocolate better.

This is my first go at Mast Brothers. Dark Chocolate + Cocoa Nibs

I have to be honest, looking back I feel like the score I initially gave it was a little too high. That appearance is very streaky and I scored too high. And to be honest I was too generous with the taste score. It wasn't bad chocolate by any means. It still deserves a good score. Maybe in the B-range not the A-range. I still feel like the Mast Brothers have a long way to go with Madagascar beans. They excel with South American and primarily Venezuelan beans. However, I predict they will have one of the top Madagascar profiles in the U.S. And after tasting this bar again they have already improved greatly. They just need to keep working at it and keep tweaking it. Tone down it's rough sharp acidic edges and allow some softness to come through. Soften the sharpness so it's not a distraction to the amazing flavors Madagascar beans produce.

 

 

Dark Chocolate + Cocoa Nibs

 

Type: Filled Bittersweet, 72%

Bean Varietal: Unknown

Ingredients: Cocoa, organic cane sugar, cocoa nibs.

Sample Size: 2.5oz or 71g

 

Appearance: Smooth simple molding, a few nicks on the molded surface side, gorgeous smooth surface on the flip side peppered with wonderful contrasting cocoa nibs. The nibs make it pop. Darker chocolate color as well. Deeper shade of brown.

Score: 92

Snap: Crisp but thin snap. Clean break lines.

Score: 90

Aroma: First thing it smelled like coffee, char, and roasted peanuts, roasted cocoa and a tart aroma.

Score: 93

Taste: Acidic, tart, tangy, fruity, cherries, char, pepper, peanuts, cedar wood finish with lingering coffee notes and very slight medicinal notes on the aftertaste.

Score: 94

Texture: Slightly waxy right up front then opens up smooth, crunchy, not gritty.

Score: 90

 

I think this review more accurately depicts this bar of chocolate. This tastes better to me now but the technical marks more accurately reflect this bar in my honest opinion. I have been learning how to taste better the more chocolate I have and the more I review. That is the point of my blog. Learing and growing with chocolate.

It's becoming more balanced with the Madagascar cocoa. It's still a big tart and astringent, but it's a lot more mellow than it used to be. There is more balance with the flavor of the nibs and the conched chocolate. I got a few hints on cherries from the nibs as well this time. More nutty flavors as well and less dominating wood flavors.

I love how they balanced the texture. The crunchy cocoa nibs are just that crunchy and a bit soft but not gritty. The initial texture however, was a bit waxy this time. But it opened up creamy and had a fast melt time. This is chocolate you are allowed to chew up and not just let rest on your tongue.

Much better bar and I think much more accurate scoring. As accurate as you can get for a highly subjective tasting blog anyway.

 

Final Score: 91.8

   score
  B+

 

Chocolat Bonnat ~ Trinité 75%

 

 

 

Long standing traditional French chocolatier continuing today with single-origin bars. Beans hand selected and sourced from plantations around the world by Stéphan Bonnat. They are selected and then shipped to Voiron where they are roasted and made into chocolate bars.

 

Via their website:

Bonnat is story of a family’s long love affair with chocolate. It is a story which began back in 1884 when Félix Bonnat established his premises at number 8, cours Sénozan in Voiron (Isère region).

All Bonnat’s customers in France and those making their way home for Christmas by boat from the French colonies looked forward to tasting the Voiron “Pavés” (Praline Chunks) and other Bonnat specialities.

As time went by Félix Bonnat’s two sons, Armand and Gaston, began to help him more and more with the production and running of the family business.

And in 1956 Raymond Bonnat finally took over the firm. After studying business, he toured France, studied at the School of Chocolatiers in Basel, completed the COBA School and finally did a tour of Switzerland. He got married in 1959 and his wife Nicole, the daughter of well-known hoteliers in the region, helped him to run the business. Two of their four children, Cécile and Stéphane from the fourth generation, perpetuate the high quality tradition which has always formed the basis of the family business.

Our shop in Voiron is a place of pilgrimage for unconditional Bonnat lovers where they are greeted by Nicole Bonnat and her daughter Cécile.

Given that many tourists pass through Voiron on their way to the mountains, many of our foreign customers often stop off en route to see us. Our products are sold in Paris and in sixty other departments of France thanks to our network of sales representatives. Bonnat was dispatching its products out to the French colonies as early as 1919 – Africa, Indo-china, Asia. Because our business has always taken us to far away countries, having an affinity with and understanding the diverse mentalities of different continents is something which comes naturally. And of course our travels have also given us a real taste for the high seas.

In France, as abroad, our priority is to preserve the chocolate- making traditions which have made the Bonnat name so famous. We believe that, :

"What is good to the taste
is great for the soul"

 

 

 

This bar is part of the Grand Cru single-origin collection from Bonnat. Trinité also known as Trinity or Trinidad in the Caribbean. This is the origin in which these cacao beans come from for this bar.

 

 

Trinté 75%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 75%

Bean Varietal: Trinitario.

Ingredients: Cocoa, cocoa butter, sugar.

Sample Size: 100g or 3.5g

Lot: A

 

 

Appearance: Smooth, simple molding with smaller squares, monogrammed, and ashy in patches all over the bar.

Score: 83

Snap: Great firm snap, nice crack when it snapped and clean break lines.

Score: 94

Aroma: Beautiful rustic aroma. Earthy, musty and dirty, tree bark, a little nutty, deep roasted cocoa, sweet, spicy, and a little hint of cinnamon.

Score: 95

Taste: Deep cocoa, bitter, earthy and musty, opens up with a little bit of sweetness, woody, mild medicinal hints,

Score: 93

Texture: Very smooth and silky, smoothest texture I have tasted in a while, but not overly soft, medium melt time.

Score: 95

 

This is rustic, earthy, down and dirty chocolate. I loved it. Tasted like tree bark and wood. It smelled nutty and had a musty kind of aroma and taste to it. That may not sound too desirable but believe me this is nice earthy chocolate. It's aroma matched it's taste nearly point for point aside from the small hints of cinnamon I detected on the aroma. It was no where to be found on the taste.

The texture was unbelievable. So silky and smooth. I don't think I have tasted a bar of chocolate with this kind of silky quality to it before. And it wasn't overly soft either. It didn't melt away too fast. You can sit back and enjoy it for a minute.

Nothing but praise for this bar. Just some minor surface issues, but otherwise a very good bar of chocolate. I am actually looking forward to melting this down for hot chocolate as well. Lately I have been into making my own at home with left over sample bits of chocolate and even blending samples together. I can imagine this rustic, woody-tasting chocolate with a kick of cayenne and cinnamon.

 

Final Score: 92

   score
  B+

 

Chocolove ~ Extra Strong Dark 77%

 

 

 

Chocolove from Boulder, Colorado. Ecclectic packaging that looks like a mailed letter with a love letter enclosed inside the wrapper. Inside was a poem from Shakespeare.

 

from Venus and Adonis

Venus: '[Darling],' she saith, 'since I have hemm'd thee here
           Within the circuit of this ivory pale,
           I'll be a park, and thou shalt be my deer;
           Feed where thou wilt, on mountain or in dale:
           Graze on my lips, and if those hills be dry.
           Stray lower, where the pleasant fountains lie.

          'Within this limit is relief enough,
          Sweet bottom-grass and high delightful plain,
          Round rising hillocks, brakes obscure and rough,
          To shelter thee from tempest and rain:
          Then be my deer, since I am such a park;
          No dog shall rouse thee, though a thousand bark.'

 

If only the chocolate were good enough for the cute packaging and romantic poems. Sadly it's not.

 

Via Chocolove's website, the about page and history of Timothy Moley:

History of Chocolove

Tucked away in Boulder, Colorado sits an unassuming building where a little magic takes place... Every day, decadent chocolate bars are carefully crafted using the timeless combination of chocolate and love.

Chocolove chocolate bars are available in ten distinct flavors that range from a sweet, creamy Milk Chocolate with a 33% cocoa content, up to an Extra Strong Dark with an impressively strong yet smooth 77% cocoa content. Tied to chocolate's natural counterpart, love, each bar resembles a love letter, complete with a romantic poem.

For the past ten years, Chocolove has been quietly developing a loyal consumer following in natural and organic food stores around the country, including Whole Foods and Wild Oats. In 2005, Chocolove began its expansion into gourmet and conventional grocers, such as King Soopers, Gelson’s, HEB and Bristol Farms, making this delightful treat more readily available to its ever-growing fan base.

Chocolove started as the classic entrepreneur story – a dream, a garage, extended credit card debt and loans from friends and family. With its visionary chocolatier, and a solid concept, Chocolove became, and continues to be, a pioneer in the chocolate industry.

Timothy Moley is the founder, owner and chocolatier at Chocolove. A tall and slightly eccentric man, he reminds you a little of Willy Wonka. His laid-back attitude, wry grin, and lanky physique would never lead you to believe he is a man who lives and breathes chocolate, and has been consuming two chocolate bars, every day, for the past ten years. Seriously.

It all began in a cocoa field in Indonesia… Timothy was chewing on some cocoa beans doing volunteer work for USAID, a government program that promotes agricultural and technical education in developing countries. He had been living abroad on and off for two years, visiting over 28 countries, developing his palate with spices, teas and wines. And, like most of us, he had always dreamed of being his own boss, dedicated to something he loved. The idea of a career in chocolate inspired him and an idea began to form -  to create a premium chocolate bar, paired with the romance of love.

When he returned to the States, he began his chocolate education and quickly discovered a few key facts about the U.S. chocolate market: the average consumer could tell the difference between cheap chocolate and premium chocolate and they preferred premium chocolate; the available premium chocolate bar choices were limited, expensive and intimidating; no U.S. company was indicating the cocoa content on their wrappers; and flavors were boring.

Chocolove was born. The idea was simple - a selection of distinctly flavored chocolate bars made with all-natural ingredients and the classic techniques of Europe's finest chocolatiers. The package design would resemble a love letter sent from a distant land, and inside each wrapper - a classic romantic poem. The cocoa content would be clearly indicated on the front of each wrapper, the tasting notes would be simple and approachable, and the price, affordable.

Initially, bars were manufactured at a U.S. co-packer, but in late 2003, Timothy completed building his custom-designed chocolate factory in Boulder, CO, and by mid-2004, the factory was in full swing, running as smooth as melted cocoa butter. Today, Chocolove bars are made in small batches and shipped around the country, delivering a little bit of “chocolate–love” to discerning chocolate lovers everywhere.

 

Coverture chocolate bars made with Belgian chocolate, though Belgian source not listed. Cocoa beans from Africa and South America, 77% is the strongest bar in the Chocolove collection. Boasting extra cocoa butter and "Made especially for the dedicated chocolate enthusiast."

 

Click to enlarge images.

 

Extra Strong 77%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 77%

Bean Varietal: Blend

Ingredients: Cocoa liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin.

Sample Size: 3.2oz or 90g

Lot #: 030209

 

Appearance: Ashy! Ashy! Ashy! Looked dried up from sugar bloom. Different molding but still simple with small hearts in the center of each square. 

Score: 79

Snap: Good, very firm snap. Clean break lines.

Score: 94

Aroma: Delicate, soft roasted cocoa, wood, and almonds.

Score: 91

Taste: Boring! For such a robust cocoa percentage this has virtually no flavor at all. It took so long for any of it's flavors to present itself. Wax is the first thing noticed. Not just texture but taste. When it finally does open up there are hints of almonds and woody cocoa flavors, fairly sweet for a 77%. There are berries detected but they are so subdued it's almost not worth mentioning.

Score: 73

Texture: Very hard, waxy, extremely long melt time.

Score: 70

 

Once again I am pushing it with this review. It's Jan. and this bar has a March exp. Still, I am willfully admitting to pushing it with this bar. However, the appearance shouldn't look this ashy and dried up. The review before this bar of the Pralus Ghana 75%, is very similar to this review as far as pushing it with reviews. The Pralus bar held up and didn't appear to be THIS ashy. And the Pralus bar still had flavor to it.This is the difference between a skilled chocolatier and dabbler. Forgive me for being insulting here to Timothy Moley.

Another reviewer of the Pralus bar wrote and complained that there was too much cocoa butter and it diminished the integrity of the chocolate bar. I didn't find that was the case. I found for the Pralus bar, it toned down the boldness but didn't cut any of the flavor out. In this bar, all the flavor is virtually gone. No flavor and nothing but a hard waxy texture. No aroma either. Whatever aroma it had was very slight. However, there were the hallmarks of African beans with the distinctive almond aroma. It should have been much richer though.

It's not horrendous chocolate, but it's not good either. It probably should have a lower grade but it had great snap and the aroma wasn't bad. Those key factors are holding up it's score otherwise this should be graded at a D level. And they claim on their packaging that this is for the "dedicated chocolate enthusiast." I don't think so. Having said all that, I am not completely done with this company nor am I writing them off just yet. I will need to try fresher samples before I can fully make an informed enough decision about Chocolove. Not a good first impression though.

 

Final Score: 81.4

   score
     C

Pralus ~ Ghana 75%

 

 

 

French chocolate. Even better French single-origin chocolate. Pralus (Prah-loo not Pray-lus. Which I was corrected by Alan McClure of Patric Chocolate, who laughed at me about several mispronunciations of French chocolate makers or French names.)

François Pralus, second generation pâtissier, and Maitre Chocolatier. His father, Auguste Pralus, opened his own pâtisserie and became famed for his invention of the Praluline in 1955. A French classic for over 50 years. Francois apprenticed for his father in 1975 and from there began extensive training in chocolate making. In 1988 he took over the pâtisserie in Roanne. From there, he began production on chocolate bars sourcing his own beans from various exclusive and rare plantations around the world using classic French techniques.

The French dream. Passed down traditions of baking evolving into chocolate making at it's finest.

 

 

Image via Larry Krakauer.

 

 

Click images to enlarge.

 

Pralus ~ Ghana 75%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 75%

Bean Varietal: Forastero

Ingredients: Cocoa, sugar, pure cocoa butter, GMO-Free Soya Lecithin.

Sample Size: 3.53oz or 100g

 

Appearance: Simple square molding with a corner dedicated to a signature monogram in the molding. A little nicked up and slightly ashy. Deep dark chocolate color.

Score: 89

Snap: Good firm snap with deep snap sound. Clean break lines.

Score: 93

Aroma: Very subdued and soft. Almonds, a little medicinal right out of the package but that quickly dissapted, chalky, wood, soft roasted cocoa.

Score: 92

Taste: Deep bitter cocoa, takes a moment before the sweetness opens up. Mildly spicy, woody, sweet almonds, berries, no acidity or astringency, and finishes with a rich roasted cocoa and toasted almond flavor. 

Score: 96

Texture: Hard, slow melt time, slightly waxy, but then opens up to a creamy finish.

Score: 91

 

I bought this in the fall so I have to be honest with this review that I am pushing it a bit. This bar held up very well though. Slightly ashy on it's appearance and a bit nicked up, but over all in great shape. This is the power of good chocolate making skills and good tempering. Chocolate can last for a while.

One thing I wasn't sold on was the package saying "Relentlessly aromatic, cocoa, spicy." I didn't find it to be huge on the aroma. Maybe fresh from the source it is. But this was quite the opposite. It was very soft and subdued but did manage big almond aromas and soft woods. Definitely spicy on the flavor though.

The flavor is very complicated and deep. The texture is the reason it takes it's sweet time to present all of it's nuances. The texture is a little bit of every thing. Hard and waxy and then opens up in a creamy finish. The flavors are so deep. Berries, and wood flavors, sweet almonds and then finished with toasted almonds. Very nice taste. Back to an old expression I have used before when I have labeled certain chocolate "thinking chocolate."You have to take your time and sit back with this one and really let it open up and present itself.

I have seen reviews that argue it may have been too much cocoa butter in this bar. That might be the case with this bar, but I liked it. I liked that it isn't an "in your face" bar of chocolate. The only big issues I had with this chocolate were superficial appearance issues, a weak aroma, and a hard texture in the beginning. The flavor was still desirable even if it's not as robust as some expect or want it to be.

And one last thing to note, I like the distinction in the soy lecithin used for this bar. GMO-Free. Genetically modified free soy. I have never had a problem with the use of soy lecithin as an emulsifier. Gawk all you want you self-important purists! But one of the controversies stemmed from whether it was genetically modified or not. Most chocolate makers are opting not to use it. But if they do it's important to know the details of all ingredients listed.

 

Final Score: 92.2

   score
  B+

Mast Brothers + Stumptown Coffee

 

 

Once again my partners in craft. American Craft Chocolate makers The Mast Brothers. This time they have paired up with Stumptown Coffee. Stumptown is out of Portland, Oregon with branches out in Seattle and now in New York. They make some of the best coffee in the nation. You might see Wil Wheaton tweet about this place a time or two. Sixpoint Craft Ales, another New York connection and fellow partner in the craft world, also uses Stumptown in some of their beer offerings. Locals supporting locals.

 

Madagascar base peppered with coffee beans on top. The beans are direct trade from Africa, part of the Kayanza Province in Burundi. The coffee beans are then roasted in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Madagascar beans are organically farmed in Madagascar and then roasted, cracked, winnowed and stone-ground, and aged in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

 

 

 

Mast Brothers Dark Chocolate + Stumptown Coffee

Type: Bittersweet, 72%

Bean Varietal: Unknown but probably Trinitario.

Ingredients: Cacao 72%, organic cane sugar, coffee beans.

Sample Size: 2.5oz or 70g

 

 

Appearance: Amazing contrast between the brown on brown colors of the chocolate and coffee beans. The chocolate was a lighter brown and a bit ashy. But the coffee beans were bright and popped against the background of the bar. The actual molded surface was ashy as well but smooth.

Score: 91

Snap: Decent and firm snap. Clean, but asymmetrical break lines.

Score: 92

Aroma: All coffee. Not freshly brewed coffee, but rich cracked beans. A bit like used coffee grinds. The roasted cocoa enhances the coffee aroma.

Score: 91

Taste: Coffee right up front, but then the tangy sharpness of the madagascar cocoa takes over. Sharp at first and a little bit acidic. But then it's followed by rich fruitiness and roasted wood flavors on the cocoa. Classic Madagascar flavors. It finishes with the crunchy coffee bits leaving a coffee and fruity taste. Very well balanced on the finish. The coffee is also not bitter and not acidic. Just lovely and roasted.

Score: 95

Texture: Creamy and crunchy. It's obviously supposed to be crunchy but the chocolate texture was smooth and creamy and the coffee beans were excellent and crunchy but not gritty.

Score: 91

 

The appearance score should have been a bit lower, but that gorgeous contrast of lighter chocolate and coffee beans saved the day. It was ashy. It's tough when reviewing the Mast Brothers. They shine when their bars are super fresh. With in a couple of weeks. After that they are very sensitive products. It only really effects the appearance in small ways. Maybe some ashy surfaces and maybe some streaking.

The taste on this bar is fantastic. The big bold complexities of Madagascar cocoa is exactly what was needed to balance and play off of the coffee beans. The cocoa added a big spike of acidity and bitterness, but quickly smoothed out with fruits, and roasted wood flavors. This toned down what might have been a double whammy of bitterness from the coffee beans and allowed a lovely rich roasted flavor off the beans. Very well balanced on the finish but the opening was huge for various flavors.

And the texture was great too. Crunchy and creamy at the same time. Not gritty.

I loved this. It's gorgeous to look at and tastes awesome. There is a lot going on with the flavor of this bar. I think this is one of their best flavored bars yet. That's a pretty big statement. If you have ever tried their Salt and Pepper bar then you will know that that bar was tough to beat.

Be advised though, to expect a big caffeine kick. Chocolate naturally contains it and more than most people are aware of. And of course the coffee beans. You will be jacked so I advise eating it little bits at a time. Unless you are at work and really need to woken up, then you can eat this whole thing.

 

Final Score: 92.4

   score
  B+

Chocolat Moderne ~ Red Fruits

 

 

I won! I won! I won! I won this bar of chocolate through twitter. I just started my new Chocolate Advocate twitter page and these fine folks, Chocolat Moderne began following me. They run a weekly contest about art. Guess the answer correctly from a series of tweets they send out as clues and you just might win. Granted when I won, it took me about 20 guesses. I am a total dunce about anything related to art. But needless to say their patience made it fun to guess and the very next day they sent me this fun bar of chocolate.

Chocolat Moderne is located in New York with Joan Coukos at the helm. Her biography:

Joan Coukos, Chocolatier & CEO of CHOCOLAT MODERNE, is a Native New Yorker. She graduated magna cum laude from Duke University with a degree in French and Russian, and received an MBA from UNC Chapel Hill before entering the New York banking scene. Her extensive career included six years in Moscow during the rough and tumble days of Russia’s transition to a market economy, after which she returned to New York and Wall Street in 1999.

Open to new inspiration and challenge, in December 2000, on a trip to Brussels, she fell under the spell of old world, hand made chocolates and began creating recipes back in her tiny Manhattan kitchen. Her co-workers became the first enthusiastic guinea pigs, and upon receiving repeated accolades, she began taking formal steps to becoming a chocolatier.

Since that memorable day on the Place du Grand Sablon, she has studied chocolate and confectionery arts with a coterie of world-class French, Belgian, American and Swiss chocolatiers in NY and at The World Pastry Forum in Las Vegas. She is also a member of the New York Women’s Culinary Alliance. Now, after five years of honing her craft, Joan is creating sumptuous assortments of luxury gift boxed chocolates in her own chocolate laboratory on West 20th Street.

 

Chocolat Moderne has a lot going on with the products they sell. From Salt Caramels, to truffles, and hot chocolates. But more importantly they have Bistro Bars. Bars with fillings such as Banane Flambe which is caramel with bananas and cognac.

They are a courverture shop using Valrhona blends as their base for their chocolate creations.

 

 

So what exactly have I won? It's called Red Fruits. It's one of their chocolate and toffee bars. Butter toffee infused with cherry, raspberry, and strawberry and crumbled into dark chocolate, 65%. I am totally ready for this.

Ingredients: Dark chocolate (cocoa beans, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, natural vanilla), butter, cane sugar, salt, cherry, raspberry, strawberry.

 

Click images to enlarge.

 

One thing to note about this bar, it was sweating a little bit when I opened it. My apartment is a very dry place so it was interesting to see the bar sweating. Because of this, it had a messy appearance. However, it smelled wonderful. Like flowers, fruits, and butter. That's a winning combination for sure.

Very soft bar. No snap sound whatsoever. A little acidic and sharp at first taste, a combination of the chocolate and the fruits. Nice consistency throughout the bar of soft flavorful chocolate and crispy yet chewy toffee bits. Extremely tasty and not dominated by the fruit like the title suggests.

Really nice bar. Fun, flavorful, and a mixture of textures. Very enjoyable.

I will look forward to trying their Bistro Bars and their Hot Chocolate collection soon. Their hot chocolates are called Cocoa Casbah and they have some really interesting flavors. I hope they expand on it and make more combinations.

William Curley ~ Caramelized Piedmont Hazelnuts

 

 

I have been sitting on these pictures for a while and forgot to post them until William Curley announced new packaging for this product. They came with a sweet package he sent to me from London after reading a not-so-great review of one of his bars. William Curley is a very talented and amazing chocolatier. I believe the review was a fluke. I stand by it of course, but his kindness was to send a care package overseas to me and these were in it. I only wish I was able to get back to London sooner rather than later to try his pastries. Follow him on Facebook to see what I mean.

 

Caramelized Piedmont Hazelnuts

These were just a lovely and fantastic treat. Whole Piedmont hazelnuts dipped in and then dusted with Amedei (Italy) Toscano 70% cocoa. Crunchy, sweet, but not too sweet. A lovely treat. A nice chocolate treat when you want a break away from chocolate. The crunchy hazelnuts are the main dominate flavor.

Not to be too English about it, but since it is a lovely British product, these are the perfect little bites to be served with tea. A nice rich, full flavored black tea.

Once again, I am forever grateful Mr. Curley, for such a wonderful package you sent. Even if this is a late post.

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.

 

Amano Chuao Update

 

 

After posting the review for Amano's Chuao bar, Art Pollard himself emailed me to send me some cool pictures in Venezuela. Mr. Pollard is known to do chocolate bar release parties with the farmers from where beans are cultivated. I admire this and wish I could be there one time for one of those release parties.

 

"In November, I went back to Chuao and threw a mini party for the farmers. I presented each of the farmers with a chocolate bar made from their beans. They were so incredibly happy. It was really an amazing and humbling experience -- as it always is when I have the opportunity to take chocolate back to the farmers. I spent a week in Chuao and ate an amazing number of Arepas. ;-)"

Art Pollard

All pictures are via Art Pollard.

 

 

 

 

Vosges Caramel Toffee Chocolate Chunk Brownies

 

 

Yep, you read that title right. Caramel Toffee Chocolate Chunk Brownies. Word is bomb! I picked these up while visiting Chicago over Christmas. They have a very cute boutique shop inside the loop in downtown Chicago.

Now, I have made gripes about Vosges before when it comes to their prices. They are very expensive for artisan chocolate and truffles. This brownie mix from them wasn't any exception at $18 a box. However, this is an exception to the rule where I say damn the costs. These brownies were so damn good! I will be ordering Three more boxes of it. Two for friends and one more for me.

I liked that even though this is a premixed brownie set up, it's more involved than just whisking in an egg or two. You have to get into this recipe a little bit. Makes you feel like you are still a baker and not a Duncan Hines cheater.

 

Recipe:

Yields 16 Brownies

1. 8" square baking pan
2. Aluminum foil
3. Brownie Mix (enclosed)
4. Brownie Mix bag 2 (Chocolate chips enclosed)
5. Toffee bag (enclosed)- Be sure to keep this bag away from the head of your oven.
6. Sugar bad (enclosed)
7. 3 large eggs
8. 1 1/2 sticks (6oz) unsalted butter, plus 1tbsp to grease the pan
9. 2tsp pure vanilla extract (I like Neilsen Massey

 

 

 

Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and place an oven rack in the lowest position. Line an 8" square baking pan with two pieces of foil, crisscrossed to enable you to lift the brownies out with ease after they have baked. Butter the pan and set aside until needed.

 

 

In a wide bottomed saute pan over low heat, melt 1 1/2 sticks butter. Add the contents of the sugar bag and cook over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, for about 5 minutes. Pour the mixture into a large mixing bowl, set aside and cool for 10 minutes. The mixture should be cool or slightly warm to the touch before adding the eggs.

 

 

Add the 3 eggs one at a time, stirring well with each addition to combine thoroughly. Add 2 tsp vanilla and the contents of both brownie mix bags (flour mixture and the chocolate chips), stirring until just combined. Do not over-mix. Pour the batter into the preparred pan and place in the center of the lowest oven rack.

** That last picture is all about licking the spoon! It should be written into every recipe that once you get the mix in the baking dish, rock the shit of the remaining batter in your mixing bowl and on your spoon.

 

Bake for 20 minutes then remove from the oven and sprinkle the broken toffee pieces on top. The mixture will be quite wet still at this phase. Bake for an additional 25 minutes. You will see the caramel toffee pieces liquefy and coat the top of the brownies. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the center of the brownies. The toothpick should come out somewhat dry (but not wet) with a few gooey crumbs attached. Place pan on a rack to cool. Hold off on cutting into these decadent brownies until they are almost cooled, about 40 minutes. This will ensure that all the moisture stays in the brownie. Store up to 2 days in a tightly sealed container.

 

Click to enlarge pictures.

 

 

These brownies were incredible. Super gooey and rich without being underdone. Warm and fabulous. Even the next day when they cooled completely, the toffee bits solidified again and gave a lovely buttery crunch. Also, the chocolate chips which are 62% dark chocolate, solidified as well giving it a nice crunchy texture as well. When they are warm, it's like swimming in chocolate caramel. When they are cool it's like swimming in chocolate with a much better texture balance.

These were better than sex!! Yeah, I said it.