20°N & 20°S

Vosges ~ Creole Bar 72%

 

 

An homage to New Orleans with chicory root spiced coffee in dark chocolate from Vosges' exotic bar collection. 

Via Wikipedia:

The cultivated chicory plant has a history reaching back to ancient Egyptian time. Medieval monks raised the plants and when coffee was introduced to Europe, the Dutch thought that chicory made a lively addition to the bean drink.

In the United States chicory root has long been used as a substitute for coffee in prisons.^[38] By the 1840s, after New York, the port of New Orleans was the second largest importer of coffee.^[37] Louisianans began to add chicory root to their coffee when Union naval blockades during the American Civil War cut off the port of New Orleans creating a long-standing tradition.^[37]

 

Inspire The People Around You.

 

Creole Bar

Type: Flavored/Filled bittersweet, 72%

Bean Varietal: Unknown, probably Forestaro

Ingredients: Dark chocolate [cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla], chicory coffee, cocoa nibs. 

Sample Size: 14g or .5oz

 

Appearance: Deep, dark brown color, inspirational quote monogram, scratched up surface, and no shine. 

Score: 76

Snap: Good crisp snap. Small thin sample, but still produced a nice audible snap. 

Score: 90

Aroma: Char, coffee grinds, hints of licorice, trees, wood, earthy, spicy, rustic.

Score: 93

Taste: Deep dark chocolate, sweet, tart, acidic, coffee grinds, 

Score: 92

Texture: Smooth chocolate, quick melt-time, gritty yet crispy bits, very small bits of nibs. 

Score: 91

 

Another disappointing appearance for Vosges. What's up with the heavy scratches on the bar? There was no damage to the box so I can't figure out how it would get so scratched up. And another matted surface with no shine. Strange matted appearance on the back of the bar with a weird dotted pattern. I am not talking about from the nibs in the bar either. 

 

 

Wonderful earthy and rich aroma of spices, coffee, char, and wood. The taste was a little acidic and tart, but also sugary and sweet with coffee flavors. It's hard to explain. It's very coffee-ish and strong, but not beating you over the head with coffee flavor. The nibs added a nice earthy bitterness as well. 

But once again, the skimpy fillings and flavorings are becoming a bad hallmark of Vosges. "Here is a flavorful bar of chocolate and doesn't these ingredients just sound really good and special? We're going to tell you about it and show you glorious packaging of all the spices and flavors but only add scraps to the bar." The nibs in this bar are pathetic. They add enough flavor, but it could have been a much more dynamic and rich bar with actual nibs in the bar and not some shavings. 

It almost has a Taza Chocolate-like grittiness on it because the nibs are so scant and small. It's evenly spread out though and makes for a more coffee grind-like texture. Which means only slightly larger granules than Taza's texture. The texture is more crispy instead of of crunchy and full. The chocolate is smooth and nice with a good melt-time. 

This is a nicely flavored bar. Good coffee flavors but not over the top and no coffee jitters to add to the cacao caffeine. Good rich Sao Tome chocolate base and chicory flavors that are nice and mellow although a little tart and gives way to that acidic jab in the neck glands. The nibs do provide a nice earthy and rustic flavor, but would have been a lot better had they been fuller pieces. 

Final Score: 88.4

 

  score
 B

 

Vosges ~ Woolloomooloo Bar 45%

 

As part of the exotic bars collection from Vosges, the Woolloomooloo bar is an Australian inspiration. If the name didn't give it away that is. Or the macadamia nuts. 

The inspiration:

Macadamia nuts, native to Australia, were originally harvested by the Aboriginal people who occupied the eastern slopes of the Great Dividing Range. This chocolate bar is named after the famed suburb Woolloomooloo in Sydney and meant to honor the Aboriginal claim to the scrumptious macadamia nut.

I have been to Australia before and I do recall Woolloomooloo. I never went there specifically but I was close. It was one of those names that is so distinctly Australian.

One of the best things about Australia are the macadamia nuts. Something everyone must try when visiting are the Weis Ice Cream bars. Half and half mango and macadamia nut ice cream bars. It's to die for and you can find it in any corner store or convenient store in Sydney. Or just buy a large tub of it. But this post is about chocolate. I must stir myself back or I will get lost in my own thoughts about Sydney and Australia. My favorite place in the world.....

 

Don't Judge A Book By It's Cover.... Unless it's a Vosges Bar.

 

 

 

 

Woolloomooloo Bar

Type: Flavored/filled Milk chocolate, 45%

Bean Varietal: Unknown

Ingredients: Milk chocolate [sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, dry whole milk powder, soy lecithin, vanilla], roasted macadamia nuts, hemp seeds, coconut, salt. Chocolate ratio: 36% cocoa solids, 15% milk solids. 

Sample Size: 14g or .5oz

 

Appearance: Darker milk chocolate color, appearance of seeds and chopped nuts on the surface, monogrammed molding with inspirational message, Matted surface, no shine.

Score: 64

Snap: Very low and dull thud snapping sound. Very soft snap. 

Score: 73

Aroma: Big milky and creamy caramel-like aroma. Soft roasted cacao and a strange vegetal aroma almost like alfafa sprouts or mold. Very earthy.  

Score: 94

Taste: Slight earthy hemp taste up front but is quickly over taken by the sweet sugars and salt from the macadamia nuts, slightly nutty, milky, 

Score: 94

Texture: Creamy smooth chocolate, very quick melt-time. Slightly crunchy seeds, particle size nut pieces and chewy but scarce bits of coconut. 

Score: 93

 

It's funny that the message is "Don't judge a book by it's cover." Did they need to have that there to cover up for the fact that none of their bars ever have a desirable appearance? I have yet to have one bar from Vosges that has a nice surface or appearance. 

I had a hard time deciding on the aroma. I liked it but it's strange. I liked the creamy and milky aroma. Lovely soft roasted cacao, and then a strange green and vegetal aroma that smelled like mold or alfalfa sprouts. Very earthy, but it seems out of place with the sweeter and creamier milk chocolate. 

It tastes good but the palate is overwhelmed with milkiness, cocoa, and salt. The nuts barely leave a tangible nutty flavor, the coconut is skimpy and the hemp seeds seem irrelevant for the most part. They left a richness to the aroma but the taste was overwhelmed. This is due to Vosges going skimpy on the ingredients. Everything sounds good on paper, but when it comes to executing it, they skimp so badly. And it makes me mad because their prices and fancy packaging lead you to think that they are something more than they are. 

The coconut is so scarce that it leaves no impact on the flavor unless you happen to be lucky enough to get a piece of coconut to chew on. The hemp seeds leave a slight marijuana taste, with some earthiness and green taste up front but it's not enough to hang on or greatly impact the flavor. There is virtually no nuttiness to speak of except for some slight hints and the salt. There are some lingering seed tastes at the end, but that's only if you get pieces big enough to taste. The micro particles of macadamia nuts leave little or no flavor, but plenty of salt. Can we be sure there are even macadamia nuts in this bar and not just large kosher salt bits? 

The sweet and salty balance is fantastic. And for a milk chocolate it's great. But pretty underwhelming for the bar it claims to be. How is this an homage to Australia? Where are the macadamia nut chunks? Pretty weak and pretty pathetic if you ask me. And if I were Aboriginal, I would feel cheated. 

This is exactly the same problem I had with Vosges and their bacon and chocolate bars. Flavor wise the bacon taste is there, but the pieces in the bars are so pathetic. And these bars are not cheap. I want more. I want more macadamia nut pieces. I want more bacon. 

This was a good tasting milk chocolate bar. It's due primarily to the salt content of this bar. But overall I am not impressed with this. It should have been prettier than this, it should have been richer in flavor from the added ingredients. 

Final Score 83.6

   score
 C+

The Chocolate Line ~ Bruges

 

 

Left virtually abandoned by my chocolate twitter pals on where the good chocolate is to be found in Belgium, I was forced to fend for myself in a barrage of terrible tourist chocolate. Bruges, the historic and beautifully preserved Belgian town, is not unlike Brussels when it comes to the onslaught of crappy tourist chocolate. Someone really needs to publish a guide book on how to navigate the throngs of chocolate shops. 

Having said that, there are some saving graces. In Bruges, the saving grace is a popular and crowded little shop called The Chocolate Line. It was as though people had come from far and wide just to visit this shop. I found it online when I had a rare internet connection. Good thing I found them too. There is a lot of bad chocolate around Bruges. And it all claims to be the "Finest Belgian Chocolate."

The Chocolate Line was founded by Fabienne De Staerke and Dominique Persoone in 1992. Dominique dubs himself a "Shock-o-Latier," to push the boundaries in flavors. 

The people who worked there were very nice despite the crowded shop. The pushy and rude patrons did not discourage me from getting a taste of something worth while. Although, I wished I had more time to linger and search the store. I really wanted to buy the Tequila. The gentleman behind the counter with glasses, forgive me, I can't remember his name, patiently gathered up truffles for me and even recommended a few to try like the Bacon truffle and the Sun-Dried Tomato truffle. He even slipped me a Snobifram, raspberry cream chocolate cup to try while purchasing my goods. Very generous and thoughtful. That raspberry cup was fantastic too.

 

 

Admittedly, these truffles were meant to be eaten on the boat. We were on a barge for a beer cruise that took us from Amsterdam through Antwerp, Ghent, and Bruges. I could have had them boxed, but the kind man beind the counter said it would be cheaper just to take them as is. I agreed and had intended to eat them after dinner. But our fantastic dinners on our boat were so fantastic and filling, we simply had no room to eat them. This was probably a good thing anyway. I am never stingy and will always share. Now, I selfishly have them all to myself. The condition these truffles are in are because I traveled with them from Bruges to Brussels, and then in my carry on the way home and stopped at 3 airports. They managed to survive relatively intact, but their appearance was not the way the store had given to them to me. 

 

The Bacon

Sadly the one truffle that suffered the most abuse on it's journey to my house. Milk chocolate coating, smells of salt and bacon fat. Creamy peanut butter and tastes like cured ham. Small bits of crispy bacon. Perhaps a bit too skimpy on the bacon, but the flavors are full and very apparent. 

Like Vosges, the bacon flavor is full but the bacon itself is lackluster. I need my chocolatiers to stop being stingy with the bacon and please put in real pieces. Go big or go home! Truffles are not meant to last so why not be realistic with the bacon? Your fans would appreciate it. Trust me on this one. 

 

Framboos

Bitter ganache with pure raspberry juice.

Firm deep rich chocolate ganache, extremely sour, tangy, and tart with the pure raspberry juice. A bit of a puckerer this one is. Full of flavor, but the raspberry is way too tart. Stick-you-in-the-glands-of-you-neck sour. While some people will surely love the extreme tanginess of this truffle, I found it to be over-the-top. Lingering chocolate on the aftertaste, but it is virtually destroyed by the raspberry. You get rich chocolate right up front and then it's all but destroyed and left whimpering on the final lingering finish of this truffle. The ganache was super rich too. Kind of sad really. 

Definitely different than the overly sweet and sugary raspberry truffles on the market. But this is a palate killing truffle. The Snobifram is much better and much more delicate.

 

Wasabi 

 

Bitter ganache, marzipan, with Japanese wasabi. 

Pungent but not spicy hot wasabi. Chocolate shell, top layer of green wasabi marzipan, and deeply rich chocolate ganache. Wasabi is very dominating right up front, but quickly dies away and leaves a wonderfully rich chocolate ganache taste. Delicious truffle. This had the balance the Framboos was missing. It has very bold and strong flavors and each one is allowed to shine. 

 

The Havana

 

Ganache with a distillate of Havana leaves. 

Again, not the prettiest shape they could be in due to traveling. But the cigar design is intact. Tastes like smoky leaves and rich chocolate. Not lit leaves, but rich natural smoky flavor. The ganache almost has a boozy quality to it. I am not sure of the distillate was an alcohol or a hydrosol, but it definitely has a boozy quality to it. That smoky tobacco leaves taste is fantastic. You won't feel like you are puffing a Cuban, but it certainly tastes like you had one in your mouth before you lit it. Definitely has nice, rich lingering tobacco notes on the finish. 

 

Italiaanse Javanais

 

White chocolate ganache with fresh basil, a chutney of sun dried tomatoes, marzipan with black olives. 

I thought this one was just going to be a sun dried tomato truffle. I am very happy to lean that this is a complete foodie truffle. 

It ends up being too funky. Basil dominates right up front. It tastes like a sweet candy pizza. I wanted to like this one too. The black olives are there but not as much as I would have hoped for. The tomato is there too but the sugary marzipan interferes with the natural sweetness of the tomato chutney. While the cool factor is there, it's not enjoyable at all. The chocolate does not match at all with the flavors of this truffle. 

The savory flavors do end up lingering on the palate which isn't a bad thing, but the flavors shoudln't have been mixed with all that sugar. 

 

 

Cabernet-Sauvignon

 

A caramel with Cabernet-Sauvignon and pine seeds praline. 

Big oak-y wine flavor right off the bat. Tangy wine mixed with soft runny caramel. It's a bit of a shock at first with that tangy wine, but then it finishes with extremely oak-y flavors. It's a bit of vinegar taste mixed with the buttery caramel at first, but then it finishes sweet with the chocolate and levely pine seeds. There is definitely a lot going on with this caramel. The wine is a bit of a shock and almost out of place but ends up being balanced or smoothed out by the chocolate, butter in the caramel, and pine seeds. 

Overall I like this quite a bit. But it's a bit odd and almost doesn't work at first. 

 

Espelette 

 

Bitter ganache with mazipan and slightly smoked "Espelette."

Another truffle that took a beating as far as it's appearance goes. But so far despie what they look like, they have all tasted fine. Fine as far as freshness goes. I can't speak for the Italiaase Javanais. 

A bit of a jelly or gel-like consistency in the middle. Virtually no pepper taste at all. A mild numbing sensation on the tongue at the finish of the truffle is all you get that indicates chili pepper. There is no smoky flavor. It's just a sweet jelly-like chocolate ganache center full of rich chocolate flavors and a bit f a nmbing at the end. No heat, and not chili flavor. Bit of a let down to be honest. Chocolate and chili's are wonderful together and in chocolate, it's one of the few ways I can tolerate spicy chili heat. 

 

The Creole

 

Bitter ganache with Arabica espresso coffee. 

Soft rich ganache but again, another let down of a truffle as far as flavor goes. Where is the coffee. Arabica espresso should have yeilded a nice bitter and roasted rich flavor. There is virtually none. I even saved this truffle for last anticipating a big robust taste. It's a delicious chocolate truffle. There is nothing bad about it. It's super rich and chocolate-y. But the coffee flavor or lack there of is weak. There is just a tiny bit of lingering coffee grinds taste on the finish. Takes a while to present itself. It's Europe people. Once again, go big or go home. 

 

I liked these truffles. A few misses with the coffee, and bacon and a big miss with the candy pizza truffle. But this is a chocolatier who isn't afraid to play around with flavors. Perhaps maybe a bit too timid on some flavors and then over the top on others. The Havana and the Wasabi were the best.  Still, this was better than 99% of the tourist chocolate crap to be found all over Bruges. Brussels is no exception. The Chocolate Line will be recommended should anyone need chocolate advice for Bruges. Maybe stay away from the candy pizza truffle, though. 

 

 

My favorite way to have hot chocolate lately. Chocolate on a wooden spoon to be stirred into some scaled milk. An ingenious idea really. But this looks like a huge block of chocolate for one hot chocolate. I got it in milk because I felt like the dark chocolate would have been too rich. I think even this milk chocolate block will also be intensely rich. 

 

 

 

I did pick up some chocolate lipstick. Will I ever wear this as real lipstick? Sure! It goes on dark and then rubs into a light brown color that isn't Halloween-ish. The only problem is, it tastes like brownies and won't last five minutes on my lips without being licked off. 

 

Westvleteren 12 Truffles

 

 

As some of you may or may not know, I have just come back from a fabulous boat cruise through Amsterdam and Belgium. The trip was dedicated to beer. One of the prized locations we visited was the abbey of Sint Sixtus of Westvleteren in Belgium. Makers of one of the most sought after beers in the world, Westvleteren 12, a Belgian Quadruple ale that sits around 10% abv. Sint Sixtus is a Trappist monastery that makes beer to sustain their peaceful and quite lifestyles that they solely dedicate to God. 

The reason the beer is so coveted is because it is not sold in stores. There are rumors that this will be changing for a few places around Belgium, but out of respect for the monks, they ask that the beer is not sold outside of the monistary. Unfortunately their efforts have gone in vain for some who seek to exploit them. Ebay, greedy restaurants who happen to have a stock pile, and other selfish for-profit traders have shone a bad light on this coveted beer. Now, there is a limit from the Abbey as to how much you can buy, sometimes they don't even sell it to you at all. Their intentions were to make a beer that would sustain their lifestyles, not create greed and fervour. 

Other reasons are it's intensely rich flavors and strong abv content. Seems like a lot of hardcore beer geeks covet the abv factor over drinkability at times, but that's not to slight Westvleteren 12. It is a delicious beer. Their blonde ale goes largely ignored by the geeks as does the bruin which is a fabulous and rich beer in it's own right. They rate highly, but are never talked about or traded as fiercely. 

 

Conditions Westvleteren Trappist is sold only to individual customers. Every customer agrees not to re-sell the beer to any third party.

In our case we were allowed to visit, buy beer in very generous portions, and even sit with the monks for a very special prayer service. This was most generous of them and a moment I will be forever grateful for. It was a Lou Reed-kind of moment with perfect weather, and a grateful group of tourists. 

 

When we arrived, we sat in the cafe, In De Vrede (In the Shadow of Sint-Sixtus Abbey), located at the abbey to enjoy a little lunch and some free flowing Westvleteren beers from draft. They had a small gift shop where I found the truffles. They sell a variety of items such as gingerbread, Westvleteren washed-rind cheese, and pates. 

We proceeded to have lunch and beers. 

 

Westvleteren 6 or Blond and Westvleteren 8 or Bruin. 

 

Pumpkin soup with fresh cream. 

 

Ham sandwich and chicken sandwich. Belgian-style! 

 

 

And of course the famed Westvleteren 12.

 

 

This beer has not been a particular favorite of mine. I have found the beer to be too big, too hot, and too sweet to be enjoyable. Maybe I have had improperly stored beers before. Now, I like it much better from the source. I always knew it would be different having it fresh at the source, but previous experiences with the beer haven't been that great. Today, I am happy to report it is a much better beer than I anticipated. It's much smoother and not at all hot like I had tasted before. Still not my favorite though. The blond is truly the underrated beer of Westvleteren. But the 12 is perfect for chocolate.

 

These were supposed to be opened and tasted on the beer boat cruise, but we had so much food and beers that no one really had room to eat it. I am reserving the post about the food served to us on the boat for my Pork Chops & Chicken blog. Unfortunately, while staying in Brussels at the end of the trip for one day, it ruined my Westvleteren Truffles. At least in appearance. The room we stayed in had no A/C and was overly hot. We couldn't even open windows to air the place out. It was miserable to even sleep in there let alone try and store chocolate. So the truffles melted a bit. I was able to recover them by putting them in the fridge as soon as I got home. They just aren't pretty anymore. 

 

I have almost no information about these truffles except that they were made at the cafe and with the Westy 12. I have no idea what kind of chocolate they used or it's percentage. 

The aroma on both is very boozy, sweet, malty from the beer. The plain or rolled in cocoa powder truffles have no characteristics of the chocolate except for some very slight nuttiness. Taste is like eating brownie batter with a bit of some heat behind it. Taste a little fruity too like some deep cherries hidden underneath the chocolate. Faint, but still there. Nice lingering beer taste on the finish. These are delicious and much like the beer, a very nice surprise in how different it tastes. I was expecting rich chocolate and overbearing beer tastes due to it's nose. It's quite the opposite. It's quite the surprise. 

The coconut ones have a sweet and light aroma of coconut as well as a big boozy aroma too. The coconut adds a nice, sweeter flavor and richer note. Same brownie batter like taste with some boozy heat. But much softer and better with the coconut. 

The texture has smooth chocolate for a the shell and a bit cake-y in the center which gave way to that brownie-like taste. 

These are pretty awesome and very different than I expected. They will make a fantastic gift if you ever get yourself to Belgium to visit the abbey. Just make sure you store them right until you get home to eat them. 

Seattle Chocolates ~ Campfire S'More

 

 

Seattle Chocolates

Now we're talking. After having the Chuao Milk chocolate bar with Potato Chips, I follow up my filled bar appreciaton posts with a milk chocolate bar filled with graham and marashmallows. I am all about anything S'Mores. 

Seattle Chocolates has a line of truffle bars and this Campfire S'More bar is one of them. I also have their birthday cake bar pending a review. I picked these up at Beacon Hill Chocolates in Boston. 

 

Campfire S'More

 

Type: Filled, milk chocolate

Varietal: Unknown

Ingredients: Milk chocolate; sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, chocolate liquor, soya lecithin, pure vanilla. Graham biscotti; enriched wheat flour [wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid], sugar, butter, eggs, baking powder, natural flavors, salt. Marshmallows; Corn syrup, beet sugar, corn starch, corn dextrose, water, carrageenan, soya protein, natural vanilla flavor, titanium dioxide. 

Sample Size: 2.5 oz or 70g

 

Nice thick bar with simple patterend, but non-monogrammed molding. Appeard to have generous "fixin's" or S'Mores bit in it. Smells sweet and creamy like good milk chocolate should. Chewy marshmallow bits, creamy and sweet milk chocolate, but not enough graham taste or bits in it. In fact it's really quite skimmpy on the graham, but the overall taste is there. It does taste like a S'More. Just perhaps a bit more on the sweeter vanilla side with the chocolate and marshmallow dominating. 

One thing that maybe a little petty to point out and may not entirely matter, is the name Campfire S'More. While all the ingredients are there, campfire makes me think charred marshamallows. I wonder if they could have charred them a bit before putting them in the chocolate. Char then, cool them, then put them in. It might make that name a bit more authentic and the taste bit more dynamic. 

Very sweet filled bar of chocolate.The flavors were there, the textures were all there with chewy marshmallow, creamy milk chocolate, faint hints of graham though. My only gripe is not enough graham crackers through out the bar and not enough graham cracker taste. It's there on the finish but as an afterthough and not really as an entire S'mores picture. I can't help it, I am a sucker for graham crackers. The milk chocolate is good and creamy and smooth with a nice melt time on it. 

 

   score
 B+

Chuao ~ Potato Chips in Milk Chocolate

 

This is every junk food-aholics dream. Milk chocolate, premium milk chocolate using Venezuelan beans and potato chips mashed into the chocolate. A sweet/salty lovers dream in one chocolate bar. 

 

A little about Chuao Chocolatiers via their website:

 

Founded in 2002 by Master Chef Michael Antonorsi and his brother Richard Antonorsi - the company's CEO; Chuao Chocolatier is pioneering “fusion chocolate” through a commitment to creating unusual, unexpected and delicious flavors using their secret blend of premium chocolate and fresh natural ingredients.

The Venezuelan born brothers, now San Diego residents, named the company Chuao Chocolatier after the legendary cacao-producing region of Chuao (pronounced chew-WOW) located in central Venezuela. The Antonorsi’s decision was a reflection of their commitment to both high quality and their Venezuelan family heritage. Chocolate is part of their roots, as their ancestors once ran a small family farm that was an important part of the criollo cacao plantation industry.

 

 

Potato Chips in Chocolate Bar

 

Type: Filled milk chocolate, 41% 

Varietal: Hybrid

Ingredients: 41% cacao, cocoa butter, sugar, dehydrated milk, soy lecithin, natural vanilla, potatoes, vegetable oil, sea salt. 

Sample Size: 2.8oz or 80g

 

Nice shiny surface, molded in a signature cocoa pod monogrammed patteren. Lots of crushed chips throughout the bar. Soft milk chocolate which gives way to a light medium snap. Smells like rich milk chocolate. I feel like the milk powder or something in it takes away from some of the more rustic aroma's of Chuao region cocoa, but still smells pretty good. 

Smooth chocolate texture, crunchy potato chips. It's not as salty as I would like, but the balance of sweet and and salty is still good. More on the sweet side though. I thought at first, with the way the chips were broken up, that it would be skimpy on the chips. Kind of like Vosges skimps you on the bacon in their famed Bacon bars. There are plenty of chips throughout and it balances really well the insanely rich milk chocolate. Only 41% on the cacao, but still rich and creamy. Excellent smooth melting texture to contrast the crunchy chips. Lingering milky chocolate taste, with potato chips on the finish. 

This is a great and super fun bar of chocolate. The potatoes miraculously stayed crunchy and good. And even though I think it could use a pinch more salt because the milk chocolate is super rich and creamy, this is easily one of my new favorite filled bars. I love sweet and salty combos. Calories wise, it's not the greatest move one could make, but that won't stop a glutton like me. 

 

  score
 A-

Beacon Hill Chocolates

 

 

Beacon Hill Chocolates

I had a very nice time stopping by this little gem on Charles St. in Boston. I had been meaning to get over there for some time. I finally got my chance and I was very happy with them. The ladies who work there are very attentive and sweet. They are passionate and will engage you in good conversations about chocolate. They will gladly walk you through everything in the store. I haven't run into customer service this good in a while. 

This, however, is their evil plan. They are so nice to you that you wind up with the whole store in your hands before you leave. At least I did anyway. I went in for one thing and came out with more bars of chocolate, S'Mores pops, a scoop of mint chocolate gelato, truffles, and hot chocolates. It could have been a lot worse. I already have a ton of bars back logged for review and archived notes to post, but no, I just had to walk out with even more stuff. Their evil plan of "kill with exceptional kindness" completely worked on me. 

Today I am going to highlight the S'Mores Pops and the mixed truffle assortment I bought. Click to enlarge pictures. 

 

Handmade S'Mores Pops. 

 

 

 

Truffles

Creme Brulee: White chocolate vanilla bean ganache with raspberry Chambord jelly in a white chocolate shell.

 

Very pretty truffle. I love the surface design. Very sweet, good creamy white chocolate and white chocolate vanilla bean ganache, with lovely raspberry Chambord filling. But I failto see how this is really like creme brulee except for the vanilla bean. It's very vanilla and lovely raspberry, but no burnt sugar taste. Still a very pretty truffle. I liked this one a lot. 

 

Key Lime: Hand painted white chocolate shell and key lime ganache.

 

Tangy truffle, buttery white chocolate balance. Lingering flowery key lime taste. Very nice truffle. 

 

Salted Butter Caramel Butterfly: Robust, burnt caramel is enhanced with savory salted butter in a milk chocolate butterfly shell.

 

Sweet, buttery, and creamy with very soft and gooey caramel center, nice milk chocolate shell. A little burnt flavors, but not as described and no salty characters. This is a delicious sweet caramel truffle, but the lack of slat was a little disappointing. I can't say it wasn't great though. It was awesome. It just didn't taste like it was described. 

 

Chocolate Martini Truffle: Dark chocolate ganache flavored with Grey Goose Vodka, dipped in a rich dark chocolate shell with a hand painted martini glass.

 

Deep rich chocolate, robust vodka flavor, no heat or esters, but definitely there on the vodka taste, and almost has a hint of cinnamon to it. Very rich truffle. 

 

Blood Orange Fleur de Lis: Dark chocolate ganache infused with lush blood orange inside a hand painted Fleur de Lis dark chocolate shell.

 

Deep bitter, but fresh orange taste, deep rich chocolate. The Blood orange balanced sweeter with the chocolate and has very nice lingering orange oils. 

 

Pumpkin Spice: Hand painted milk chocolate ganache with pumpkin pie spices. 

 

 

This was a mystery truffle at first. I didn't have a list of the truffles I bought. But then I took a bite and was happy to find it was a pumpkin pie spiced truffles. I am not sure if this actually has pumpkin puree in it, but it was creamy, soft, very warming, wonderfully spiced, and buttery. The milk chocolate was the right way to go with this truffle. Loved it! 

 

These next truffles are a little ashy due to me having to wait to eat them. I reviewed half the box because I couldn't sit here and eat 12 truffles in one sitting. Then I had to go to Denver for the Great American Beer Festival. The ashiness is due to me leaving them, and were not the condition I bought them in. See the box of truffles pic above. 

 

Dragonfly: Dark chocolate ganache with essence of Kaffir Lime leaves and silky coconut milk embedded with a piece of candied ginger.

 

This one wasn't my favorite. This is my problem though. I am not a big fan of candied ginger. This however was very light in flavor. It was pleasant and not overwhelming except for the ginger to me. There was barely a coconut taste, the ginger dominates but is toned down by the chocolate and the Kafir lime leaves were a nice rounding flavor on the truffle. It's actually quite nice. You will just have to forgive me as I can't personally stand candied ginger. 

 

Lavender Truffle: A delicate milk chocolate truffle infused with French lavender blossoms, coated in 64% dark chocolate.

 

Very robust lavender taste. This was a bit too much for me. It wasn't fresh lavender, it was musky like stinky, French soap. Perhaps milk chocolate was too soft for the lavender. The shell was a lot more illustrious when I first got it. This picture isn't doing it justice on how pretty it was. But frankly speaking, it was too funky for me. 

 

Seduction: Combination of Portuguese Port Wine and chocolate ganache.  

 

 

 

This is a really nice truffle. Deeply rich, and fruity. Complex fruits like deep raisins and a bit of a balsamic taste. Very nice. 

 

Chile-Limon Mayan Truffle: A special blend of dark and milk chocolate ganache infused with Southwestern chilies and house-made lime marmalade.

 

Lightly spicy as far as the heat goes, a little warming, but spicy chili taste, and slightly tangy. Soft smooth texture, but I wish it had more of that lime taste. And as someone who is a total wuss about spicy heat, I felt like it could have been more on the chili's. But the flavor was right. This was a pretty cool truffle over all. 

 

Dark Chocolate Cat: Extra-bittersweet ganache in the shape of a cat with sunflower seeds for ears, enrobed in dark chocolate.

 

I call this the Bruiser because it looks like one of my wild "chirruns," Miss Bruiser Alstrom. This is a straight up super rich dark chocolate truffle from Moonstruck in Oregon. Cute and fun Halloween truffles. This may be a bit too rich for kids, but still cute none the less. And little sunflower seeds for ears. 

 

Olive Oil and Sea Salt: Dark chocolate ganache infused with a touch of olive oil and topped with sea salt. 

 

Nice savory olive oil taste and good balance of salt with the dark chocolate. I kind of wish this one was a caramel. But the dark chocolate held on to the olive oil taste well. Really nice truffle. 

Vosges ~ Mo's Dark Chocolate Bacon Bar

 

 

 

Sometimes I go through so much chocolate I forget about notes I have been sitting on. This is one of those moments with Vosges. I had tried the Mo's Bacon Bar in milk chocolate and I liked it very much. I just had to give the dark chocolate bar a chance. It's pretty inexcusable to let notes about a bacon and dark chocolate bar to go by unpublished for this long, nearly a year ago now, but that won't stop me from posting these tempting notes now. Although this bar isn't the most pristine looking bar I have reviewed, it's still a bacon and chocolate bar. You know what's up.

 

 

Mo's Dark Chocolate Bacon Bar

 

Type: Flavored Semisweet, 62% (48% cocoa solids, 39% cocoa butter)

Bean Varietal: Unknown

Ingredients: Dark chocolate (cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla), 10% uncured bacon (pork, sea salt, raw sugar, white pepper, dry juniper berries, celery juice, lactic acid-starter culture), salt.

Sample Size: 3oz or 85g

 

Appearance: Very messy surface. Same issues I had with the Milk Bar. Far more matted appearance with this bar. This comes from it's sealed plastic wrapper. The type of wrapper that seals everything in and I appreciate, but makes for messy surfaces. Monogrammed, large square molding. Deep, dark rich brown color.

Score: 75

Snap: Good firm snap feel, light snapping sound.

Score: 90

Aroma: Big, deep aroma of cocoa and cocoa powder. Bacon, salt, smoke, pepper, nutty, smells sweet and cocoa-y and then the bacon.

Score: 94

Taste: Sweet and salty, deep rich chocolate right up front, bold chocolate with a big nutty flavor that comes through even through the bacon, salty, crispy bacon.

Score: 95

Texture: Smooth chocolate silky texture, quick melt time, crispy bacon bits. *Waxy.

Score: 92

 

Very tasty bar of chocolate, fun and trendy. Despite it's bad matting on the surface, it was still a relative shiny surface. That's something you couldn't tell based on the pictures. The flash highlighted the matting in a bigger way. I can't get too mad about it since I prefer the sealed plastic wrappers. They hold in all the aromas and keep chocolate much longer. But it always does leave these kinds of appearance issues.

The aroma was surprising. I expected all smoke and bacon, but got deep rich cocoa aromas instead. Nutty, and cocoa-y, then the bacon aromas of smoke, pork and pepper. It was a nice balance.

The taste was pretty balanced, big rich chocolate flavors for a 62% bar, but the chocolate texture was fantastic. Lot's of cocoa butter and it was good. Very smooth and silky. *It was a bit waxy however, if you just chomped on a square. If you let it sit for a second before chewing into it, you get a sense of the silky quality.

Despite a balance of flavors, I am still disappointed with the bacon. It's crispy and flavorful, but pathetic with the tiny nuggets peppered through the bar. The package shows you two delicious looking slabs of bacon and you really hope for that inside, but all you get is the taste, essence of, rather than the real deal. I mean yes, the bacon bits are real, but I want BACON in my chocolate not bacon bit salad toppers. Not to mention the bacon in the milk bar still had some chewy fat bits in it. This bar, it was all crunch. They amount of bits are also skimpy. It's simply not what the package advertises. With the way Vosges is priced, you should be getting so much more.

Still it is bacon and chocolate and it does taste really good. It does hit some good technical marks despite the bad ones. I think this is a fun for the chocolate purists or snobs about dark chocolate. Definitely good for bacon nerds. But while I like this bar a great deal, I think I like the Milk bar more.

 

Final Score: 89.2

    score
     B

Zotter ~ Hand-Scooped Black Cherries with Vanilla

 

 

Zotter "Hand-Scooped" Black Cherries with Vanilla. Artwork by Andreas H. Gratze.

 

Black Cherries with Vanilla

Fine Bitter Couverture 60%

A fine dark chocolate that has the air of a chartbreaker. A black-cherry fruit puree and its layer of vanilla-almond nougat are determined to make it to the top.

 

Type: Filled bar, Semisweet 60%

Infredients: Raw cane sugar, almonds, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, fructose-glucose syrup, dried sweet cherries, full cream milk powder, cherry brandy, sweet whey powder, whole cane sugar, vanilla, salt, soy lecithin.

**Fair trade and organic ingredients.

Sample Size: 70g or 2.47oz

 

Major bloom on this bar. I like these Hand-scooped bars, but the chocolate coatings are very temperamental and finicky. This bar was the most bloomed out the three I have tried so far. And they are not past expiration or close to it. I can go as far as to say there may have been a big shift in temperature from transport or where they were bought in London. But I doubt that's the case. I think these bars are just delicate and temperamental.

Smells like cherries and a bit sweet like the kirsch brandy. Just a tad hint of that boozy character, but sweet overall with cherries, sugar, and vanilla.

Very sweet taste. Rich, sweet and slightly tart cherries, sweet vanilla filling, and semisweet chocolate rounding out the flavor. It's nice that the chocolate is at least present for this bar. On the other bars it was there but the fillings in the bar over took the chocolate. Then again, the chocolate is supposed to be an accent and not the main focus. But nice that you can taste it. 

There is a bit if a funky taste on the finish though that I do not like. I am left with a funky milk taste and milk breath. Something is artificial about it. The entire bar tasted good up until the finish. It's a leftover by-product of either too much milk powder in this bar or too much sugar and milk combined. It kind of ruins it for me.

I feel like this could have scored higher despite the bloom and overly sweet content of this bar because it tasted good, but it's the aftertaste that I can't get behind. The cherries were good, the vanilla was strong but good, the chocolate taste on the end was nice, but that finish kills it. It's not often I give something a score like this.

 

   score
 D+

Fleur De Sel Caramel Brownies

 

 

 

Chewy caramel mou salt caramel brownies using French fleur de sel butter "Paris Caramels" and TCHO Baking Drops. Yes, these were every bit as delicious as they sound.

 

I have had these caramels sitting in my pantry ready to be eaten, but I didn't want to eat them selfishly all by myself. I wanted to bake with them. I thought about melting them down for a salt caramel glaze on cinnamon rolls, or cup cake filling. I had a lot of options until I started thinking about Paul A. Young's salt caramel brownie. I have never had it before, but it just sounded AH-Mazing.

I followed the Brown Eyed Baker's recipe for Salted Caramel Brownies, but I tweaked my own caramel sauce. I also didn't mess around with the chocolate. I just used TCHO baking chips which had a big nutty flavor despite their description of intense chocolate flavors and fruity flavors.

 

 

Salted Caramel Brownies

Yield: 16 brownies

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Bake Time: 35 to 40 minutes

5 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into quarters
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
3 eggs
1¼ cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
Salted Caramel Sauce (click Brown Eyed Baker link above for their Caramel recipe)
Fine sea salt

1. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8-inch square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line the pan with overlapping pieces of foil and spray the foil.

2. In a medium heatproof bowl set over a pan of almost-simmering water, melt the chocolates and butter, stirring occasionally until smooth. (Or, melt in the microwave on 50% power for 30-second increments, stirring after each, until melted and smooth.) Whisk in the cocoa until smooth. Set aside to cool.

 

3. Whisk together the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a medium bowl until combined, about 15 seconds. Whisk the warm chocolate mixture into the egg mixture; then stir in the flour until just combined. Pour about half of the brownie mixture into the prepared pan and spread into the corners. Spoon 9 dollops of Salted Caramel Sauce on top of the brownie batter. Top with the remaining brownie mixture, spread into the corners and level the surface with a spatula. Again, spoon 9 dollops of the Salted Caramel Sauce on top of the brownie batter. With a dull butter knife, gently run it through the batter to swirl the batter just a bit (don’t do it too much or it will all mix together). Sprinkle a bit of sea salt on top.

 

 

4. Bake until slightly puffed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a small amount of sticky crumbs, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours. Remove the brownies from the pan using the foil handles and transfer to a cutting board. Cut into squares. Brownies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature.

(Brownie recipe adapted from Baking Illustrated)

 

 

For my caramel, I melted down 36 caramels or 2 packs of 18 piece Paris Caramels with some heavy cream, about 3 tbls worth. Melted over a double boiler until blended and smooth. Then I followed the directions above for puting the caramel in between the batter and on top.

I also had some extra baking drops that dropped on top of the caramel in the center of the brownie mix. I put the chocolate drops on top of the brownie mix on the top layer and covered with caramel.

The caramel is perfectly fine to bake and won't become overly hard once cooled. It leaves a chewy caramel mou and not a soft and super runny caramel. It leaves much more stable brownies. Monitor your baking time. I found I needed longer than the recipe called for by about 15 minutes or so.

 

Blurry but fun up close of the caramel. Why oh why do I always use my iphone and not my $700 Nikon? The pictures may not have done these brownies much justice, but trust me when I say, they were incredible.