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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-

Chocolate Oatmeal Face Mask

 

 

Okay, so remember a few weeks ago I made a quick post about chocolate face masks and how to make them yourself at home? Well, I went ahead and tried one and it worked really well.

Make sure you wash your skin before applying. A helpful and natural tip is to cleanse the face, then use witch hazel as a toner. Also use on a Q-Tip with apple cider vinegar for any trouble spots before using the mask. You want that on on your skin first. You can also use the apple cider vinegar on the trouble spots after you wash the mask off. And be sure to moisturize.

I took some old scraps that had gone passed their prime for eating. Chocolate does have an extremely long shelf life, but these were passed that. Mostly I take chocolate bars, eat enough to review and fully understand, then I take the left over scraps and bake with it. But recently my stock pile is just too much. So, this is a good way to use the chocolate in a constructive way without having to throw it away.

 

I took leftover scraps of a Patric Chocolate Madagascar bar, L'Artisan du Chocolat Jamaica, and some Paul A. Young Valrhona bar scraps. All bitter sweet and 70% and over. I melted them down over a double boiler, I pulled the chocolate off before it all completely melted. Then I added oatmeal and honey and I let it cool down.

 

On whim, I decided to go ahead an add course turbinado sugar after the mixture had cooled so it wouldn't melt the sugar crystals.

 

Duck lips just for Gingerkiller!

 

I slathered it all over my face and waited for about 15 to 20 minutes. It was a bit messy to apply, but the trick is to go around the face more than once with the mixture. Each time you go around, it goes on thicker and thicker. The oatmeal might fall off a bit but overall it stayed on pretty good.

Washing it off, the oatmeal and sugar acted as a face scrub. It felt a little waxy as it was being washed off and I thought I might have to do a second wash with some face soap. But, I didn't have to. It all washed off clean, and my skin was brighter and extremely soft.

Having a glass of red wine while you mask is also fun. The antioxidants in wine is good for you to. You will feel like you are in a spa. Wine, masks, and Ed Norton on tv. La vita è bella!

It will be a while until I see any long term effects because I plan to do this more often. But for now my skin is actually brighter and my face feels a lot softer. Fantastic chocolate experiment.

 

Claudio Corallo ~ Gengibre (Ginger)

 

 

Gengibre (Ginger)

 

Type: Flavored, Bittersweet, 75%

Bean Varitetal: Trinitario, Hybrid

Ingredients: Cocoa, sugar, crystallized ginger, cocoa butter.

Sample Size: 50g or 1.76oz

 

Appearance: Two non-monogrammed tablets of chocolate, mildly ashy, couple of surface cracks, bumpy surface from the crystallized ginger, a few white rings around the ginger that wasn't completely submerged in chocolate.

Score: 90

Snap: Fairly decent and firm snap this time around. Light but crisp snapping sound. Asymmetrical but clean break lines.

Score: 92

Aroma: Dominating ginger right out of the gate. But more like a fresh pickled ginger and wasabi. Tar and roasted notes from the cacao, ginger and chocolate give way to some lemony characters, a few blueberry notes.

Score: 94

Taste: Sweet up front, light, clean ginger taste in the beginning, sugary crystallized ginger, slight hints of soap, a weird mix of the cocoa and ginger in the center but the sugary and spicy ginger takes over and completely tones down the big, rustic, and bitter cocoa.

Score: 92

Texture: A little hard at first, then opens up to a little bit of a gritty texture on just the chocolate, medium melt time, and soft chewy crystallized ginger.

Score: 89

 

This is one of those moments where I must be as objective as I can because I am not a fan of ginger. This chocolate surprised me over all though.

Finally, I got some tablets that came intact. I always get broken tablets from Corallo. These were intact albeit a little ashy and white sugar rings from the crystallized ginger. But still you get a look at their more rustic tablets and more of a feel for the plainness of it all and the raw chocolate tablets. And the snap was nice and firm this time. Usually there is very little snap to speak of. These tablets tend to be fairly soft. This had a nice little snap for being thin tablets.

It smelled like fresh pickled ginger and wasabi and roasted char aromas from the cocoa. It opens up with a sweet taste, and a clean ginger taste, a bit tangy and lemony from the roasted characters of this rich chocolate and the crystallized ginger. I think the ginger dominates the flavor of this bar. The chocolate barely has time to shine. There is a moment when it's boldness comes through. But there is a slight weird interaction in the middle with the ginger and the char characters. Then it had a bit of a soapy taste. This is why I usually don't like ginger. The clean flavors up front were very nice and giving way to that lemony taste with the cocoa, but then it turns into soap and flavors that my palate flat out rejects. But this soapy flavor doesn't last long which is why this chocolate surprised me and ended up being a lot better than I expected. I think the sugars had a lot to do with keeping those off flavors at bay. And that crystallized ginger is very sweet.

I do feel like the ginger was a bit overwhelming over all. But this isn't a bad thing. This is perfect for those who adore all things ginger. However, I wish the chocolate interacted more and gave off more flavors. The sugars only gave way to the chocolates contrasting flavors like tar, and bitter roasted notes. There wasn't a good enough balance in my personal opinion. But like I said, as someone who isn't a lover of ginger, this was actually pretty nice over all.

The texture was a bit of a mixed bag for me. It was loaded with the soft and chewy crystallized ginger bits, but the actual texture of the chocolate was hard, fairly dry, and a bit gritty. If only the chocolates texture was smoother and softer and just just a bit more of an impact on the flavor, this would have had an exceptional score.

 

Final Score: 91.4

   score
  B+

Claudio Corallo ~ Sablé 80%

 

 

 

Click to enlarge images.

 

Sablé "Sandy" 80%

 

Type: Bittersweet, 80%

Bean Varietal: Trinitario/ Hybrid

Ingredients: Cocoa, sugar, cocoa butter.

Sample Size: 50g or 1.76oz

 

Appearance: Two raw and unrefined tablets, broken tablets, no molding, large course sugar lightly covering the top and mixed with in, but not overly sugared and shiny. No glossy finish but a matte finish.

Score: 90

Snap: Thinner tablets, lightly firm crisp snap, lightly audible, but clean break lines that left a clear image of the hallows inside from the course sugar.

Score: 89

Aroma: Huge, massive aroma. Fresh coffee grinds, roasted cocoa, char, burnt toast, a bit medicinal, rubber, tar, and huge blueberries. Very slight lingering aromas of honey and cinnamon.

Score: 98

Taste: Sweet sugar up front, then charred and roasted cocoa, deeply bitter but not astringent or acidic, toasted almonds and cereal grains, and a light Cinnamon finish. The sugar is balanced and comes through at various stages of tasting. Lingering char from retro-olfaction.

Score: 96

Texture: Crunchy sugar crystals, dry and chalky, medium melt time.

Score: 82

 

I have learned to appreciate the simplicity of these bars appearance. I wasn't as kind in my first review of Claudio Corallo on appearance. Technically they should score real low on appearance but this is just straight up chocolate and simply molded. It isn't trying to be fancy and it isn't trying to be glamorous, which I like about these bars. Either be pretty and have an elaborate or unique/signature molding or just be raw and natural. It was just too broken up to score higher for rustic integrity in my opinion.

The aroma is by far and away one of the biggest aromas I have ever smelled on a bar. I took all the notes I could upon opening this package, I then repeatedly went back to the package and it took two full weeks for the aroma to dissipate from it's packaging. It still has this amazing toasted cinnamon aroma. It's like my inhaler. Two weeks later!

The aroma right out of the package was amazing. Huge blueberries underneath some pretty raw char aromas. Roasted cocoa and coffee grinds. Like someone took freshly ground, super strong, French roasted coffee grinds and put it in with this bar. But the blueberries held on. It had lots of charred aromas, burnt toast and rubber. That might not sound very appealing to some people, but I love how funky it is.

The taste is deeply bitter without any astringency or acidity. The large course sugar was exactly what this chocolate needed. It added a good sweet balance and crunchy texture. The flavor was toasted grains and cinnamon with coffee and char. Breakfast chocolate. Cinnamon toast and coffee. The char on the aroma was not as robust on the flavor but still nice mingling with toasted almonds. Not very fruity. I was hoping for a blueberry taste as strong as it was on the aroma.

Aside from the crunchy sugar crystals, I wasn't in love with the texture of this chocolate. It's dry, and chalky and had a medium long melt time. This chocolate would be perfection if it had a creamier texture.

 

Final Score: 91

    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+

American Heritage Chocolate

 

 

 

Lovely samples of a traditional colonial chocolate recipe sent to me by the Historical Division of the Mars company. A new line, American Heritage Chocolate, featuring old 18th century traditions of chocolate making and old Pennsylvania colonial-style recipes.

Handcrafted chocolate with natural ingredients with no additives or preservatives. Historians, chefs, food historians, and their chocolate makers collaborated to use only ingredients and spices available in that era. Recipes adapted and tested from Hannah Glasse and John Nott as well as others.

The blend of spices used for this chocolate are cinnamon, star anise, nutmeg, red pepper, orange, vanilla, salt, and annatto.

The hand made techniques are detailed as:

-Imported beans from Ecuador and the Dominican Republic.

-Cocoa beans roasted over an open flame, and shells were removed by hand.

-Mortars and Pestles ground the nibs. Often leaving behind traces of other spices and chili peppers. Grinding was also done in mills that ground ginger and mustard which would also influence some of the chocolate's taste.

-Heated stones or metate, was used to grind the nibs in to a chocolate paste.

-Then the hardened chocolate was grated into water or milk.

Watch a chocolate demonstration here: 18th Century Chocolate Making

 

 

I love the presentation of it all. From the wooden box it was sent in and the cloth bag the chocolate sticks were presented in. It's very fun.

 

Single Chocolate stick, pack of four chocolate sticks, and a block of chocolate.

 

 

 

I took one stick for one normal coffee cup and steamed *almond milk. I did take a small nibble off the end of the stick to see what the texture and chocolate tasted like on it's own. Naturally it was very spicy, but the texture was fairly waxy. One of only two issues I had overall with the chocolate.

It smelled fantastic. The spices were a good mix for the chocolate. It did however leave a bit of a cloying taste at the end though due to the spices. But I didn't care about that because it was very soothing and comforting to drink.

 

 

I do think one stick for the cup wasn't rich enough. Though I don't know how it will effect the spiciness with added sticks. After using all of my leftover chocolate scraps from reviewing chocolate and making hot chocolate out of them, I prefer a robust and bold hot chocolate. That's also from being spoiled from the richness of L.A. Burdick's insanely rich hot chocolate. I would try it with one stick for a normal coffee cup, and then gradually add more if you think it needs it.

I haven't baked with it yet, but as the holidays roll around, I will certainly find something to do with the block. For now, I am left with four sticks of the drinking chocolate. That means about 2 more cups. I will make sure I save them for an especially frigid night.

Even with this being a product of a "Macro" chocolate company, this is fun chocolate. This cool little experiment in history and recipe searching. You can find it at historical sites for now to purchase, such as Williamsburg, Va., Mount Vernon, The Smithsonian, Monticello and the Fortress of Louisbourg in Canada. And even better for me being in Massachusetts, I can get this in Deerfield, Ma. The also have teas and coffees.

 

 

*I have recently had to give up milk. It's one of two reasons, either the amount of hormones added to milk here in the United States, or the pasteurization of milk causes a make reaction with my skin. It's been the most devastating thing to ever have to give up. But in Europe, I had raw milk and nothing happened to my skin. Adding milk to my coffee, nothing happened. I still have yet to talk to a doctor about the matter, but my findings so far are leading to me to think it's the pasteurization. When milk is pasteurized a crucial enzyme in milk that helps human bodies process it is destroyed. This could be the reason it's taking it's toll on me. However as a life long milk drinker, this is first time I have ever noticed such damaging effects.

But not all is lost. Almond milk has really come through and saved the day. Vanilla Almond Milk to be more precise. It has vanilla in it, it's sweeter, very thick and creamy. It's like going through the process of making homemade hot chocolate but cutting out all the steps. It's very tasty. And despite being made from almonds, the nuttiness doesn't interfere as much as you would think. It's there mildly, but over all it enhances the richness of the chocolate being added to it. Without Almond milk, I might have considered tossing myself off a bridge if I had to live without milk.