Ghirardelli - Milk Chocolate Caramel Bunny - Mar. 26, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

Ghirardelli Chocolate
Milk Chocolate Caramel Bunny
Good
Weight: 2 pieces (20 g.) / 4.14 oz. (117.6 g.) in total package/bag
Calories: 80 calories in 2 pieces
Cost: $4.99 (estimate) for 1 package
Purchased from: Safeway, Palo Alto, CA

Happy Spring to all. And Happy Easter Weekend to those who celebrate this holiday.

Rain has brought green back to the San Francisco Bay Area. Green grassy hills as far as one can see (over all the buildings that is). Cows and horses are grazing on the green grass in pastures, and bees are buzzing around flowers in bloom.

Spring is a great time to celebrate life and being outdoors. And, as always, here at Chocolate Banquet, we celebrate with chocolate.

First, let's start with the quintessential Easter bunny. Recently, my mother spotted a rare bunny on her lawn. The mystery bunny returned several times and was finally captured on my brother's cell phone.

Rabbits are often considered yard pests in more rural settings. However, we live in such a developed area, it's highly unusual to have a visit from a real Easter bunny. (Easter squirrels maybe, but not bunnies.)

Today's Milk Chocolate Caramel Bunny is for you mom. The individually wrapped, Milk Chocolate Caramel Bunnies (package of 12) were from Ghirardelli Chocolate (San Leandro, CA).

Each diminutive Ghirardelli milk chocolate bunny (named Noe*) was filled with a soft caramel filling.

Tomorrow I'll be featuring Noe's bigger, 100% chocolate (caramel-less) sibling.

*Noe the bunny also has a back-story. See Ghirardelli website for more. 

The content and images in this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.

Nada Moo! - Lotta Mint Chip Frozen Dessert - Mar. 25, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

Nada Moo (aka Nada Moo!)
Lotta Mint Chip Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert
Good - Good +
Weight: 1/4 cup (37.5 g.) / 1 Pint (473 mL) in total container
Calories: 70 calories in 1/4 cup serving
Cost: $1.99 (estimate) for 1 container
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #9 of Chocolate and Coconut Theme Week.

Today's Lotta Mint Chip non-dairy frozen dessert was from Nada Moo (Austin, TX). The company's name roughly translates into nothing from a cow.

This organic, creamy, minty rendition of an ice cream classic was made with coconut milk. And the results were quite good. Cold flecks of chocolate balanced the creaminess with a slightly sharper, darker, and chewier accent flavor.

The contribution of coconut milk also contributed to this dessert's rich mouth feel and taste, making up for any lack of butter fat. At only 140 calories per 1/2 cup single serving, the coconut milk helped this frozen dessert taste a lot richer than I expected.

If you want to amp up the chocolate, I found it was good with homemade chocolate mint sauce too.

The content and images in this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.