Chocolate of the Day:
Millcreek Cacao Roasters
Orange 70 percent Dark Chocolate
Good +
Weight: .875 oz. (25 g.) / 1.75 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 140 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA
Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Orange Theme Week.
This thin, well-tempered bar had an aroma and flavor with robust, but smooth dark chocolate and very light citrus (tangerine) notes. The makers at Millcreek used Arriba Nacional cacao from the Hacienda Limon Farm in Ecuador for this bar.
Unlike other orange chocolates this week, the citrus flavor was infused into this bar using a "proprietary method," presumably during the curing process. That is, the three-ingredient list for this bar read: "cacao, pure cane sugar and cacao butter"—but no orange. How is that possible?
More chocolate makers are experimenting with different ways to infuse natural flavors into their chocolates in recent years; for example, they may barrel-aged their cacao nibs, or expose chocolate to flavors during fermentation or aging.*
Just as foods can be stored in a smokehouse and pick up a BBQ flavor, they may also pick up more subtle flavor nuances if stored with certain substances or exposed to vapors or volatiles in a confined area for a period of time.
*Once a batch of chocolate is made, blocks of chocolate may sit on a shelf (covered, in a cool storage area away from direct sunshine) for a period of curing, before bars are tempered and packaged into final bars for sale.
Unlike other orange chocolates this week, the citrus flavor was infused into this bar using a "proprietary method," presumably during the curing process. That is, the three-ingredient list for this bar read: "cacao, pure cane sugar and cacao butter"—but no orange. How is that possible?
More chocolate makers are experimenting with different ways to infuse natural flavors into their chocolates in recent years; for example, they may barrel-aged their cacao nibs, or expose chocolate to flavors during fermentation or aging.*
Just as foods can be stored in a smokehouse and pick up a BBQ flavor, they may also pick up more subtle flavor nuances if stored with certain substances or exposed to vapors or volatiles in a confined area for a period of time.
*Once a batch of chocolate is made, blocks of chocolate may sit on a shelf (covered, in a cool storage area away from direct sunshine) for a period of curing, before bars are tempered and packaged into final bars for sale.
No comments:
Post a Comment