Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Celebrating 12 Years of Chocolate - Hazelnut bonbons - Sept. 11, 2018

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Timothy Adams Chocolate
1.) Hazelnut Praline bonbon - Good - Good +
2..) Dairy Free bonbon (made with hazelnut milk) - Good
Weight: .78 oz. (22 g.) (estimate) in two bonbons
Calories: 117 calories (estimate) in two bonbons
Cost: $5.50 for two chocolate bonbons
Purchased from: Timothy Adams Chocolate, Palo Alto, CA

Oh, happy day. Welcome to a Special Celebration Chocolate Series, featuring a baker's dozen of bonbons, truffles, confections, baked goods, and ice creams over the next 12 days (with a heavy hint of hazelnuts).

What's the occasion? We're celebrating 12 years of chocolate, beginning today with two glossy, hazelnut bonbons made by the creative duo behind the Timothy Adams Chocolates shop in (Palo Alto, CA).

Visit this well-designed chocolate store (accented with hot pink and bright turquoise blue) and your mood will be lifted. The staff are friendly and helpful. The chocolates and beverages are well-made and will satisfy a sweet tooth.

The Hazelnut Praline had a sweet, dark chocolate (72% outer shell) aroma with hazelnut notes. It was topped with a small dollop of hazelnut praline, and had a tasty, creamy 58% middle.

The sweet Dairy Free chocolate also had a 72% dark chocolate shell (couverture) and a 58% ganache. Made with hazelnut milk, this alternative milk chocolate was a more convincing dairy free chocolate than most. It had a milk chocolate aroma, and a dairy-like creaminess to it. The uniform sweetness overshadowed chocolate and hazelnut flavor nuances; however, this Dairy Free bonbon offered a great milk chocolate alternative.

Celebrating 12 Years of Chocolate
Twelve years ago, on September 11, 2006, yours truly committed to eating a different chocolate every day for a year. The adventure began with a cup of Haagen Dazs chocolate ice cream in Amsterdam, Netherlands; and this was the beginning of Chocolate Banquet.

Did I know I'd still be eating a different daily chocolate 12 years later? No. I wouldn't have thought that possible.

Many things have happened in the chocolate world since 2006, even in my home town of Palo Alto. Timothy Adams Chocolates shop was once occupied by Monique's Chocolates. And down the street, a lovely place called The Chocolate Garage closed its doors to the public just a few weeks ago, after several years of supplying excellent craft chocolates to an appreciative following.

Perhaps the biggest trend over the past dozen years: the growth in the number of new artisan and bean-to-bar chocolate makers. (Long may they thrive. Like many passion-driven craft industries, profits can be hard-earned.) And customers have learned to appreciate higher-quality chocolates, now that they are more available.

How long will I continue to eat a different daily chocolate? If you believe one has to do something 10,000 times to be an expert, I'll need to eat a new daily chocolate for another 15.4 years.

We'll see. There are many other tempting personal research projects to pursue.
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