Obolo Chocolate - 64% Cacao Lapsang Souchong bar - Dec. 28, 2019

Chocolate of the Day:

Obolo Chocolate
64% Cacao Lapsang Souchong (bar)
Good +
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 140 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #7 of Holiday Tea and Spirits Theme Week.

Today's 64% Cacao Lapsang Souchong (tea) bar was made by Obolo Chocolate, a bean-to-bar chocolate maker based in Santiago, Chile.

This complex, relatively sweet dark chocolate broke with a hard snap and was full of smoked tea, savory, fruit, floral aroma and flavor notes. It was an enjoyable and satisfying dark chocolate ride.

I love umami flavors, so I'll never say no to a well-executed, well-balanced bar like this with hints of clean smoked tea.

*Lapsang Souchang tea is a black tea originally from the Wuyi region (Fujian Province) in China. Tea leaves are dried over a smoking pine fire, giving the tea its characteristic smoky flavor and aroma.

Ghirardelli - Peppermint Bark Snowmen - December 27, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Ghirardelli Chocolate Company
Peppermint Bark Snowmen
Good +
Weight: 1.02 oz. (29 g.) / 4 oz. (115.2 g.) in total package
Calories: 160 calories in 1 serving (3 pieces)
Cost: $3.00 (estimate) for 1 package
Purchased from: Safeway, Palo Alto, CA


Welcome to Day #6 of Holiday Tea and Spirits Theme Week.

Today's festive little peppermint bark snowmen were from Ghirardelli Chocolate Company (San Leandro, CA).

The company has been offering individually-wrapped peppermint bark squares for many years, and these snowmen were a fun variation on a Christmas and winter holidays theme.

Crunchy, sweet and pepperminty, this snowman-shaped piece had a thin dark chocolate layer on the bottom and a white chocolate and peppermint candy snowman top layer.

Pair this with an eggnog—or a non-alcoholic and/or non-dairy eggnot—and you've got yourself a very American-looking Christmas holiday chocolate snack. 

Cultura Craft Chocolate - 70% Whiskey + Nibs bar - Dec. 26, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Cultura Craft Chocolate
70% Whiskey + Nibs bar
Good ++
Weight: .6 oz. (17.16 g.) /.9 oz. (26 g.) in total bar
Calories: 101 calories (estimate) in 2/3 bar
Cost: $5.00 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Shop in Albuquerque, NM

Welcome to Day #5 of Holiday Tea and Spirits Theme Week.

Today's 70% Whiskey + Nibs bar was from Cultura Craft Chocolate (Denver, CO).

On her website, Cultura head, Damaris Ronkanen, recalls visiting her grandparents in Mexico and her early exposure to chocolate traditions, such as her grandmother's delicious champurrado (chocolate atole) and mole. Ronkanen seeks to honor her chocolate origins in her bars.

The four-ingredient* 70% Whisky + Nibs** bar had dried fruit notes, mellowed by a very faint hint of (Deerhammer's single malt) whiskey. Satisfying true chocolate flavor was enhanced by a smattering of cacao nibs. The chocolate had high-quality, complex flavor that was not overpowered by sugar (thank you!).

*Organic cacao, organic cane sugar, whiskey, organic cocoa butter

**Nibs (pieces of cocoa beans) add a soft crunch and can magnify the essence of true chocolate flavor, taking it to the next level. Marinate nibs in whiskey and you can use them in cooking (in brownies, cookies, over vanilla ice cream, in savory dishes/rubs...or to sprinkle on chocolate.).

Ocho Caramel and Reese's milk chocolate peanut butter filled trees - Dec. 25, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Ocho
Organic Caramel Trees - Milk Chocolate
Good +
Weight: 1.16 oz. (33 g.) / 3.88 oz. (110 g.) in total package
Calories: 150 calories in 3 pieces
Cost: $1.99 (estimate) for 1 package
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Reese's
(The Hershey Company)
Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter - Tree stuffed with Reese's pieces
Good
Weight: 1.1 oz. (31 g.) in 1 small package
Calories: 160 calories in 1 package
Cost: $0.79 for 1 package
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #4 of Holiday Tea and Spirits Theme Week.

Decorating holiday trees this week, and hiking outdoors with friends and family inspired the choice of two filled chocolate "trees" on Christmas Day. It was also a beautiful day outdoors today, with live trees and lit up trees of all kinds, everywhere.

Hope you all enjoyed the holidays.

Ocho Caramel Trees
The individually-wrapped, diminutive Milk Chocolate Caramel Tree from Ocho was oozing with fresh, authentic-tasting caramel. And the chocolate tasted authentic and relatively high-quality as well. Did I mention these were Organic as well?

Ocho, based in Oakland, CA, was an early player in the healthier candy bar market, with offerings that not only lacked artificial colors or preservatives, but also were organic and better tasting than their packaged candy ancestors.

The Reese's* Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Tree

Reese's small novelty holiday tree was filled with colorful, candy-coated, crunchy Reese's pieces. Stuffing the "ornaments" inside the peanut butter tree, made for a sweeter, crunchier tasting experience than the standard peanut butter cup.

*The H.B. Reese Candy Company is a subsidiary of Hersheys (The Hershey Company, Hershey, PA). The two companies became one in the early 1960s.

Jelina Chocolatier - Earl Grey 72% Dark and Matcha (white) bars - Dec. 24, 2019

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Jelina Chocolatier*
Earl Grey 72% Dark Chocolate bar
Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 3.52 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1 oz. (28.3 g.) of bar
Cost: $8.99 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bookstar, San Diego, CA

Welcome to Day #3 of Holiday Tea and Spirits Theme Week.

Today's Earl Grey 72% Dark Chocolate bar was from Jelina Chocolatier.* The company was founded in 1985 and has focused on bars made with fine Belgian chocolate, without added oils, emulsifiers, flavors or artificial ingredients.

Some Jelina bars (like today's Earl Grey dark bar) are made with organic chocolate.

This Earl Grey tea bar had nicely balanced, rich fruit, floral, herb-bergamot, and chocolate aroma and flavor notes.

And, while we were waiting for Santa Claus to arrive, we decided that one tea deserved another. So, the Earl Grey tea infused bar was paired with a Matcha Green Tea White Chocolate bar, also from Jelina Chocolatier.

The matcha bar was a well-executed implementation of a green tea bar. The notes of fresh grass and authentic Japanese matcha tea flavor were refreshing and pleasing. And the 29% white chocolate base was not overly sweet (thank you!).

*Note: In Canada, Jelina Chocolatier is known as Galerie au Chocolat.

Homemade Peppermint Bark + wine, port - Dec. 23, 2019

Chocolate of the Day:

Homemade Peppermint Bark
Good - Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) in 3 small pieces
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 3 small pieces
Cost: Approx. $10.00 for 1 large batch
Purchased from: Ingredients were from Safeway, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #2 of Holiday Tea and Spirits Theme Week.

I made this homemade peppermint bark from four ingredients: organic 70% bittersweet dark chocolate pieces; white chocolate bars (broken into pieces and melted) from Ghirardelli Chocolate (San Leandro, CA); broken up peppermint candy cane pieces; and peppermint extract.

A plateful of these bark pieces were shared at a holiday get-together with neighbors. (Thank you Margaret and all!). Some love this traditional holiday candy-sweet confection; and others consider it too sweet. But, its refreshing mint flavor was reminiscent of holidays past and matched the refreshing, cold night air on the walk over and back from the get-together this evening.

Pairing these with selected sips of spirits (red wine and port), surprisingly, seemed to work.*

*I am cautious with pairing chocolate and mint items with anything else. It must be lingering memories of brushing my teeth with mint toothpaste and then taking a sip of orange juice...and experiencing these two substances fighting each other on my palette. Not a great taste memory.

Chamisa Chocolate - Santa Fe Biscochito dark bar, Matcha white chocolate bar - Dec. 22, 2019

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

Chamisa Chocolate
Santa Fe Biscochito dark bar
Good +
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: N/A - sample bar
Purchased from: N/A - from Chamisa Chocolate

Welcome to Day #1 of Holiday Tea and Spirits Theme Week.

Today's bars were from Chamisa Chocolate (Santa Fe, NM). Thank you to Amanda for sharing your wonderful "experimental" holiday cookie and tea chocolate bars.

A traditional biscochito is a butter cookie with spices (e.g. star anise) that you might find in the Southwestern U.S. These cookies are, I'm told, the state cookie of the State of New Mexico. Today's dark bar contained a gluten-free blend of almond flour and spices that was a great tribute to this Santa Fe favorite.

I also appreciated being able to sample an "experimental" Green Tea Matcha white chocolate bar with crisped rice.

This complex bar had both warming and cooling elements, with green tea, and a faint hint of mint/(menthol?) notes. The rice added a light crunch that complemented the smooth white chocolate base—that was not too sweet (thank you!).

Again, thank you to Amanda for sharing these chocolates. They brightened up our winter holiday season.

*Chamisa Chocolate offers a variety of vegan and gluten free chocolate bars, including many with flavor inclusions and a few single origin bars.

Misfits Bakehouse - Cardamom Brownie + Honduras Coffee - Dec. 21, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Misfits Bakehouse
Cardamom Brownie with sea salt
(enjoyed with Mayorga Honduras Coffee)
Good ++
Weight: unknown
Calories: unknown
Cost: $4.00 (estimate) for 1 brownie
Purchased from: Misfits Bakehouse, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Honduras Theme Week.

Today's bit of Honduras came from coffee grown in Mayorga, Honduras.

The chocolate portion of today was provided by a delicious gluten-free Cardamom Brownie from Misfits Bakehouse (Palo Alto, CA)—a small, neighborhood bakery specializing in gluten-free baked goods and savory items as well.

Seahorse Chocolate - 70% Honduras Wampusirpi Direct Trade (bar) - Dec. 20, 2019

Chocolate of the Day:

Seahorse Chocolate
70% Honduras Wampusirpi Direct Trade (bar)
Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (56 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Honduras Theme Week.

Today's attractively-packaged 70% Honduras Wampusirpi Direct Trade (bar) was created by R.C. and Amanda Gartrell (of Seahorse Chocolate) who are roasting single origin beans and making chocolate in Bend, OR.

This was very uniform, sweet, smooth dark chocolate. The maker tasting notes read: "brown sugar, toffee." These notes contributed to the feeling of a friendly, sweet confection.

There is lots of snow in the Bend, OR, area this December. Something sweet and chocolatey like this might serve as a good warm-up or parka pocket treasure.

Dandelion Chocolate - 70% Wampu, Honduras bar - Dec. 19 , 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Dandelion Chocolate
70% Wampu, Honduras 2017 Harvest (bar)
Good +++ - Very Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / 2 oz. (56 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar 
Purchased from: Dandelion Chocolate Manufactory + Cafe, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and Honduras Theme Week.

Today's 70% Wampu, Honduras 2017 Harvest (bar) was crafted by Dandelion Chocolate (San Francisco, CA).

The "Wampu" refers to Wampusirpi, a relatively remote area, where the beans used to make this chocolate travelled by river in dugout canoes for two days. Most of the Honduras bars featured this week have been made from cacao grown in Wampusirpi area, located in northeastern Honduras.

This two-ingredient,* 70% dark chocolate bar had very slight, well-balanced fruit, floral and green tea notes intertwined with the chocolate aroma. The bar broke with a well-tempered, hard snap. And, it had a smooth, even melt and texture and delicious, relatively sweet, true dark chocolate (rich brownie with a few baked in nuts) flavor with a very faint sweet miso sesame note in the finish.

Sadly, this bar was sold out when I checked this week.

*Ingredients: Cocoa beans and organic cane sugar
Dandelion tasting notes read: classic dark chocolate, macadamia nut, honeycomb

Castronovo Chocolate - Lost City Honduras 60% Dark Milk Chocolate with Fleur de Sel (bar) - Dec. 18, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Castronovo Chocolate
Lost City Honduras 60% Dark Milk Chocolate with Fleur de Sel (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.1 oz. (31 g.) / 2.2 oz. (62 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories (estimate) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Honduras Theme Week.

Today's Lost City Honduras 72% Wild Trinitario Dark Chocolate bar was from Castronovo Chocolate (Stuart, FL).

This bar had a smooth and creamy texture, and an inviting dark milk chocolate aroma and flavor with caramel-forward notes.

A sprinkling of sea salt added a balanced amount of savory to the sweet without being too overwhelming.

Castronovo Chocolate - Honduras Lost City 72% Wild Trinitario Dark Chocolate bar - Dec. 17, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Castronovo Chocolate
Honduras Lost City 72% Wild Trinitario Dark Chocolate bar
Good +++
Weight: 1.1 oz. (31 g.) / 2.2 oz. (62 g.) in total bar
Calories: 150 calories (per label) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and Honduras Theme Week.

Today's Honduras Lost City 72% Wild Trinitario Dark Chocolate bar was from Castronovo Chocolate (Stuart, FL).*

Chocolate maker Denise Castronovo has been making chocolate and coaxing fine flavors out of heritage cacao beans grown in Central and South America in Florida, north of Miami,* for many years.

This bar is a tribute to a lost city discovered in a biological preserve in Honduras that is threatened by potential deforestation. (Many ancient structures and villages in Central America have become covered with vines and reclaimed by tropical and temperate forests over time, sometimes centuries, and some are occasionally are re-discovered.)

This Lost City area in Honduras is being protected by the Miskito indigenous people, who harvest and ferment wild cacao. Today's bar was made using cacao from this area.

This Honduran chocolate* had a rich, chocolatey aroma with hints of nuts (roasted almonds), subtle  fermented fruit (berries), and a very light salt-savory malt and leather saddle note. The resulting blend was delicious. It was balanced, complex and flavorful as well as enjoyable and approachable.

*Stuart, Florida is located on the Atlantic "Treasure Coast" area of Florida, and is also known as the "Sailfish Capital of the World." Technically one could grow cacao in southern Florida, but few do (so far at least). The nearest cacao farms might be in Cuba, Central America, and other, more distant Caribbean island nations (Haiti and the Dominican Republic). That said, Stuart, FL, is "closer" to cacao-growing regions than most areas of the U.S.

**This Honduras Lost City bar was labeled as Batch No. 858.

Wm. Chocolate - Honduras Wampusirpi 100% Dark bar - Dec. 16, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Wm. Chocolate
Honduras Wampusirpi 100% Dark bar
Good +++
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $6.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate and Honduras Theme Week.

Today's Honduras Wampusirpi 100% Dark bar was from Wm. Chocolate (Madison, WI).

Described as "Nutty and Intense," this chocolate had a slightly waxy melt and thick creamy texture, influenced by the surrounding cold weather.

This was ultra-dark chocolate had a pleasing and well-balanced uniform light bitterness (think hops, walnuts and/or certain very dark berries). This one-ingredient* chocolate would make a fine "every day" 100 percent-er. It was flavorful and bold, without being overpowering.

I was ready to order more from the Wm. Chocolate website, but it looks like this bar might have already sold out. A pity really. But, that's the way it is with small batch, artisan chocolate sometimes.

The chocolate maker's tasting notes read: "walnut, elderberry, gruyere"

*Ingredients: "cocoa beans"

Wm. Chocolate - Honduras Wampusirpi + 70% Dark + Hawaiian Red Salt bar - Dec. 15, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Wm. Chocolate
Honduras Wampusirpi + 70% Dark + Hawaiian Red Salt bar
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $6.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate and Honduras Theme Week.

Today's Honduras Wampusirpi + 70% Dark + Hawiaan Red Salt bar was from Wm. Chocolate (Madison, WI). Wm. Chocolate is the creation of bean-to-bar chocolate maker William (Will) Marx.

Described as "nutty and caramely," this artisan, single origin 70% dark bar was sweetened with "whole (unrefined) cane sugar.*"

Many of us are conditioned to brace ourselves for gooey sweet items when we hear the word "caramel." However, this chocolate exemplified the subtle side of caramel. (Thank you.) The amount of salt is judicious and subtle as well, allowing the rich chocolate flavor(s) to shine.

As for the cacao single origin, Wampusirpi is located in the relatively remote northeastern Honduras in Central America. (Wampusirpi is the largest of 26 localities in the Honduran department of Gracias a Dios.) The remoteness of this location means that the cocoa is more likely to be pure and flavorful and less likely to be treated with chemicals. Wm. Chocolate selects cacao for "fairness and flavor."

*Whole cane sugar is made from cane juice that is dried out.

Off the Farm Foods, Inc. - Cocoa Coconut Macaroon Gluten Free Energy Bar - Dec. 14, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Off the Farm Foods, Inc.
Cocoa Coconut Macaroon Gluten Free Energy Bar
Good
Weight: 3 oz. (85 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 360 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $2.79 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Farm Supply Company, San Luis Obispo, CA

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Coconut Theme Week.

Today's Cocoa Coconut Macaroon Gluten Free Energy Bar was from Off the Farm Foods, Inc. (Redding, CA).

The company offers a family of chunky, small batch, protein and energy bars, including today's macaroon that contained 8 grams of protein (and 15 grams of fiber). Dates, coconut and cashews (the three first ingredients listed) yielded a chewy, naturally fruit-sweetened version of a macaroon cookie.

Chocolate flavor was supplied by visible chocolate chips/chunks. The cashews and a variety of seeds (pumpkin, chia, sesame, sunflower) and oats provided substance and protein.

Pie in the Sky - Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake - Dec. 13, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Pie in the Sky, LLC
Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake
Good - Good +
Weight: 4.9 oz. (137 g.) in 1 package
Calories: 500 calories in 1 package
Cost: $1.99 (estimate) for 1 package
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Coconut Theme Week.

Today's Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake was from Pie in the Sky, LLC (Longmont, CO).

This chocolate cheesecake had an authentic (gluten free) graham cracker-style crust and had a satisfying smooth, creamy cheesecake texture and flavor.

I enjoyed this dessert with a coconut beverage.

Blue Diamond - Dark Chocolate flavored Almonds and Toasted Coconut - Dec. 12, 2019

Chocolate of the Day:

Blue Diamond Growers
Almonds and Fruit - Dark Chocolate flavored Almonds and Toasted Coconut
Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 5 oz. (142 g.) in total package
Calories: 160 calories in 1 serving
Cost: $6.49 for 1 package
Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and Coconut Theme Week.

Today's Almonds and Fruit Dark Chocolate flavored Almonds and Toasted Coconut were distributed by Blue Diamond Growers (Sacramento, CA).

Blue Diamond Growers, founded in 1910, is half-owned by California almond growers who, collectively, produce over eighty percent of the world's almond supply. That's a lot of almonds—and potential opportunities to blend these tasty tree nuts with chocolate.

These pleasing nutty whole almonds were coated with a sweet, thin layer of dark chocolate,  complemented by natural tasting toasted coconut strips.

This was an appealing blend of "whole" almond and nut/fruit flavors, that could be enjoyed by itself, or added to trail mix, ice cream or other snack or dessert items.

Eating Evolved - Dark Chocolate Coconut Butter Cups - Dec. 11, 2019

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Eating Evolved LLC
Dark Chocolate Coconut Butter Cups
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.5 oz. (42 g.) in 1 package of 2 cups
Calories: 260 calories in 1 package of 2 cups
Cost: $3.29 for 1 package
Purchased from: Whole Foods Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Coconut Theme Week.

Today's Coconut Cups were from Eating Evolved LLC (Setauket, NY). One package contained two cups, that were smooth and creamy dark chocolate with a slightly lighter, coconut layer or filling in the middle.

These Organic, vegan and paleo confections had an easy, creamy melt and texture and authentic flavors.

There were only five ingredients in this product: Organic coconut, cacao, coconut sugar, cacao butter and Himalayan sea salt. (No dairy, no soy, no cane sugar.)

The content and images on this site belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.

Little Secrets - Toasted Coconut Dark Chocolate Pieces - Dec. 10, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Little Secrets
Toasted Coconut Dark Chocolate Pieces
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 5 oz. (142 g.) in total package
Calories: 150 calories in 1 serving (18 pieces)
Cost: $5.99 for 1 package
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and Coconut Theme Week.

Today's Toasted Coconut Dark Chocolate Pieces were from Little Secrets, LLC (Boulder, CO).

These candy-coated yellow and green pieces were crunchy and creamy, and had authentic dark chocolate and coconut flavor. They were sweet, with a bit less sweetness (thank you) than traditional hard-shelled chocolate candies.

These Toasted Coconut Little Secrets were made with no artificial colors or flavors. (The colors were from "natural sources.")

Jennies Gluten Free Bakery - Double Chocolate Sea Salt Mararoons - Dec. 9, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Jennies Gluten Free Bakery
(manufactured by Red Mill Farms)
Double Chocolate Sea Salt Macaroons
Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 10 oz. (283 g.) in total container
Calories: 145 calories in 1 macaroon
Cost: $2.99 (estimate) for 1 container
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate and Coconut Theme Week.

Today's Jennies Double Chocolate Sea Salt Macaroons were manufactured by Red Mill Farms (Moosic, PA) for Jennies Gluten Free Bakery (Moosic, PA).

These classic, slightly chewy coconut and chocolate macaroons were embellished with a friendly dose of sea salt. The recipe seemed to be updated to address changing tastes in the past few years. The chocolate had a slightly richer flavor, there were no sulfites,* and these were certified gluten free, Non GMO, and made in a peanut-free facility.

These were substantial, sweet, and natural coconut and chocolate macaroons. One was enough to satisfy.

*Shredded coconut is often treated with sulfites to preserve color and freshness. However, some people do not tolerate sulfites, have respiratory symptoms after ingesting sulfites, or can be allergic to them. And these people would likely be happy to compromise a bit on the original color if they could find a sulfite-free product. (Frankly, with chocolate macaroons, you might not notice if "white" coconut shaded down a bit to a duller ivory color.

Arete - Coco Powder; Coconut Drinking Chocolate - Dec. 8, 2019

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Arete
Expeller Pressed Cocoa Powder
Good - Good +
Weight: 4 oz. (113 g.) (estimate) in 1/2 cup hot chocolate / 8.8 oz. (250 g.) in total package of ("dry") cocoa powder
Calories: 200 calories in 1 small cup serving
Cost: $ Missing information
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate and Coconut Theme Week.

To make a good hot chocolate or drinking chocolate, you need to start with high-quality ingredients, like rich, flavorful, authentic Expeller Pressed Cocoa Powder from Arete Artisan Fine Chocolate (Spencer, TN).

To this cocoa powder I added (dairy) milk, homemade coconut milk, coconut oil and spices and a hint of monkfruit (sweetener)—resulting in a very rich hot drinking chocolate which was cooked and stirred and then run through a sieve into a cup.

"Zombie" Chocolates, Sticky Wilson's Candy Shop, Palo Alto

Chocolates have been available in the San Francisco Bay Area for more than 150 years. It's always interesting to research ghosts of chocolates past in one's own neighborhood.


A century ago Wilson's Candy, initially located on the Stanford University campus in Palo Alto, CA, opened its downtown Palo Alto store. An article in the December 2017 issue of the Stanford Illustrated Review talked about the new candy shop on University Avenue. Wilson's chocolates were described as superior, "College Educated Chocolates."


This and related information surfaced when I attended a talk at a local Palo Alto Historical Association meeting this evening.

Chocolates served at this event re-created a recipe for "Zombie" chocolates—sold by "Sticky" Wilson at his Palo Alto Candy Shop—including a coconut flavor. The truffle-shaped rounds were soft and chocolatey and rolled in flaked coconut.

Thank you to Nicole (and mom Kristen) and grandparents for bringing these historic chocolates back to life, and for explaining how they were made. The Coconut Zombie chocolate I tasted was great!

Chocolate Filled Raspberries; Cheesecake Cups; Raspberry Almond Yogurt; small desserts - Dec. 7, 2019

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Raspberry Theme Week.

Greetings busy people. Here is a trio of small, easy to make chocolate and raspberry desserts 1.) Dark Chocolate Filled Fresh Raspberries, 2.) chocolate and raspberry Cheesecake Cups and 3.) Raspberry Almond Milk Yogurt with chocolate shavings.

Dark Chocolate Filled Raspberries

Dark Chocolate Filled Raspberries
Good +++
Weight: unknown - less than 1 oz. (28.3 g.)
Calories: 35 calories (estimate) in 5 berries
Cost: $5.00 (estimate) for organic, fresh raspberries and dark chocolate

Simple is better. A shout out to Robyn Stone's recipe for chocolate filled fresh raspberries (found on her Add A Pinch website).

This is an easy, fresh way to combine berries and chocolate. Even though finding fresh berries in December required a fairly extensive search, it was worth the drive to be able to create these flavorful little beauties.

Melt a little dark chocolate with a bit of coconut oil and either carefully spoon the melted chocolate* into individual berries, or put this chocolate a plastic bag and cut off a small corner to pipe warm chocolate into each berry. Chilling these for even a few minutes firms up the chocolate.

Philadelphia Cheesecake Cups

Kraft Heinz
Philadelphia Cheesecake Cups
(chocolate and raspberry)
Good
Weight: 3.25 oz. (92 g.) / 6.5 oz. (184 g.) in 1 package of 2 servings
Calories: 240 calories in 1 serving
Cost: $3.99 (estimate) for 1 package of 2 servings
Purchased from: Missing information

This off-the-shelf snack dessert package of Philadelphia "cheesecake cups" (contained two serving containers and) was made with a pocket of chocolate cream cheese and a pocket of raspberry sauce, and no artificial flavors or colors (thank you!).

A consumer can mix the chocolate and raspberry pockets or sides together as they wish. Just grab a spoon and eat.

Raspberry Yogurt with Dark Chocolate Shavings

Kite Hill 
Raspberry Artisan Almond Milk Yogurt (dairy free)
Weight: 5.3 oz. (150 g.) in 1 container + dark chocolate shavings
Calories: 150 calories in 1 container + dark chocolate shavings
Cost: $0.89 for 1 serving
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Kite Hill Raspberry Artisan Almond Milk Yogurt—distributed by Lyrical Foods, Inc. (Hayward, CA)—with dark chocolate shavings was the third small dessert for the day.

It's nice to have a non-dairy yogurt alternative that can be eaten plain or incorporated into some dessert like this. The texture was smooth and velvety. The raspberry flavor was authentic and the yogurt had a very faint plant/nut taste at the end.

And dark chocolate shavings seem to be right at home with any yogurt, or ice cream.

*Note: An 80% cocoa dark chocolate single origin bar, and a Tart Raspberries + Dark Chocolate 72% Cocoa bar (featured earlier version of this site) from Endangered Species (Indianapolis, IN) were also used to make these desserts.

Hu Kitchen - Cashew Butter and Raspberry Jelly Dark Chocolate bar - Dec. 6, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Hu Kitchen
Cashew Butter and Raspberry Jelly Dark Chocolate bar
Good ++
Weight: 1.05 oz. (30 g.) / 2.1 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 180 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $3.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Market at Edgewood, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Raspberry Theme Week.

Today's Cashew Butter and Raspberry Jelly Dark Chocolate bar was from Hu Kitchen (New York, NY).

This vegan, paleo, filled bar was made with "organic house-ground cacao." The bar had a light, clean, green aroma with chocolate and fruit (berry) notes, and natural raspberry and rich, smooth chocolate flavor. This was a nicely balanced and executed chocolate bar with a slight cashew nut finish.