Sunday, November 8, 2020

Dark Chocolate Honey Cured Pink and Meyer Lemon Slices; Clif Family White Chocolate Lemon & Ginger (bar) - Nov. 7, 2020

Chocolate(s) of the Day

Dark Chocolate, Honey Cured Pink and Meyer Lemon Slices
(Homemade)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: 1.6 oz. (45.28 g.) for 4 small slices
Calories: 195 calories in 4 small slices
Cost: $ N/A - various
Purchased from: N/A - various (including lemon trees in yard)

Clif Family Napa Valley
White Chocolate Lemon and Ginger (bar)
Good +
Weight: 2 oz. (56 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 280 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $5.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Village Market, Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate, Honey and Citrus Theme Week. 

Homemade honey and lemon dark chocolate slices
I'm drawn to pairing warm, bright flavors with chocolate as the weather cools in November. Fortunately, I live in California and Meyer lemon, sweet pink grapefruit, and other citrus trees are full of fruit now.

For today's first chocolate, I brushed ultra-thin slices of Pink Lemons and Meyer Lemons with honey and later (after a slow curing process) dipped these citrus slices into a melange of melted dark chocolates. I loved the bold bitter dark, and tart lemon flavors together with a subtle honey sweetness.

The second chocolate was a gentler, sweeter implementation of these flavors. 

Clif Family White Chocolate Lemon and Ginger (bar)
The Clif Family * winery and chocolate factory (Saint Helena, CA) are based in the Napa Valley in northern California--a region famous for wine and good food.

Today's White Chocolate Lemon and Ginger 33% Cacao Artisan Chocolate (bar) had authentic ginger flavor and subtle citrus (lemon) notes. (The Clif Family suggests pairing this bar with a Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc wine.)

High cacao (butter) percent white chocolates (sans cacao solids) provide a sweet culinary launchpad for subtle herbs, spices and fruits like saffron, pepper(s), citrus (lemon, orange, lime, kumquat, etc.), members of the mint family, honey and many other flavor inclusions. 

Even ginger and stronger mints and fruits--that can hold their own with dark chocolate (high percent cacao solids)--can be intriguing when allowed to take center stage in a white chocolate base.

As long as the white chocolate is pure and not overly sweet, these flavor blends can be delicious. Today's 33% white chocolate was a balanced, warming ginger and lemon confection suffused with a touch of vanilla. 

Ingredients: "33% White Chocolate Tahitian Vanilla (organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, organic whole milk, organic nonfat milk, organic soy lecithin, whole Tahitian vanilla beans), organic crystallized ginger, organic crystallized lemon peel, citric acid."

*The Clif Family operations in Napa are owned by Clif Bar founders, Gary Erickson and Kit Crawford.
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