Donnelly Chocolates - Dark Chocolate Caramel Pecan (bar) - Dec. 17, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Donnelly Chocolates

Dark Chocolate Caramel Pecan (bar)

Good ++

Weight: 1.6 oz. (45 g.) in 1 bar

Calories: 218 calories (estimate) in 1 bar

Cost: N/A - gift from a friend (Thank you Julie!)

Purchased from: N/A - gift (purchased at Donnelly Chocolates)

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate and Hazelnuts Week (with pecans and caramel playing a starring role).

Today's Dark Chocolate Caramel Pecan (bar) was a treat from a friend who was likely driving through Santa Cruz, California, and made a stop at "World Famous Donnelly's Chocolates," where chief chocolatier Richard Donnelly practices the art of making chocolate bars, barks and confections.

I don't eat caramels that much anymore because many lack much, if any, flavor other than sugar. This thick, rich caramel bar was very sweet; but it was also full of flavors: homemade butter, brown sugar, pecans, and dark chocolate to be precise. 

The caramel filling was luscious and soft. I highly recommend eating this bar with a napkin or two at-the-ready.

This bar was accompanied by a glass of hazelnut "milk."

Ingredients: "dark chocolate (contains cocoa liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin as emulsifier, sunflower lecithin, natural vanilla flavoring), caramel, pecans"

Allergen-related information: None listed on small label; contained pecans.

Zotter - Sweet Christmas Greetings - Dark Chocolate 70% filled with hazelnut praline, brittle (bar) - Dec. 16, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Zotter

"Sweet Christmas Greetings" - Dark Chocolate 70% filled with hazelnut praline and hazelnut brittle (bar)

Good ++

Weight: 2.47 oz. (70 g.) in total bar

Calories: 400 calories in 1 bar

Cost: $7.99 for 1 bar (free shipping, part of larger order)

Purchased from: Zotterusa.com, online order

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

Today's "Sweet Christmas Greetings" Dark Chocolate 70% filled with hazelnut praline and hazelnut brittle (bar) was made in Austria and distributed by Zotter Chocolates US LLC (Fort Myers, FL).

Aroma notes included: hazelnut biscuit (cookie) dipped in a thick sweet dark chocolate mocha beverage.

A smooth, creamy ultra-dark tasting (70%) chocolate covering allowed for more flavor depth and contrast with a sweet, nutty center.

Inside this Christmas holiday-themed, filled chocolate bar was a fragrant, praline slightly flaky, crunchy and authentically nutty praline-style layer melded with a hazelnut brittle layer. A winning combination of flavors that harmonized together without tasting overly sweet, despite sugar being the number one ingredient. 

Ingredients: Organic, fair traded cane sugar; organic, fair traded cocoa mass; organic, fair traded hazelnuts; organic, fair traded cocoa butter; organic hazelnut oil; organic soy lecithin; organic, fair traded dark brown cane sugar; salt; organic vanilla bean powder; organic, fair trade cinnamon.

Allergen-related information: "Contains almonds, milk, hazelnuts, soy. Manufactured on equipment that processes other tree nuts." (Certified Organic.)

Cacao Crudo - 65% Sweet Hazelnuts Cream (Crema Dolce Alle Nocciole) - Dec. 15, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Cacao Crudo 

65% Sweet Hazelnuts Cream

(Crema Dolce Alle Nocciole - Delice Noisettes 65%)

Good + - Good ++

Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 g.) / 7. oz. (200 g.) in total jar

Calories: 291 calories in 1/4 jar 

Cost: $ N/A - sample 

Purchased from: (N/A - sample from Cacao Crudo, Italy)

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

I was impressed with today's spread from Cacao Crudo for multiple reasons. First the makers used high-quality Italian hazelnuts (65%) and single origin cacao (from Peru). Second, it contained a reasonably high percentage of cacao (cocoa powder) for a spread and was not loaded with sugar. (It was lightly sweetened with coconut flower sap). Third, the organic unroasted cacao and hazelnuts were both delicious in this three-ingredient confection.

Complex aroma notes included: a whiff of tropical fruit (passion fruit, musk strawberry) and coconut sugar, very light cocoa, and nutty vegetable.

The texture was velvety smooth. It would make a fine high-end, thick icing/frosting, spread for a croissant, or treat right out of the jar. And, again, it was not overly sweet (thank you!)--allowing for a range of authentic and delicate chocolate and nut notes to shimmer and shine.

The makers at Cacao Crudo craft quality, nuanced chocolates using very few, high-quality ingredients--achieving a fine balance, to the point of apparent contradiction. Delicate but 100% rich and decadent; suitable for confections without being too sweet; balanced complexity--all the while busting the myth that unroasted chocolate is somehow lacking in flavor.* The company's unroasted cacao offerings that I have tasted in the past year or two have all been exceptionally good.

Ingredients: Unroasted, Organic "Tonde Gentile Romana" hazelnuts paste; organic cocoa powder; organic, concentrated coconut flower sap.

Allergen-related information: "May contain almonds and walnuts." (Contains hazelnuts.)

*As coffee and craft chocolate lovers will tell you, roasting is an art unto itself. An important step in a long list of steps to make a flavorful end product. Roasting plays an important role in flavor development and can help get rid of unwanted qualities as well. However, if makers are working with fine-flavored beans with very subtle aroma and flavor profiles, roasting can lead to the loss of more delicate notes. And unroasted cacao may have an advantage here.

Giraudi Nocciole Trilobate - Latte 36% E Nocciole Tonde Gentili Trilobate Intere Tostate (bar) - Dec. 14, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Giraudi 
Nocciole Trilobate - Latte 36% E Nocciole Tonde Gentili Trilobate Intere Tostate (bar)

Milk Chocolate 36% with Gently Toasted Hazelnuts (bar)

Good + - Good ++

Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 g.) / 3.52 oz. (100 g.) total bar

Calories: 292 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $0 - gift from family member (Thank you Dave!)

Purchased from: N/A - gift from family member

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

This Milk Chocolate 36% Cocoa with Gently Toasted Hazelnuts (bar) was from Giraudi S.r.l. (Castellazzo Bormida (AL), Italy)--and imported from Italy into the U.S. by Manicaretti (Oakland, CA).

The aroma of this classic hazelnut milk chocolate bar was one of sweet, rich hot drinking chocolate, redolent with vanilla and hazelnut(s).

Creamy milk chocolate provided a delicious base for (and complement to) a field of whole, crunchy hazelnuts (30% of content) on the back of the bar. 

The milk chocolate alone would have been too sweet, but the nuts cushioned the sugar. The 36% milk chocolate would likely have been too sweet by itself (for my taste), but the nuts cushioned the sugar and added high-quality nut flavor. (In addition to the aforementioned vanilla, there was a very faint, sweet, refreshing fruit/floral oolong tea note as well.) 

Giraudi, located in the Piedmont Region of northern Italy, has offered a variety of tasty chocolate and hazelnut creations over the years. 

The Piedmont Region is known for hazelnuts as well as chocolate hazelnut confections. Nougats, gianduja/gianduia, and spreads--fancy forerunners/relatives of Nutella) have been created here for centuries, following cacao's arrival in Europe. So a Chocolate and Hazelnut Theme Week without at least one chocolate from Italy would not be complete.

Ingredients: Milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, powdered whole milk, cocoa paste. Emulsifier: soy lecithine, natural vanilla flavour. Cocoa min. 36%), Piedmont Hazelnuts (30%).

Allergen-related information: "It may contain traces of other fruit with shell, sesame and peanuts." (Contains nuts - hazelnuts.) "gluten free"