Chocolate of the Day
Vosges Haut-Chocolat
Walnut and Chanterelle 80% Cacao (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 180 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $7.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Vosges, online order
Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Mushroom Theme Week; and Day #1 of Chocolate and Umami Theme Week.
Today's attractively-packaged Walnut and Chanterelle* 80% Cacao (bar) was from Vosges Haut-Chocolat (Vosges IP, LLC, Chicago, IL).
The bar was part of the company's LAB collection, and was made using the entire cacao pod (fiber, fruit and seed) and no refined sugars.
The aroma notes for this ultra-dark bar included: freshly baked walnut fudge brownies, roasted cacao nibs, and faint diffuse fruit.
This well-tempered bar had a crunchy, almost stoneground, texture that worked very effectively. A variety of very tiny flavor bits (including cacao nibs ("seeds")) harmonized nicely and created flavor and textural depth.
There was enough cocoa butter (number one ingredient) to create a pleasing sensation on the palette. (It prevented the feeling of a dry, grainy texture that occasionally occurs in chocolates with a coarser grind (or shorter conch times), while still preserving intact flavors.
It was difficult to single out specific chanterelle mushroom flavor in this blend. However, a very light sparkle of sea salt and walnut "flour" contributed to a subtly satisfying umami experience.
Ingredients: Cocoa butter, unsweetened chocolate processed with alkali, coconut sugar, defatted walnut flour, cacao berry (cacao berry fiber, cacao berry flour), vanilla (maltodextrin, vanilla), cacao fruit puree, chanterelle mushroom powder, Baja Gold salt.
Allergen-related information: "Contains: Walnuts, coconut." "Processed on equipment that also processes milk, soy, wheat, eggs, peanuts and tree nuts."
*Chanterelle mushrooms are popular (and relatively expensive) culinary mushrooms. The golden sun-colored floral trumpet-shaped like fungi are usually eaten cooked (less likely to cause upset stomach if eaten cooked). They have a meaty (umami) texture, and sometimes unique faint yellow stone-fruit (apricot, peach) aroma/flavor notes.
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