Friday, April 22, 2022

Homemade - Chocolate Vanilla Rose Milk - Apr. 22, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Artisan Kettle Organic Chocolate
58% Cacao Organic Semisweet Chocolate Baking Bar
Good + 
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 4 oz. (113.5 g.) in total bar
Calories: 160 calories in 1 oz. (28.3 g.) (2 squares) 
Cost: $1.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

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

Today's homemade chocolate, vanilla and rose milk beverage was based on squares of a 58% Organic Semisweet Chocolate Baking Bar--made for Artisan Kettle Organic Chocolate (Madison, WI). 

A few times a year I make/create homemade chocolate items (brownies, confections, desserts, beverages, entrees, side dishes, etc.). Today's beverage blend was one of those days. 

I used this relatively bold 58% Cacao Artisan Kettle Organic Chocolate to add rich flavor to a vanilla milk and rosewater beverage (fancy chocolate milk). 

I first gently heated Organic A2/A2 Vanilla Milk (whole milk) from Alexandre Family Farms (Crescent City, CA), and stirred in 2 squares of today's dark chocolate. After cooling and chilling this mixture (with one small, dried tart cherry), I stirred in several drops of rosewater before drinking. Because this was a relatively flavorful dark chocolate, I had to add a bit more milk as I went, so the rosewater would be detectable.

The chocolate (by itself) had faint warm spice (cinnamon) and vanilla-botanical (very faint green and floral botanical) notes and a rich, true chocolate (brownie) flavor. (Cacao source was identified as "small family-owned farms in South America" on packaging.)

This organic baking chocolate made for a good eating chocolate. After tasting this, I felt this would have been great for chocolate brownies with cinnamon. In fact, upon closer examination, the inner packaging included a recipe for "Artisan Kettle Mexican Hot Chocolate Spicy Brownies." This, intuitively, seemed like a great match with/for this chocolate.

Ingredients (in base chocolate used): Organic fair trade certified chocolate liquor, organic cane sugar, organic fair trade certified cocoa butter, organic fair trade certified cocoa butter, organic sunflower lecithin, organic vanilla extract.

Allergen-related information for all four ingredients used to make this homemade beverage. 
  • Artisan Kettle 58% dark chocolate bar: "Manufactured in a peanut and tree nut free facility." (vegan, dairy free, soy free, nut free, gluten free, GMO free)
  • Alexandre Family Farms Organic A2/A2 Vanilla Milk: Contains milk.
  • Surabhi - Gulabjal Fresh Rose Water: (contains "preservative")
  • 1 small dried tart cherry - left to infuse in the beverage blend overnight (contains sunflower oil)


Theo Chocolate - Peach Blossom and Chai Tea pieces - Apr. 21, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Theo Chocolate
Peach Blossom White Tea Ganache - Good ++ - Good +++
Chai Tea Ganache - Good ++
Weight: .84 oz. (24 g.) / 1.7 oz. (48 g.) in total box of 4 pcs.
Calories: 120 calories in 2 pieces 
Cost: $10.99 for 1 box of 4 chocolates 
Purchased from: FarmFresh to You, online order

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

Today's Peach Blossom Tea and Chai Tea Ganache chocolates, 2 pieces from a 4-piece Spring Tea Ganache Collection, were from Theo Chocolate (Seattle, WA).

Peach Blossom White Tea Ganache
The aroma for this confection was an uplifting blend of fruit (dried pear and apricot) and floral (fragrant stone fruit blossoms) notes. 

A dark chocolate shell surrounded a soft but substantial (think cold butter), creamy ganache center.

The taste was a celebration of spring flavors, including relatively bold, faintly earthy dark chocolate, with surprisingly un-muted floral (a blend of stone-fruit blossoms and orange blossoms) and tart sweet fruit (apricot, pear, loquat, peach) notes. The relatively small dose of sugar in this confection resulted in clearer, more accessible flavors. 

The delicate white tea was more of a hidden contributor, and seemed the perfect choice and delicate foil for these other flavors.

Chai Tea Ganache

Aroma notes included: chai tea spices (star anise and other warm spices like cinnamon, cardamom and ginger) and chocolate.

The dark chocolate veneer gave way to a velvety soft, ebony-colored dark ganache.

As with the other pieces in this Spring Collection assortment the tea-infused ganache was enrobed in the same smooth, yet bold dark covering with a well-managed earth note. This cacao choice* helped balance out the clear, naturally sweet floral and fruit notes--miraculously, not eclipsing them in the process. 

Big thanks to Theo Chocolate for these skillfully orchestrated, Spring-inspired filled chocolates, with a relatively light touch of sugar. The clarity and access to the authentic floral, tea and fruit flavor inclusions was very satisfying. 

Ingredients: Organic, fair trade cacao beans; organic, fair trade cane sugar; peach blossom infused cream (organic cream, organic peach blossom tea (organic white tea, organic quince, natural peach flavor, organic peaches, essential orange oil, essential tangerine oil), and possibly organic whole milk powder, organic butter, organic nonfat milk powder, honey, organic lemon juice). For more detailed/specific information, please contact Theo Chocolate. 

Allergen-related information: (Contains milk.) "Made on equipment that also processes peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, wheat, and sesame."

*According to information available on the Theo Chocolate website, the cacao was sourced in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and the sugar was sourced in Brazil.


 

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