Wildwood Chocolate - Orange Confit and Cherries 70% Cacao (bar) - June 6, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Wildwood Chocolate
Orange Confit and Cherries
Good ++
Weight: 1.58 oz. (45 g.) / 3.17 oz. (90 g.) in total bar
Calories: 210 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $17.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Healing Arts Center and Spa at Cavallo Point, Sausalito, CA

Welcome to Day #12 of Chocolate and Fruits Theme Week(s). 

Today's Orange Confit and Cherries 70% Cacao (bar) was from Wildwood Chocolate (Portland, OR).

Aroma notes for this bar included: hearty dark chocolate (balanced, relatively heavily roasted* cacao),  and diffuse fruit(s) (stone fruit and citrus).

I enjoyed this blend of smooth, rich, dark bittersweet chocolate; plump and moist dried cherries; and long strips of very softly chewy, candied orange peel. 

Ingredients: Bittersweet Chocolate (cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla extract), Dried Cherries (may contain pits), Orange Confit (orange peel, glucose syrup, sugar).

Allergen-related information: Contains Soy. May contain traces of the following if not listed above due to shared equipment: milk, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat or eggs.

* I used to be a fan of dark roasted items (e.g. espresso roast coffee, barbequed foods with little flecks of char). However, if I now prefer to taste the more nuanced, delicate fresh flavors in foods. And that includes cacao. A heavier roast may mean losing some objectionable flavors; but it will also mean that floral and some fruit, spice and botanical notes will be lost.

Zotter - Strawberry Pistachio 50% Milk Chocolate (bar) - June 5, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Zotter
Strawberry Pistachio 50% Milk Chocolate (bar)
Good + - Good ++

Weight: 2.47 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 390 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $8.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Zotter, online order

Welcome to Day #11 of Chocolate and Fruit Theme Week.

Today's Strawberry Pistachio 50% Milk Chocolate filled strawberry marzipan and pistachio almond praline (bar) was made in Austria and distributed by Zotter Chocolates US LLC (Fort Myers, FL).

Aroma notes for this filled fruit and nut milk chocolate bar included: berry (strawberry fruit leather, strawberry jam and nut cookie); chocolate; and very faint vanilla and spice.

The sweet, soft nougat center had two distinct layers (strawberry marzipan and pistachio-almond praline). I enjoy layered textures and flavors in desserts. Both layers were a pleasant match with the sweet, creamy milk chocolate outer covering. This bar had an upbeat (bright sweet) summer berry flavor and a sweet nutty layer; and the nuts helped balance the sugar(s) a bit.

The sugar level in today's layered bar was high. (I like to taste the chocolate and fruit flavors. And it's harder to do that when sugar is the number one ingredient.) But that didn't stop me from eating the entire fruit and nut milk chocolate confection.

Ingredients: Cane Sugar**, Marzipan* (Almonds*, Sugar*, Invert Sugar Syrup*), Cocoa Butter, Almonds, Cocoa Mass, Dry Whole Milk, Pistachios (5%), Strawberries (4%), Strawberry Concentrate (4%), Dried Strawberries (4%), Dry Skim Milk, Dry Sweet Whey, Butter (Cream), Dark Brown Cane Sugar, Lemon Juice, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Lecithin (Soy), Salt, Vanilla Bean Powder, Lemon Powder (Lemon Juice Concentrate, Corn Starch, Sugar), Rose Petals, Cinnamon.

* = Organic (91% Organic)

Allergen-related information: Contains: Almonds, Milk, Pistachios, Soy. Manufactured on equipment that processes other tree nuts, peanuts, eggs, sesame and gluten.