Chocolate(s) of The Day
Recchiuti Confections
"No. 9 Box" - 9-Piece Chocolate Assortment (box)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 4.1 oz. (115 g.) in 1 box of 9 pieces
Calories: 585 calories (per label) in 9 pieces
Cost: $32.00 for 1 box of 9 pieces
Purchased from: Recchiuti Confections, SF Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA
Welcome to Day #9 of Chocolate Banquet's 20th Anniversary Celebration Week--featuring chocolates primarily from San Francisco Bay Area companies that helped make this adventure possible early on.
As mentioned previously this week, there were many fewer bean-to-bar craft chocolate makers in 2006. But, thankfully, several trained chocolatiers and chefs also started offering bean-to-bar chocolate confections.
Michael Recchiuti began creating and making chocolates and confections in San Francisco in 1997. (Recchiuti also briefly had a space in Dogpatch called the Chocolate Lab which was great fun--a showcase for creative chocolate and culinary talent. The inside had a classy black and white design/decor. Liquids were often served in chemistry beakers vs. typical glass pitchers.)
The first Recchiuti Confections chocolate featured on this site (a ginger chocolate heart) on September 17, 2006 -- was only six days after Chocolate Banquet started.
No. 9 Box flavor descriptions
In honor of Day #9 of this celebratory theme week, I tried Recchiuti's "No. 9 Box"--a 9-piece dark and milk chocolate assortment box with the following flavors:
1.) Triple Sesame Praline - roasted sesame seeds from Japan folded into milk chocolate hazelnut ganache, finished with a dark chocolate blend
2.) Coconut Marzipan - "...flavors of coconut made into marzipan"...lime zest; a 45% cacao milk signature blend
3.) Framboise Strata - bright, fruity "raspberry gelee atop a creamy dark chocolate ganache..."
4.) Banana Caramel - pureed banana flavor folded into rich caramel
5.) Citrus - kalamansi (citrus) puree in a "blended chocolate ganache"
6.) Rosemary Olive - "lemony, pine-like flavor" of rosemary with "a hint of peppery sage finish" with olives, under a dark chocolate coating
7.) Maple Pecan Praline - sweet caramel-like maple syrup with pecan praline ganache topped with a toasted pecan and more chocolate
8.) Currant Cognac - "Zante currants marinated in Cognac, blended into a dark and milk chocolate ganache...coated with dark chocolate"
10.) Cappuccino - "San Francisco coffee roaster, Linea's, 'Little Wing' blend infused into cream, butter & 45% dark milk chocolate "(lends) a "cappuccino-like richness to this mocha truffle."
When I asked about new/single origin flavors, I was told that the company is now using Valrhona chocolate (vs. single origin cacao chocolates they may have used previously).
I enjoyed the balanced and thoughtful flavors in this collection. The milk, dark and white chocolates used were smooth; and the fruit, herb, nut and other flavors held my interest during this tasty 9-course chocolate meal.
The ingredients list was long, in part due to the fact that there were nine different chocolate recipes nestled in one small box; and in part due to a fairly long list of additives (and a small amount of wheat)--the only downside to this review.
Ingredients: Dark Chocolate (Cocoa Beans, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Sunflower Lecithin (Emulsifier), Vanilla Extract, Whole Milk Powder, E476 [Emulsifier]), Milk Chocolate (Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Whole Milk Powder, Cocoa Beans, Sunflower Lecithin [Emulsifier], Vanilla Extract), Sugar, Cream, Pecans, White Chocolate (Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Whole Milk Powder, Sunflower Lecithin [Emulsifier], Vanilla Extract, Coconut, Raspberry Puree (Raspberry), Hazelnuts, Dark Chocolate Hollow Form (Sugar, Cocoa Beans, Cocoa Butter, Sunflower Lecithin [Emulsifier], Vanilla Extract), Glucose Syrup (Wheat, Sulfites), Maple Syrup, Butter (Cream, Natural Flavor), Coconut Puree (Coconut, Invert Sugar), Banana Puree (Banana, Ascorbic Acid), Cocoa Butter, Invert Sugar, Lime Puree (Kalamansi), Dried Currants, Black & Golden & White Sesame Seeds, Cognac, Colored Cocoa Butter (Cocoa Butter, Contains One or More of the Following: Blue 1&2, Red 40, Yellow 5&6, and Natural Colors), Pear Puree (Pears), Water, Dextrose Powder, Green Olives (Olives, Water, Salt, Citric Acid), Coffee Beans, Salt, Tartaric Acid, Pectin (Pectin, Sucrose, Acidity Regulators: E450111, E33211, and E330), Honey, Lime Zest, Fleur de Sel (French Sea Salt), and Rosemary.
Allergen-related information: "Contains Milk, Tree Nuts, Wheat, and Sesame. Made on Equipment Shared With Milk, Eggs, Tree Nuts, Peanuts, Wheat, Soy, and Sesame."
