Fruition Chocolate Works
Banana Flambe Milk (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 164 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $20.00 for 1 bar
Banana Flambe Milk (bar)
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 164 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $20.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar & Cocoa, online order
Welcome to Day #23 of Chocolate and Fruits Theme Week. And even though this series has, once again, lingered much longer than the standard seven-day week, I couldn't leave this chocolate and banana bar behind.
Today's Banana Flambe Milk (bar) was handcrafted by Fruition Chocolate Works (Shokan, New York).
The cacao used to make today's bar was a Nacional (variety) from the Dominican Republic. (Sourcing Partner: Kahkow). Using a single origin cacao really does make a difference. The bars this week using them have been more flavorful, complex and enjoyable.
Aroma and flavor notes for this small batch bar included: smooth dark chocolate; browned butter and sauteed banana; subtle warm spices; and very faint spirits (rum).
Texture: This well-tempered milk chocolate bar broke with a decent snap and had a relatively creamy, smooth melt and mouthfeel, with a balanced, authentic banana fruit finish.
I appreciated the short list of ingredients, and the execution of this bar that led to the very tasty results.
I loved the way the makers used freeze-dried ripe banana and milk chocolate infused with spiced rum. This was a tasty, well-executed small batch blend bar. Banana is not always an easy flavor. (I've been thankful this week for newer freeze-dried* processes for fruits--enabling some great craft chocolate and fruit bars in the last decade.)
Ingredients: "Sugar*, Cocoa Butter*, Cocoa Beans, Whole Milk Powder, Banana, Rum, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Salt"
Allergen-related information: Contains Milk. May Contain Traces of Peanuts, Tree Nuts, Eggs, Soy, Sesame
*Freeze dried foods date back to the Incas in the Andes mountains of South America. It makes me wonder if they could have been incorporating freeze-dried items in cacao.
In the U.S. freeze drying became popular in World War II, on space flights, and for campers and backpackers. In the 2020s their popularity expanded. And the market is still growing (at the time of this post), at both high-end (large commercial operations) and at the low-end, i.e. smaller/specialty kitchens and consumers.
