Hazelnut and Walnut bar - April 19, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

E. Wedel (LOTTE/Wedel sp. z o.o.)
Maestria Hazelnuts and Walnuts Dark 55% bar
Good +
Weight: 1.4 oz. (40 g.) in 2/5 bar / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 212 calories (estimate) in 2/5 bar
Cost: $2.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Crossroads World Market, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Spirits Theme Week.

This E. Wedel (now part of LOTTE/Wedel) Hazelnuts and Walnuts bar (from Poland) was good by itself; and it played well with other food and drink items -- in the way that 55% cocoa, or dark milk, chocolate often does.

Specifically, the earthy, nutty and sweet flavors in this chocolate matched very nicely with an iced tea cocktail I made: 2 parts chilled Tazo Chai iced tea and 1 part Frangelico (hazelnut liqueur from Italy).

My hunch is that a similar cocktail with green walnut liqueur (liqueur de noix or Nocino), also from Italy), would be a good pairing with this chocolate as well.

This bar might also be a natural fit with fruit, cheese and nuts, and other dessert plate items with a tiny snifter of brandy or port.

ChocolateBet: June 26, 2011

 Chocolate of the Day:

2 cookies
Pamela's Products
Chocolate Chunk Cookie Mix (+ add-ins)
Good +
Weight: 1.5 oz. (42 g.) (estimate)/ 13.6 oz. (386 g.) total package
Calories: 213 calories (estimate)
Cost: $7.19 total package
Purchased from: Safeway, in Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Gluten Free Cookie Theme Week, and today I tried whipping up a batch of Pamela's Gluten Free Chocolate Chunk Cookie Mix. I say "tried," because I almost always feel compelled to mess with, or add other ingredients to, almost any recipe, or set of instructions, that I try to follow.

Nuts, dried fruits, liqueurs: there are so many interesting possible additions. In this case, my add-ins to this cookie mix included Frangelico (hazelnut) liqueur and some fig and orange jam from Dalmatia.

These cookies turned out to be dark colored (partly due to cocoa powder included in this mix), chewy and somewhat crispy (once cooled). These cookies were good with roasted nuts, and fresh orange.