Zotter - Apricot Waltz - Milk Chocolate 40% filled w/ apricot ganache, marzipan (bar) - Aug. 12, 2026

Chocolate of The Day

Zotter
Apricot Waltz - Milk Chocolate 40% filled with apricot ganache and marzipan (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 1.23 oz. (35 g.) / 2.47 oz. (70 g.) in total bar
Calories: 180 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $12.89 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Xocolatl Garden, Carmel, CA

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate & Spirits Theme Week.

Today's Apricot Waltz - Milk Chocolate 40% filled with apricot ganache and marzipan (bar) was made in Austria and distributed by Zotter Chocolates US LLC (Fort Myers, FL).

Aroma and flavor notes included: chocolate, almond marzipan infused with rich, tart sweet fruit (lemon, apricot), vanilla and faint brown sugar, very slight alcohol (apricot brandy) and floral. 

Texture: creamy milk chocolate with a soft ("hand-scooped"), creamy marzipan center

This was a sweet chocolate, filled confection of a bar, but (happily) the sugars did not overwhelm the flavors. I enjoyed being able to taste the chocolate, fruit and nut ingredients in this bar. 

The apricot brandy was also relatively restrained so it added a subtle and authentic apricot-laced boozy boost, but it wasn't too strong.

This bean-to-bar chocolate version of a typical marzipan bar included some interesting and authentically fruity flavors that enriched the tasting experience. I also appreciated the use of organic and fair trade ingredients.

Ingredients: Cane Sugar*+, Marzipan* (Almonds*, Sugar*, Invert Sugar Syrup*), Cocoa Butter,*+, Dry Whole Milk, Cocoa Mass*+,  Apricot Concentrate*, Apricot Brandy*, Glucose Syrup*, Apricot Puree*, Dried Apricots*, Dry Skim Milk, Almonds*, Lecithin (Soy)*, Dry Sweet Whey, Salt, Dark Brown Cane Sugar*+, Vanilla Bean Powder*+, Rose Petals*, Lemon Powder* (Lemon Juice Concentrate*, Corn Starch*, Sugar*. 

*=Organic (92% Organic Ingredients); +=Fair Traded, Fair Trade 

Allergen-related information: "Contains: Milk, Almonds, Soy. - Manufactured on Equipment That Processes Other Tree Nuts, Peanuts, Eggs and Sesame." 

Ethereal Chocolate - Organic Chocolate Apricot Honey (bar) - May 20, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Ethereal Chocolate
Organic Dark Chocolate Apricot Honey (bar)
Good + 
Weight: 1.25 oz. (35.5 g.) / 2.5 oz. (71 g.) in total bar
Calories: 210 calories (per label) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $11.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Ethereal, online order

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

Today's Apricot Honey (bar) with Organic Dark Chocolate, Dried Apricots, Marigold Petals, Honey Candy and Bee Pollen (bar) was made by Ethereal Chocolate (Woodstock, IL).

Aroma notes for this chocolate included: dark chocolate, dried stone fruit (apricot, nectarine) and natural sweeteners (brown sugar, honey).

The back of the dark chocolate bar was an attractive, warm-hued, tiny gold mine of flavor additions, including: dried apricot pieces, shredded golden marigold petals, cheery yellow speckles of bee pollen, and honey candy crystals.  

The base dark chocolate was flavorful, but had a slight granular dryness (fruit astringency) (likely from the cacao). Otherwise it was well balanced and well-executed.

Together, the blend of dark chocolate and the added floral and other flavors mentioned above resulted in an interesting, and thoughtfully complex, bar--made with a short list of high-quality, organic ingredients.

This dark chocolate was also not overly sweet (thank you!). 

Ingredients: Chocolate* (Cocoa Beans*, Cane Sugar*, Cocoa Butter*), Dried Apricots*, Honey Pieces* (Cane Sugar*, Brown Rice Syrup*, Honey*), Marigold Petals*, Bee Pollen. (* Organic Ingredient)

Allergen-related information: "Made on shared equipment with peanuts (and) tree nuts." 

Andy's Orchard - Chocolate Baby Crawford Peach, Apricot-Rum Butter Sandwich - Mar. 30, 2022

Chocolate(s) of the Day

Andy's Orchard

Chocolate Baby Crawford Peach
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (56.6 g.) (estimate) in total package
Calories: Unknown
Cost: $2.75 for 1 package
Purchased from: Andy's Orchard, Morgan Hill, CA

Apricot Rum-Butter Sandwich
Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (56.6 g.) (estimate) in total package
Calories: Unknown
Cost: $2.50 for 1 package
Purchased from: Andy's Orchard, Morgan Hill, CA

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate Snacks Theme Week.

Today's Chocolate Baby Crawford Peach and Apricot-Rum Butter Sandwich chocolates were from Andy's Orchard (Morgan Hill, CA).

Chocolate Baby Crawford Peach

Sweet milk chocolate surrounding a wonderfully flavorful, moist, dried peach (think excellent, slightly tart, sweet peach jam). 

Many heritage varieties of fruit (including cacao) have more nuanced and delicate layers of flavors. You can almost pick out a faint/delicate floral, citrus or even tropical (mango) fruit notes in certain varieties of apricots and peaches.

The peach was the star of the show in this confection, and rightly so.

Ingredients: Not listed on label (includes dried Baby Crawford peach prepared with sulphur dioxide and chocolate)

Allergen-related information: None listed on small (1-piece) package label

Apricot-Rum Butter Sandwich

Slice this confection open and it looked similar to the above milk chocolate covered peach with a plump, golden-orange fruit center. However, this "sandwich" also had a caramel-colored layer. And it had a rich, caramel cookie aroma. 

The combined sweetness and chew of this generously-sized tart apricot fruit and caramel, stimulated the senses and jolted me awake.

I enjoy complexity within a single origin chocolate or a single heritage fruit, but too many multi-faceted flavors (and too much sugar) can make it difficult to enjoy higher quality ingredients with layered flavors, like today's tart-sweet Blenheim apricot. 

There was a slight rum-butter flavoring in this sandwiched confection, but I preferred to enjoying the pure, special flavors in the apricot, when I could enjoy that separately in one bite.

Again, the locally grown fruit (apricot)** stole the show today.

Ingredients: Dried Blenheim apricot prepared with sulphur dioxide, glace apricot, chocolate, caramel, and rum-butter flavor.

Allergen-related information: None listed on small (1-piece) package label

*Baby Crawford (freestone) peaches are relatively small peaches with fine-grained texture and fairly intense (heirloom) peach flavor.

**Apricots hail from Asia originally, but were spread west via trade routes, and eventually reached California in the 1800s. 

Plums, apricots and cherries were widely cultivated in the San Francisco (South Bay) Area in the 1900s, but eventually prime agricultural land and fruit tree orchards were paved over to make way for houses and technology companies--that would become Silicon Valley. 

Special thanks to Andy's Orchard in Morgan Hill, one of the few remaining operating orchards within an hour's drive (from where I live). Andy Mariani and team operate a small store on-site, where one can find wonderful varieties of fruits. Fresh fruits (including cacao fruit/pulp) are my favorite snacks, other than a well-executed, single origin/heritage variety chocolate.

 

Andy's Orchard - Apricot Surprise - Nov. 28, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Andy's Orchard

Apricot Surprise

Good +

Weight: 1.76 oz. (50 g.) (estimate) in 1 large confection

Calories: 230 calories (estimate) in 1 piece

Cost: $3.50 for 1 package

Purchased from: Andy's Orchard, Morgan Hill, CA

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Fruit Theme Weeks. 

Today's Chocolate Surprise was from Andy's Orchard (Morgan Hill, CA).

This jumbo-sized, dark chocolate covered confection had an aroma with fudge brownie and chocolate cookie notes.

A smooth dark chocolate shell covered a large piece of sweet, white divinity fudge with walnuts, topped with dried Blenheim apricot.

The fudge tasted high-quality and homemade but was (as most fudges are for me) too sweet and rich. The other components (the dark chocolate, apricot and walnuts in the fudge) all had authentic, satisfying flavors. Andy's Orchard grows a variety of fruits, including apricots. Prior to the development associated with Silicon Valley, apricots, cherries and plums were local and road-side market staples in Santa Clara County.* 

Ingredients: Dried Blenheim Apricots, Divinity with Walnuts, and chocolate

Allergy-related information: (No information on small label; contained tree nuts (walnuts).)

*Apricots orchards were everywhere in the South Bay 1950s. The street I had grown up on was once part of an orchard, as near as I can tell. "...Until the 1960s, Santa Clara Valley was the largest fruit production and packing region in the world, with 39 canneries."

By the 1970s, the fruit industry was winding down and many fruit canneries had closed. The remaining fruit trees were still beautiful, especially in the early spring, when apricot and cherry trees were covered with white blossoms, and swathes of green grass and yellow mustard flowers and sour grass (oxalis) flowers grew between the trees. 

Children would wander into orchard remnants to gaze at caterpillars and butterflies, eat an apricot, and occasionally throw ripe apricots at each other. At least that's what we did, before the old orchard behind our back fence was bulldozed and homes were built.

Now, I need to drive south for an hour to find apricot trees at Andy's Orchard; and I was grateful there were still some Bleinheim apricots left.

Andy's Orchard - Chocolate Apricot - Nov. 27, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Andy's Orchard

Chocolate Apricot

Good ++

Weight: 1.2 oz. (33.96 g.) (estimate) in 1 package

Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1 package

Cost: $3.00 for 1 package

Purchased from: Andy's Orchard, Morgan Hill, CA

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Fruit Theme Weeks. 

Today's Chocolate Apricot was from Andy's Orchard (Morgan Hill, CA).

This dark chocolate covered Blenheim apricot had aroma notes that included: coffee, earthy dark chocolate and very faint honey sweet-tart fruit and biscuit/cookie.

The plump, moist and sweet Blenheim apricot contributed authentic apricot tart-sweet, stone fruit flavor with rich, faint honey-floral notes. The smooth, dark chocolate couverture complemented the sweetness.

This also evoked childhood memories of eating chocolate covered (California-grown) apricots and prunes. 

Ingredients: Dried Blenheim Apricot (prepared with sulfur dioxide), and dark chocolate 

Allergen-related information: (none listed on small label))

Andy's Orchard - Apricot Amaretto Sandwich - Nov. 26, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Andy's Orchard

Apricot Amaretto Sandwich 

Good + - Good++

Weight: 1.6 oz. (45 g.) (estimate) 1 piece

Calories: 160 calories (estimate) in 1 piece

Cost: $3.50 for 1 package

Purchased from: Andy's Orchard, Morgan Hill, CA

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and Fruit Theme Weeks. 

Today's Apricot Amaretto Sandwich was from Andy's* Orchard (Morgan Hill, CA).

The aroma of this layered confection included notes of chocolate biscuit, almond biscotti, cooked rice, and sweet almond cookies.

Flavors included layers of dark chocolate, marzipan, and juicy, tart-sweet apricot with honey floral notes. The use of (now relatively rare) Blenheim apricots up-leveled the flavor. It made for a great California dessert.

Ingredients: Dried Blenheim Apricot (prepared with sulfur dioxide), glace apricot, marzipan, and chocolate

Allergen-related information: (none listed on small label/tag)

*Andy" of Andy's Orchard is Andrew Mariani -- part of a famous California fruit growing family.

Domori - Dark Chocolate Apricot with Almond Grains (bar) - Jan. 22, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Domori

Dark Chocolate Apricot with Almond Grains (bar)

Good +

Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) in total bar

Calories: 148.5 calories in 1 bar

Cost: $4.00 for 1 package

Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate and ABCD Theme Week, where I'm featuring flavor inclusions and forms of chocolate that start with the letter A, B, C or D. (Yesterday's chocolate pairing involved apple, banana, coconut and dark chocolate. Today the focus is on apricot, almond and dark chocolate.)

Today's Dark Chocolate Apricot with Almond "grains/nibs" bar was from Domori srl* (None, Italy). The company was founded by Gianluca Franzoni in 1997 (after he lived in Venezuela where he worked to help preserve Criollo cacao varieties). 

The smooth, 60% Cocoa (African blend) dark chocolate base had a robust flavor with a subtle earthiness. The apricot and crunchy almond bits added authentic, dried stone fruit (tart-sweet, lush, apricot scent) and pleasant nutty aroma and flavor notes that balanced the bold dark cocoa.

Chocolates with stone fruits (other than cherry), such as apricot, nectarine and/or peach, are difficult to find, so I was delighted to come across this one. A is for Apricot (or Albicocca in Italian.)

Ingredients: Dark chocolate (89%): cocoa paste, cane sugar, cocoa butter, emulsifier (soy lecithin); almond nibs (10%) and apricot powder (1%).

*Domori became part of Grupo Illy (Illy SpA Group) in 2006. 

ChocolateBet: June 2, 2011

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

1.) Daphne's Greek Cafe
Caramel Pecan - 1 piece
Very Good
Weight: 7 oz. (13.8 g.) (estimate)
Calories: 110 calories
Cost: N/A - sample (normally $1.25)
Purchased from: Daphne's Greek Cafe, in Alameda, CA

2.) Next Organics
Dark Chocolate Apricot
(mixed with Greek honey yogurt, pistachios, other nuts)
Very Good for Greek yogurt; OK+ for Dark Chocolate Apricot
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) (estimate) for 1 apricot; 4 oz. total package
Calories: 120 calories (estimate)
Cost: $4.69 for total package (4-5 pieces)
Purchased from: Whole Foods, in Los Altos, CA

Today was the start of Chocolate and Mediterranean Theme Week. Opa! There are at least 21 countries that have borders on the Mediterranean Sea; however, I'm partial to Greece, Italy and a few other cuisines I must admit, in part because these nationalities are well-represented in the U.S. Today's Greek food was wonderful. I had lunch at Daphne's Greek Cafe, on the island of Alameda in San Francisco Bay. In addition to a Greek California chicken salad -- sprinkled with pine nuts, I sampled a Caramel Pecan for dessert. Think sweetened, crunch phyllo dough (like you might find in baklava), covered in chocolate and topped with a pecan. Not gluten free, but I made an exception today.

For dinner I had some Greek honey flavored yogurt, with roasted, unsalted pistachio nuts, almond pieces, dry roasted hazelnuts and walnuts. Unfortunately, I took this dish/dessert one step too far. All was wonderful until I added this piece of organic chocolate coated apricot. This chocolate may not have been stored properly; or it may have been the unsulphured, dried fruit. I can only speculate.

ChocolateBet: March 30, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:
1 egg
Hotel Chocolat
Apricot Brandy
Very Good + - Yum
Weight: .75 oz. (21.2 g.) (estimate for 1 egg)
Calories: 112 calories (estimate)
Cost: N/A - sample

Purchased from: N/A - sample - from Hotel Chocolat

Mention Spring and Easter, and the conversation quickly turns to chocolate chicks, bunnies and eggs here at Chocolate Banquet. The next few days we'll be celebrating the "Your Eggsellency" collection from  Hotel Chocolat (London). On today's menu for brunch: Apricot Brandy, a white chocolate egg with a few yolk-colored decorative dribbles, with an apricot brandy flavored chocolate truffle cream center. Heavenly.

This Apricot Brandy egg was packaged (with four other different eggs) inside a large chocolate half-egg-shell. Two sets of these five eggs were included in one box: one set nestled in a 70% dark chocolate shell, and one set in a 40% milk chocolate shell.

ChocolateBet: April 27, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
5 pieces
(The Wynn) Chocolat Frederic Robert
Very Good - Very Good +
Weight: 1.77 oz. (50 g.)/ 4.3 oz. (120 g.) total bag (~ 12 pieces)
Calories: 256 calories in 5 pieces
Cost: $8.00 for total package
Purchased from: The Wynn/Encore Las Vegas gift shop, Las Vegas, NV

Today was Day #4 of Chocolate and Hazelnut Theme Week, where dark chocolate disks were topped hazelnuts, pistachios, and dried fruits: pineapple and apricot.

ChocolateBet: April 21, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
1 cup/piece
Ococoa
Cashew Apricot (cup)
Very Good
Weight: .62 oz. (17.5 g.) (estimate)
Calories: 89 calories (estimate)
Cost: N/A
Purchased from: N/A

This chocolate cup filled with cashew butter and apricot was one of my favorite Ococoa creations I've tried to date; and it was today's choice for Day #4 of Chocolate and Seed/Nut Butter and Fruit Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: July 28, 2009

Chocolate of the Day:

1 bar
MarieBelle
Apricot - Dark Chocolate Bar, 70%
Very Good
Weight: 3.1 oz. (90 grams)
Calories: 428 calories (estimate) in total bar
Cost: $8.50
Purchased from: Chocolate Covered, in San Francisco, CA

Very nice dark chocolate; and I liked the crunchy pieces (potato starch?). I couldn't really taste the apricot pieces, but I enjoyed the bar -- enough to eat the whole thing. Whoops. High rate of chocolate evaporation in my house.

I loved the packaging, design too. It reminded me of my visit to Mariebelle in New York City, a place with a very attractive and inviting interior space, with a combined shop and cafe/tea area.

ChocolateBet: September 21, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

1 piece
Tahoe City Chocolates
(Milk) Chocolate (Dipped) Apricot
Very Good; the apricot inside the chocolate had just about the right amount of moistness and sweetness to it.
Weight: ~ .6 oz. (estimate)
Calories: 75 calories (estimate)
Cost: $?
Purchased from: Tahoe City Chocolates, in Tahoe City, CA

ChocolateBet: July 21, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

1 bar
Dolfin Chocolat
"Fruity Escapade" - Apple, Peach and Apricot (60% dark chocolate)
(Limited Edition 2008)
Very Good - Dolfin bars have nice flavors - from start to finish
Wt: 30 grams (1.058 oz.)
Calories: 160 (estimate - info not listed/visible on label)
Cost: $2.39 (Canadian)
Purchased from: Le Cartet, in Montreal, Quebec

ChocolateBet: July 13, 2008

Chocolate of the Day:

1 bar
Dolfin
"Southern Passion: Apricot and Rosemary"
(Limited Edition 2008)
Very Good + - nice fruit and herb flavor combination
Weight: 30 grams (1.058 oz.)
Calories: 160 calories (estimate - info not listed on wrapper)
Cost: $2.39 (Canadian)
Purchased from: Le Cartet (boutique alimentaire), in Montreal, Quebec, Canada