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.

Francois Pralus - Barre Infernal Orange - Jan. 24, 2022

Chocolate of the Day

Francois Pralus
Barre Infernale Orange (bar)
Good ++
Weight: 2 oz. (56.6 g.) / 5.29 oz. (150 g.) in total bar
Calories: 310 calories (estimate) in 2 oz. (56.6 g.) of bar
Cost: $24.00 (estimate) for 1 bar 
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Bonjour (good day) and welcome to Day #18 of European Chocolate Vacation. 

Today's Francois Pralus Barre Infernale Orange (bar) was from Patiserrie Chocolaterie S.A.S. Pralus (Roanne, France). Roanne is a commune in the Loire Department in central France. 

I took an (imagined) walk along the Loire River, and then headed back to a small auberge (inn) to enjoy this hometown bar. (And what a lovely thing it would be to living near the origin of Francois Pralus chocolates.)

Aroma notes for this chocolate converged into a magical blend of candied citrus (orange peel), roasted nuts, and spiked chocolate fruitcake. The ingredients in this bar were skillfully layered to showcase them in both aroma and flavor.

Flavorful (fruity) dark chocolate formed the outer layer of this of this gold bullion bar-shaped chocolate was filled with a satisfying, softer praline center: ground nuts (almonds, hazelnut), milk chocolate and authentic, ground sweet orange peel, with a touch of orange liqueur. (Think faint Grand Marnier. The spirits added a bit of "infernale" or adult sinfulness.)

Everything about this substantial and flavorful. Happily it was not too sweet (thank you!). Cut a piece of this chocolate as you would slice a loaf of bread. A great bar to bring to a dinner party, or to share with others.

Ingredients: Praline 50% (roasted hazelnuts, sugar, roasted almonds, cocoa butter, milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, milk powder, cocoa: 45% minimum; emulsifier: sunflower lecithin); black (dark) chocolate (cocoa: 70% minimum, sugar, cocoa butter, emulsifier: sunflower lecithin); candied oranges 16% (sugar, oranges 57%, glucose, orange alcohol).

Allergen-related information: Contained tree nuts (hazelnuts, almonds), milk. "Contains nuts and may contain traces of milk."

ChocolateBet: May 7, 2012

Chocolate of the Day:

cocotutti
1.) Chocolate-orange confit caramel - Very Good +
2.) Florentine - citrus liquid caramel & roasted almonds - Very Good
Weight: .7 oz. (19.8 g.) (estimate for 2 pieces)
Calories: 105 calories (estimate for 2 pieces)
Cost: $6.00 for a 4-piece box
Purchased from: Rock Wall Wine Company, in Alameda, CA

Today was a bit of heaven -- if heaven is flavored with orange confit, perfect renditions of caramel, and covered in dark chocolate. Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Orange/Citrus Theme Week, and I tasted two orange-themed chocolates from cocotutti.com.

The first, a chocolate-orange confit caramel, was so rich, I almost felt like I was eating a smooth, dark chocolate orange caramel brownie -- all packed in a truffle-sized square with a bright orange, yellow and red pattern screened on top.

The second, a version of a Florentine, contained a wonderful liquid caramel (apparently carefully hand-stirred for up to 1.5 hours), and was topped with chopped almonds.

ChocolateBet: April 25, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:
10 miniature truffles
CocoTutti
Orange Easter Egg
(dark chocolate egg shell filled with a bakers dozen of small, orange confit truffles)
Very Good
Weight: 1.2 oz. (33 g.) (estimate) / 3 oz. (84.9 g.) (estimate) for total egg
Calories: 175 calories for 10 (estimate)
Cost: $10.00
Purchased from: coco tutti booth at the San Francisco Chocolate Salon, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #27 of Chocolate Egg Appreciation Theme Month. Today's chocolate egg was brightly colored and flavored with orange. Local (SF Bay Area) chief chocolatier, Elyce, at CocoTutti produced a festively decorated orange, dark chocolate Easter egg this spring, filled with a tidy jumble of tiny orange confit truffles. But, don't let their small size fool you. These little orange chocolates were rich and full of flavor, and not too sweet. (The authentic orange flavor came from "housemade orange marmalade from Seville and Valencia oranges.")