ChocolateBet: April 24, 2011

Chocolate of the Day
9 small pieces
L.A. Burdick
Bunny Box
Good + - Very Good
Weight: unknown
Calories: unknown
Purchased from: L.A. Burdick, Walpole, NH

Happy Easter to all -- a huge day for Easter egg hunts, chocolate eggs and rabbits in the U.S.

Given this occasion, L.A. Burdick's Bunny Box seemed to be a great chocolate choice. Today was also Day #26 of Chocolate Egg Appreciation Theme Month. The Bunny Box, with a mix of bunnies, eggs and more, was carried out to the backyard for a chocolate garden feast. Overcast skies didn't deter us.

Out of the wooden box, I selected two chocolate bunnies (white chocolate outside with creamy chocolate filling, and ears made of almonds); 4 flavored marzipan eggs; and 3 different chocolate truffles. The remainder of this box was shared with others. Thank you to Emily and Alec for tasting help.

But these aren't chocolate eggs, some of you may be thinking. Yes, I discovered belatedly that the little fruit marzipan eggs didn't contain any chocolate; but these little gems were packed so closely together that the bunnies were wearing specks of egg sugar on their cheeks, so I made an exception here.

ChocolateBet: April 23, 2011

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

L.A. Burdick Chocolate

1.) Easter Rocher Egg (chocolate almond shell)
1 taste of egg shell
Very Good +
Cost: $35.00 (egg, pail and truffles)
Purchased from: L.A. Burdick Chocolate, Walpole, NH

2.) Easter Polka Dot Egg (dark shell)
Good + - Very Good
1/2 egg shell
Cost: $24 (for egg filled with truffles)
Purchased from: L.A. Burdick Chocolate, Walpole, NH

3.) Cognac miniature truffles (inside Easter eggs)
Very Good +

4.) Honey Caramel miniature truffles (inside Easter eggs)
Very Good +

Good chocolate is best when shared. Thank you to the Saturday crowd at The Chocolate Garage for helping me taste test the contents of these two L.A. Burdick Easter Eggs.

Both eggs were filled with assorted truffles, including miniature Cognac truffles (round-shaped, Dark Grenadian chocolate with cream and cognac, dusted in cocoa powder), and more rectangular-shaped Honey Caramel truffles (caramelized honey with herbs and vanilla, dusted in cocoa powder).


The truffles were bite-sized bits of heaven, but the egg shells themselves were also highly edible -- especially the Easter Rocher Egg shell -- made of dark chocolate covered caramelized almond pieces.

Today was Day #25 of Chocolate Egg Appreciation Theme Month.

ChocolateBet: April 22, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:
3 small eggs2 Almond Praline Milk Chocolate Eggs
1 Almond Praline Dark Chocolate Egg
Very Good
Weight: .84 oz. (23.7 g.) for 3 small eggs/ 4.5 oz. (127 g.) total egg
Calories:
Cost: $10 for total egg
Purchased from: Valrhona booth at International Chocolate Salon, in San Francisco, CA

Today was the last day for the Valrhona chocolate eggs this week. This variety of colorful foil-wrapped chocolate eggs had been enclosed in a clear, plastic egg "shell" container. I had previously sampled a Hazelnut Praline and Pure Dark (70%) chocolate eggs, and this morning I enjoyed an Almond Praline Milk Chocolate and Almond Praline Dark Chocolate eggs.

Today was Day #24 of Chocolate Egg Appreciation Month.

ChocolateBet: April 21, 2011

Chocolate(s) of the Day:
1 egg
Valrhona
Assorted eggs in larger plastic egg
Pure Dark Chocolate (70%) egg
Good + - Very Good
Weight: .28 oz. (7.9 g.) for 1 egg /4.5 oz. (127 g.) total egg
Calories: 42 calories
Cost: $10 total egg/container
Purchased from: Valrhona booth, at the San Francisco Chocolate Salon, San Francisco, CA

Today was Day #23 of Chocolate Egg Appreciation Month. Easter Sunday is 3 days away, and I've been "appreciating" different types and flavors of chocolate eggs for the past three weeks.

I returned to the Valrhona plastic mother egg (that I'd obtained at a recent Chocolate Salon event) -- to try another one of the different, foil-wrapped mini eggs that were nestled inside. Today, I chose the pure dark chocolate egg (70%) wrapped in red foil, filled with a dark chocolate ganache. The elegant pattern on each egg suggested a cracked shell; perhaps the chocolate chick(s) inside decided not to hatch, due to their tasty surroundings, and became reabsorbed inside the smooth filling. However, I detected no happy chocolate chick feathers or beaks in these eggs. So I'm discarding this theory.

ChocolateBet: April 20, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:
1/2 egg
See's Candies
Cocoanut Egg
Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.)/ 2 oz. (56 g.) total egg
Calories: 150 calories (estimate)
Cost: $
Purchased from: See's Candies, in Los Altos, CA

Happy Day #22 of Chocolate Egg Appreciation Month (April) to all.

This month I've been exploring the world of chocolate eggs. See's Candies is a local (South San Francisco-based) company famous for their many chocolate items -- including seasonal chocolate Easter eggs. Yesterday, I sampled (no, correction, I ate an entire) See's decorated, Peanut Butter egg. Today, I'm exercising some restraint. I'm eating half of a slightly smaller, undecorated Cocoanut Egg.

ChocolateBet: April 19, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:
1 egg
See's Candies
Peanut Butter Egg
Good +
Weight: 4 oz. (113 g.) total egg
Calories: 600 calories (estimate)
Cost: $5.40
Purchased from: See's Candies (store), in Los Altos, CA

Today was Day #21 of Chocolate Egg Appreciation Theme Month (April). And I thought it would be difficult to find more than 30 eggs for this month. Wrong again. I have found enough chocolate eggs to last into next month (May). The chocolate egg is an elegant and simple shape, and easy to fill with a number of yummy fillings, including standbys like peanut butter. This See's Peanut Butter Egg was coated with milk chocolate and decorated with a purple and white sugar flower on top.

I was going to share this 4 oz. (113 g.) egg with my daughter. Unfortunately, she is allergic to peanuts/peanut butter. So, I ended up eating this entire egg over the course of many hours today. Good thing I took a 2+-hour walk today.

ChocolateBet: April 18, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

1/2 egg
Socola Chocolatier
Very Good+
Weight: 1.5 oz. (42 g.) / 3 oz. (84 g.) (estim.) total egg
Calories: 225 calories (estimate)
Cost: $10.00 total egg
Purchased from: Socola Chocolatier, at the San Francisco International Chocolate Salon, San Francisco, CA

I like fresh fruit and eggs for breakfast, so this royal (King of Fruits) Durian Easter Egg was a fun find; and -- along with its smaller Durian Truffle cousin -- this Socola chocolate Easter egg was also Chocolate Banquet's Chocolate Challenge winner for the most unique chocolate at the San Francisco International Chocolate Salon. The Chocolate Salon was held yesterday at Fort Mason, by the bay, in San Francisco, CA.

To fully appreciate the challenges of working with an ingredient like the durian fruit, it must be noted that this is the only fruit I'm aware of that is banned on some forms of public transportation (buses, trains in some parts of Asia).

I once purchased a large scoop of durian ice cream (to go) and after carefully placing my cup of ice cream in a car cupholder, I proceeded to drive a 1/2 mile to my next stop where I could enjoy this unusual treat. However, I never made it. After less than two blocks, I pulled over and threw the ice cream overboard (into a public trash can). Such was the smell filling my car.

But, I'm not easily deterred, and neither are the two skilled sisters behind Socola Chocolatier (pictured above holding the Durian Easter Egg). I'm happy to say that this egg had a fresh tasting, white chocolate ganache filling that sparkled with tropical fruit flavor.

Today was Day #20 of Chocolate Egg Appreciation Theme Month (April).