Mariposa Baking Company - Triple Chocolate Truffle Brownie - March 1, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Mariposa Baking Company
Triple Chocolate Truffle Brownie
Very Good
Weight: 2.25 oz. (63.6 g.) ttl brownie
Calories: 263 calories
Cost: $2.99 for 1 package
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

For the second day of Chocolate Brownie Theme Week, that would be today, I selected a gluten-free, wheat-free, Triple Chocolate Truffle Brownie from Mariposa Baking Company (Oakland, CA).

Mariposa makes all kinds of yummy gluten-free baked goods that are, on average, much better than most gluten-free alternatives. Their frosted cinnamon rolls look almost like the "real" thing, and I hope to try them soon.

Back to today's brownie selection. This triple chocolate truffle brownie was just the right amount of soft and chewy with rich chocolate flavor; and it was dense, without being heavy -- an apparent contradiction, but a delicious one.

ChocolateBet: February 29, 2012

 

Chocolate of the Day:

Pure Organic
Chocolate Brownie Bar
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.7 oz. (48 g.) total bar
Calories: 180 calories
Cost: $2.49
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #1 of Chocolate Brownie Theme Week. This gluten-free, raw, vegan Chocolate Brownie Bar from Pure (Newport Beach, CA) was packed with organic dates, nuts and cocoa, and sweetened with organic agave nectar. The dates and agave syrup provided moistness and cohesiveness, and a brownie like texture. Walnuts and cashews (and cacao of course) provided visual interest and brownie taste. This may be the healthiest brownie entry of the week. 

ChocolateBet: February 28, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Chocolate Momotombo
(Mystery flavor in dark blue wrapper)
Maranones - Artisanal chocolate
Very Good
Weight: .4 oz. (11.3 g.) (estimate)
Calories: 60 calories (estimate)
Cost: $N/A - split boxes with a friend
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #7 of Chocolate Surprise Theme Week. And this evening I was confronted with a surprise of sorts. I couldn't identify the flavor of handmade chocolate from Chocolate Momotombo (Nicaragua) that was wrapped in a dark blue wrapper. It was a round, individually wrapped, dark chocolate with pieces of maranones (cashew), or mani (peanut), in the center.

There was no ron (rum) or alcohol in it or chili, or other flavor I'd tried before. I also  sampled the Momotombo Coco (Coconut) and Naranja (Orange) chocolates as well.

ChocolateBet: February 27, 2012

Chocolates of the Day:

Vosges Haut Chocolat

1.) "Crema"
Good + - Very Good
Weight: .6 oz. (16.98 g.)/5.4 oz. (152.8 g.) total 18-piece assortment box (estimate)
Calories: 85 calories (estimate)
Cost: $29.00 for 18-pc. box
Purchased from: Vosges.com, Chicago, IL

2.) "Maple"
Good +
Weight: .6 oz. (16.98 g.)/5.4 oz. (152.8 g.) total 18-piece asst. box (estimate)

Calories: 85 calories (estimate)

Cost: $29.00 for 18-pc. box

Purchased from: Vosges.com, Chicago, IL

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate Surprise Theme Week.

Today's two chocolates came from Vosges (Chicago, IL), and were members of a chocolate-covered exotic caramel collection, with ingredients from afar. The "Crema" was an Argentine dulce de leche with Costa Rican cashews, and milk chocolate -- topped with cashew pieces.

The second "Maple" piece, contained Canadian maple sugar and walnut caramel, and was covered in dark chocolate and topped with maple sugar.

Surprise! I found these two where I'd stowed them in the fridge previously. The caramel centers were harder than normal, so I savored them slowly. There was one more flavor left -- "Leather" - which will be eaten soon. 

ChocolateBet: February 26, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Havanna Chocolates
Semiamargo 40% Cacao Tableta (bar)
Good
Weight: .19 oz. (5.3 g.) / 2.82 oz. (80 g.) total bar
Calories: 28 calories (estimate)
Cost: N/A - gift
Purchased from: N/A - gift

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Surprise Theme Week. I received this bar from Havanna Chocolates (Buenos Aires, Argentina), as a gift, from a friend (thank you Sue!) who is a tango dancer and has visited this great city. What a pleasant surprise. I haven't been to Buenos Aires, but I hope to get there some day.

This bar reminded me of a dark, baking/"dabbler's" bar from Italy that I ate last year. When I opened both, there was a nice chocolatey aroma. The flavor seemed darker than 40% Cacao (semiamargo translated: semi-bitter). I'm almost always happy to taste less sugar in a new bar. However, the emulsifiers/stabilizers, soy lecithin and/or vanilla flavoring seemed to mask some flavor notes that I'm used to tasting with darker (less sweet) bars that lack these ingredients. Local and individual taste preferences, trade-offs in the process of making chocolate, and other factors, make it difficult to make easy comparisons.

Some field research in Italy and Argentina may be in order.

ChocolateBet: February 25, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Artisan du Chocolat
Tonka bar
Weight: 1.27 oz. (36 g.)/1.59 oz. (45 g.) total bar
Calories: 196 calories (estimate)
Cost: $6.00
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA (last year, before bars stopped being available - see below)

Surprise. You can flavor chocolate with beans (other than cocoa beans) -- for example, Tonka beans from South America. Tonka beans (shown at right) apparently can't be legally imported into the U.S. because there is a law on the books banning items containing coumarin -- even though coumarin can also be found in several other food items, such as cinnamon. This Tonka milk chocolate bar (40% Cocoa) came from Artisan du Chocolat  (London).

The Tonka bean has a unique, aromatic flavor profile, and is often shaved and served on various desserts in Europe, and other parts of the world. I shared this bar with a super taster (thank you Deanna) who described the tonka flavor as "cherry soap" with hints of cinnamon toast.  I found that it bounced along with several different notes -- ranging from floral, smoky, cherry/fruity and vanilla, making for a very enjoyable ride for my nose and taste buds.

I'll add Artisan's description here:
"To capture their hypnotic fragrance, we crush the tonka beans and let them infuse for several days in a tank of molten milk chocolate. The result is a dynamic bar where the milk chocolate awakens and dances between comforting sweetness and powerful perfume."

The base milk chocolate in this bar was a little sweet for me. I couldn't tell whether the sweetness inhibited or enabled the Tonka flavors, but this was certainly a fun bar to try.

Today was Day #4 of Chocolate Surprise Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: February 24, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Yes Cacao
Gaba 13 bar
Weight: 1.1 oz. (31 g.) total bar
Calories: 179 calories (guesstimate)
Cost: $5.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Yes Cacao (Justin Frank Polgar)

I ate this surprising Yes Cacao Gaba 13 bar for breakfast early this morning. And I felt rather calm and relaxed afterward, even as I hurtled myself out the door and into my car to drive to the office. Who was driving? A more relaxed and focused version of my normal commuter self. Maybe it was the Turmeric and Coriander? Or, the Kava? Or, the Blue Lotus? There were thirteen interesting ingredients in all. Or the lovely blue skies and trees in bloom outside? Who can say. I did enjoy nibbling on this rich tasting (it contained cocoa butter and coconut butter) chocolate bar as my morning meal.

Yes Cacao owner, Justin Polgar, also known as a minister of chocolate, advises that people make a wish before biting into one of his Yes bars. Or, you could engrave your wish on the bar with a toothpick, in the area within the decorative border, before you take a bite. I'll have to try that next time.

Today was Day #3 of Chocolate Surprise Theme Week.