WOW Baking Company - Peppermint Brownie - March 3, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Wow Baking Company
Peppermint Brownie
Good +
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.)/ 12 oz. (255 g.) total container
Calories: 70 calories
Cost: $7.99 total container
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #4 of Chocolate Brownie Theme Week.

These small, wheat- and gluten-free Peppermint Brownie squares packed in a plastic container, from Wow Baking Company (Kent, WA) were great, except for the fact that they were a bit on the old side. The insides were still moist enough to be able to enjoy, and the oil of peppermint flavoring tasted very natural.

Mariposa Baking Company - Walnut Truffle Brownie - March 2, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Mariposa Baking Company
Walnut Truffle Brownie
Good + - Very Good
Weight: 2.25 oz. (63.6 g.) 1 brownie
Calories: 276 calories
Cost: $2.99 for 1 brownie
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #3 of Chocolate Brownie week.

If you're thinking this Walnut Truffle Brownie from Mariposa Baking Company (Oakland, CA) looks familiar, you are correct.

Yesterday's Triple Chocolate Truffle Brownie was also from Mariposa. Both were gluten-free and wheat-free, individually wrapped brownie squares. Yesterday's brownie a little moister, which earned it a slightly higher rating than today's. Both were quite good.

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.