ChocolateBet: October 27, 2012

Chocolate of the Day:

Le Grand Confectionary
Pumpkin Pie truffle
Good +
Weight: .6 oz. (16.9 g.) (estimate) for 1 truffle
Calories: 90 calories (estimate) for 1 truffle
Cost: $1.75 (estimate) for 1 truffle
Purchased from: The Candy Store, in Tiburon, CA

I was drawn to these Pumpkin Pie truffles from Le Grand Confectionary (Sacramento, CA), when I visited The Candy Store in Tiburon, CA, while on a walk by San Francisco Bay.

These generously sized, seasonal pumpkin-shaped chocolates tasted fresh (always a plus with filled chocolates/confections), and they were filled with a smooth, sweet milk chocolate ganache infused with pumpkin pie spices -- cinnamon, cloves, perhaps some allspice.

Today was Day #4 of Chocolate and Pumpkin Theme Week. 

ChocolateBet: October 26, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Trader Joe's
Dark Chocolate Coconut Caramel bar
Good - Good +
Weight: .75 oz. (21.2 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) total bar
Calories: 112 calories in 1/4 bar
Cost: $1.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Trader Joe's, Menlo Park, CA

I enjoyed today's Dark Chocolate Coconut Caramel bar from Trader Joe's (Monrovia, CA) -- both plain and with a pumpkin dessert.

The answer to the question you didn't know you were asking: Can you cook a cake in a pumpkin? The answer is yes you can! I made a gluten-free pumpkin spice cake, poured the batter into a pumpkin, cooked it, and then carved out a face on said pumpkin. Serve this cake, if you dare, with chunks of cooked sweet pumpkin carvings and pieces of this dark (70% cacao) bar. The caramel complemented the pumpkin spice flavors nicely.

Today was Day #3 of Chocolate and Pumpkin Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: October 25, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Jo's Candies
Pumpkin Spice Bark
Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.)
Calories: 160 calories
Cost: $1.34 (sale)
Purchased from: World Market/Cost Plus, Reno, NV

Today was Day #2 of Chocolate and Pumpkin Theme Week, and this Pumpkin Spice Bark from Jo's Candies (Torrance, CA), with swirls of chocolate and redolent of pumpkin pie-style spices, fit the theme. The smooth bark was made with pumpkin-flavored white orange chocolate, decorated with milk chocolate. A little sweet, but perfectly seasonal.

ChocolateBet: October 24, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Pamplemousse Patisserie et Cafe
1.) Mexican Chocolate macaron - Good - Good +
2.) Pumpkin macaron - Good - Good +
3.) Pistachio macaron - Good - Good +
4.) Salted Caramel macaron - Good
5.) Pamplemousse macaron - Good
Weight: 2.2 oz. total (estimate)
Calories: not known
Cost: $1.95 per macaron x 5
Purchased from: Pamplemousse Patisserie et Cafe, Redwood City, CA

Today was Day #1 of Chocolate and Pumpkin Theme Week, and I enjoyed a selection of autumn-colored macarons at the Pamplemousse Patisserie et Cafe (Redwood City, CA), where they also serve a variety of cakes, pastries, coffee, tea and savory dishes.

We arrived at the Cafe early. It was nice and quiet, and we were able to take a leisurely look at the rows of colorful macarons in the large, glass display case.

I sampled these a few at a time. My favorite pairing: Mexican Chocolate and Pumpkin. The other macaron flavors were interesting as well, including the cafe namesake, Pamplemousse, a yellow macaron with a slight bittersweet grapefruit taste.

This was a lot of sugar for breakfast, but it was worth it.

ChocolateBet: October 23, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Vosges Haut Chocolat
1.) Sage Honey truffles (2) - Good
2.) Field Songs truffles (2) - Good + - Very Good

Chocolate and Banana Theme Week was fun this past week. Now it's time to move into the flavors of autumn. Today's Sage Honey and Field Songs truffles were part of a 9-piece "Harvest Moon" truffle collection from Vosges.

The 65% dark chocolate Sage Honey truffle was made with sage honey, and was decorated with a sprinkle of bee pollen. The sage honey notes were fairly muted in this mix. The yellow-dusted grains of bee pollen added some nice texture and faint, pleasant beehive flavor notes.

The second truffle, Field Songs, contained roasted yam puree and maple syrup in a 45% cacao deep milk chocolate base. And, these truffles were topped with -- my favorite part of the tasting experience: African grains of paradise (Afromomum melegueta); these grains lit up my palette with floral, pepper and jungle flavor notes.

Note: The third flavor in this Harvest Moon truffle collection was a Fig (with Armagnac) truffle, which was featured on this blog a few weeks ago, as part of Chocolate and Fig Theme Week. 

ChocolateBet: October 22, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Jelly Belly Candy Company
Bean Boozled jelly beans - 2nd Edition

First Pairing (Chocolate)
1.) Chocolate Pudding jelly bean (1) - OK
2.) Canned Dog Food jelly beans (3) - Awful

Second Pairing (Banana)
3.) Top Banana jelly bean (1) - OK
4.) Pencil Shavings jelly beans (3) - Awful

Weight: .177 oz. (8 g.) for 8 beans / 1.6 oz. (45 g.) total box of about 45 jelly beans
Cost: $ N/A - gift
Purchased from: N/A - gift - Thank you Megan

People ask me if I only eat craft (higher end) chocolate. They seem disappointed when I tell them I do love artisan-made dark chocolate, but I sample a wide variety of items made with cacao.

These same people might be particularly offended by the pile of 45 jelly beans that I lined up in pairs today -- beans with flavors like diaper wipe vs. coconut; skunk vs. licorice; and centipede vs. strawberry.

The diabolical creators of these "Bean Boozled" jelly beans (look-alike pairs of beans that are anything but) at Jelly Belly Candy Company must chuckle when they see people gagging and choking on the "wrong" jelly bean. Thanks Megan for this box of jelly beans, filled with promise and peril. The toothpaste jelly beans weren't too bad, but the rotten egg ones were hastily spat out. I could go on; however, since today was Day #8 of Chocolate and Banana Theme Week, I'll focus on these two flavors, and their evil twins in this 2nd Edition collection.

There were four brown beans in this box that were the same color. The Chocolate Pudding jelly bean(s) looked just like the Canned Dog Food jelly bean(s). Unfortunately, the first three brown beans tasted like puppy dog chow (or what I imagine canned pet food might taste like). Thank goodness, the fourth bean was the Chocolate Pudding flavor. Hurray! It certainly tasted much better than the dog food flavor.

I had the same thing happen when I was trying/hoping for the banana flavored bean. Three failures, followed by a final success. The first 3 beans were an amalgam of artificial flavors in addition to a hint of old No. 2 pencil. Biting into the last bean and finding the (one and only) Top Banana bean was a relief.

The success of these odd-flavored beans shows how curious we humans are. The timing is, however, perfect (the week before Halloween) for a truly frightening treat.

ChocolateBet: October 21, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Gelato Classico
1.) Banana Walnut - Light - Very Good
2.) Caffe Moca - Good +
1 small cup with two flavors
Calories: 200 calories (estimate)
Cost: $3.50 (estimate)
Purchased from: Gelato Classico, downtown Palo Alto, CA

Even though temperatures were dropping, gelato beckoned this evening at the local Gelato Classico (Concord, CA) shop.

I lapped up every bit of my small cup with two flavors: Banana Walnut Light (93% fat free), and Caffe Moca -- with some help from the little plastic shovel-shaped spoon. The banana was quite good -- my favorite of the two flavors; and, the nut bits did indeed taste like freshly chopped walnuts. If this was low fat version, you could have fooled me. I would happily try more low-fat versions of other flavors in the future.

The Caffe Moca was quite pleasant with rich sections of cold, creamy chocolate.

Today was Day #8 of Chocolate and Banana Theme Week.