Fig Cake + Milk Chocolate

Chocolate of the Day: 

Perugina
Milk Chocolate bar
Good+
Weight: .7 oz. (?? g. ) .36 lb. total wedge
Calories: 105 calories (estimate)
Cost: N/A
Purchased from: small store in San Francisco, CA

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate and Fig Theme Week.

I bought a wedge of pressed, dried fig cake with almonds (from Spain). This dense cake became a bit softer and more lovely when heated in the microwave -- and even better with small squares of Perugina milk chocolate (owned by Nestle - Vevey, Switzerland) melting beside it.

If you like figs and you like chocolate, it's hard to go wrong with almost any combination of the two. But I did like this simple pairing. The almonds in the fig cake also added some additional crunchy texture and balanced out the slightly acidic flavors of both fig and chocolate.

Belgian Milk Chocolate - Aug. 31, 2013

Chocolate of the Day: 

Fresh and Easy
Mini Hunk Bar - Belgian Milk Chocolate
Good
Weight: .397 oz. (11.25 g.) in 1/4 bar / 1.59 oz. (45 g.) total bar
Calories: 60 calories in 1/4 bar
Cost: $0.99 for package of 3 bars
Purchased from: Fresh and Easy, Mountain View, CA

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Fig Theme Week. It's been easy to find many combinations that work with these two foods.

Today's combination involved shaved Belgian chocolate over chopped figs and vanilla gelato*. The results were on the sweet side, but I enjoyed this cold dessert on a hot summer day. (Optional additions to this sundae: cinnamon, ginger liqueur, crumbled gluten-free ginger snaps, strawberries, almonds, etc.)

*Note: In the past, I've also made fig ice cream by blending vanilla ice cream (or gelato), dried figs and milk chocolate shavings, then re-freezing this mixture.

Chocolate Salami - Aug. 30, 2013

Chocolate of the Day: 

Dude Sweet Chocolate
FDA Chocolate "Salami"
Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / 8 oz. (227 g.) total salami
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1 oz.
Cost: $15.00 for 1 salami
Purchased from: Dude Sweet Chocolate, Dallas, TX

Today was Day #4 of Chocolate and Fig Theme Week. This chocolate and fig salami from Dude Sweet Chocolate (Dallas, TX) arrived just in time for a summer picnic.

Slice this salami and serve it up with meat, cheese or sherry and you'll up the creative quotient at your table, inside or out.

Made with 72% South American chocolate, California marzipan (almonds, sugar), dates, dried figs, and cocoa nibs, this cleverly disguised treat looked (and had a bit of the texture) of a salami, but was very rich, dense and satisfying, due in large part to the dates and figs. However, the blend of nibs and marzipan with the chocolate was also just right, and not too sweet. Brava to chef Katherine Clapner.

L'Amourette Figs bar - Aug. 29, 2013

Chocolate of the Day: 

L'Amourette LLC
L'Amourette Chocolatier - Figs Chocolat Noir bar
Weight: .7 oz. (19.8 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) total bar
Calories: 125 calories for 1/5 bar
Cost: $4.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #3 of Chocolate and Figs Theme Week. And I celebrated this occasion with a "Figs" Chocolate Noir (72% dark chocolate) bar from L'Amourette Chocolatier/L'Amourette LLC (San Francisco, CA).

L'Amourette handcrafts a line of chocolate bars that are vegan and soy and gluten free. The chocolate in this bar had a distinct dark, slightly acidic tang, and was made using Venezuelan Trinitario cacao beans. The generous bits of dried figs had just the right texture - not too tough and chewy and not too gooey soft, and poked out of the chocolate enrobing.

Chocolate fudge, fig cheese - Aug. 28, 2013

Chocolate of the Day: 

Original Chocolate Fudge Co.
Chocolate
Good
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) (estimate) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total container
Calories: 75 calories (estimate) in 1/2 oz. serving
Cost: N/A
Purchased from: N/A

Another late summer day, another chocolate, fig and cheese plate. I could eat these all year long. Fresh figs are a rich, flavorful seasonal treat, and to have figs embedded in a small cylinder of Coach Farm goat's milk cheese -- all the better.

A tiny spoonful of smooth Chocolate fudge from the Original Gourmet Fudge Co. (Salem, NH) provided the chocolate-to-go, and to ground this tasting experience in solid sweet + savory territory. (Note: the company is now primarily focused on lollipops and not chocolate items.)

Askinosie Hey, Hey Hazelnut! spread - Aug. 27, 2013

Chocolate of the Day: 

Askinosie Chocolate

Hey, Hey Hazelnut! Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

Good + - Very Good

Weight: 1 Tablespoon (18 g.) / 6.5 oz. (184 g.) in total jar

Calories: 100 calories in 1 Tablespoon serving

Cost: $12.00 (estimate) in 1 jar 

Purchased from: Askinosie Chocolate, Springfield, MO (online order)

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate and Cheese Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate and Fig Theme Week.This morning's chocolate, cheese and fruit plate almost made me late for an appointment it was so good. 

I savored every bit of my "Hey, Hey Hazelnut!" Chocolate Hazelnut spread from Askinosie Chocolate (Springfield, MO). I carefully slathered it on a piece of gluten-free toast -- alongside goat cheese, fresh black mission figs and strawberries, and a drizzle of saffron honey. Life was good and so was this breakfast.

Askinosie Chocolate is a bean-to-bar chocolate maker. However, Askinosie's relationships with farmers go beyond most chocolate makers. Pictures of farmers, like Peter Cruz, are featured on chocolate product labels. This hazelnut spread made "from (cocoa) bean to jar" contained cocoa powder (made in the Askinosie factory) using cocoa beans from Davao, Philippines.

The list of ingredients was short, simple, and high-quality: hazelnuts (oil and butter), cocoa powder, organic sugar, and roasted cocoa nibs. The hazelnut butter was made in the Askinosie factory as well, from scratch, "using DuChilly hazelnuts from Holmquist Hazelnut Orchards in Lynden, Washington, USA."

I ate this marvelous hazelnut spread on toast with Laura Chenel's Chevre -- Honey Goat Cheese, from Sonoma, CA, to be exact.

Chobani greek yogurt - August 26, 2013

Chocolate of the Day: 

Chobani, Inc.
Greek Yogurt - Bite - Raspberry with dark chocolate chips
Good
Weight: 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in 1 yogurt / part of a larger 4-pack
Calories: 100 calories (plus cream cheese and crust for "shotglass cheesecake")
Cost: $3.49 for 1 4-pack of yogurt
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

A raspberry flavored Greek Yogurt "Bite" (small container) with flecks of dark chocolate chips might be healthier than ice cream, but I probably downgraded the health benefits a bit by mixing this yogurt with some cream cheese. I poured this cheesecake-like filling over a ground nut (almond, pecan, walnut and date) crust -- to make shotglass and miniature ersatz cheesecakes.

I also made a similar pineapple cheesecake with Chobani's pineapple and caramel flavored Bite yogurt.

Neither one was as rich as a full fat New York style cheesecake, but they were tasty all the same. And, small portion sizes work well for me (and my test kitchen).

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Cheese Theme Week.