Terry's Milk Chocolate Orange Segsations - Oct. 26, 2014

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Terry's Chocolate Orange
(Kraft Foods UK)
"Segsations" (package of 5 flavors)
1.) Milk Crispy with Orange
2.) Milk Chocolate with Orange
3.) Milk Chocolate with Dark Chocolate with Orange
Weight: 1.325 oz. (37.5 g.) (estimate for 3 pieces) / 11.66 oz (330 g.) in total package
Calories: 198 calories (estimate) in 3 pieces
Cost: $ N/A - from a friend who brought back from a holiday trip
Purchased from: N/A - from a friend

Today was Day #2 of Chocolate and Orange Theme Week.

 This milk chocolate and orange trio from Terry's Chocolate Orange (Kraft Foods UK) consisted of three different, individually-wrapped, chocolates in the shape of orange slices. (The company's "Segsation" package contained 5 different flavors.)

Each slice contained a similar, smooth base of milk chocolate -- flavored with natural-tasting, real orange oil.

The Milk Crispy flavor also contained small pieces of crispy rice. And the third piece was a blend of dark chocolate and milk chocolate.


In addition to being stamped with a small Terry's logo on what would be the "peel" surface, each segment was etched with a short, cheery message: Big kiss, Do the twist!, and the helpful Chill out.

Terry's Exploding Orange Segments - Oct. 25, 2014

Chocolate of the Day: 

Terry's Chocolate Orange
Segsations - package of 5 flavors
Exploding Candy flavor
Good - Good +
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) (estimate) in 2 pieces/ 330 g. in total box
Calories: 131 calories (estimate) in 2 pieces
Cost: N/A - from a friend (Thank you Mary!)
Purchased from: N/A - from a friend (from London, UK)

Today kicks off Chocolate and Orange Theme Week. Orange and black colors are everywhere this week in the San Francisco Bay Area -- and not just because we're celebrating Halloween next week.

The San Francisco Giants (baseball) team is in the World Series; and after this evening (Game #4), they are tied with their rivals, the Kansas City Royals. The Giants team colors are, you guessed it, orange and black. After their come-from-behind victory this evening in San Francisco, fireworks filled the sky.

To celebrate the home team win, I enjoyed two Exploding Candy "Segsations," individually-wrapped chocolate orange segment-shaped pieces from Terry's Chocolate Orange (Kraft Foods UK).

These orange-flavored milk chocolate segments were embossed on one side with messages like "Kiss Kiss" and "Love Me," and a small Terry's logo. They were smooth and flavorful, and the tasting experience was punctuated with tiny, mild fizz-pop sensations from popping candy embedded in each piece.

Chocolate Rocks - Oct. 24, 2014

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Chocolate Rocks
Good
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) (estimate) in 1 serving
Calories: 75 calories (estimate) in 1 serving
Cost: N/A - gift from friend (Thank you Don)
Purchased from: N/A - gift from friend

As a follow-up to the Chocolate Legos featured yesterday, today's chocolate rocks could also be used as a construction material, or perhaps landscaping.

These colorful, and realistic looking, pebbles were solid chocolate on the inside.

Chocolatiers that specialize in these chocolate pebbles include Fiesta Candy (Chocolate Rocks) and Kimmie Candy Company (ChocoRocks).

Chocolat Uzma Sharif - Chocolate Legos - Oct. 23, 2014

Chocolate of the Day: 

Chocolat Uzma Sharif
Chocolate Legos
1.) Salmon - Good + - Very Good
2.) Yellow - Good +
3.) Blue - Good - Good +
Weight: 4.5 oz. (137 g.) (estimate) for 10 pieces/ 4.95 oz. (140? g.) (estimate) for total container
Calories: 695 calories (estimate) for 10 pieces
Cost: N/A - gift from friend (Thank you Toni!)
Purchased from: N/A - gift from a friend (who bought in Chicago, IL)

If you're a creative tinkerer, or you've wondered if you could construct a house using chocolate building materials, today's chocolate is for you.

Life would be sweeter if temporary houses could be made from chocolate Legos or Lincoln Logs. Like ice castles, they may not last long, but they'd be fun to build.

I became intrigued with chocolate Legos when a friend (Melissa) posted a picture of some on Facebook. Think of the possibilities! I responded. Illustrator and designer, Akihiro Mizuuchi, explored this concept and built figures or characters from carefully molded chocolate Lego bricks, in different chocolate colors.

Today's Lego chocsimiles* came from Chocolat Uzma Sharif (Chicago, IL). Each colored brick was made from a different chocolate (salted milk, milk and dark chocolate), and was "painted" with a different color cocoa butter "paint." The salmon-colored salted milk chocolate bricks were my favorite.

*Chocsimiles = chocolate facsimiles of objects; in this case these Chocolate Legos were chocsimiles of the LEGO(R) brick(s) made by The Lego Group, a privately held company in Billund, Denmark.

Tate's Bake Shop - Gluten Free Brownie - Oct. 22, 2014

Chocolate of the Day: 

Tate's Bake Shop
Gluten Free Brownie
Good - Good +
Weight: 4 oz. (113 g.) in 1 package
Calories: 480 calories in 1 package
Cost: $27.00 for 1 box of 6 (+ shipping)
Purchased from: Tate's Bake Shop, online order

Today was Day #9 of Chocolate Brownie Theme Week.

This rich, substantial Gluten Free Brownie was from Tate's Bake Shop (Southampton, NY), and had a fudgy, dense and slightly chewy, semi-sweet chocolate texture and flavor.

The Brownie was part of a box of 6 individually-wrapped, gluten-free bars (3 Blondies and 3 Brownies). Tate's Bake Shop also offers a line of gluten-free cookies.

Tate's Bake Shop - Blondie - Oct. 21, 2014

Chocolate of the Day: 

Tate's Bake Shop
Blondie
Good - Good +
Weight: 4 oz. (113 g.) in 1 piece
Calories: 510 calories for 1 piece (3 servings)
Cost: $27.00 for box of 6 (+ shipping)
Purchased from: Tate's Bake Shop, online order

Today was Day #8 of Chocolate Brownie Theme Week.

I enjoyed Tate's Bake Shop Chocolate Chip Cookies so much that I wanted to include their Gluten-Free brownie bars this week, so I ordered some. And, once again, a 7-day theme week, has grown by a few days.

When I was young, my mom used to make butterscotch brownies. These were also called blonde brownies, or "blondies."

This Gluten Free Blondie from Tate's Bake Shop (Southampton, NY) contained 1.) brown sugar, 2.) butter and 3.) semi-sweet chocolate chips -- in that order, followed by a list of natural ingredients. Almond flour and walnut bits gave these Blondie a slightly nutty taste and texture.

At 510 calories for the whole blondie, this was not a low-calorie item. But then, it doesn't pretend to be. The label suggested that this very rich bar be divided into 3 servings. So, find a knife, cut this into thirds and try to resist eating all three pieces yourself. I dare you.

jcoco - edamame bar, brownie - Oct. 20, 2014

Chocolate of the Day: 

jcoco
(created by Jean Thompson, Seattle Chocolates)
edamame sea salt in milk chocolate bar
Good ++
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / part of a 6 pack of jcoco small bars
Calories: 250 calories (estimate) = 1/3 bar (+ 1 brownie with pieces of bar)
Cost: N/A - gift from a friend (thank you Toni!) ($18.00)
Purchased from: N/A - gift from a friend

Today was Day #7 of Chocolate and Brownie Theme Week.

Edamame (green soybeans) may not be the first flavor that pops to mind when dreaming up a new brownie.

However, there is much to be said for chocolate desserts with a savory kick. And armed with this belief, I created today's Asian-themed brownie cookies. Say what you will, mixing these up was great fun.

To a gluten-free brownie mix, I added finely chopped black sesame crackers, sea salt, a dash of tamari sauce, and chopped up most of a jcoco* edamame sea salt in milk chocolate bar (after tasting this bar by itself). The non-GMO and kosher bar had a good buttery milk chocolate melt/texture with crunchy pieces of roasted edamame and a slight hint of sea salt and soy sauce**.

The brownie cookies were chewy, slightly sweet and slightly savory, and were topped with a few roasted edamame. They worked for me, but may not be everyone's favorite.

*The jcoco brand is part of Seattle Chocolate Company.
**This bar probably contained a trace of wheat from the small amount of soy sauce.