barkThins - Dark Chocolate Mint - Dec. 27, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

barkThins
Dark Chocolate Mint
Good
Weight: 1.4 oz. (40 g.) / 4.7 oz. (133 g.) in total package
Calories: 190 calories in 1 serving
Cost: $3.99 for 1 package
Purchased from: Safeway, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #2 of Crunchy Chocolate Theme Week.

Today's Dark Chocolate Mint barkThins were "manufactured exclusively for" Ripple Brand Collective, LLC* (New York, NY).

These dark, bark-like snack pieces were generously studded with bits of peppermint candy, making them fairly sweet and crunchy. Dark chocolate was a good choice. (Milk chocolate may have made these barkThins too pliable, sticky and very sweet.)

*The barkThins brand was made for Ripple Brand Collective, LLC—an entity that was purchased by The Hershey Co. in 2016. The barkThins were Non-GMO Project Verified and contained Fair Trade ingredients.

Chuao Chocolatier - For the Love of Peppermint (bar) - Dec. 26, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Chuao Chocolatier

for the love of Peppermint (bar)

Good

Weight: 1.4 oz. (40 g.) / 2.8 oz. (80 g.) in total bar

Calories: 180 calories in 1/2 bar

Cost: $ missing information

Purchased from: REI, Mountain View, CA

Happy Holidays, and welcome to Day #1 of Crunchy Chocolate Theme Week.

Today's "For the Love of Peppermint" (bar) was from Chuao Chocolatier (Carlsbad, CA). The company was co-founded by two Venezuelan brothers in 2002. 

This chocolate bar was one of at least three holiday-themed bars the company has offered this season. Today's bar was the company's "ode to the wonder and glee of the season...dark chocolate...mixed with crushed candy canes..."

When opening the package for this bar, the aroma of cooling peppermint wafted out. This peppermint was a prominent part of the tasting experience. The slightly bold dark chocolate took a back seat to the sweet but powerful mint candy. The bar offered a refreshing, wake-up, holiday experience. And the candy cane bits did add crunchy texture to the otherwise smooth dark chocolate.

Merry Chocolate Christmas - Chocolate Covered Tangerines, Advent Calendar - Dec. 25, 2018

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Nature to Go

Dark Chocolate Covered Tangerines

Good

Weight: 2 oz. (56.6 g.) / 6 oz. (170 g.) in total package

Calories: 240 calories in 1/3 package (2 servings)

Cost: $ missing information

Purchased from: missing information

Friedel

Advent Calendar - 24 Milk Chocolate Figurines

Good

Weight: .10 oz. (3.1 g.) / 2.65 oz. (75 g.) in total package

Calories: 15 calories in 1 piece

Cost: $N/A - gift (Thank you Bill!)

Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!

Dark Chocolate Covered Tangerines
As children, we found tangerines in our stockings on Christmas morning. Today's dark chocolate covered tangerine pieces from Nature To Go (distributed by Food Castle Inc. (Vernon, CA)) recalled those childhood memories.

Working with preserved citrus and chocolate can be tricky. The pieces of dried tangerines enrobed in dark chocolate didn't quite match the illustration on the front of the package (they were more compressed in dried form), but were fun to try nonetheless.

Advent Calendar

Chocolate advent calendars were also fun growing up. Although there was the problem of six children remaining patient, and taking turns opening the tiny doors with chocolate items behind them. And it took the wisdom of Solomon to figure out how to split one small treat six ways. (No wonder they were retired after a few years.)

Even though the last Advent Calendar door is traditionally opened on Dec. 24th (Christmas Eve), I waited until Christmas morning to reveal the last of 24 milk chocolate figurines, an image of old St. Nick himself. The tiny Santa milk chocolate tasted better than most chocolate novelty items, and was gone in a flash.

This Friedel Advent Calendar was made in Germany, Produced by Rubezahl Schokoladen GmbH.

Gracie Jones Gluten Free Bake Shop - Dec. 24, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Gracie Jones Gluten Free Bake Shop

Chocolate Peppermint Cookie

Good

Weight: unknown

Calories: unknown 

Cost: $3.00 for 1 cookie

Purchased from: Gracie Jones Gluten Free Bake Shop

Happy Holidays to all.

Today's Chocolate Peppermint (gluten-free) cookie was from Gracie Jones Gluten Free Bake Shop* (Palo Alto, CA).

This sweet, chocolate cookie tasted like a "real" cookie (or what I remember a traditional cookie with wheat tastes like from 20 years ago**). It had just the right amount of chew and crunch and chocolate cookie flavor. A festive sprinkle of peppermint candy contributed tiny micro-bursts of mint contrast.

*This gluten free bake shop, located in the heart of Silicon Valley, was first spotted many months ago with a small "Pied Piper" sign in the front—presumably a reference to a small, fictional, technology start-up featured at the heart of the television series, Silicon Valley, that was fictionally based blocks from where this shop was operating. Happily open hours have expanded since then.

**Twenty years ago I stopped eating wheat and gluten. I felt (and continue to feel) much better without gluten. Without this hurdle to overcome, I never would have started Chocolate Banquet, or felt so grateful to have discovered 4,500+ chocolate items (or items with chocolate in them) to try over the past 12+ years, made by many wonderful people. Thank you to all.

Berra Bites - Mixed Berry Dark chocolate bites - Dec. 23, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Berra Bites

Mixed Berry Dark chocolate bites

Good

Weight: 1.4 oz. (40 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total package

Calories: 190 calories in 1/4 cup (1 serving)

Cost: $4.99 for 1 package

Purchased from: The Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #13 of Chocolate and Fruit Theme Week.

Today's Mixed Berry Dark chocolate bites were manufactured for Berra Bites (San Francisco, CA). The company is committed to avoiding use any artificial flavorings or preservatives in their offerings.

These bites were made from pureed mixed apple, blueberry, raspberry, strawberry and black currant fruit pieces—creating concentrated berry fruit flavored centers, covered in dark chocolate.

Tru Fru - Whole Cranberries in dark chocolate - Dec. 22, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Tru Fru, LLC
Whole Cranberries freeze-dried fresh and immersed in dark chocolate
Good
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 3.2 oz. (91 g.) in total package
Calories: 150 calories in 1/3 cup
Cost: $5.99 for 1 package
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #12 of Chocolate and Fruit Theme Week.

Today's Whole Cranberries in dark chocolate were from Tru Fru, LLC (South Jordan, UT). Festively colorful, naturally tart sweet, freeze-dried fresh cranberries were at the core of today's glossy ebony-colored rounds. Perfect for the holidays.

These fruit-filled confections had a dark chocolate aroma with a faint hint of coconut,* and like most chocolate-covered pieces, were finished with confectioners glaze.

*There was no coconut listed in ingredients list, which read: Dark chocolate (sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, milkfat, soy lecithin - an emulsifier, natural vanilla flavor), cranberries, tapioca dextrin, confectioners glaze. 

Lindt - Intense Orange Dark bar - Dec. 21, 2018

Chocolate of the Day: 

Lindt and Sprungli
Intense Orange Dark bar
Good
Weight: 1.4 oz. (40 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 190 calories in 1 serving (4 squares) of bar
Cost: $2.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Safeway, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #11 of Chocolate and Fruit Theme Week.

Today's Intense Orange Dark bar was from Lindt and Sprungli USA Inc. (Stratham, NH).

This 47% dark bar had smooth dark chocolate aroma and flavor, with dutched* sweet cocoa and faint orange notes.

Bits of almond and candied orange gave the bar textural interest and tiny bursts of sweet, mild citrus (natural and artificial) flavor.

*Please note, there was no indication this Intense Orange Lindt bar contained "Dutched" cocoa with reduced acidity. Lindt has said in the past that it may use this process in its very high percentage bars, but not generally for bars below 90% cacao. (Best to check directly with them for details on individual bars.)

The following explains what the phrase Dutched cocoa means.

Dutched (aka alkilized, or European-style) cocoa or chocolate has been treated to reduce acidity through a process of adding an alkaline substance, thereby neutralizing acidity. 

This process—invented by Dutch chocolate maker, Coenraad Johannes van Houten, in 1828—is commonly used for hot cocoa mixes, ice creams, baking chocolates, and many other chocolate offerings, when natural cocoa has been determined to be too acidic. The resulting cocoa powder has a darker color and a milder flavor. 

Natural cocoa has a pH of approximately 5 or 6. (Seven is neutral, and lower numbers indicate greater acidity). Dutched cocoa generally has a value of 7. (Lemon or lime juice has a pH between 2 and 3; Tofu has a score in the low 7s. Most foods we eat fall in the range between 3 and 7; although the (logarithmic) pH scale goes all the way to 14. Substances above 10 are inadvisable for us to consume. (Calcium carbonate has a pH of approx. 9.9, Ammonia has a pH of 11, lye clocks in at 13, and sodium hydroxide, at 14, tops the scale.)