ChocolateBet: October 2, 2010

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

50 jelly beans
Jelly Belly Candy Company
1.) Sunkist (R) Lime jelly beans - Very Good (refreshing)
2.) Chocolate Devotion jelly beans - Good - Good +
3.) Dark Chocolate jelly beans - Good + - Very Good
4.) Mojito jelly bean - Good +
Calories: 200 calories (estimate)
Cost: Approximately $4.50 total
Purchased from: Jelly Belly Candy Company, Fairfield, CA

After attending the Suisan Bay Waterfront Art, Wine and Chocolate
Festival today (more on chocolate finds from this fest later), I visited the Jelly Belly Candy Company Factory a few miles away in Fairfield, CA.

I enjoyed the Jelly Belly factory tour; and then spent a good deal of time in the Jelly Belly Visitor Center store examining a dazzling  number of flavored beans and other candies. Unfortunately, I just missed being able to eat at the Jelly Belly Cafe (which closed at 3 p.m.), where I could have had a jelly bean-shaped hamburger. (Jelly bean shaped pizzas were also available, in different sizes.)

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Lime (+ Ginger) Theme Week. It took only minutes to find lime and chocolate flavors at the Jelly Belly store and sample bar. I later mixed Sunkist Lime and Chocolate Devotion and Dark Chocolate chocolate flavored jelly beans together (with a single sample Mojito bean), in a "recipe"* for what I imagined might approximate key lime pie with a chocolate cookie crust. (The ginger addition came in the form of unsweetened Yogi brand Ginger that helped dilute the sugar rush.)

*Note: Jelly Belly literature and packaging include recipes for various food and drink creations customers can make by combining various jelly bean flavors. There is also a second Jelly Belly factory tour location available in Wisconsin in the U.S.

ChocolateBet: October 1, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:

2 small bars
Trader Joe's
Semisweet Chocolate Minis (bars) 65% Cocoa
Good +
Weight: .8 oz. (24 g.) / 5 oz. (144 g.) total package of 12
Calories: 132 calories (estimate, based on wrapper info.)
Cost: $1.99 for package of 12 small bars + other ingredients
Purchased from: Trader Joe's, in Palo Alto, CA

It's important to keep things simple -- in chocolate, as in life. This is advice I should follow more often. Today's chocolate was a small bar from Trader Joe's wide selection. The individually-wrapped "minis" are a great size for a light snack or a bag lunch. It wasn't may favorite Trader Joe's dark chocolate bar; although, to be fair, most Trader Joe's chocolates are very good, so the bar was set high. Maybe it was the added vanilla?

Then, I decided to chuck the "keep it simple" rule out the window, once again, because today was Day #4 of Chocolate and Lime (+ Ginger) Theme Week. After I tasted a few squares of this bar, I made a dessert that incorporated this chocolate and other Trader Joe's products involving lime and ginger. See resulting frozen parfait (right). And that was fun. However, at the end of the day, the focus was still on the chocolate.

ChocolateBet: September 30, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
1 oz. serving
The Xocolate Bar
Dark Chocolate Ginger Bark (+ lime)
Good + - Very Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) serving
Calories: 145 calories (estimate)
Cost: $ (depends on weight/quantity)
Purchased from: The Xocolate Bar, in Berkeley, CA

Today was Day #3 of Chocolate and Lime (+ Ginger) Theme Week. Two lime side dishes: 1.) limeade dipping sauce, and 2.) a wedge of fresh lime, supported a ginger entree. And no one can accuse The Xocolate Bar chocolatiers of skimping on ginger. Great big pieces of sweetened ginger adorned these pieces of dark chocolate bark, which would be quite enjoyable without lime as well.*

Regarding the lime additions, the limeade dipping sauce was a bit too sweet; however, I enjoyed the fresh lime - with the ginger bark, and also with some iced water on the side. (The leftover limeade sauce was recycled and used to flavor a yogurt dessert in the Chocolate Banquet laboratory.) Thank you to those who provided tasting help.

*Note: If you are in the Berkeley, CA, area, you might also ask The Xocolate Bar's staff if they have any Rangpur or other Lime Truffles for sale.  Several of their truffles would have paired nicely with this ginger bark.

ChocolateBet: September 29, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:

1 serving
Trader Joe's
"Chocolate Dishes of Creme Brulee"
Very Good
Weight: 3.5 oz. (99 g.) / 14 oz. (397 g.) total package of 4
Calories: 340 calories + 8 calories for lime, ginger additions
Cost: $4.99 total package of 4 servings
Purchased from: Trader Joe's, in Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #2 of Chocolate and Lime (+ Ginger) Theme Week.

And, today's chocolate entree was a Trader Joe's chocolate shell/dish filled with creme brulee, topped with fresh lime zest, a hint of lime juice, and powdered ginger. A little lime juice added flavor and helped cut the sweetness of the creme brulee. (For some reason I couldn't taste the ginger.) However, this dessert would be just fine without toppings. Thank you to Jacinta for tasting help.

ChocolateBet: September 28, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:

1/2 bar
Chocolat Moderne LLC
Moderne Chocolate and Toffee Bar - Lime
Very Good - Very Good +
Weight: 1.75 oz. (50 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) total bar
Calories: 280 calories (estimate) for 1/2 bar
Cost: $8.25 total bar
Purchased from: Draegers, in San Mateo, CA

Today's chocolate game score: Hot Sun: 1; Chocolate: 0.

A late season hot spell this week turned any chocolate that was situated too close to bright, sunny windows into fondue. I will spare you the tragic picture of this slightly misshapen chocolate bar in its pretty gold foil inside wrapper. Thankfully today's heat did not impact the flavor of this 65% cacao bar, described on the packaging as follows: "Butter Toffee Infused with Fresh Lime Crumbled into Fine Dark Chocolate." The subtle lime taste was indeed very fresh and natural tasting, and stood up as a nice accent flavor to the toffee and dark chocolate.

One addition that you may notice in the background: a glass of homemade iced ginger tea, sweetened with agave syrup. Today was Day #1 of Chocolate and Lime + Ginger Theme Week. Lime and Ginger each deserve their own theme week, but this week I'll be combining the two.

ChocolateBet: September 27, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:

2 small pieces, or "bites"
Brandini Toffee
Brandini Bites (Toffee)
Good +
Weight: .7 oz. (19.6 g.)/ 8 oz. (226 g.) total container/round tin
Calories: 112 calories (estimate) for 2 small pieces
Cost: $12.00 for 1 container/round tin
Purchased from: Domaine Carneros (winery), Napa, CA

I think chocolate and travel go well together, which is why I liked the story behind Brandini Toffee.

Apparently, Leah Post and Brandon ("Brandini") Weimer started selling toffee to help finance a student trip to Italy. Based in La Quinta, CA, the company produces these small square toffee, or Brandini, Bites (which must be difficult to cut into these precise little pieces), and other toffee products.

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

ChocolateBet: September 26, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:

1 serving
Brown and Haley
Almond Roca - Buttercrunch Toffee
(chopped, with vanilla ice cream, nuts, whipped cream, nuts, other additions)
Good + - Very Good
Weight: .4 oz. (9 g.)/ 1.2 oz. (35 g.) total package of 3 pieces
Calories: 400 calories (estimate) for sundae
Cost: $?
Purchased from: Longs Drugs (now CVS Pharmacy)

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

It was also very hot outside, with temperatures well in into the 90's (in degrees Farenheit that is). This called for extreme measures -- adulteration of chocolate with ice cream. The result: an Almond Roca sundae, made with vanilla ice cream, topped with chopped pecans, cocoa, whipped cream, and a few whole raw almonds (for something healthy).