ChocolateBet: September 9, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

1/2 bar
Lindt and Sprungli
Grandeur 34% Hazelnuts - Milk Chocolate bar
Very Good
Weight: 2.65 oz. (75 g.) / 5.3 oz. (150 g.) total bar
Calories: 397 calories
Cost: $4.69 total bar
Purchased from: Piazzas Fine Foods, in Palo Alto, CA


Today was Day #7 of Chocolate and Hazelnut Theme Week. For those unacquainted with this blog, you may be asking, what does this mean, and why should I care?

I eat a different chocolate every day, and to make life interesting, I will frequently choose an item to combine with chocolate for a week -- thus creating a theme week. This week's item: hazelnuts. And, today involved eating more tasty, toasted hazelnuts -- and caramelized hazelnut pieces -- embedded in milk chocolate, for brunch, in between meetings at work. The nuts made the bar. I hope you benefit from my findings. I'll be nibbling on the dark chocolate version of this Lindt Grandeur "34% Hazelnuts" bar tomorrow.

ChocolateBet: September 8, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

1/6 bar
Majani 1796 S.p.A.
Chocolate with Hazelnuts bar
Good
Weight: .583 oz. (16.66 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) total bar
Calories: 87 calories
Cost: $6.99 total bar
Purchased from: Village Market (Ferry Building), San Francisco, CA

This Chocolate with Hazelnuts milk chocolate (22% minimum cacao) bar from Majani (Italy) had no discernible pieces of nut -- cioccolato alla nocciole gianduja was blended seamlessly together smoothly with a little cocoa butter and soya lecithin.

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

ChocolateBet: September 7, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

3/4 bar
Chuao Chocolatier
Caracas - Milk Chocolate Bar with Almonds, Hazelnuts and Pistachios
Very Good
Weight: 2.625 oz. (75 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) total bar
Calories: 393 calories (estimate)
Cost: $5.99 total bar
Purchased from: Piazzas Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Today's "Caracas" milk chocolate (41% cacao) bar (from Chuao Chocolatier based in Carlsbad, CA) was filled with whole roasted almonds, hazelnuts and pistachios. A base of rich, smooth, deep milk chocolate  complemented crunchy bites of nuts.

Previously, I tried the Chuao dark chocolate (60% cacao) version of the  Caracas bar.  I've found 40-60% cacao is a good range for certain nut, bacon, and savory flavored bars.

Today was Day #9 of Chocolate and Almonds Theme Week; and Day #5 of Chocolate and Hazelnut Theme Week. 

ChocolateBet: Sept. 6, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

1 mendiant
La Chatelaine Chocolat Co.
Good + - Very Good
Weight: .55 oz. (15.6 g.)/ 6.1 oz. (172 g.) total package
Calories: 79 calories (estimate)
Cost: $ 14.75 (approximately)
Purchased from: La Chatelaine Chocolat Co., via Foodzie.com

More European style chocolates with hazelnuts and almonds. Today's choice: a thin, round, mendiant-style chocolate topped with a thin strip of candied citrus peel; hazelnuts; almond and pecan pieces that might have been too small to see; pumpkin seeds; and a light sprinkle of sea salt -- with a fancy embossed wavy pattern on the backside. These mendiants would look at home anywhere on a dessert plate.

La Chatelaine Chocolat Co., a French Chocolaterie, is based in Bozeman, Montana.

Today was Day #8 of Chocolate and Almonds Theme Week, and Day #4 of Chocolate and Hazelnut Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: Sept. 5, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

1/8 bar
Francois Pralus
Barre Infernale Noir
Very Good - Very Good +
Weight: .705 oz. (20 g.) / 5.64 oz. (160 g.) total bar
Calories: 106 calories (estimate)
Cost: $16.00 (estimate)
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, in Palo Alto, CA

This unique, elegant bar from Patisserie Chocolaterie s.a.s. Pralus (Roanne, France) can be cut into rectangular pieces and shared with friends. Think sliced truffles.

Covered in dark chocolate, and filled with hazelnut praline and toasted almonds from Valencia, this delicious confection is one of two "infernal" bars (there is also a milk chocolate version with toasted hazelnuts) from chocolatier Francois Pralus. Despite being transported in warm weather, it was still very good.

Today was Day #7 of Chocolate and Almonds Theme Week, and Day #3 of Chocolate and Hazelnut Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: Sept. 4, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:

3/5 bar
Mink Chocolates
The Girls' Favourite (bar)
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.056 oz. (30 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) total bar
Calories: 180 calories
Cost: $7.00
Purchased from: Mink Chocolates, in Vancouver, B.C., Canada

From my Mink Chocolates vault comes: "The Girls' Favourite" -- a great, original name for a chocolate bar. What is it exactly? A milk chocolate (38% cacao) bar that contains French Hazelnut and Almond Praline filling inside each segment.

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate and Almonds Theme Week, and Day #2 of Chocolate and Hazelnut Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: September 3, 2011

 
Chocolate of the Day:

1/2 bar
Quaranta Sofficione
Nougat Passion - Dark Chocolate Soft Nougat
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.75 oz. (50 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) total bar/package
Calories: 236 calories
Cost: $3.59
Purchased from: Crossroads Market, in Palo Alto, CA

The Italians do wonderful things with chocolate, almonds and hazelnuts. Today's Nougat Passion from Quaranta Sofficione (made in Caravaggio, Italy) contained a soft, sugar-sweet nougat embedded with chopped almonds and hazelnuts, and topped with a layer of small, dark chocolate pieces. The nougat was a bit sweet for me, but the chopped nuts and the chocolate pieces were heavenly.

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Almonds Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate and Hazelnut Theme Week.