ChocolateBet: January 29, 2012

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Vosges Haut Chocolat
1.) Smoked Tomato milagro heart - Good + - Very Good
2.) Red Fire milagro heart - Very Good

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate + Hearts and Flowers Theme Week.

Nothing says Valentines Day is coming up in two weeks like flaming chocolate milagro (miracle) hearts.

Vosges (Chicago) offered three different flavored hearts this season. Featured today: the company's 1.) Smoked Tomato heart (smoked tomato, toffee and 62% cacao dark chocolate); and 2.) Red Fire heart with Mexican ancho and chipotle chillies, Ceylon cinnamon and 55% cacao dark chocolate.

I was very interested in trying the Smoked Tomato flavor. The best part: biting into pieces with smoked flavor, without too big a piece of tomato (think smoky sun-dried tomato fragments). Too much tomato in a bite may add a sharper, acidic element that may not appeal to everyone. Even better: alternating bites of Smoked Tomato and Red Fire hearts. Both hearts had a slightly uneven distribution of flavor spikes, which added interest and an element of surprise. Two hearts in one -- can't get more Valentinian than that.

ChocolateBet: January 28, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Diamond Foods, Inc.
Cocoa Roast Almonds
OK+
Weight: .10 oz. (.28 g.) / 4.41 oz. (126 g.) box of 7 bags
Calories: 10 calories
Cost: $ unavailable
Purchased from: Target, Mountain View, CA

Today was Day #7 of Chocolate and Almond Marzipan Theme Week. I combined yet anther style of marzipan, with cocoa coated toasted almonds.

Calissons (diamond-shaped marzipan, honey and fruit confections) typically found in southern France or Italy - mai oui! Cocoa Roast Almonds (from Diamond Foods) sweetened with artificial sweetener Sucralose? Not so much.

Originally, I had planned to dip some gluten-free almond cookies (made from almond flour and sugar) in some melted chocolate. Alas, the cookies were past their freshness date. Thank you to The Chocolate Garage community for coming to the rescue and supplying the Calissons.

ChocolateBet: January 27, 2012

Chocolate of the Day:

Vosges
Marzipan Bar
Very Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.)/ 3 oz. (85 g.) total bar
Calories: 165 calories
Cost: $7.50 total bar
Purchased from: Vosges, Chicago, IL

Vosges Haut Chocolat (Chicago) does lush and lovely photo shoots of their chocolates that I can only envy. My little blurry pics, stolen between work, sleep and commute hours this month certainly don't measure up. But, the images at right will give you a tiny inkling of what Vosges "designer" bars are all about: exotic flavor combinations blended with reasonably good chocolate.

Today's Marzipan dark chocolate (62% cacao) bar was filled with a sweet, Sicilian almond marzipan and amaretto center. The dark chocolate outside contrasted sharply with the light and translucent center, and took the sugar level down a peg or two.

A chocolate thought bubble lingered above my head: I wondered how a slightly less sweet center paired with a slightly less dark chocolate combination would have tasted.

I was impressed this week with the range of marzipan formulations. And I'd barely scratched the surface of what was available. I wasn't able to hunt down marzipan flavored with rose water, or orange blossom water in time. Maybe next year. Today was Day #6 of Chocolate and Marzipan Theme Week. Tomorrow, I'll experiment with gluten-free almond cookies and chocolate.

ChocolateBet: January 26, 2012

Chocolate of the Day:

Schluckwerder (Adendorf, Germany)
Qualitats - Marzipan bar
Very Good
Weight: .25 oz. (7 g.)/ 2 oz. (56 g.) total bar (estimate)
Calories: 32.5 calories (estimate)
Cost: $1.29 total bar
Purchased from: Crossroads Market, Palo Alto, CA

Day #5 of Chocolate and Almond Marzipan Theme Week dawned with a taste of another chocolate-coated, marzipan filled bar.

Wikipedia.org tells me that German marzipan is generally made by grinding whole almonds with sugar, and then partially drying the paste. (The French apparently combine their grounds almonds with sugar syrup.)
I also learned about an interesting tradition in Switzerland.

"In Geneva, a traditional part of the celebration of L'Escalade is the ritual smashing of a chocolate cauldron filled with marzipan vegetables, a reference to a Savoyarde siege of the city which was supposedly foiled by a housewife with a cauldron of boiling soup." Alas, I won't be able to fly to Switzerland to catch that tradition this year. I'll write that down in my 1,000 chocolate places/things to experience before I die book.

Today's marzipan bar was from Schluckwerder (Adendorf, Germany), a name I could barely pronounce. However, I had no trouble eating this bar, and the quality of the marzipan was quite good -- full of almond paste flavor, without being too sweet, or too dry. Perfect breakfast snack before dashing off to work. Unfortunately, it was still dark outside, and the pictures I took were a bit blurry. So, my apologies to the folks at Schluckwerder.

ChocolateBet: January 25, 2012

Chocolate of the Day:

fleurir
1.) Almond Amaretto - Good +
2.) Spumoni - Very Good
Weight: .4 oz. (11.3 g.) (estimate) / 9 oz. (252 g.) total box of 18 pieces
Calories: 58 calories (estimate) for 1/2 of 2 pieces
Cost: $34.00 box of 18 pcs. (+ any S&H)
Purchased from: fleurir hand grown chocolates via foodzie

Today's two chocolates hailed from fleurir, in Washington, D.C. I worked my way through this 18-piece assortment box until I reached these two flavors: 1.) Almond Amaretto (containing an almond ganache with amaretto, topped with marzipan); and 2.) Spumoni (cherry ganache with a layer of pistachio marzipan). Both were good, but the Spumoni was more fun. Also, I hadn't tasted pistachio marzipan before. It paired well with the tart cherry and chocolate flavors, bundled into this same little sweet package.

Today was Day #4 of Chocolate and Almond Marzipan Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: January 24, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Anthon Berg
Marzipan bar
Very Good
Weight: 1.41 oz. (40 g.) total bar
Calories: 220 calories
Cost: $1.49 total bar
Purchased from: Crossroads Market, Palo Alto, CA

For those who like marzipan, I recommend this mork chocolade (dark chocolate) bar filled with marzipan (almond paste), from Danish maker, Anthon Berg.

This half-round bar was covered with a thin layer of smooth dark chocolate, but the clear star here was the center -- not too sweet, not too dry, and lighter than expected.

Today was Day #3 of Chocolate and Marzipan Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: January 23, 2012

Chocolate of the Day:

Mink Chocolates
1.) Queen Cake bar - Good+
Weight: .176 oz. (5 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) total bar
Calories: 24 calories
Cost: $7.00
Purchased from: Mink Chocolates, Vancouver, BC, Canada

2.) Pas de Deux bar - Very Good
Weight: .176 oz. (5 g.) / 1.76 oz. (50 g.) total bar
Calories: 23 calories
Cost: $7.00
Purchased from: Mink Chocolates, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Today was Day #2 of Chocolate and Almond Marzipan Theme Week.

I'm working my way through the last of several cleverly named Mink Chocolates bars from Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada). Both of today's filled bars were covered with 70% cacao dark chocolate.

The Queen Cake bar was stuffed with marzipan almond paste, and the Pas de Deux bar, my favorite of the two, contained Amaretto and dried cherries in a chocolate ganache base.