ChocolateBet: October 31, 2012

Chocolate of the Day:

Unreal Brands, Inc.
Unreal 54 - Candy Coated Chocolates with Peanuts
Good +
Weight: 1.5 oz. (42 g.) total package
Calories: 200 calories in 1 package/bag
Cost: $1.00
Purchased from: CVS Pharmacy, Mountain View, CA

Trick or Treat. This week has been filled with treats. If you're going to eat Halloween candy, may I suggest "unjunked" chocolate candy choices from Unreal Brands (Boston, MA).

Today I enjoyed Unreal's Candy Coated Chocolates with Peanuts, No. 54 in their candy series. What does unjunked mean? Answer: Among other things, it means: "no artificials, no hydrogenateds, no corn syrups, no preservatives, no GMOs." Unreal, and much appreciated.

I also enjoyed a pumpkin sundae with Double Rainbow Pumpkin and Dulce de Leche ice creams, topped with a chopped Unreal caramel bar, that I'll write about later.

This week was brought to you by the color Orange. This was the last day of Chocolate and Pumpkin week (lots of orange and brown, and piles of pumpkins from everywhere in town).

San Francisco buildings have been lit up orange; and today the city held a welcome home parade for the San Francisco Giants baseball team (orange and black) to celebrate their World Series Championship win -- on Halloween day (more orange and black), no less.

I've added a skeleton, and a few flowers and candles today to celebrate this great Orange day. Happy Halloween to all who celebrate pumpkin day, and a great day for chocolates as well.

Lake Champlain - Caramel Pumpkins, Pumpkin Pop - Oct. 30, 2012

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

Lake Champlain Chocolates

1.) Dark Chocolate Caramel Pumpkins
Very Good
Weight: .88 oz. (25 g.) / 5 oz. (141 g.) total package/bag
Calories: 118.8 calories in 2 caramel pumpkins
Cost: $8.99 for 1 bag
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

2.) Pumpkin Pop
Good +
Weight: 1.4 oz. (39 g.) in 1 pop
Calories: 220 calories in 1 pop
Cost: $5.99 for 1 pop
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA


I found two different pumpkin-shaped offerings from Lake Champlain Chocolates at my local grocery store. What's scarier than a dark chocolate pumpkin oozing with caramel? Maybe a milk chocolate pumpkin with a few bites out of its jack-o-lantern face?

Today was Day #7 of Chocolate and Pumpkin Theme Week. Happy day before Halloween to you all.

ChocolateBet: October 29, 2012

Chocolate of the Day:

Trader Joe's
Milk Chocolate (filled with) Caramel bar
Good + - Very Good
Weight: 1.5 oz. (41 g.) in 1 bar
Cost: $0.99 in 1 bar
Purchased from: Trader Joe's, Menlo Park, CA

Today was a chocolate-for-breakfast day -- with four products from Trader Joe's (Monrovia, CA). Fortunately, Trader Joe's offers a variety of interesting chocolates and gluten-free foods. I started with a small container of Pumpkin, 0% fat, Greek yogurt, a seasonal speciality item, and loaded it up with pumpkin seeds, diced almonds, and pieces of roughly chopped Milk Chocolate (filled with) Caramel bar.

This bar, made with Belgian chocolate, was smooth, sweet and very satisfying, with caramel that had just the right texture and taste. The milk chocolate and the sweet caramel blended well with the yogurt.

I later finished the remaining bar during a hike on Mt. Diablo -- literally Devil Mountain, located east of, and across the Bay from, San Francisco -- a fitting location for a week that includes Halloween and Day of the Dead celebrations.

Day #6 of Chocolate and Pumpkin Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: October 28, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Trader Joe's
Ultra Chocolate Ice Cream
Good - Good +
Weight: 1/4 cup (52.5 g.)/ 1 Quart (946 mL) total container
Calories: 125 calories in 1/4 cup; (210 cals. total with 1/6 cup Pumpkin ice cream)
Cost: $
Purchased from: Trader Joe's, Menlo Park, CA

A mixture of two "Super Premium" ice creams from Trader Joe's (Monrovia, CA) -- Ultra Chocolate and Pumpkin -- tasted slightly better than the two flavors did separately. The Pumpkin ice cream by itself was a bit sweet and unremarkable, but when used in moderation with a larger scoop of Ultra Chocolate ice cream, the resulting spicy chocolate flavor was quite nice.

The Ultra Chocolate might be a good mix with cherry ice cream and other flavors as well.

Top this ice cream with some caramelized nibs and chopped almonds, and you have yourself a tasty fall-themed ice cream treat.

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Pumpkin Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: October 27, 2012

Chocolate of the Day:

Le Grand Confectionary
Pumpkin Pie truffle
Good +
Weight: .6 oz. (16.9 g.) (estimate) for 1 truffle
Calories: 90 calories (estimate) for 1 truffle
Cost: $1.75 (estimate) for 1 truffle
Purchased from: The Candy Store, in Tiburon, CA

I was drawn to these Pumpkin Pie truffles from Le Grand Confectionary (Sacramento, CA), when I visited The Candy Store in Tiburon, CA, while on a walk by San Francisco Bay.

These generously sized, seasonal pumpkin-shaped chocolates tasted fresh (always a plus with filled chocolates/confections), and they were filled with a smooth, sweet milk chocolate ganache infused with pumpkin pie spices -- cinnamon, cloves, perhaps some allspice.

Today was Day #4 of Chocolate and Pumpkin Theme Week. 

ChocolateBet: October 26, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Trader Joe's
Dark Chocolate Coconut Caramel bar
Good - Good +
Weight: .75 oz. (21.2 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) total bar
Calories: 112 calories in 1/4 bar
Cost: $1.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Trader Joe's, Menlo Park, CA

I enjoyed today's Dark Chocolate Coconut Caramel bar from Trader Joe's (Monrovia, CA) -- both plain and with a pumpkin dessert.

The answer to the question you didn't know you were asking: Can you cook a cake in a pumpkin? The answer is yes you can! I made a gluten-free pumpkin spice cake, poured the batter into a pumpkin, cooked it, and then carved out a face on said pumpkin. Serve this cake, if you dare, with chunks of cooked sweet pumpkin carvings and pieces of this dark (70% cacao) bar. The caramel complemented the pumpkin spice flavors nicely.

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

ChocolateBet: October 25, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Jo's Candies
Pumpkin Spice Bark
Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.)
Calories: 160 calories
Cost: $1.34 (sale)
Purchased from: World Market/Cost Plus, Reno, NV

Today was Day #2 of Chocolate and Pumpkin Theme Week, and this Pumpkin Spice Bark from Jo's Candies (Torrance, CA), with swirls of chocolate and redolent of pumpkin pie-style spices, fit the theme. The smooth bark was made with pumpkin-flavored white orange chocolate, decorated with milk chocolate. A little sweet, but perfectly seasonal.