Jade Chocolates - Green Mango Tiles - December 7, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Jade Chocolates
Green Mango Tiles
Very Good
Weight: .77 oz. (21.8 g.) / 2.4 oz. (68 g.) total box of 7 pieces
Calories: 104 calories (estimate) in 2 pieces
Cost: $9.00 (available online)
Purchased from: Jade Chocolates, San Francisco, CA

Perfect for a light lunch dessert, special treat, or replacement for an after-dinner mint. Anytime would be a good time to enjoy today's bittersweet chocolate tiles topped with plump bits of dried green mango from Jade Chocolates (San Francisco, CA).

I enjoyed the stylish look and taste of these Green Mango Tiles. Each square could be a tiny sculpture; and each bite contained an artful layering of flavors, with a slightly delayed tangy uptick and spicy kick from a chile-lime rub.

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

Jade Chocolates - Mangoes and Chocolate - December 6, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Jade Chocolates
Mangoes and Chocolate
Very Good
Weight: 1.65 oz. (46 g.) / 5 oz. (141 g.) total container
Calories: 222 calories (estimate) for 1/3 container
Cost: $11.54 (approximate) for 1 container
Purchased from: Jade Chocolates, San Francisco, CA

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

Chocolatier Mindy Fong, of Jade Chocolates (San Francisco, CA), has combined chocolate and mango in unique and beautiful ways.

Today's "Mangos and Chocolate" offering came packaged in take-out style containers (available online in groups of three). Inside, thick strips of dried, tropical mango were glazed in bittersweet chocolate. The flavors were fresh and well balanced.

Stay tuned for Jade Chocolates' other mango and chocolate creations, including edible mango orchids -- a work of art. They'll be featured later this week.

Chocolaterie Robert - Nibs, Orange Brandy, Passion chocolates - December 5, 2012

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Robert Chocolatier (aka Chocolaterie Robert)
1.) Chocolat Noir aux eclats de Cacao (bar)
Good
Weight: 1.5 oz. (42 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) total bar
Calories: 225 calories (estimate) for 1/2 bar
Cost: N/A - gift
Purchased from: N/A - gift

Assortment Box - Individual chocolates
2.) Orangea Lait - Good - Good +
3.) Passion - Good
Weight: .8 oz. (22.6 g.) (estimate) in 2 pieces
Calories: 120 calories (estimate) in 2 pieces
Cost: $ N/A - gift
Purchased from: N/A - gift - Thank you Toni and Paul

Today was Day #3 of Chocolate and Mango Theme Week. A winter waterfall hike earlier today inspired a hearty fondue dinner entree and dessert: 1.) smoked chicken, mango habanero sausages dipped in mango chutney and a sweet and spicy sauce, and 2.) a chocolate fondue with mango, fresh pineapple and other fruits.

It's December here in California, but it's mango season in Madagascar -- a large island nation known for producing fine cacao -- and home to today's chocolates. I tried several sauce/fondue combinations, before settling on a combination of mango chutney and spicy barbeque sauce, with a sprinkle of cacao nibs.

For dessert, I incorporated three different chocolates made in Madagascar, from Chocolaterie Robert, also known as Robert Chocolatier, (Antananarivo, Madagascar).

First, I melted a Chocolaterie Robert 68% cacao dark chocolate bar with cacao nibs to make a base chocolate fondue for dried mango, fresh pineapple, other fruits and candied ginger.

I also enjoyed two fruit-themed chocolates from a Chocolaterie Robert assortment box: 1.) "Orangea Lait" (cream with orange brandy, covered in dark chocolate) and 2.) a "Passion" chocolate (passion fruit paste coated with dark chocolate). The brandy infused cream center in the Orangea Lait had a slight orange and cherry flavor. The Passion chocolate with a fruit pate or jelly-like center had a very mild passion fruit taste.

Hong Kong Bakery - Rum Ball - December 4, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

Hong Kong Bakery
Rum Ball
Good - Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) (estimate) for 1 piece
Calories: 140 calories (estimate) for 1 piece
Cost: $1.45 for 1 piece
Purchased from: Hong Kong Bakery, Mountain View, CA

This afternoon I visited the Hong Kong Bakery (Mountain View, CA), and brought home a full plate's worth of wheat-free sweets.

In addition to a generous sized chocolate Rum Ball, I tried a small serving of Mango Pudding with a very authentic, fresh mango flavor, and three types of rice cakes -- one steamed sugar rice cake, a banana rice cake, and another banana rice cake with red bean paste.

The chocolate rum ball was soft and sweet, almost cake-like inside, and rum-laced. It was coated with chocolate sprinkles on the outside.

I also purchased a small bag of chocolate fortune cookies at this local bakery to give to others. These did contain wheat, so I didn't try them, but they looked fresh and crunchy.

Today was Day #2 of Chocolate and Mango Theme Week.

Marti Chocolatt - Mango Caramel - December 3, 2012

Chocolate of the Day:

Marti Chocolatt
Mango Caramel
Good+ - Very Good
Weight: .75 oz. (21.25 g.) / 2.25 oz. (63.75 g.) total box of 6 pieces
Calories: 110 calories (estimate) for 2 pieces
Cost: $4.50 for 2 pieces (part of a $13.50 6-piece box)
Purchased from: Marti Chocolatt table, at Fall Chocolate Salon in San Francisco, CA

You would think after six+ years of eating a different chocolate every day, there would be none left to try. That's what I once believed. However, after several months of squirreling away chocolates, sure that I would run out, it dawned on me, that the world of chocolate was truly and magnificently abundant. Chocolatiers are finding new ways to incorporate cacao nibs and chocolate into a variety of offerings, even as I type this.

I love small businesses and startups almost as much as chocolate, and always rejoice when I find a new chocolate taste maker. Thus was the case at the Fall Chocolate Salon held at Fort Mason (San Francisco, CA), in November, when I stumbled upon Tonet Tibay's company, Marti Chocolatt. Tibay specializes in more exotic flavor combinations, and draws on her Philippine roots for creations that include the brilliantly purple ube, durien fruit, or pandan. I found the flavors very nicely balanced with each other and with the chocolate.

Today's Mango Caramel from Marti Chocolatt (Los Angeles) was a glossy, colored dark chocolate dome filled with a sweet, tangy fresh mango caramel center. This caramel marks the last day of Chocolate and Caramel Theme Week, and the first day of Chocolate and Mango Theme Week.

As winter sets in, chocolates (and added ingredients) from tropical places help inject some color and cheer into the darker months. If you can't make it to Hawaii or the Philippines or Southeast Asia this year, Tonet Tibay's chocolates might provide a perfect winter pick me up.

Amella - Gray Salt and Double Dark Caramels - December 2, 2012

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

Amella (Caramels)
1.) Gray Sea Salt Caramel - Good +
2.) Double Dark Chocolate Caramel - Good +
Weight: .932 oz. (26.4 g.) for 2 pieces/ 8.4 oz. (238.1 g.) for 18-piece box
Calories: 140 calories for 2 pieces (estimate)
Cost: $18.00 (estimate) for 18-piece box 
Purchased from: sneakpeeq.com

Today was Day #9 of Chocolate and Caramel Theme Week.

Yesterday, I sampled a Classic Caramel from the 18-piece, Agave Collection assortment box from Amella Caramels. This box contained four flavors of caramel -- all covered in dark chocolate.

Today I tried two more flavors: the Gray Sea Salt Caramel and a Double Dark Chocolate Caramel from this same collection. The fourth flavor, a Roasted Almonds caramel will be featured later, during an upcoming Chocolate and Almonds Theme Week.

Amella uses cocoa butter in their caramels giving them a less chewy and more "melty" consistency -- a mouth feel somewhere between a caramel and a truffle. This was especially true for the Double Dark Caramel; the chocolate caramel center had more of a creamy ganache taste and texture.

The Gray Sea Salt Caramel was a well-balanced execution between twinkles of sea salt, caramel and dark chocolate.

Amella - Classic Caramel - December 1, 2012

Chocolate of the Day:

Amella Caramels
Classic Caramel
Good
Weight: .466 oz. (13.2 g.) / 8.4 oz. (238.1 g.) total 18-piece box
Calories: 70 calories (estimate) for 1 piece
Cost: $18.00 (estimated discounted cost)
Purchased from: sneakpeeq.com

Today's Classic Caramel -- part of Amella Caramels' 18-piece, dark chocolate Agave Collection assortment box -- was made with cocoa butter (in addition to cream, butter, and soy lecithin), and sweetened with sugar and organic blue agave nectar, instead of corn syrup.

Caramel varies. This golden goo can be stiff and chewy or semi-liquid. The mix of ingredients (above) in these Amella chocolates yielded a caramel center with a unique texture. It was very smooth and dissolved rapidly, giving it had a uniquely quick melt for a caramel. I'm assuming this is due in part to the company's use of cocoa butter. The card described the consistency as being a cross between a caramel and a truffle.

I look forward to tasting the Gray Sea Salt and Double Dark Chocolate caramels tomorrow, and the Roasted Almonds flavor for an upcoming week that will focus on Chocolate and Almonds.

Today was Day #8 of Chocolate and Caramel Theme Week.