Madelaine Chocolate Cars - May 18, 2013

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

The Madelaine Chocolate Company

1.) Mini Car
Good
Weight: .5 oz. (14 g.) - 1 car
Calories: 75 calories (estimate) in 1 car
Cost: $0.95 for 1 car
Purchased from: MacKenzies Chocolates, Santa Cruz, CA

2.) Super Racing Car
Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) - 1 car
Calories: 150 calories (estimate) in 1 car
Cost: $1.25 for 1 car
Purchased from: MacKenzies Chocolates, Santa Cruz, CA

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

I live in California, and we love our cars here. It's no fun to be stuck on a freeway at rush hour in the big cities; but cars allow us to cover vast distances -- making chocolate research, a visit to the beach, and a hike in the mountains possible -- all in one day if you're an early riser.

In Silicon Valley, home to electric car companies and alternative vehicle research, it's fun to think of a future car that might be powered by plant matter (sugar cane bagasse?), if not cocoa bean hulls or chocolate.

Today, I'll settle for eating these sugary sweet milk chocolate cars from Madelaine Chocolate*, and will let them power my walk to the store.

Being the CCE (Chief Chocolate Eater) at Chocolate Banquet, I got a kick out of the Mini Car with "Chief" emblazoned across the doors and hood. And, who wouldn't like a chocolate Racing Car with racing stripes or flames? It's times like this when I could almost talk myself into ordering a license plate holder for the back of my (real) car that reads: "My Other Car is Made of Chocolate."

*Note: The Madelaine Chocolate Company (Rockaway Beach, NY) has been making chocolate cars and other chocsimiles (coins, poker chips, cigars, roses, holiday and birthday items) for many years. Despite damage from Hurricane Sandy, this family-run business is recovering and is back to producing chocolates.

Theo Sea Salt bar - May 17, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

Theo Chocolate
Sea Salt Dark 70% Cacao bar
Good
Weight: .5 oz. (14 g.) / 3 oz. (84 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 66.6 calories in 1/6 bar
Cost: $4.95 for 1 bar
Purchased from: SweetE Organic, Mill Valley, CA 94306

Regular visitors to this site (Chocolate Banquet) know my penchant for theme weeks. This week I've embarked on a Chocolate and Transportation Theme Week.

While excellent chocolates do have the power to transport one to another dimension (a different, and wonderful place), the "transportation" I'm focused on this week (with the exception of today's bar) is more literal -- taking the shape of chocolate bicycles, trucks, cars, surfboards and other "chocsimiles" (chocolate facsimiles of items).

"Bike to work days" have been celebrated in many U.S. cities this month (May); and in Washington, D.C. today (May 17, '13). However, in some cacao growing countries, bikes may be a primary mode of transport.

Today's Sea Salt Dark bar from Theo Chocolate (Seattle, WA) was not in the shape of a bicycle, but proceeds do/did help World Bicycle Relief -- an organization that helps build and supply special bicycles to students, health care workers and entrepreneurs in rural Africa -- in at least a half dozen African countries (100,000 bicycles in the field, and 750 field mechanics trained, according to the bar's packaging).

This 70% dark Fair Trade, Organic (and non-GMO) chocolate bar was crafted from African cacao beans (Democratic Republic of Congo), and was rustic in flavor and texture. Tiny, gritty particles of salt infuse every other bite with a nano burst of saline sparkle.

I'd call this a "salt of the earth" bar -- with chocolate that had light dirt notes buried in the tasting arc. The term "Earthy" may be more appealing than "dirt." I really like beets and earthy-tasting foods; if you don't find yourself using terms like: loam, peat, or soil with tobacco notes, that's OK. Dirt is not meant to be a negative term here.

Marou - 78% Ben Tre bar - May 16, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

Marou Chocolate
Ben Tre 78% bar
Good - Good+
Weight: .875 oz. (25 g.) in 1/4 bar / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) total bar
Calories: 151 calories in 1/4 bar
Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, in Palo Alto, CA

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

I've really enjoyed the great Vietnam chocolates I've had this week -- and all the Vietnamese food I felt compelled to sample, in the name of research.

Today's 78% dark chocolate, single origin bar from the Ben Tre province of Vietnam -- made by Marou Chocolate (Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon, Vietnam) -- was the last in a series of attractively package Marou bars I featured this week.

The dark, tart, fruit acidity in this bar may have overshadowed more subtle flavor notes. However, I can see using this bold flavor to liven up a rich, but relatively bland dessert item -- e.g. grated, over a vanilla pot de creme; raisin cinnamon toast and cream cheese; or a croissant with some homemade whipped cream and strawberries on the side). The options are many.

Marou - Ba Ria 76% bar - May 15, 2013

Chocolate of the Day:

Marou Chocolate
Ba Ria 76% bar
Weight: .875 oz. (25 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) total bar
Calories: 148 calories in 1/4 bar
Cost: $10.00 in 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

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

Marou Chocolate (Vietnam) packaging and design is so good I could eat it -- or wear it.

I wondered: How expensive would it be to buy enough Marou bars (for their paper wrappers) to make a top or a dress to wear? A small fortune, no doubt. (See some of my imagined Marou red dresses, bottom right. More to come...)

In the meantime, I was completely satisfied with eating the lovely chocolate bar inside today's Ba Ria 76% bar wrapper. It had some bold fruit acidity with a slight earthy taste in the finish.

Marou tasting notes for this bar stated: "A bold and fruity chocolate made from Trinitario cacao (beans) sourced directly from family-owned farms in the province of Ba Ria."

Marou - Lam Dong 74% bar - May 14, 2013

Chocolate of the Day: 

Marou Chocolate
Lam Dong 74% dark chocolate bar
Good ++
Weight: .875 oz. (25 g.) in 1/4 bar / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) total bar
Calories: 150 calories in 1/4 bar
Cost: $10.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

Today's 74% dark chocolate bar from Marou Chocolate (Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon, Vietnam) was made (in micro-batches) from cacao beans "cultivated (in the Lam Dong province) in the hilly woodland at the edge of the Vietnamese Central Highlands between Madagui and Bao Loc."

If you're like me, you have a somewhat vague idea of where this origin area is located in Vietnam. However, the beans and bar that hail from this region (described as rare) had clear and consistent citrus (acid) notes, and rich dark flavor.

So, while I haven't been to Vietnam (yet), I appreciated the opportunity to taste this bar (and the series of Marou single origin bars I've been tasting this past week*). Thank you to bean-to-bar chocolate maker, Marou Chocolate, and The Chocolate Garage, for making this possible. And thank you to Laurie for tasting help this evening.

*Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Vietnam Theme Week.

Socola Kheer truffles - May 13, 2013

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Socola Chocolatier
Vegan Kheer Truffles
Good + - Very Good
Weight: .8 oz. (22.68 g.) in 2 pieces / 4 piece-box
Calories: 120 calories (estimate) in 2 pieces
Cost: $9.95 (estimate) for 1 4-piece box
Purchased from: Socola Chocolatier, San Francisco, CA

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

Kheer is a milky rice-pudding like dessert in India, with similar versions in other Southeast Asian countries. Fragrant with cardamom, with touches of nuts and other spices, and maybe a touch of saffron and pandan, or dried fruit, these flavors were all tantalizingly present in today's Vegan Kheer Truffles from Socola Chocolatier (San Francisco, CA).

These Socola Kheer truffles inspired me to make a creamy, cardamom infused kheer-like dessert of my own -- with a Straus Family Creamery Greek yogurt base, and sweetened with golden-orange hued saffron honey. I also added some finely chopped almonds, cinnamon, vanilla, and other aromatic (pandan) and floral (rose water) ingredients.

To finish off this sweet, Socola (Vietnamese for chocolate) dessert tray: two hand-rolled, individually wrapped chocolate caramels. Life is good. Thank you to Wendy, Susan and Harriett at Socola, for making it so.

Kumquat, Guava Chocolates - May 12, 2013

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

Socola Chocolatier

1.) Kumquat
Very Good
Weight: .4 oz. (11.32 g.) (estimate) in 1 piece / 4 piece box
Calories: 60 calories (estimate) in 1 piece
Cost: $9.95 for 1 4-piece box
Purchased from: Socola Chocolatier, San Francisco, CA

2.) Give it to Me Guava
Very Good
Weight: .4 oz. (11.32 g.) (estimate) in 1 piece / 4 piece box
Calories: 60 calories (estimate) in 1 piece
Cost: $9.95 for 1 4-piece box
Purchased from: Socola Chocolatier, San Francisco, CA


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

Happy Mother's Day to the moms out there. I celebrated this day with a small 4-piece Mother's Day Collection box from Socola Chocolatier (San Francisco, CA). (Socola is the word for chocolate in Vietnam.) I was excited to open this box and try new Socola flavors with ties to Vietnam this week.

The four flavors in this collection: Passion Fruit Vanilla Bean, Give it to Me Guava, Jasmine Tea, and Kumquat. Kumquat was a new Socola flavor. And now it's one of my new favorites.

Kumquats and Umami
I love kumquats, and the bursts of flavor contained in these small orange fruits -- that have a sweet rind and a tart center. (I have a small, recently planted kumquat tree in my yard. I'm hoping for my own tiny harvest to combine with chocolate next year.) Fresh, tropical fruits are often served as a dessert in Vietnam and Southeast Asia. And with the delicious flavors like this, I can see why.

Socola's description of this new chocolate reminded me that the tiny slivers of salt-preserved kumquat (also made into a drink in Vietnam), that were embedded in a 61% dark chocolate ganache, were high in umami flavor. (Other umami foods include parmesan cheese, mushrooms, truffles, fish and cured meats, green tea. I'm a big umami fan, so it's no wonder this chocolate rang some bells for me.)

Guava
The second flavor I'm counting for today, Give it to Me Guava, contained a tropical guava fruit gelee (pate de fruit) and dark chocolate ganache. Like the kumquat (and passion fruit) chocolates today, it was very authentic and fresh, with real fruit (in this case, guava) flavor. The Guava truffle was decorated with a white stencil of "Harriett", the flying llama, a creative mascot for the company.

Jasmine & Memories
The Jasmine Tea truffle I'd tasted and featured before on this site. It was infused with a lovely floral tea flavor. The two sisters (Susan and Wendy) behind Socola remembered sips of their grandmother's Jasmine tea when they were growing up.