Cello Chocolate - Venezuela 70% Cacao bar - March 22, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Cello Chocolate
Venezuela 70% Cacao bar
Good ++
Weight: 1.2 oz. (34.2 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in total bar
Calories: 180 calories in 3/5 bar
Cost: $ N/A - part of a larger order
Purchased from: Cello Chocolate, online order

Venezuela is a country with many cacao-growing regions and an abundance of fine flavor cacao (from Criollo, Trinitario and other cacao beans). Some of the finest dark chocolates are produced from Venezuelan cacao.

Today's single origin Venezuela 70% Cacao bar from Cello Chocolate (Nevada City, CA) had deep yet smooth dark flavor, with floral/vanilla notes and a slightly bitter finish (without the rough edge).

Cello Chocolate maker, Ned Russell (who has extensive chocolate making background, and also plays the cello), specializes in hand-crafting small batch, bean-to-bar, single origin chocolate bars -- made with cocoa beans*, sugar and cocoa butter.

Today was Day #1 of Chocolate and Venezuela Theme Week.

*Cacao beans were "ethically and sustainably traded."

Goldkenn - Original Praline bar - March 21, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Goldkenn
Original Praline bar
Good ++
Weight: .7 oz. (20 g.) in package/bar of 2 pieces
Calories: 105 calories (estimate) in 2 pieces
Cost: $N/A - gift from friend
Purchased from: N/A - gift from friend

Today was Day #7 of Chocolate Surprise Theme Week.

Sometimes the best surprises come from friends, like today's Swiss chocolate bar. Thank you Joy. The Swiss have a reputation for making chocolates with a silky smooth, buttery melt.

Goldkenn (Le Locle, Switzerland) offers a variety of milk, dark and praline chocolate bars packaged as replicas of gold bars. Today's Goldkenn Original Praline bar contained two pieces that were individually-wrapped in gold foil. The chocolate had a decadent flavor and melt-in-your-mouth texture -- sugar, cocoa butter, butterfat, creamy milk chocolate with flecks of almond and hazelnut.

Chocolate Printing - Prunes in Dark Chocolate - Mar. 20, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Chocolate Printing Company, Inc.
Fruits in Chocolate - Prunes in Dark Chocolate
Good ++
Weight: 1.3 oz. (36 g.) / 6 oz. (169.8 g.) in total package/bag
Calories: 140 calories in 2 pieces
Cost: $2.99 for 1 package of 9 pieces
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate Surprise Week.

Prunes? Yes, prunes. Before there was a Silicon Valley or an Apple Computer in the San Francisco Bay Area, there was the Valley of Heart's Delight, an agricultural region known for apricots, prunes and cherries. Chocolate covered apricots, prunes and other fruits were popular local confections.

Today's bag of individually-wrapped Prunes in Dark Chocolate from Chocolate Printing Company, Inc. (Inwood, NY) was a reminder of local California history. However, I didn't need nostalgia to sweeten this experience. I love the rich, almost caramelized, concentrated fruit flavor in prunes (and figs); and these dark chocolate covered prunes would be as enjoyable for breakfast as they would be for lunch, dinner, or a snack.

What would be even better? Perhaps a version of this offering made without preservatives or artificial flavor. Otherwise, they were quite good.

Moondarra - Chocolate and Hazelnut Cream Cheese - March 19, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Moondarra Cheese Pty Ltd
Chocolate and Hazelnut - Australian Cream Cheese
Good ++
Weight: 4.2 oz. (120 g.) in total package
Calories: 440 calories in 1 package
Cost: $4.99 for 1 package
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate Surprise Week.

Sometimes chocolate and cheese can pair surprisingly well.
Today's Chocolate and Hazelnut Australian Cream Cheese offering from Moondarra Cheese Pty Ltd (Dandenong, Australia) was deliciously unique. (Moondarra produces a variety of flavored cream cheeses.)

This creamy and well balanced cream cheese was spreadable -- just sweet enough, not too sweet -- making it suitable for a variety of uses: dessert plate fare, tea sandwiches, as a toast spread, or just for eating by itself. The incorporation of small bits of chocolate and hazelnut yielded subtle chocolate flavor highlights and nut texture and flavor.

*Moondarra is an indigenous Koori word for a region in Gippsland, Australia, known for dairy products. 

Las Vegas chocolate bars - March 18, 2015

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Paramount Chocolates
Dark Chocolate Bar
OK
Weight: .25 oz. (7 g.) / 2.25 oz. (64 g.) in total bar
Calories: 37 calories (estimate) in .25 oz. (7 g.) piece
Cost: $2.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Candy Shoppe, McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas, NV

Vegas Image (Distributor)
Crisp Chocolate Candy Bar
Good
Weight: .25 oz. (7 g.) / 2.25 oz. (64 g.) in total bar
Calories: 37 calories (estimate) for .25 oz. (7 g.) piece
Cost: $2.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Candy Shoppe, McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas, NV

Today was Day #4 of Chocolate Surprise Week.

I thought I'd have enough chocolates from Las Vegas for another Las Vegas or Gaming theme week. (I had one a few years ago.) However, no dice.

I was surprised, however, to find these two bars that I'd tucked away in the Chocolate Vault just for this occasion. I'd purchased these (and some chocolate poker chips) in 2013 from The Candy Shoppe in the Las Vegas airport. So this week's Surprise Week seemed to be a good place to include them.

Both bars were adorned with replicas of the famous "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas Nevada" sign that greets visitors to this "Sin City" in the desert. This sign is so famous it has its own Wikipedia entry. And both bars were fairly fresh given how long ago that I'd bought them.

My favorite was the thick, rich milk chocolate bar with crisp rice.

2nd St. Creamery - Truck Stop Fudge - Mar. 17, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

2nd Street Creamery
(Wells Enterprises, Inc., aka Wells' Dairy)
Truck Stop Fudge ice cream
Good - Good +
Weight: 1/2 cup (105 g.) / 1 Pint (473 mL) in total container
Calories: 250 calories in 1/2 cup ice cream
Cost: $1.49 (sale) for 1 container
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #3 of Chocolate Surprise Week.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day to all who celebrate in the U.S., and beyond.

The closest I came to the Emerald Isle (Ireland) was imagining the green pastures of a dairy farm, dotted with cows, in the midwest, near a place called the 2nd Street Creamery*.

Surprise. We're pulling over for some Truck Stop Fudge ice cream from 2nd Street Creamery. (I couldn't find the company's Limerick Cherry Chocolate ice cream -- that would've offered a fun Irish twist.)

The Truck Stop related name was unusual enough I hit the brakes when I saw it in the freezer section. Plus that cute drawing of the cow riding a bicycle-milk cart sucked me in.

Made of rich chocolate ice cream, marshmallow cream and fudge sauce, this 2nd Street Truck Stop Fudge flavor was worth stopping for.

*Wells Enterprises, Inc., aka Wells' Dairy, is likely the largest, privately held, family owned ice cream maker in the U.S. They're also the owners of the 2nd Street Creamery and Blue Bunny ice cream brands. I was surprised to learn that Wells produces more than 150 million gallons of ice cream annually.

NewTree - Kola bar - March 16, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

NewTree
Kola (Petillant) bar
Good - Good +
Weight: .7 oz. (20 g.) / 2.82 oz. (80 g.) total bar
Calories: 105 calories (estimate) in 1/4 bar
Cost: $6.75 for 1 bar
Purchased from: NewTree Cafe, San Francisco, CA

Today was Day #2 of Chocolate Surprise Theme Week.

NewTree just expanded their operations in the Bay Area. An attractive new cafe in downtown San Francisco opened earlier this month (March 2015). The company is offering a menu that includes more food items -- in addition to a display wall of chocolate bars, that continues to be updated.

When I visited Benoit and crew on opening day, I noticed a new Kola bar on the shelves that I hadn't seen before.

This Kola (or Petillant) bar did a great job of capturing the essence of a cola soft drink in a dark chocolate bar. The bar was crafted with 72% fairtrade cacao from the Dominican Republic, and incorporated "lime shavings" cola flavor, and "carbonated sugar" (glucose, lactose and carbon dioxide). I'm assuming the latter is popping candy (aka pop rocks) -- providing the fizz in this homage to a popular carbonated beverage.

*The kola nut is the fruit of the kola tree (native to Africa) that provides the flavoring used to make popular cola soft drinks.