Vanini - Milk Chocolate Orange bar - June 19, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Vanini
Milk Chocolate 49% Cocoa with Orange Peel bar
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.16 oz. (33 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 174 calories in 1/3 bar
Cost: $3.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Greedy Ant, Belmont, CA

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

A bite of this 49% cocoa Milk Chocolate bar with Orange Peel bar evoked a pleasant memory of Christmas chocolate + orange spice flavors from decades past.

This, gluten-free, bean-to-bar Vanini* bar was made in Italy by ICAM SpA (Orsenigo, Italy). The company buys "Bagua cocoa direct from the 460 Peruvian families that make up the Aprocam co-operative." Bagua is a region in Peru where cacao has been "grown as far back as 3000 AD (sic) by the Mayo Chincipe people...before the Olmec and Maya."

*Vanini is a registered trademark of ICAM SpA.

Patric Chocolate - Blood Orange 66 bar - June 18, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Patric Chocolate
Blood Orange 66 bar
Good ++
Weight: 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 345 calories for 1 bar
Cost: $13.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Chocolate Garage, Palo Alto, CA

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

The Patric Chocolate (Columbia, MO) Blood Orange 66 bar was suffused with a lovely, almost floral hint of blood orange essence (essential oil) from Aftelier Perfumes (Berkeley, CA). The base chocolate bar was smooth, almost creamy, and was uniformly flavorful.

If you'd like to order this bar, you should know that today's Blood Orange bar was made especially for The Chocolate Garage (Palo Alto, CA)*. So, try checking with them first.

*FYI, Patric Chocolate has moved to a rotating bar release schedule, where a smaller number of bars are released over the course of the year (and these bars usually sell out soon after the announcement is made). They also make bars for partners like The Chocolate Garage. 

Simply Enjoy - Vibrant Orange bar - June 17, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Simply Enjoy
Vibrant Orange bar
Good - Good +
Weight: 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 525 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $1.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #1 of Chocolate and Orange Theme Week.

The smooth dark chocolate in this Simply Enjoy Vibrant Orange bar was a great match with the orange zest flavor and texture in this bar.

Bits of candied orange peel gave this bar an uplifting zing, reminiscent of Christmas holiday sweets. Although orange and citrus flavors are great, refreshing flavors for summer too.

Made with Utz Certified Cocoa (sustainably sourced cocoa), and made in Belgium, the choice of 57% cacao dark chocolate seemed perfect for this Vibrant Orange bar. Any less cocoa, and it would have started to taste too much like candy; and a "darker" blend might have overpowered the more subtle orange flavors.

Simply Enjoy - Crispy Almond Milk Chocolate bar - June 16, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Simply Enjoy
Crispy Almond Belgian Milk Chocolate bar
OK + - Good
Weight: 1.34 oz. (38 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 210 calories for 3 squares
Cost: $1.99 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

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

This generously sized Simply Enjoy Crispy Almond Belgian Milk Chocolate bar was fairly smooth and quite sweet. The bar was made with Utz Certified cocoa -- a program geared toward helping farmers and promoting sustainable farming methods.

Some whiteish spots had formed around bits of embedded almond in the bar. I'm assuming this was due to a phenomenon known as "bloom."

When "Bloom" Happens
The best place to store chocolate is in a cool (not cold) dark place. If chocolate is stored at a colder or hotter temperature than recommended, the surface of a bar may develop bloom, a slightly white, splotchy appearance. Many times these changes are merely cosmetic. Other times, white splotches can signal a degradation in flavor quality or texture.

Chocolate bars are "tempered" using carefully controlled heating and cooling processes, to achieve a perfect crystalline structure. Particles of cocoa fat or butter become aligned with cocoa solids, helping to ensure that a chocolate bar breaks with a hard snap and has a longer-lasting, stable configuration.

If hot weather can melt chocolate and/or create "fat bloom," then storing chocolate in the moist fridge can result in "sugar bloom" where the sugar starts to crystallize out a bit. If there are flavor additions, like the almond bits in today's bar, and these nuts have been dipped in sugar or were roasted in oil (or both sugar and oil/fat), then it's possible that the sugar could crystallize differently around the nuts under certain conditions.

In the case of today's bar, the bloom (slightly whiteish discolored spots) did not influence the taste. This is often true, but it's better to be safe and adhere to proper storage methods and temperature if you have control over such things.

Bloom can be caused by a less than perfect temper, but more likely (in my experience) bloom is due to fluctuations in temperature and moisture, which can occur on a loading dock, warehouse, or in a delivery truck.

If it's any consolation, you can always use the affected chocolate to make chocolate fondue.

Perugina - Milk Chocolate Almonds bar - June 15, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Perugina
Milk Chocolate Almonds bar
Good
Weight: 1.4 oz. (39.68 g.) / 3.5 oz. (99.2 g.) in total bar
Calories: 220 calories in 4 squares, or 2/5 bar
Cost: $3.50 for 1 bar
Purchased from: The Greedy Ant, Belmont, CA

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

This Perugina Milk Chocolate with Almonds bar was good for the sweet tooth. It was very sweet, making it difficult to pick out any particular chocolate or almond flavor notes. The smoothness of the chocolate was difficult to isolate as well, due to the riot of tiny caramelized almond bits so profusely present in every bite of this bar. The bar had a smooth finish. There were certainly no harsh flavors, and there was very little aftertaste.

Perugina was founded in 1907 in Perugia in central Italy. The Perugina brand now belongs to Nestle (Vevey, Switzerland). However, to this day there is a sense of pride about the company's Italian roots and base. (This bar was made in Italy by Nestle Italiana S.P.A., and distributed in the U.S. by Colavita USA.)

The Greedy Ant, the wonderful, small deli-style store where I bought this bar, was brimming with Italian-American origin stories, with most of the chocolates in stock having an Italian connection.

Tout Sweet - Chocolate Almonds - June 14, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Tout Sweet Patisserie
Crunchy Caramel Chocolate Coated Almonds
Good+
Weight: .5 oz. (14.1 g.) / 3 oz. (84.9 g.) in total container
Calories: 75 calories (estimate) in 1/2 oz. serving
Cost: $7.00 for 1 container
Purchased from: Tout Sweet Patisserie, Palo Alto, CA

It's always wonderful to find new chocolate makers or chocolatiers with new chocolate items to try. Yesterday I stumbled upon the new Palo Alto location of Tout Sweet Patisserie (San Francisco).

Entering into the shop, I was confronted with a visual feast. Colorful pyramids of gluten-free macarons, and impressive looking cakes and pastries, large and small all beckoned. I bought some small gluten-free cake/pastry items to take to a graduation celebration, and they were all very good. Look forward to featuring those and more chocolate items from this store in the future.

It was only as I turned to leave, bag of cakes in hand, when I saw today's Crunchy Caramel and Double Chocolate Coated Almonds, and realized they'd be perfect for this week's almond-themed chocolate week.

These chocolate covered almonds featured perfectly roasted/toasted almonds that were attractively dusted with cocoa powder. No gooey "caramel" here, but the nuts perfectly done, and the star of the show. The chocolate played second fiddle.

Trader Joe's - Chocolate Covered Almonds - June 13, 2015

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Trader Joe's

Dark Chocolate Almond Toffee
Good - Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 2 oz. (57 g.) in 1 package
Calories: 155 calories in 1 oz. (28.3 g.) serving
Cost: $1.49 for 1 package/bag
Purchased from: Trader Joe's, Daly City, CA

Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds
Good
Weight: 1.4 oz. (40 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total package/bag
Calories: 230 calories in 1 serving
Cost: $0.99 for 1 package/bag
Purchased from: Trader Joe's, Daly City, CA

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

These two dark chocolate covered almonds snack-sized packages from Trader Joe's (Monrovia, CA) were fun. The first one, Dark Chocolate Almond Toffee -- round chocolate spheres with crunchy sweet toffee and roasted California almonds at the center -- was quite good. Sweet, without being cloyingly so.

The second package was filled with dry roasted almonds coated with dark chocolate. The almonds contributed a pleasant, roasted nut crunch and flavor. The surrounding dark chocolate had a very slight bitter or burned flavor, that was not entirely unpleasant -- but rather a contrast with the sweeter toffee almonds.