Bissinger's - Peanut Butter and Maple Oat Crunch - Nov. 5, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Bissinger's
Peanut Butter and Maple Oat Crunch bar
Good
Weight: .375 oz. (10.6 g.) / 3 oz. (85 g.) in total bar
Calories: 60 calories in 1 square (1/8 of bar)
Cost: $4.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bristol Farms, San Francisco, CA

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

Charles Schulz's famous cartoon strip "Peanuts" has been part of the "funny papers" for decades. One popular chocolate quote attributed to Charles Schulz: "All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt," may not have come from Schulz,* but it's a sentiment many people share.


Hats off to "Peanuts" and to peanuts—the humble legume that pairs so nicely with chocolate. Beginning today, I'll be paying tribute to this chocolate and peanut butter, and peanuts in various combinations.

Today's Peanut Butter and Maple Oat Crunch bar from Bissinger's (St. Louis, MO) was an example of absolute truth in advertising. When I opened the inner wrapper, the intertwined scents of genuine maple sugar, oats, peanut butter, and chocolate, came gently wafting toward me.

The layered sweet flavors and textures were pleasant, and if you like peanut butter, crunchy sweet things, and (60% dark) chocolate, this attractively designed bar, emblazoned with a "B" on the one side of each square, would be a fun bar to try.

*This quote often appears on the Internet with a picture of Snoopy (the famous beagle in Peanuts comic strips). I called the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa, CA, to check this quote. Apparently there was a Hallmark card with this quote, but it's unclear whether Schulz himself used this phrase, or whether a writer crafted this quote.

Cachet - Cocoa Nibs 70% Dark Chocolate bar - Nov. 4, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Cachet
(Kim's Chocolates N.V.)
Cocoa Nibs 70% Dark Chocolate bar
Good
Weight: .866 oz. (25.3 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 153.3 calories in 2 squares of bar
Cost: $3.69 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Today was Day #9 of Cocoa Nibs Theme Week.

As with yesterday's bar, this Cachet Cocoa Nibs 70% Dark Chocolate tablet (bar) was embedded with tiny caramelized nibs. The Cachet brand is part of Kim's Chocolates N.V. (Tienen, Belgium), one of the largest chocolate manufacturers (and the largest exporter to North America) in Belgium.

I like the taste of cocoa nibs in their natural, unadulterated state, as long as nibs aren't overly dry and there are no off-flavors.* There were no funky nibs that I could taste in this bar (a definite plus). (About 1/3 of chocolates that contain cocoa nibs that I try have at least one tiny, "off" nib that can disrupt the tasting experience.)

Also, the caramelized nibs in today's bar weren't overly sweet (double plus). They added some crunchy texture, without extra sugar, to this 70% dark chocolate bar.

This generously-sized and reasonably priced bar was relatively thin, which some prefer. Thinner bars can be easier to eat and break into pieces; and they allow more immediate access to flavors in a bar.

*Nibs are bits of cocoa bean. One of the most exacting tasks a chocolatemaker making bean-to-bar chocolate has is screening out any moldy or funky beans that come into their facility before grinding them up into nibs. I'm not sure how large manufacturers sort beans; but for small batch makers, this can mean hours of hunching over trays and visually inspecting beans. If funky beans aren't caught earlier, inspecting the nibs later may require a magnifying glass—or special visual scanning technology—one reason why it's best to catch any inferior beans as early in the process as possible.

Charles Chocolates - Caramelized Cocoa Nib Bar - Nov. 3, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Charles Chocolates
Caramelized Cocoa Nib Bar - 72%
Good - Good +
Weight: .875 oz. (25 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) total bar
Calories: 131 calories (estimate) in 1/4 bar
Cost: $6.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #8 of Cocoa Nibs Theme Week.

Today's Caramelized Cocoa Nib Bar from Charles Chocolates (San Francisco, CA) was made with 72% Bittersweet Chocolate.

I was greeted by a rich chocolate aroma when I opened this package. Taking a bite of this thick bar was tougher than I thought it would be. (It looks amazing, but you may want to cut it up carefully with a knife first.)

A generous helping of caramelized nibs on the bar provided texture and an attractive golden color; and the sweet crunchy bits complemented the smooth, solid bittersweet dark chocolate.

Antidote - essential vanilla + nibs 84% bar - Nov. 2, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Antidote
essential vanilla + nibs 84% RAW + roasted cacao bar
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.15 oz. (33 g.) / 2.3 oz. (65 g.) in total bar
Calories: 200 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $7.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Piazza's Fine Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #7 of Cocoa Nibs Theme Week.

Today's essential vanilla + nibs bar from Antidote (Brooklyn, NY) was made with a combination of raw and roasted organic "Arriba" cacao beans, from Camino Verde*,  Ecuador. Antidote offers a line of 50% raw + 50% roasted cacao bars, and 100% raw bars, that are produced in Ecuador.

The aroma of this vanilla + nib bar was smoky, floral and complex. There was a slight powdery quality to the melt, and some nice, soft crunchiness from the nibs pressed into the back of the bar. The second bite I took had fruit (pear?), floral and nutty flavor notes that unfolded all in the same piece; and a subsequent bite had slightly more floral and "green" notes. The bar had a nice clean finish. I also liked that this 84% dark, vegan, gluten-free and kosher bar tasted "sweet" without much sugar.

The company name, "Antidote," was spelled out as part of the bar's design—one letter in each of the 8 squares. (I love bars with letters; it makes me want to play word games with chocolate "tiles." "Health through pleasure," and using chocolate as an antidote to what ails you, is part of the company's philosophy.

*Camino Verde is a restored cacao plantation in Balao, Ecuador that specializes in Nacional cacao.

FunFresh Foods - World Berries Cacao Nibs - Nov. 1, 2015

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

FunFresh Foods
Organic World Berries Cacao Nibs
Good
Weight: .25 oz. (7 g.) / 6 oz. (168 g.) in total package
Calories: 32.5 calories for 1/4 oz. (7 g.) serving
Cost: $8.59 for 1 package
Purchased from: Five Seasons Whole Foods Market, Ocean Springs, MS

Today was Day #6 of Cocoa Nibs Theme Week.

I picked up these organic, raw World Berries cacao nibs from FunFresh Foods (Park City, UT) at a small health foods market a few years back in Mississippi.

Raw "vs." Roasted Nibs
How are raw nibs different than roasted cacao nibs? As you might expect, certain nutrients might be preserved by less processing. (However, some believe roasting helps kill any pathogens that might be present.) And raw nibs have a slightly different flavor profile than roasted ribs.

For example, today's World Berries nibs had a nice chocolatey flavor, and more floral and "green" notes These, and other more "volatile" or subtle flavor notes, can be lost in the roasting process. I would be happy eating these plain, or adding them to other dishes and desserts.

The Worldwide Reach of Nibs
What struck me today was the word "World" in World Berries. Our food supply chains today are complex and offer us many options. Cacao (aka Cocoa) Nibs from South America (Peru in this case), might be used to make truffles in Canada, or chocolate bars in London. Or I, as an individual consumer, might buy just the raw nibs in a store in Mississippi. Our distribution food webs still amaze me.

Great Nibs = Great Chocolate
I felt obliged to enjoy a few finished chocolates from two chocolate makers (who make chocolate from scratch) across the globe. Bean-to-bar makers start with beans (or in some cases unroasted nibs). Each batch of beans yields important information for a maker that helps determine roasting and/or conching times for the ideal or desired end product.

Today I previewed a small chocolate bar from House of Dorchester (a bean-to-bar maker in London) with packaging that referenced a May 13, 1956 Grand Prix race. (Hats off to my friends who enjoy Formula One racing, and who are watching a race this weekend.)

I also sampled two very fine single origin truffles from Madagascar and Papua New Guinea from SOMA Chocolatemaker, which I'll feature at some point in the future. Both truffles were full of balanced fruit flavors (berries, citrus and raisin toast notes in the former, and smokey cherry in the latter.) All these flavors were developed or coaxed from the beans.

You can't make fine chocolate without great beans/nibs and skilled chocolate makers.

Amano - Barlovento Roasted Cocoa Nibs - Oct. 31, 2015

Chocolate of the Day: 

Amano Artisan Chocolate
Barlovento Roasted Cocoa Nibs
Good - Good +
Weight: .636 oz. (18 g.)/ 6 oz. (170 g.) total package
Calories: 120 calories (estimate) in 1/8 cup (2 Tb.)
Cost: $lost information
Purchased from: Amano Artisan Chocolate (at a show)

Happy Halloween to all who celebrate this sweet, autumn holiday. And, welcome to Day #5 of Cocoa Nibs Theme Week.

I celebrate Halloween week by baking a gluten-free chocolate cake inside a carved pumpkin each year. (Other squashes work too.)

I re-heated a piece of this year's* pumpkin spice cake for breakfast, and sprinkled it with Barlovento Cocoa Nibs from Amano Artisan Chocolate (Orem, UT).

Seasonal side dishes for the pumpkin cake included: chopped walnuts, toasted pumpkin seeds with sea salt, and berries from the lavender star flower bush in my yard. Both flowers and berries are edible. These tiny, caramel colored berries with the pit in the middle tasted like fruity, miniature dates.

A freshly opened bag of cocoa nibs has so much potential. I'll use these nibs for many other things. E.g., this morning I also made myself a small, but flavorful cup of hot buttered chocolate to go with the cake, by soaking some nibs in some steamed milk ahead of time.

A small serving of cacao nibs can be very satisfying over cake, ice cream, or baked into brownies. Use them in a "rub" for roasts. Or, grind them up and make your own mole or drinking chocolate. Nibs are chocolate building blocks, without the sugar.

*I don't follow recipes; but every year the cake contains different ingredients. This year it included blackstrap molasses, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, chopped walnuts, and cocoa powder. This type of moist cake works best with a small pumpkin. Go too large, and the cake will be soggy or uncooked in the middle.

Seattle Chocolates - Hot Buttered Rum Truffles - Oct. 30, 2015

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Seattle Chocolate Company
Hot Buttered Rum Truffles
Good - Good +
Weight: .88 oz. (24.9 g.) / 5 oz. (141 g.) in total package of 17 pieces
Calories: 132 calories (estimate) in 3 pieces
Cost: $7.95 for 1 package
Purchased from: Seattle Chocolate Company, Seattle, WA (online order)

Today was Day #8 of Halloween Cocktails Theme Week, and Day #4 of Cocoa Nibs Theme Week.

Are you ready for Halloween? I am planning on doing some reverse trick-or-treating this year. What does that mean? It means I may hand out individually wrapped truffles and filled chocolates to a few adult friends in the neighborhood. (Sorry kids.)

Today's Seattle Chocolates Hot Buttered Rum Truffles, will be included in my bag-o-treats. These two-bite sized, smooth, rectangular milk chocolates contained embedded micro-bits of crunchy toffee, and were wrapped festively in shiny gold wrappers with a neat twist at each end. (They were also gluten-free and made with non-GMO ingredients.)

Halloween Dessert "Cocktail" with Nibs

Today's dessert in a cocktail glass consisted of several ingredients:
tiny scoops of Small Batch Bourbon Vanilla ice cream (flavored with pieces of Kentucky Bourbon barrels and Madagascar vanilla beans no less) from Steve's Ice Cream; homemade coconut palm sugar and maple caramel syrup; and a topping of chopped pecans and walnuts and a small avalanche of cacao nibs.

Cheers and Happy Halloween Eve to you all.