IKEA - Chokladkrokant Bredbar spread - May 21, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

IKEA Food Services AB
Chokladkrokant Bredbar spread
Good
Weight: 1 TB oz. (17 g.) / Net Wt.: 14.1 oz. (400 g.) in total jar
Calories: 90 calories in 1 Tablespoon
Cost: $0.99 for 1 jar
Purchased from: Ikea, East Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate, Caramel and Toffee Theme Week.

What is Chokladkrokant Bredbar you might ask?

It's a spread from Ikea Food Services AB (Helsingborg, Sweden).

This "chocolate flavor spread with caramel candy pieces" tasted just like the description.

#1 ingredient: sugar
#2 ingredient: vegetable oil (rapeseed, palm)
#3 ingredient: caramel candy pieces

The content and images in this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.

Neuhaus - Milk Caramel bar - May 20, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

Neuhaus.
Milk Caramel bar
Good - Good +
Weight: 1.59 oz. (45 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 240 calories (estimate) in 1 bar
Cost: $0.99 (estimate) for 1 bar
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate, Caramel and Toffee Theme Week.

Today's Milk Caramel bar was from Neuhaus. It was a bit sweet, but satisfying nonetheless.

Neuhaus is a Belgian chocolatier that exports milk and dark chocolate offerings to the U.S. The company was originally founded in 1857 by Jean Neuhaus (who was Swiss). Neuhaus opened his first shop in Brussels.

The content and images in this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.

Divine - Milk Chocolate with Toffee and Espresso bar - May 19, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

Divine Chocolate Inc.
Milk Chocolate with Toffee and Espresso bar
Good+ - Good++
Weight: 1.16 oz. (33.3 g.) / 3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total bar
Calories: 184 calories in 8 blocks of bar
Cost: $ missing information
Purchased from: missing information

Today was Day #5 of Chocolate, Caramel and Toffee Theme Week. And, today we land back in toffee-land, with this Milk Chocolate with Toffee and Espresso bar from Divine Chocolate.

I liked the combination of sweet, but not too sweet, milk chocolate (38% cacao) tempered by crunchy bits of toffee and ground, espresso roast coffee beans (coffee nibs) in this well-balanced bar.

Divine Chocolate's cacao origin story is somewhat unique. Cacao beans for its line of bars comes from the Kuapa Kokoo Farmers co-operative in Ghana. (Co-op members voted to create their own farmer-owned Fairtrade chocolate company, and this became "the heart of Divine.")

The bar's brightly colored wrapper (packaging) was adorned with Adrinkra symbols—"traditional West African motifs, often used on hand-made crafts." Each symbol has its own meaning.

This bar was made in Germany and distributed by Divine Chocolate Inc. (Washington, D.C.).

Ingredients: Sugar, cocoa butter, skimmed milk powder, cocoa mass, toffee 10% (sugar, glucose syrup, butterfat (milk), salt), butterfat (milk), coffee nibs 3%, sunflower lecithin (emulsifier), vanilla.

The content and images in this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.

Lovely Candy Co. - Chocolate Swirl Caramels - May 18, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

The Lovely Candy Company, LLC
Chocolate Swirl Caramels
Good
Weight: 1.41 oz. (40 g.) / 6 oz. (170 g.) in total package
Calories: 150 calories in 4 pieces
Cost: $2.99 for 1 package
Purchased from: Marshalls (store), Mountain View, CA

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate, Caramel and Toffee Theme Week.

Today's Chocolate Swirl Caramels were from The Lovely Candy Company, LLC (Woodstock, IL).

These individually-wrapped, chewy chocolate and caramel candies were more similar to taffy than chocolate—good, if you're hankering for something sweet.

The first candy in the company's line-up resulted from the founders' (Jackie and her husband Mike) search for a "consciously crafted" gluten-free licorice. (Most licorice contains wheat or wheat flour.)

The company's gluten free and GMO free candy business now includes: several different caramels and fruit chews, as well as Chocolaty Fudgey Rolls (plain and raspberry), today's Chocolate Swirl Caramels*, Hula Chews (chocolate and coconut), and three flavors of gluten-free licorice.

*Chocolate Swirl Caramel ingredients included: brown rice syrup, sweetened condensed whole milk (rBST free milk, sugar), butter, dried cane syrup, palm oil, chocolate liquor, molasses, vanilla, sunflower lecithin.

The content and images in this post belong to ChocolateBanquet.com.

Bartons - Milk Chocolate Toffee Sea Salt bar - May 17, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

Bartons Confections
Milk Chocolate Toffee with Sea Salt bar
Good
Weight: 2.5 oz. (71 g.) in total bar
Calories: 350 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $0.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate, Caramel and Toffee Theme Week.

This Milk Chocolate Toffee with Sea Salt bar was made by Bartons Confections (Allentown, PA).

The bar's gold toffee center had a uniform, soft crunchy texture. The buttery toffee core was covered in milk chocolate, and sprinkled with small crystals of sea salt. Sweet, but I liked the tiny bursts of salt, which helped to balance out all the sugar—the number one ingredient of many toffee and caramel chocolate confections.

As I say goodbye to salt in chocolates today, at least for awhile, I believe I'll be taking smaller bites of items this week's sweet line-up.

Unilever Magnum Gold?! ice cream bars - May 16, 2016

Chocolate of the Day: 

Unilever
Magnum Gold?! ice cream bars
Good
Weight: 3.38 fl. oz. (86 g./100 mL) / 10.14 fl. oz. (300 mL) in box of 3 ice cream bars
Calories: 290 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $missing info
Purchased from: Safeway


Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate, Caramel and Toffee Week, as I transition away from three weeks of chocolate items with salt.

We start this week with an echo from last week's salted caramel series, with today's Magnum Gold!? ice cream bar swathed in a bright, shiny gold wrapper.

Today's box of 3 Magnum frozen ice cream bars was from Unilever (Englewood Cliffs, NJ).

These almost amber-colored bars were described as "vanilla bean ice cream with sea salt caramel swirl, dipped in a golden chocolatey coating."

The (Belgian) chocolate,* the inner coating layer, was relegated to a colorful decorative accent color in these stylish bars.

Unilever's Magnum line includes several flavors. One of the first Magnum ice cream bars I had was a "Double Caramel" ice cream bars. The company also offers a Sea Salt Caramel ice cream bar.


*These bars were made with Rainforest Alliance Certified Cocoa and Vanilla.

Ghirardelli - Dark & Sea Salt Caramel squares - May 15, 2016

Chocolate of the Day:

Ghirardelli Chocolate Company
Dark and Sea Salt Caramel - Squares
Good
Weight: .53 oz. (15 g.) / Net Wt.: 5.32 oz. (151 g.) total package/bag
Calories: 70 calories for 1 square
Cost: $0 (coupon for 1 free package); $5.29 for 1 package/bag of 10 squares
Purchased from: Safeway, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate and Salted Caramel Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate, Caramel and Toffee Theme Week.

I thought I might have tried every flavor of individually-wrapped squares from Ghirardelli Chocolate Company (San Leandro, CA).

However, not today's Dark and Sea Salt Caramel. These squares were advertised as "rich, slow-melting dark chocolate and buttery caramel filling enhanced by a touch of sea salt."

Despite the soy lecithin, TBHQ - preservatives, and other extras, I believe this was my favorite flavor in the Ghirardelli Chocolate Squares line so far.

Coincidentally, I was able to share these squares with others at a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of a restored salt marsh area on the shores of San Francisco Bay. *

What I liked about the packaging is that even on a hot day, these were securely wrapped so that people didn't have melted chocolate and caramel everywhere later.


*When Ghirardelli first started making chocolate in the mid-1800s, there were dozens of active sea salt producers still left in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Like many industries that start out with many smaller operations, there was consolidation in salt. Now Cargill is the last company to operate a large-scale sea salt works on San Francisco Bay—one of only two such operations left in the U.S. I believe.