Sjaak's - Organic Melk Chocolate with Almond Butter bar + raspberry sundae - Dec. 5, 2019

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

Sjaak's Organic Chocolates
Organic Melk Chocolate with Almond Butter bar
(with raspberry preserves) in vanilla ice cream
Good
Weight: 1.75 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 280 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $2.49 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and Raspberry Theme Week.

Today's Melk Chocolate with Almond Butter bar was from Sjaak's Organic Chocolates (Petaluma, CA).

This sweet, non-dairy "melk" chocolate was made with organic rice milk chocolate and had an organic almond butter filling. It had a soft and creamy texture. It also had a distinct almond extract flavor note to it.

I had intended on pairing this Sjaak's Melk Chocolate Almond Butter bar with Sjaak's Organic Dark Chocolate with Raspberry bar. However, I discovered when checking my spreadsheets that I'd already tasted this bar before. (I've sampled over 4,700 different chocolates in the last 13+ years; so this does happen occasionally.)

So, half of the Almond Butter bar was sampled, then the other half was chopped and used to make a very small almond butter and raspberry ice cream sundae (using vanilla ice cream from Three Twins (Novato, CA) and raspberry sauce.

Fresh raspberries in December are very scarce. (It's cold. Can we see our breath yet?) However, the bright, tart flavor of red raspberries keep the promise of more summers and fresh berries to come alive. This is why I'm featuring a raspberry week during a time when I feel very grateful to find even frozen raspberries in a back of my freezer, and any and all raspberry chocolates, made with fruits from summers past. 

El Buen Cacao - 80% Raspberry Chocolate Bar - Dec. 4, 2019

Chocolate of the Day:

El Buen Cacao
80% Raspberry Chocolate Bar
Good
Weight: .875 oz. (25 g.) / 1.75 oz. (50 g.) in total bar
Calories: 110 calories in 1/2 bar
Cost: $6.99 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #4 of Chocolate and Raspberry Theme Week.

Today's Organic 80% Raspberry Chocolate Bar was made by El Buen Cacao (Idyllwild, CA). This small batch, bean-to-bar company was founded by a couple in southern California who, like many artisan chocolate makers, likely started making chocolate in their kitchen and have continued to refine their art and craft.

This chocolate had smooth dark flavor with natural (fully incorporated) organic raspberry (freeze dried particles) and was not too sweet (thank you)! Improved freeze drying techniques have led to some very tasty fruit inclusions (such as Dick Taylor's tasty seasonal raspberry dark bar, topped with a thin layer of bright, intense raspberry "dust") and today's bar where the fruit has become one with the chocolate in a perfectly balanced way.

Tasting chocolate in winter
I tasted this ultra dark bar on a cool, wintery morning. Ambient temperature affects how food tastes. While storing chocolate at 63 degrees F. (17 degrees C.)—my current room temperature as I write this—is OK, warming it up just a little before tasting, can make flavors and texture more approachable/enjoyable.

Cold creates several things to happen. Chocolate becomes firmer, with a slightly different melt. Sometimes the flavors are more locked in (with the crystallized structure of the cocoa fat/butter) making them not as readily accessible. The amount of added cocoa butter (and sugar) can also influence melt, texture and flavor as well. (There was no added cocoa butter. in this or other El Buen Cacao  bars from what I could see.)

Today's 80% raspberry bar broke with a nice, well-tempered snap. The melt was initially slow and uniform (almost waxy in the cold). Then, toward the end, the melt peaked with a very faint*, fleeting miniature expansive fullness/pleasant mushiness at the end, due to the berry powder perhaps? and the cold temperature).

When I taste chocolates in the summer (or in a hot room), the melt experience is different. (Just like drinking cold wine is different than sipping warm wine.) The ideal temperature is often in the middle, for me it's about 70 degrees F./approx. 21 degrees C.)

Ingredients: Organic cacao bean(s), organic cane sugar, organic freeze-dried raspberries

*The average person will not notice any of this. Just chocolate tasting weirdos such as myself would comment on a nit like this. This observed experience was not a negative, just interesting.

Equal Exchange - Organic Bittersweet Chocolate Chips 70% Cacao - Dec. 3, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Equal Exchange
Organic Bittersweet Chocolate Chips 70% Cacao
Good ++
Weight: 1.5 oz. (42? g.) in 1 serving / 10 oz. (283.5 g.) total package of chocolate chips
Calories: 350 calories (estimate) in 1 small piece of tart made with chocolate chips
Cost: $5.99 for 1 package
Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #3 of Chocolate and Raspberry Theme Week, and Day #1 of Chocolate and Coconut Theme Week.

Today's homemade gluten-free, dark chocolate raspberry tart was made with several ingredients, including Organic Bittersweet Chocolate Chips (70% Cacao), produced in Peru for Equal Exchange (W. Bridgewater, MA).

The crust for this very tasty no-bake tart was made with cocoa powder, finely ground roasted almonds, coconut oil, and small amounts of honey and maple syrup.

The chocolate filling contained melted chocolate chips, raspberry jam, almond "milk" and coconut oil. And the tart was topped with organic frozen raspberries (as no fresh berries were available this time of year).

Raspberries remind me of warmer weather. So, it's challenging to feature a chocolate and raspberry theme week when berries are not in season. However, these frozen raspberries today held up well and looked and tasted bright and refreshing.

Base Culture - Raspberry Cocoa Brownie - Dec. 2, 2019

Chocolate of the Day:

Base Culture LLC
Raspberry Cocoa Brownie
Good +
Weight: 2.2 oz. (62 g.) in 1 package/brownie
Calories: 250 calories in 1 package/brownie
Cost: $2.49 for 1 package/brownie
Purchased from: Country Sun Natural Foods, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #2 of Chocolate and Raspberry Theme Week.

Today's Raspberry Cocoa Brownie was from Base Culture LLC (Clearwater, FL).

This modern, paleo-friendly and gluten free take on a traditional brownie was made with honey, cashews (butter), coconut (oil and flour) and egg (in addition to cocoa and raspberry). This Kosher brownie contained no grains, wheat, dairy or soy.

It had authentic brownie and raspberry flavor and the texture was somewhere in between fudge brownie and chocolate cake. It was quite sweet, but enjoyable nonetheless.

This raspberry brownie also shows how far we have come in the gluten free baked goods category. Base Culture's single serving packaged baked goods (pumpkin bread, banana bread, almond butter and raspberry brownies) taste closer to the "real thing" and are healthier in many respects. For example, the list of ingredients* was simple and short, and there were not artificial flavors, colors or preservatives in this brownie.

Ingredients: Honey, eggs, cashew butter, raspberry swirl (raspberry, honey), coconut oil, unsweetened chocolate, coconut flour, raspberries, raspberry puree, cocoa powder, cream of tartar, baking soda, sea salt.

Enjoy Life - Chocolate Protein Bites - Dark Raspberry - Dec. 1, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Enjoy Life
Chocolate Protein Bites - dark raspberry
Good
Weight: 1.27 oz. (36 g.) / 6.4 oz. (180 g.) in total package
Calories: 170 calories in 1 serving (3 pieces)
Cost: $8.49 for 1 package
Purchased from: CVS/pharmacy, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Protein Theme Week, and the first day of Chocolate and Raspberry Theme Week.

Today's Dark Raspberry Chocolate Protein Bites were from Enjoy Life Natural Brands LLC (Chicago, IL). One serving (3 pieces) contained 6 grams of plant protein.*

Enjoy Life offers a variety of cookies, bars (including Breakfast Ovals) and bites that are free of common allergens,* including today's Chocolate Protein Bites, that were made without "wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, casein, soy, egg, sesame, sulfites, lupin, mustard, fish, shellfish, (and/or) crustaceans." These Bites were also Palm Oil free.

These ball-shaped chocolate protein bites had a soft, slightly chewy texture and mild chocolate cookie flavor with flecks of red raspberry (and tiny raspberry seeds) inside—with corresponding fleeting sparkles of genuine raspberry flavor.

There was a very slight artificial flavor that was noticeable but not off-putting. It could have been from the "Natural Flavor" or the sunflower protein or rice protein. "Natural Flavors" can cause a slightly off flavor. One wonders why they are used at all.

Ingredients: Semisweet chocolate (unsweetened chocolate, cane sugar, cocoa butter), sunflower protein, sugarcane syrup (cane sugar, water), tapioca syrup, cocoa butter, roasted and salted pumpkin seeds (pumpkin seeds, safflower oil, salt), rice protein, cocoa powder, dried raspberries, safflower oil, natural flavor, citric acid.

*Today's Bites were made in a dedicated nut and gluten free facility.

IQ Bar - Chocolate Sea Salt (bar) - Nov. 30, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

IQ Bar
Chocolate Sea Salt (bar)
Good +
Weight: 1.6 oz. (45 g.) in 1 bar
Calories: 170 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $1.87 for 1 bar
Purchased from: CVS/pharmacy, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Protein Theme Week.

Today's Chocolate Sea Salt bar from IQ Bar, Inc. (Boston, MA) contained 10 grams of plant protein (primarily in the form of almonds, pea protein, almond butter).

IQ Bars target an audience looking at "Brain + Body" performance.* This keto and paleo-friendly bar contained "6 Brain Nutrients"**: Lion's Mane, MCTs, Omega-3s, Flavonoids, Vitamin-E and Choline. It also had a natural chocolate flavor and tasted very satisfying.

This bar was sweetened with Erythritol, monk fruit and stevia and was not too sweet (thank you!). It also contained a fair amount of fiber (primarily Non-GMO tapioca fiber). Fiber was 13 g. of the 19 g. of total carbohydrate content. There were 4 g. of Net Carbs. in this bar after subtracting two for the Erythritol.

*Founder, Will Nitze, studied psychology and neuroscience as a Harvard undergraduate.

**Lion's Mane comes from a mushroom said to help support mental clarity. MCTs are medium chain triglycerides often derived from coconut oil. The bar was also labeled Non-GMO, Gluten-Free, Dairy Free and Soy Free.

Sinister Labs - Sinfit Protein Cookie - Chocolate Chip Cookie - Nov. 29, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Sinister Labs
Sinfit Protein Cookie - Chocolate Chip Cookie
Good
Weight: 2.75 oz. (78 g.) in 1 cookie
Calories: 310 calories in 1 cookie
Cost: $0.99 for 1 cookie
Purchased from: Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and Protein Theme Week.

Today's Sinfit Protein Chocolate Chip Cookie was manufactured for Sinister Labs (Southlake, TX). Sinister Labs offers protein powders, protein-enhanced pancake and waffle mix, caffeinated and non-caffeinated spreads, and protein cookies.

This generously-sized, soft baked, gluten-free* cookie contained 20 grams of protein (soy, milk, peanut) and was "covered with chocolate icing and chocolate chips," yielding a more satisfying chocolatey experience than most chocolate chip cookies offer.

Upon first opening the sealed packaging, there was a slightly artificial or processed aroma, but this dissipated. The cookie was fairly filling and could almost serve as a meal replacer if one was in a hurry or in a remote location.

Not sure what to make of the open jawed skeleton graphic... It looked poised to either offer you a sinister sinful cookie, or take a big bite itself. Take a bite, if you dare!

*The cookie contained no wheat or gluten-specific ingredients, but carried the shared manufacturing space with common allergens notice that many products do. Not certified gluten free, but probably OK. It did contain milk, soy, almond, peanut and sucralose. (While sucralose, an artificial sweetener, is not technically an allergen in the same way that soy or peanuts might be, it can cause an upset digestive system for some.)

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