One of the leaders successfully bringing new and innovative flavor combinations to chocolate is Montezuma’s.

You may already know that I am a huge fan of dark chocolate and orange.  Chocolate and orange is so yesterday!  My new favorite is Dark chocolate with Orange and Geranium.

I think Montezuma’s co-founder Helen Pattinson sums it up when she says, “If you try only one bar from our range, I would recommend this best selling little number.”

The Dark Chocolate with Orange and Geranium has a rich, intense 73% minimum chocolate, adding citrus and floral notes in perfect harmony.  I was skeptical at first about having such a strong floral flavor, but since I enjoy other floral flavors with chocolate as lavender and chamomile, I thought I’d give it an open mind.

Thank goodness I did!

Speaking of having an open mind, there are other glorious chocolate discoveries at their website www.montezumas.co.uk. 

For the milk chocolate lover, you must try the Milk Chocolate Chilli & Lime.  It is as incredible as it is unlikely.   Just right amount of heat from the chili lingers at the back of throat after the chocolate and lime have melted away. 

No, ordinary is not part of Montezuma’s world.  Go and enjoy something extra-ordinary!

This unique vinegar makes an outstanding marinade for chicken or pork or pour it over fresh berries.  On the Oro di Oliva label, it is suggested I drizzle it on ice cream – strange, but I’ll try it!

Tasting the chocolate balsamic vinegar straight, I detect a rich but basic chocolate flavor mixed with lots complex balsamic flavors.  I am surprised by how well all these flavors work together.

Of course, the true test is making something and feeding it to the family.  And the result?

I got compliments galore with this recipe!

According to their website, www.williescacao.com, the equipment used to make their chocolate bars are antiques from the early 1900’s.

Each package of their Delectable bars claims that antique machinery brings out the subtle and unique flavors of cocoa beans better than modern equipment which is designed to be fast and efficient.

To find out if the age of a roaster really makes a discernable difference, I bought two of Willie’s chocolate bars.

First I tasted the 69% Java Dark Chocolate.  I enjoyed the soft caramel notes and delicate chocolate impact.  Unfortunately, the chocolate was course which diminished my enjoyment a bit.

Next, the Peruvian San Martin 70% Dark Chocolate. It was very good, with fruity notes and a bold chocolate aftertaste.

At the end of day, I still don’t know if the antiques contributed all that much to the flavor development of the chocolates.  Without making the same recipe twice, once with the antiques and once with modern equipment, there’s really no way to know for sure.

But it doesn’t really matter.  Good chocolate rarely has to be questioned.

Inferior?  No.

Not as “in”?  Yes.

People that work in the chocolate world do not view milk chocolate as inferior to dark.  A good quality milk chocolate is just as complex in flavor as a good quality dark chocolate. 

One might argue that the milk chocolate enthusiast is at a disadvantage when it comes to experiencing the undiluted flavors of cacao.  Still, bringing forth layers of toffee and honey flavors from a precisely conched (cooked) milk chocolate is an art form.

It really comes down to your flavor profile preferences.

However, there is no disputing the fact that right now, at this moment in time, dark chocolate is The Chosen One.  Chocolate manufacturers and the press inundate consumers with messages that dark chocolate is not only better in flavor, but is better for us. 

From this point of view I can see how the “chocolate world” makes it look as if milk chocolate is inferior (and sends the milk chocolate lover into hiding).
 
Not too long ago, the opposite was true.  People had difficulty appreciating dark chocolate and it was also difficult to find. 

In the past plenty of my friends learned that my favorite chocolate contained 70% cacao and they screwed up their faces in disgust.  “How can you stand that bitter stuff?” they would ask me.  “That reminds me of the time I ate a piece of my mom’s baking chocolate out of desperation.  I could just gag!”

So, the pendulum swings back and forth.

In spite of trends, within the sphere of chocolatiers and artisans, there will always be respect and appreciation for great chocolate no matter the color.

Mother’s Day is celebrated on different days and different months depending on which country you live in.  In the United States, it is always celebrated on the second Sunday in May. 

We can thank Anna Jarvis for this great day.  She is the one credited for founding Mothers Day in the US.

How do you choose the perfect chocolate for Mom?

The choices are plentiful (overwhelming, really) and if you have not gone chocolate shopping in a while, you will be amazed at the variety of exotic new flavors and the gourmet quality of old classics.

Narrow down the choices by focusing on Mom’s fondness:

Floral:  try chocolate truffles made with lavender, rose or my favorite, orange and geranium!

Tea:  milk chocolate made with flavored teas and chai spices are absolutely delicious.

Fire:  chili peppers added to chocolate bring out the intensity of the chocolate and of course, give it a kick.

Savory:  don’t judge a book by its cover: chocolate with crystallized ginger, mushroom ganache or goat cheese taste better than you think.

Unique:  www.chocomize.com.  Just go there and check it out!

Posh:  opening a gift box of molded chocolates decorated with sprayed on cocoa butter designs, gold, and glitter will take her breath away.  They might look too beautiful to eat, but do it anyway.  They taste just as good as they look.

Now pair that scrumptious chocolate with a series of chocolate lessons to keep the experience lingering long after Mother’s Day and you’ve got a real winner of a gift!

“Man cannot live on chocolate alone; but woman sure can!”
-author unknown

Here’s the thing; in the chocolate world, you get what you pay for!

There is an obvious taste and quality difference between a $0.79 chocolate bar and one that costs $1.99.  All my friends get that.  Also, there is a significant distinction between one priced at $1.99 and one for $7.99.  Most of my friends get that.  Where I lose almost all of them is anything above the magic $8 mark.  Are the flavor differences that occur in this price range really worth the extra dough, they ask? 

I say yes, but they remain skeptical.  Well, if they want proof, I think I found it.

La Maison du Chocolat
Prices: $10.00 – $12.00

I have not had the pleasure of tasting all that La Maison du Chocolat has to offer, but the Akosombo Bar is wonderful.  Akosombo is 68% dark Ghana (Africa) chocolate with intense, robust chocolate notes, hints of roasted coffee, and a smooth, subtle tobacco finish.

The chocolate artists from La Maison du Chocolat believe in blending different varieties and origins of cocoa beans to create well balanced flavor profiles. 

On their website they explain what matters most in flavor development: the provenance and the manner in which the beans have been roasted and then processed. 

They go on to discuss that while a single origin chocolate will be of good general flavor and quality, a specific flavor profile can vary from one harvest to the next.  This is why they prefer to precisely blend a variety of beans so the flavors can remain consistent from year to year.

I could not agree more!  It is a science as well as an art to make an exceptional chocolate.  It is clear that La Maison du Chocolat has perfected both.

Previously I had been told the English didn’t celebrate Valentines Day much, but that’s not what I experienced.  The chocolate shops and patisseries surrounding the church fully embraced the holiday with window displays decked out in red hearts, flower bouquets, and lots and lots of chocolate!

Most of the time I don’t buy chocolate truffles by the box and off the shelf because I don’t know how long ago those truffles were made.  I prefer a really fresh, handmade truffle at the corner shop.

But this day I could not resist the trimmings and trappings so I purchased a box of Thorntons Premium Collection of Truffles, Pralines and light Mousses in Milk, Dark, and White chocolate.

The verdict? Pretty good, and better than I expected!  I couldn’t decide if my favorite in the lineup was the dark chocolate covered raspberry truffle or the milk chocolate covered champagne mousse.  Both very different, yet both delicious.

According to Thorntons’ website, they have been in the chocolate-making business for nearly 100 years, with their first shop opened in Sheffield by Joseph William Thornton.  They go on to say they made a name for themselves by creating “a uniquely rich and chewy ‘special’ toffee.”  Later, after World War II, their product line was expanded to include European style soft-centered chocolates.

You can purchase Thorntons chocolates in stores and online.  Shipping is from the U.K.  If you’re in a different country, international shipping charges are quite high.  For example, shipping to the U.S. starts at £26.75.  That’ll be above $40 at today’s exchange rate.  So put in a big order to make it worthwhile.

Roasted cocoa nibs are not for everyone.  They taste rather bitter because they are not sweetened.  If you can get past the bitterness, you’ll find they do taste rich and chocolaty and have a crunch similar to nuts.  In fact, nibs are often used to replace nuts in cookies and granola recipes.

Why would a person even eat cocoa nibs?  Well, nibs are one of nature’s superfoods.  They come packed with generous amounts of anti-oxidants, flavanoids and vitamin E.  I can tolerate nibs by themselves, but would rather enjoy them coated in chocolate – DARK chocolate.

Trader Joe’s brand Dark Chocolate Nibs are enrobed in a 65% cacao dark chocolate.  I find them delicious and addicting.  The first flavor that comes off is an intense chocolate, as you would expect.  Then nutty, and subtle fruity notes follow.  The finish is a long lasting cocoa taste with a hint of coffee. 

The nibs come in a 1 oz. tin.  Tiny bits of yum!

That’s a really good question.  Concerns about the streaking and the lack of shine make me think about how temperatures, crystal development and the appearance of chocolate are all connected.

Properly tempered chocolate is shiny and uniform in color. When chocolate has streaks and does not shine, it indicates that at some point in the production process, the chocolate solidified without being in a properly tempered state.

I am sorry to have to get technical here, but see if you can follow this.  Cocoa butter has to solidify or form crystals within a narrow range of temperatures.  Tempering means all crystals become as identical in size and shape as possible and we can do this by controlling the temperatures.   

There are essentially 3 major stages in the making of chocolates that you have to be particularly careful to achieve the right temperature:

Stage 1 – The Starting Product

If you make your own chocolate candy center, like toffee or ganache, make sure it is absolutely at room temperature before you dip in chocolate.  If you don’t let it cool down enough, the heat will eventually push through your coating and cause it to lose its temper – either entirely or partially.  On the flip side, if you let the center get too cold, you essentially “shock” the chocolate.  This causes really BIG crystals to grow and the coating appears very dull, a flat finish.

If you mold your chocolates, use the molds at room temperature. This could be another source of unintended heat or cold introduced as the chocolate is solidifying.

Stage 2 – The Tempering Process

This is the most likely stage to produce streaking.

Agitating or stirring the chocolate during the tempering process is crucial to prevent streaking.  Imagine adding red food coloring to white frosting to make it pink.  If you stir in the coloring using only a few strokes, you will see streaks of red among the white. Continually stir and the frosting will eventually turn pink. Something similar happens when you temper chocolate without a thorough mixing.  Temperatures along the bottom and sides of the tempering pan will be several degrees different than its center.  Each temperature gradient grows different crystals at different rates.  This causes light to bounce and bend irregularly and we see alternating streaks of light and dark chocolate after it dries.

Too much stirring will cause air bubbles to form and get trapped within the coating.  Air bubbles cause crystals to form unevenly which gives the chocolate a grainy appearance on the surface.

If you use a tempering machine it may have separate milk, dark, and white chocolate settings.  If not, you’ll need to set up the temperature and mixing parameters differently for each type of chocolate that you use.  Milk chocolates temper at a lower temperature range than dark chocolates.  Milk chocolates are tricky because there are different percentages of milk in any given brand or formulation of milk chocolate coating. The higher amount of milk (milk fat), the lower the temperature.  White chocolates can be even more sensitive to temperature than milk chocolates. 

Stage 3 – The Cooling Process

This is the most likely stage to produce dull looking product with no shine.  The ideal temperature for cooling chocolate is between 65 and 68 F.  The relative humidity should be 50% or less.  I use a fan on a medium setting pointed right at my chocolates.  The fan will lift the humidity out of the air surrounding them.  Make sure the cooling tray is elevated off the counter top enough to let air circulate underneath and take away excess heat from the bottoms.  A refrigerator hovers around 40 F and a freezer around 30 F – these temps are too low to encourage a nice shine. Rooms that heat up during the summer spell disaster for chocolate.  Anything over 78 F is too warm and makes the chocolate soft and slightly sticky.

One obvious sign that the cooling process was unsuccessful is the formation of bloom.  Bloom is a gray dusty film that covers the surface of chocolate.  It can happen within hours, or days, after tempering and cooling.

To summarize, this particular tempering problem description appears to be a temperature issue at one of more stages of the process.

The Green and Black’s 70% Organic Dark Chocolate was the first on the scene.  Since then, the product line has expanded to include more varieties of chocolate bars, baking chocolate, hot chocolate, and ice cream.

Yes – Ice Cream!

I just finished a bowl of Green and Black’s Organic Chocolate Ice Cream with bittersweet dark chocolate made with fresh cream.  They do not use cocoa powder, they use real dark chocolate.  The intense chocolate flavor notes come off at the beginning and last through out the entire mouthful.

There is a short melt in the mouth and that means the chocolate is quick to finish.  I wish it wouldn’t.  The texture is fluffy and light and perhaps that is what slightly disappoints me.  The airiness of the chocolate makes the flavor dissipate too quickly.  Overall the flavor is simply delicious and decadent, but over too fast.

I learned that the name Green and Black’s comes from the company’s commitment to both the tradition of great chocolate and the support of responsible farming, thus Green for the environment and Black (or almost black) for the rich color of chocolate.

If you can’t find the ice cream, indulge yourself with a Green and Black’s chocolate bar.  You’ll be doing yourself and the planet a favor.