Tag Archive: caramel

Ghirardelli Pumpkin Spice Caramel

Ghirardelli Pumpkin SpiceThis seasonal holiday chocolate is as delicious as the name!  It is coated in milk chocolate with a soft, gooey center of pumpkin spice flavored caramel.
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Caramel Chocolate Chip Cake

The National Chocolate Chip Day was celebrated last week. It’s not like we need a specific reason to have our chocolate treats, but it feels to good to have something specific to celebrate here and there.

Chocolate chips have always been am essential ingredient in an array of delectable treats, from chocolate chip muffins to chocolate chip cookies. They became famous in the 1930s, when Ruth Graves Wakefield accidentally created the original chocolate chip cookie at her Toll House Inn in Whitman, Mass.

To celebrate National Chocolate Chip Day, albeit late, go get a handful of chocolate chips and bake something sumptuous for you to share with friends and family. Here is a recipe to get you started.
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Chocolate Pecan Caramel and Petite Sirah

Bogle Petite SirahDuring a recent chocolate and wine tasting program, I introduced the pairing of a dark chocolate covered pecan and caramel cluster with a Bogle Petite Sirah. 

Looking for a wine that would work with cluster, I described what I needed and then took the suggestion from a very knowledgeable wine guru.   But up until serving it, I had not tried this particular combination.  This always makes me a bit nervous because I am using something unfamiliar, yet I’m simultaneously excited to try something new.

The pairing did not disappoint!  This wonderful twosome worked great in the tasting and would also be a very satisfying after dinner treat.
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Chocolate Caramels

Do you know the feeling of the idiomatic expression “hitting two birds with one stone”? That’s what you get when you eat this yummy confection. Chocolate per se is heavenly, but try incorporating it into caramel and you are sent beyond heaven.

Just so you know, the milk products are the most important ingredients since it is the primary source of fat in caramel, which gives it that delightful texture. Milk is known to have a lot of nutritional benefits such as calcium which is good for the bones, and chocolate contains antioxidants that can help prevent cell damage. Suffice it to say, you are really on for a healthily delicious treat!

Anyone with a sweet tooth who gets to taste this would surely ask for more of these rich, chewy, fudge-like and melt-in your-mouth goodies. Also, this treat also makes for a delightful yet inexpensive gift!
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Aunt Belle’s Bear Paws

Aunt Belle's Confectionary, LLC has two stores in northern Minnesota, and I just found one of them in Walker, MN.

Walker is a small town with a main street that looks and feels like a trip back in time.  Aunt Belle's boasts old fashioned homemade candies and fudge.  According to their website, you'll step into their store and feel like a kid again.  I did feel giddy like a kid in a candy store (pun intended) and picked out all the goodies I thought I'd enjoy; chocolate dipped brittle, chocolate covered potato chips, chocolate covered nut clusters, and chocolate fudge.

While they had several different types of nut clusters such as the traditional turtle, I chose one of the variations called the Bear Paw. 
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Grandessa Irish Chocolate

I didn’t know that there were “Irish style” chocolates until I saw a box of chocolates from Grandessa.  This box claimed an Irish assortment of filled milk, white, and dark chocolate.  To satisfy my curiosity, I bought a box.

The chocolates are uniquely shaped in a square “cup” that holds caramel, lemon meringue, and strawberry truffle.  The molded piece is open at the top.  The Caramel Sensation is a smooth caramel inside a milk chocolate cup sprinkled with dark mini chocolate chips on the top.  The Lemon Supreme is also inside a milk chocolate cup sprinkled with crystalline sugar on the top.  And the Sumptuous Strawberry is dusted with a sweet red powder and tucked inside a white chocolate cup.
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Chocolate Covered “Sea Turtle”

Last Monday I reviewed a Yuma Arizona chocolates shop called Chocolate Crafters. I reported on their chocolate covered candied orange peel. Oh - yummy memory.

Of course, I didn’t try just one item. The Sea Turtle, a dark chocolate-covered salty caramel and pecan cluster, captured my attention, too. It was all I expected and more. The pecans were crunchy, the salty caramel was smooth, buttery and, yes, salty, and the chocolate, although mild, blended perfectly into all the flavors with ease.

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Fannie May Chocolates Returns

2004 was a tumultuous time for Chicago-based chocolate retailer Fannie May.  It was the year they declared bankruptcy.  More than 200 stores were closed.

Fannie May began in 1920 when H. Teller Archibald opened a chocolate shop on LaSalle St. in Chicago.  In 1946, the famous Fannie May Pixies® were introduced and it continues to be their best selling item.  Pixies are caramel covered nuts drenched in chocolate.
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Caramel Dipped Chocolate Covered Pretzels

Here's a recipe for pretzels dipped in caramel and then covered in semisweet chocolate.  These are a little fussy, but oh-so-good!

Caramel Dipped Chocolate Covered Pretzels
 
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 20 caramels
• 2 1/2 teaspoons water
• 36 pretzel nuggets
• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped 
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Caramel Apples Rolled in Chocolate and Nuts

Sure, apples are delicious all by themselves, but dip them in caramel and cover them with chocolate, nuts (and anything else you can think of), and they become extraordinary!

This recipe uses chocolate chips and pistachios for an exciting taste sensation.

Caramel Apples Rolled in Chocolate and Nuts
 
• 6 apples (works best with cold apples)
• 6 ice cream sticks
• 1 package (14 ounces) creamy caramels
• 2 tablespoons water
• 3/4 cup pistachios, chopped
• 12 ounces semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
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