Chocolate Grail

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2010-03-17T18:09:00.001-07:00

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oliver kita

2010-03-11T00:17:00.000-08:00

All photographs
Ron Dunlap/Doglight Studios

I'm a big girl so I am not afraid to admit, on the Internet no less, that I love Jerry Springer. To me, it's the raw version, albeit still scripted and unreal, of reality TV. Many of my favorite episodes have contained a version of the phrase: "My ______ thinks she's/he's all that." This brings me to the question, when a someone has been labeled a Chocolate Maestro, as Oliver Kita has, are his chocolates "all that?" I am here to tell you, they are. They are truly "all that."

Each Oliver Kita chocolate is a work of art. The chocolate couverture is sinfully, smooth and silky, each center is more fragrant than the next and each chocolate is a visually exquisite work of art. Enjoying these chocolates is like living a tale in the book, A Thousand and One Nights. No detail has been overlooked. Even the box is stunning with the elegance and heft that befits chocolates of this calibre.

The first chocolate I tried was the Cherry Ancho. Photographs of this chocolate does not do it justice. It's round but bumpy and has an purple, iridescent fairy dust sprinkled on top. This chocolate combines morello cherry with a little chili heat. Palet D'Opium was next, a transcendental center of blood orange, lapsang tea and something spicy that lingers on your tongue long after the chocolate is gone.

The chocolates that followed the first two, proved without a doubt, Oliver Kita's mastery of combining unusual and exotic flavor combinations. Consider the Passion Fruit & Lychee, which just bursts in your mouth with joyful fruity flavors; the Lavandre Citronade which sets the flowery taste of lavender against the tartness of citrus; the Scarlett Caramel that mixes a rich buttery caramel with a hint of strawberry, the Palet de Framboise, raspberry finished with Chambord liqueur and the Coconut Voile, organic coconut, white chocolate, bergamot and tart lime. Each of the flavors is perfectly balanced, and the attention to texture and detail is exceptional. The marzipan in the Marzipan Grand Marnier for example, starts with fresh roasted almonds, lightly coated with hot sugar, and then crushed and ground.

I completed my Oliver Kita journey with his Palet d'Argent, a Venezuelan Chocolate; the Palet D'Or, which is a blend of milk and dark chocolate and Oliver Kita's signature chocolate and the Palet D'Olivier, an extraordinary chocolate with a hint of fruit and wine that makes you think of twinkly stars, balmy nights and romance in the air. Each of these chocolates, less complex than his other truffles was effortlessly sublime. Like any great master, Oliver Kita can astonish us with his virtuosity and then silence us by making the simplest things genius.

oliver kita contact information

cocoa bella

2010-03-08T22:01:00.000-08:00

There is a certain satisfaction in knowing you've had the "best of" something. However the best most of us can do is live vicariously through what we see on TV, in the movies or Oprah Winfrey. The champagnes, fancy cars and diamonds are a just a fantasy, especially in this economy!

But there is a "best of" that is affordable, to anyone who can spare a few dollars, for one, a few or a whole box of the world's best chocolates at CocoaBella Chocolates.

Like any great institution, CocoaBella Chocolates makes it easy for both the novice and expert chocoholic as they have already done the hard work for you. That is, if you consider scouring the earth for the world's finest chocolatiers and then presenting them to you so you can select from their chocolates at your leisure to be hard work.

CocoaBella Chocolates hail from Belgium, Switzerland, France, Italy, and Spain and include fine American Chocolatiers as well.

When you walk into the store you are greeted with a mesmerizing array of little chocolate armies, all organized neatly in rows by chocolatier. There are interesting descriptions of each chocolatier, followed by individual chocolate descriptions, all of which you feel compelled to read while trying not to fog the glass case or drool unbecomingly. Sadly, after browsing the selection you find yourself in the position of having to choose just a few chocolates when what you really want to do is be a complete glutton and eat everything in sight.

When you are making your selections, the vendeuse (I had to say that) places the chocolates on a little silver tray which, to me makes it extra special. There is no minimum but I didn't think to ask about the maximum. Honestly, it would be my dream one day to say "just pack up the whole store for me."

On this excursion we decided to try chocolates we hadn't tried before. Our selections included: Apple Brandy, a chocolate with apple caramel, Apple and Brandy; sesame nougat, dark chocolate and caramelized Sesame Seeds; Maple Caramel, maple syrup infused caramel enrobed in dark chocolate; Peanut Butter and Jelly, strawberry jam with peanut butter in milk chocolate; and a spicy Root Beer infused ganache. All were wonderfully delightful. But, the chocolate that delivered the most extraordinary chocolate experience, we had ever had, was the Hazelnuts with Pop Rocks, a hazelnut praline with popping candy. This captivating chocolate kept zipping and popping in our mouths, making us giggle as the last traces of chocolate slipped away on our tongues.

cocoa bella contact information

sugardaddy's sumptuous sweeties

2010-03-04T07:00:00.000-08:00

All photographs
©2010 Ron Dunlap/Doglight Studios

Just the idea of a brownie makes my pleasure receptors go into overload. There is something so basic in the simple bliss of biting into a rich, dense chocolate brownie and chasing it down with a glass of cold milk, or soy milk for the lactose intolerant.

For some reason, I have never placed brownies into the connoisseur chocolate category. But just one bite of Sugardaddy's Sweeties, a Sugardaddy's trademarked Edgeless Brownie ® set me straight.

Sugardaddy's Sweeties, so fresh they taste like they just came out of the oven, would make even the biggest chocolate food snob smile. Plus the presentation would please even the pickiest reality show chef, even a really mean one with a chip (chocolate of course) on his shoulder.

Each brownie is a perfect, three inch, round, chocolate disk of pleasure, which is is why they are considered edgeless. (However, I need to point out that technically, they still have an edge, they just don't have corners but, I digress.) Each Brownie arrives with it's own case, to keep it from getting smushed. These cases are stacked and placed in either clear cellophane or elegant silk bags and they are always topped with an extravagant satin bow. This presentation makes them them perfect for gift giving. But, if you are a greedy chocoholic like me, you would have to channel the famous Peanuts comic strip where Lucy shares some candy with her brother Linus saying, "One for you, two for me" and buy a couple Sugardaddy's Sweeties for yourself each time you purchased one as a gift.

Dark Citrus
This is the first Sugardaddy's Brunette Sumptuous Sweetie that I sampled because the candied piece of orange zest caught my eye. Like all of Sugardaddy's chocolate sweets, every bite has chunks of chocolate that give each brownie an amazing dense and creamy texture. There are bits of orange zest throughout this brownie but, the flavor is subtle and sophisticated, an intellectual brownie if you will.

Rich Mint
I am always a sucker for anything that looks like a sandwich and so the Rich Mint was next on the tasting plate. This Sugardaddy's Sweetie is an absolute must for anyone who loves Peppermint Patties; mint butter cream frosting sandwiched between the dark chocolate brownie layers.

Dark Berry
When I opened this package I was surprised at how beautiful this brownie was, with its rich swirls of raspberry. Just when I was about to dig in, several friends who have been showing up randomly at my house and hanging around on my porch since I started Chocolate Grail, rang the doorbell. When I invited them to taste test with me they all hastily agreed and this particular Sugardaddy's Sweetie was gone in seconds.

Auburn Original
If you're the kind of person who likes their classic brownie and no fancy fixin's, thank you very much, the Sugardaddy's Auburn Original has got your name on it. It's a classic brownie with perfectly toasted walnuts and what makes the brownie pack a punch -- a hit of espresso powder. Our photographer and world traveler extraordinaire, Ron Dunlap, doesn't like nuts and claimed the Auburn Original without nuts (shown below) after hearing the Auburn Original raves.

Auburn Original No Nuts

American Beauty
Everyone was clamoring for the American Beauty next, which is the brownie featured at the top of the blog broken open to reveal an absolutely sinful creamy peanut butter center. This brownie is especially visually appealing, with bits of toasted peanuts on top. You just know by looking at it, that it's going to be good. There was barely time to photograph this particular brownie before it was devoured, but Ron still managed to do a masterful job!

Fiery
The Zanzibar (not shown) and Fiery (shown above), in Sugardaddy's Fire and Spice collection, were the last on the taste test and my personal favorites. What I liked is that they took the brownie into a new flavor dimension without losing any essential brownie-ness. The results were surprising and satisfying.

The Sugardaddy Zanzibar Sweetie is the most exotic and sophisticated brownie I have ever had. It's a magical blend of clove, ancho chiles and dark and white chocolate chunks, and I could eat it all day, all week and into the 2011 New Year, the year of the Rabbit. The Sugardaddy's Fiery Sweetie focuses on heat. It borrows from the Aztec tradition of mixing hot chocolate with hot chili pepper so it delivers a rich, intense chocolate experience with a touch of burn. Hot Stuff! That's what I say!

sugardaddy's contact information

crixa cakes

2010-03-02T00:04:00.001-08:00

When I was a little girl growing up, my best friend's mom was known in our neighborhood for being a great cook and, more importantly to us kids, a great baker. The baked goods that came out of her oven were things of legend. Almost every day when we walked home from school (for miles, in the snow with no shoes on, if you must know) we could smell her cookies baking, the scent wafting through the air. This would make us all walk faster, and faster until we would break into a run, hair, lunch boxes (mine was Scooby Doo, although I would have preferred Aristocats) and book bags flying.

There was something magical about her ability to transform the simplest, most wholesome ingredients: eggs, butter, flour, sugar, milk and vanilla into not just an ordinary cake, but something divine. Crixa Cakes, a Hungarian Bakery, has that same magic, wizardry that you can taste in the goods they bake each day, from scratch, in their store.

Crixa Cakes is located on a wonderful tree-lined street and there is something fairy-tale-esque about the interior of the store. There are bakers bustling about, bags of flour on the counter, mixers mixing and bright colored copper pots hanging from the ceiling. And best of all the counters are piled full of cakes, cookies and pastries each more enticing than the next.

It was hard to make a decision but we settled on the Pave Vergiate, a flourless chocolate cake that is rich and flavorful and the Soprano Tiramisu that blends what you love most in a Tiramisu with the perfect addition of a layer of dark chocolate mousse. But what makes both of these cakes so extraordinary is that they are so light and airy. So light and airy it is hard to believe one cake is flourless and the other a cream cake unless there is some magic being involved.

The only thing that we regretted was not being able to sample every chocolate temptation: the Jamaican Rum Chocolate Mousse Cake, the Kiraly Raspberry Cream Cupcake, the Black Forest Cake, an intriguing Chocolate Mousse served in a white porcelain cup and the Rigo Jancsi Celebration cake, a cake created by a gypsy musician who won over the heart of a princess. I guess that means we're just going to have to return again and again to the magical kitchen of Crixa Cakes.

crixa cakes contact information

chocolate gourmet - ugly truffles and damn good cookies

2010-02-22T17:24:00.001-08:00

All photographs
©2010 Ron Dunlap/Doglight Studios

During my teenage years of angst, no matter how many times my mother told me that "true beauty comes from within", I never really got my arms around the concept. Who cared about within when your exterior was without? How could your life really ever be meaningful if you didn't have high tops which you would leave undone and hanging open to indicate to all your maximum coolness and insouciance? Or a Michael Jackson Thriller style leather jacket? Or Earth Shoes? Come on - at least Earth Shoes! How could any self-respecting teenager not have a pair in blue or brown suede? (Sadly, my parents were steadfast in the matter of Earth Shoes. None of us ever got a pair, no matter what angle we tried or how hard we begged.) However, I do believe that if I had sampled a Chocolate Gourmet Ugly Truffle way back then, the notion would have been crystal clear and the trauma of not owning a pair of Earth Shoes would not have affected my life as profoundly.

Chocolate Gourmet 's Ugly Truffles do their best to live up to their name. They simply aren't pretty. Even though some of the Ugly Truffles are technically round, they are still lumpy and bumpy, and more often than not resembled deflated soccer balls. But once you opened the box and smelled the chocolatey goodness and then put the most misshapen Ugly Truffle in your mouth, (to put it out of its misery, which is similar to the reason you need to bite off the head of your Easter bunny first), how these truffles looked goes right out the window. These are great truffles that don't need fancy outfits. Each truffle is meaty, flavorful and deeply satisfying. I think of them as "comfort chocolate" similar to the concept of comfort food but, the kind of comfort food that your grandmother (or great grandmother) used to make from scratch, with wholesome ingredients, before the advent of TV dinners, cream of mushroom soup casseroles (with potato chips on top) and cake mixes.

We sampled the 9 piece box, Living Dangerously, which came with Oozy, Boozy Caramel, Gordita Picante, Morning After Merlot, Messed Up Mocha and Put Your Clothes on Chocolate. (In case you are wondering, we tried the last with our clothes on.) We loved that there was a "something, something" in each truffle that made it extra special. For example, Oozy, Boozy Caramel has a hint of brandy and Morning After Merlot is rolled in red velvet cake crumbs. My favorite was the Gordito Picante: smooth cinnamony Mexican chocolate with chili spices and toasted corn tortillas. Yes, toasted tortilla chips! This neato ingredient, which goes so surprisingly well with chocolate, needs to be immediately recognized as one of the great inventions of this century, if you ask me. Even better than the Internet even if Al Gore invented it!

Once you've had Chocolate Gourmet 's Ugly Truffles, you will be glad their offerings include Damn Good Cookies too. While, I am sure your parents told you never to swear, they probably told you to always tell the truth as well, and these sassy cookies are really that good. These cookies have ganache centers sandwiched between little bittersweet, soft, luxuriously chewy cookies generously studded with thick chocolate chips. The ganache comes in four divine flavors, each flavor better than the next: chocolate, raspberry, peanut butter (my husband's favorite) and mint. Be prepared though. Due to their diminutive size, you can easily cram a Chubby Wubby in your mouth but, they pack a powerful chocolate punch, enough to knock the unsuspecting off their feet.

Only available by mail order to guarantee maximum freshness!

chocolate gourmet contact information

ginger elizabeth

2010-02-18T07:00:00.000-08:00

There is a famous Confucious saying, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." However, in our case, the journey was wasn't quite a thousand miles. It was about 90 miles each way but still it took over three hours which I think counts as extra miles.

Now, you may wonder why four fairly intelligent adults, (OK three), a quartet that included two surgeons would undertake a three hour trip from San Francisco to Sacramento. Your answer is because we all happened to be attending the San Francisco Tribal Arts show, because we are die-hard chocolate aficionados and mainly because of the Ginger Elizabeth Palet D'or Entremet Cake.

I came across this cake while surfing the web for new and exciting chocolatiers and was instantly spellbound. This chocolate cake had me at hello.

Among other things, the Ginger Elizabeth Palet D'or Entremet Cake was offered especially for Valentines Day as an "expression of fine chocolate" -- which is a terrific concept. I can definitely get my arms around the concept of a Valentine's Day cake.

There was the description, a "65% Maracaibo Venezuelan Chocolate Mousse, layered with Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache, Chocolate Dacquois, and Crunchy Chocolate Shortbread inspired by our popular Palet D’Or truffle and similarly garnished with gold leaf, this cake is made with a 65% bittersweet chocolate from the prized Maracaibo cocoa growing region in Venezuela."

And then to seal the deal there was the intriguing name Palet D'or which means disc of gold in French and I think perfectly romantic.

For all these reasons, I felt I had to have this cake and immediately campaigned for the side trip. (We had to pick up the cake ourselves because it's fragile, must be eaten immediately and Ginger Elizabeth does not ship the cake.) Surprisingly or not surprisingly, after everyone looked at the online picture and read the description it actually didn't take much convincing. I was honestly prepared for a much lengthier campaign.

The Ginger Elizabeth shop is located on a side street near the Sacramento Capital buildings (I wonder if Arnold comes by for a chocolate fix) with lot of nice restaurants around, not that you need any other type of sustenance when there is a chocolate shop nearby.

The minute we entered the store, we knew our decision had been a good one. The store is small but charming, complete with vendeuses dressed in matching white outfits and little white gloves. And, there is a wonderful selection of chocolates and gifts that could keep any chocoholic engaged for hours if not days.

Our cake was waiting for us as promised and looked "just like the picture." While we were torn about whether we would eat it right there on the spot in a completely uncivilized manner, we decided it would be best to take the cake back to our hotel and enjoy it after dinner.

After dinner, some of us were daunted by the quantity of chocolate so we invited a friend and her daughter to share the Ginger Elizabeth cake, which ended up giving us all the perfect amount of cake.

The cake as you can see in the picture is exquisite. The ganache is perfectly smooth, with an artistic ribbon of chocolate and an artfully placed foil of gold. When a cake is this beautiful, you don't want to make a mistake slicing it, so we enlisted the surgeons to cut the cake into six neat pieces. Then, we took our first mouthfuls. As we experienced the creamy mousse, the silky ganache, the texture of the dacquois and the buttery, and slightly salty crunch of the shortbread, so light and airy you feel you could eat a thousand cakes, a silence descended in the room. The Ginger Elizabeth Palet D'or Entremet Cake is easily the best cake I and everyone else had ever had: a cake to end all cakes; a cake that when you look up "cake" in the dictionary, you see its picture next to it; a cake where, if you love chocolate, you truly must have one slice in your lifetime.

After the last slice had been eaten, and the plates literally licked clean, our friends said they would be happy to drive back next year for another Valentine's Day cake. I think a new tradition has been born.

ginger elizabeth contact information

pure dark = pure ectasy

2010-02-15T14:44:00.001-08:00

All photographs
©2010 Ron Dunlap/Doglight Studios

For all you chocolate lovers who think you have seen it and done it all, all I can say is, you need to try Pure Dark chocolate. Immediately.

Pure Dark chocolate comes in several forms but I am especially enamored with the slabs. The slabs are massive, thick pieces of chocolate, pocked and rippled like a moonscape. They basically look like what a chocoholic caveman might eat if he were a foodie.

There are three varieties of slabs but the one I enjoyed the most was the Serious Dark Chocolate with Caramelized Nibs and Coarse Sugar. The caramelized nibs along with coarse sugar add a wonderful texture that combined with the deep, rich chocolate gives you an unearthly, primordial chocolate experience. After savoring a chunk you feel as if you want to beat your chest and holler.

But, Pure Dark slabs are not for the Miss Manners and gracious living crowd. In order even to break off a chunk, you will need to reach down into your inner caveman because they're not fooling around with these slabs. The slabs are almost 1" thick. I recommend a cutting board and using a fork, pushing downwards (interesting, a knife doesn't work well). However if you are serious about chocolate, I have faith that after your first piece you will find a quick solution even it is to just to pick up the entire slab and gnaw on it - not that I would ever do something as crude as that.

For those with less Herculean strength, Pure Dark offers Rounds, Fruits and Nuts and Bark.

What is great about Round and Fruits and Nuts is that they are perfect on-the-go chocolates. Everyone knows that any chocoholic worth their salt needs to have an on-the-go chocolate. This is the kind of portable chocolate that, among other qualities, is small enough to secrete in your purse or briefcase and lends itself well to road trips.

Pure Dark Bark is a thinner chocolate (but then again anything is thinner than the Pure Dark Slab) and the sophisticated cousin to the Pure Dark slab. It is studded with plump dried fruits, toasted nuts and what I think makes the bark really special, the caramelized nibs. I never thought I would say this, but I heart the caramelized nibs. Let's just say if the nibs were running for office, even with the fruits and nuts as second in command (which is of course not much different from our government), they would win by a landslide.

pure dark contact information

guittard chocolates - the motherlode- part II

2010-02-09T13:01:00.001-08:00

All photographs
©2010 Ronald Dunlap/Doglight Studios

As you read these new posts, many of your may exclaim "Wow! Your photography has improved! These pictures look great!" However, as much as I would like to take credit for the amazing photos you will see in my next two blogs I can't. First because I didn't take them. And second, it is unlikely I could get away with it. These are all the work of Ron Dunlap. You can read more about Ron Dunlap, Doglight Studios and Ron's adventures at the end of this blog.

If you've read my last post, "Guittard chocolates, The Motherlode - Part I", you will already know that I received an eleven pound box of Guittard chocolates a week ago and have basically been in a chocolate coma ever since. This week I decided to tackle their chocolate bars, which all feature single origin cacao beans.

I already know your next question. "What is a single origin cacao bean and how can I use this new information to make my cocktail conversation more scintillating and make myself appear more knowledgeable and wordly?" Well, like like grapes or coffee, cacao beans have different nuances depending on where they were harvested as well as their post-harvest process. And that's it. It is as simple as that. Waving your hands around a lot helps for dramatic effect as well.

In my insane eleven pound box, Guittard included eight (8) bars. Because of the quantity, (yes even I can only eat so much chocolate), I had to assemble an impromptu, rag-tag, tasting group which included our enthusiastic neighbors, a foodie who has been hanging around ever since she saw my box of chocolates, and a few friends from the gym. None of us are trained connoisseurs, but the taste test was revealing and surprisingly entertaining. The more we ate, the more giddy we got and the more giddy we got, the more enthusiastic the proclamations. Honestly, a chocolate tasting ala E Guittard would be a great party theme, and you could introduce wine too, though might have to peel a few people off the ceiling afterwards. But, I digress. Back to the bars.

The eight bars we tested were: Ambanja, Chuchuri, Nocturne, Orinco, Quevedo, Quetzalcoatl, Sur del Lago and Tsaratana.

E. Guittard Ambanja 65% Cacao Bar

"Fruity and wonderful"
We started with Ambanja which is a city in northern Madagascar. This bar was a favorite among all of us and my personal favorite. It had a taste of fruit and the chocolate was rich and creamy. I could eat several bars of this in a row and I liked that I also liked that I could pronounce the name with some flourish.

E. Guittard Chucuri 65% Cacao Bar

These beans are harvested in the San Vicente de Chucuri Valley of Santander in Colombia. The chocolate has a sweet, honeyish taste. We all felt it was mellow and delicate and what a connoisseur would enjoy. I could imagine curling up on a cool summer evening with a good book and nibbling this chocolate.

E. Guittard Nocturne 91% Cacao Bar

This bar is for serious dark chocolate lovers only. I imagine this is the kind of chocolate that the Mayans would have eaten. It has a primitive, exotic taste, wonderfully sour and bitter at the same time. It's the kind of chocolate a real chocoholic worth his/her cacao bean enjoys -- a tough chocoholic, not a dandified sophisticate, the kind of chocoholic who would eat the bar and then might grunt at the end to show you that he (or she) can take real chocolate and not just sissy chocolate.

E. Guittard Orinco 38% Cacao Bar

This bar vanished within moments of its unwrapping. It had the best of the best milk chocolate qualities: creamy, nutty, buttery and subtle and silky. And to me it has all the hallmarks of being an excellent "I feel sorry for myself" chocolate. The kind of chocolate you eat when nothing is going your way and it really should because you know, you're a good person and what happened to karma anyway? For wallowing in self pity, I recommend six bars (adjust as necessary and grab a box of tissues.

E. Guittard Quetzalcoatl 72% Cacao Bar

Legend surrounds this bar. It is named after the Mayan god Quetzalcoatl who traveled to earth with a cacao tree imported from paradise and, as the legend implies, this chocolate is paradise for a dark chocolate aficionado. It has a dark, rich powerful taste that starts off nutty and ends with a satisfying bitter aftertaste. It does the Mayans, who worshiped cacao and the legend of Quetzalcoatl, the justice they deserve. A terrific bar that gets it just right so that despite the high cacao content, all the milk chocolate fans in our taste group gravitated to this bar.

E. Guittard Quevedo 65% Cacao Bar

"I don't know why, I just like it."
What makes this quote stand out is that it is from a taste tester who reluctantly admits he generally only consumes mass chocolates. Still, this was his favorite bar. The chocolate was mellow, smokey and nutty with a creamy texture. It is an excellent bar to introduce someone to the joys of dark chocolate -- unless of course your philosophy is thatif someone doesn't like it, there is more for you.

E. Guittard Sur del Lago 65% Cacao Bar

These beans are harvested from Venenzuela's Sur Del Lago region. We all felt there was an interesting complexity to this bar - a slight nutty and berry taste -- that made us keep coming back to this bar, over and over.

E. Tsaratana 61% Cacao Bar

We ended our chocolate odyssey on the Tsaratana bar and it was a wonderful. It was sweet like a flower and had a taste of vanilla. How to describe it? Does "mmmm, mmmm, yummy" work? It is the kind of bar that delivers on that abstract idea you have in your mind about the promise and experience of chocolate. This chocolate would work well both as a good "Sweetheart I Love (or Seriously Like) You" or "I am Really Sorry, Will You Please Forgive Me" chocolate, however in the latter case you I recommend at least two bars.

All the wonderful photos you see here are the work from Ron Dunlap who happens to be a hero of mine. At 60 he got his masters in Archeology and now every year travels to Egypt to photograph objects that we will not see in our lifetime from the ongoing pyramid excavations, as photographs that document his travels to the far east which you can enjoy at RGD Travels.

guittard chocolate contact information

guittard chocolates - the motherlode- part I

2010-02-02T07:00:00.000-08:00

Have you ever received a really great gift that was truly a surprise? Something you have never thought of asking for but that turns out to be one of the bestest gifts you have ever received? A gift you know you will remember forever and ever -- even when you are old and gray and living with 100 cats and the neighbors have called the authorities, numerous times? Well, this is what happened to me last week when I opened my door to find a box on my doorstep marked, "Guittard Chocolates". Now while this label was terrific in and of itself, it’s always happy times when chocolate shows up at your door, what made it truly exceptional is another marking that read, "eleven (11) lbs." Eleven lbs of chocolate. Do you have any idea of what 11 lbs of chocolate looks like? I will tell you what it looks like – it looks like you’re going to have a good day – or week, depending on how long the chocolate lasts.

Enclosed in the box were chocolate bars, cacao wafers, cocoa powder, drinking chocolate and chocolate chips, basically everything a chocoholic needs in case of a natural disaster.

Clearly, in order to review them all properly I had to immediately start on sampling them individually (and due to the quantity of chocolate, this review will span more than one blog post).

The first things that caught my eye were, the big boxes of E.Guittard Cacao Wafers: White Chocolate (31%), Milk Chocolate (38%), Semisweet Chocolate (61%) and Bittersweet Chocolate (72%). The boxes were nice and hefty, which I found deeply satisfying. I liked lifting them up and wielding all that chocolate. It gave me a sense of power and invincibility.

The wafers are marked “for baking and eating” and they are also outstanding just by themselves. All the chocolates are creamy and have a luxurious chocolate/nutty aftertaste. If you were so inclined to share, they would be lovely in a candy dish for guests. However, I was more intrigued by the recipe on the back: E.Guittard Chocolate Cupcakes and White Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting (though I used Milk Chocolate instead of White Chocolate for the frosting though.)

The recipe is very simple but produced great results (I have copied it below because I can’t find it currently on the Guittard website, but I encourage you to visit their site for other recipes created in their own kitchens). The wafers all melted so easily in the double boiler and the cupcakes turned out “delish.” The cake part of the cupcake was moist, flavorful but not too sweet and the sour cream frosting had a great balance of sour and sweet. The only thing lacking was my frosting skills, a deficiency that was probably were exacerbated by the fact I just let the frosting cool and didn’t beat it and refrigerate it overnight as the recipe calls for. But as my mother always said (while my sisters and I were beating each other for the best slice of frosted birthday cake, which is the corner slice that has the flower), it all looks the same when it’s in your mouth

While the cupcakes were cooling and awaiting frosting, I decided to make some drinking chocolate. You have to have something with your chocolate cupcake – right?

The drinking chocolate is heavenly from the moment you open the canister and inhale the rich chocolatey aroma to when you are sipping the unusually rich drink. Usually when I make hot chocolate, I make a mini paste of cocoa, sugar (& sometimes cinnamon) with a small amount of milk and then add it to my heated milk. But no matter how I beat the mixture, I always end up with sad little clumps of chocolate at the bottom of my pan. In contrast, this drinking chocolate just mixes so easily with no clumping – a real treat on many levels, including the assurance that you've got all the chocolate.

I know what some of you are thinking: hot drinking chocolate with a chocolate cupcake with chocolate sour cream frosting...chocolate overload. But for me, I say, bring it on.

Recipes

E.Guittard Chocolate Cupcakes
A rich chocolate cupcake is complimented with the color and flavor of white chocolate sour cream frosting. Makes 12 cupcakes.

1 ½ cups (8 ounces) E.Guittard 72% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Wafers
½ cup butter
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 12 cupcake forms with paper liners

Melt wafers and butter in the top of a double boiler over low heat, stirring constantly until melted and smooth. Transfer to a large bowl and beat in sugar, then eggs and vanilla until glossy. Stir in flour just until incorporated.

Fill lined cups ¾ full. Bake 25 – 30 minutes or until tops are rounded and puffy. A toothpick inserted in center will still have moist crumbs clinging to it. Cool completely before frosting tops.

White Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting
1 cup (6oz) E.Guittard 31% Cacao White Chocolate Wafers
½ cup sour cream
1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Melt white chocolate and sour cream in the top of a double boiler over low heat stirring constantly until smooth. Stir in vanilla, transfer to a large mixing bowl and chill for 2 hours or overnight. Whip for about 1 -2 minutes at high speed, stopping to scrape bottom and sides as needed, until frosting lightens in color and a good spreading consistency is achieved. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Frosting can be prepared in advance.

guittard chocolate contact information

kee's chocolates

2010-01-27T13:00:00.000-08:00

The next stop on my New York Chocolate Tour was Kee's Chocolates. This is one of the chocolate stores that comes steeped in legend. The people I know who consider themselves foodies, or a serious cacao connoisseurs, (note not "chocolate connoisseur" but a "cacao connoisseur" - you know the kind of person who is always saying "ca-ca-o" and you want to grab them sometimes, tie them up and force them to say "chocolate") all seemed to violently come to the conclusion Kees was "really goooood." Not the ordinary kind of good that comes out as one short syllabic burst but the kind of good that requires lots of extra o's, some inflection, and making an ecstasy face when saying it.  

Kee's is conveniently located near a subway stop. You need to take the C/E line and get off at Spring Street. Don't take the B line like as I did even if someone tells you that you can because you end up in the Bronx. Then you have to reverse your steps, which is especially troublesome if you're channeling your inner Crazy Chinese Bag Lady and have a puffy coat on, a bag, purse and snow boots (because the heels of your cute boots snapped off at the airport the minute you walked off the plane. I realize my heel snapping off doesn’t explain the puffy coat but that’s too lengthy to get into here).

If you're not on the look out, you will walk right past the storefront. There is an awning that is clearly marked Kee's - but somehow it's easy to miss (though keep in mind that I am the kind of person who gets lost going home). However, for me this just added to me, the mystical allure of Kee's, as if I were discovering a secret.  

The door is properly creaky and the store is really, really teeny, tiny. Miniscule. There is a counter and a narrow aisle so it's just you and the chocolate, not that that's a bad thing.  

The first chocolate I inhaled is the one you see pictured, the Crème brûlée. If a bon-bon can be sexy this bon-bon defines sexy. Composed of a dark chocolate shell and filled with fresh Crème brûlée this is a bon-bon that comes with instructions: you are recommended to put the whole thing in your mouth. Do not take this instruction lightly or assume it is easy because as bon-bons go - this is a large one, about one and a half inches in diameter and three quarters of an inch tall. Of course, I didn't have to be asked to do this twice. In it went. When I bit into the dark chocolate shell my mouth was filled with creamy, fresh, rich Crème brûlée. Divine. Heaven. Needless to say, I greedily purchased all the remaining Crème brûlées while saying in my head (I hope just in my head) "Mine, mine, all mine" like Daffy Duck. These have to be eaten promptly as they are made daily and last at most two days and only if they are properly refrigerated. Honestly, I just couldn't take that risk and therefore ate all of mine that evening. I know, the lengths I am willing to go for Chocolate Grail is really incredible. I deserve the Chocolate Heart of Valor.

The second chocolate I tried was the Black Sesame, that is currently featured on Kee's homepage. I have to admit that this particular chocolate has kept me up at night. It is a dark chocolate truffle coated with toasted white and dark sesame seeds. The rich, earthy dark chocolate just had a simply wonderful thick texture and the crunchy sesame seeds were toasted perfectly, one second from toasted-seed oblivion (all you cooks out there will know what I mean). It is so good that once you tasted Black Sesame you will instantly know that it appears on Kee's Chocolate's home page with good reason.

 These first two chocolates precipitated a chocolate frenzy, which helped me begin to define how much chocolate I can eat in one sitting. Of note, I loved: the Almond- White chocolate truffles coated with toasted almonds; Honey Saffron - dark chocolate saffron with a taste of honey; and especially the Black Rose - dark chocolate truffle with black tea infused with rose petals - so unusual but wonderful.  When I left the store, clutching my bag of Crème Brulee’s, another woman was walking in. She asked me what I thought about the chocolates. I made my ecstasy face and answered "goooood."

kees chocolate contact information

jacques torres chocolates

2010-01-26T12:01:00.001-08:00

I was inspired after reading in the Los Angeles Times about Zoom Media Chocolate Tours in NYC (yes the Times good for something)...I decided I had to go on a Chocolate Tour myself. However, it was not to be. I could only go on a Friday, and because of the near-record cold and rain, not enough people signed up. Can you imagine? A little cold and rain getting between you and chocolate? So, I did what any self-respecting chocoholic would do: I laced on my clunky winter boots (this is because the heel snapped off on my stylish boots at the airport right after I stepped off the plane - dashing my dreams of looking cute in New York and leaving me looking like a crazy Chinese bag lady) and went on my own chocolate tour.

One of my stops was Jacques Torres. What was nice right off, was for the directionally challenged like me, were the gaily colored flags - announcing chocolate: you know immediately and unequivocally that you've come to the right place.

Then, before you walk in, you get to peek in the windows and see real life chocolatiers, working away on mounds of delectable chocolate. By the time you've walked inside you are positively drooling and dizzy. It gives you the feeling of being in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, even though there are no squirrels shucking nuts - or Oompa Lumpas for that matter. But trust me on this one - you do get that feeling.

When you enter you see that the Jacques Torres store is delightful inside: full of gift boxes, a counter top of truffles and bon-bons, baked goods and a little espresso/hot chocolate bar. It's all the chocolate you could ever dream of - so you can OD on chocolate conveniently in a really adorable place.

Naturally, I had to sample all the truffles for the sake of Chocolate Grail and I was not disappointed. Jacques Torres makes a mean bon-bon. Each chocolate I sampled (before going into a chocolate coma) was wonderful - rich, creamy, with a deep chocolate taste. And what really special was that each flavor was intense: you don't need to consult the brochure or have a master palette. Yet, none of the flavors was so intense it overwhelmed the chocolate - a perfect balance. I also liked that there really is something for everyone, whether you like white, milk or dark chocolate.

Some of my favorites included: Ginger - fresh ginger root with a dark chocolate ganache, Cinnamon Praline - cinnamon ganache and ground hazelnuts; Pistachio Marzipan - homemade almond and pistachio paste; Wicked Fun - chocolate ganache spiced up with ancho and chipotle chilies; Golden Expresso - rich espresso with a touch of gold; and one of the Jacques Torres signature chocolates, Almondine - crushed candied almonds.

However, the two that knocked me off my feet were the Earl Grey (premium Earl Grey tea infused in a dark creamy center) and Fresh Coconut (fresh coconut suspended in white chocolate with dark chocolate). The latter was so creamy, so fresh I felt transported onto a sandy beach with palm trees fluttering ahead. And in this economy, that's a sweet deal.

jacques torres contact information

derry church artisan chocolates

2010-01-08T20:08:00.000-08:00

Sampling a collection of Chef Eric Cayton stunning creations posed a tantalizing chocollectual dilemma: is chocolate greatness achieved by height of taste, balance of flavor, or richness of texture?

Rome, a cappuccino and milk chocolate truffle, started the discussion. Initially, savor the rich espresso flavor—Ah, TASTE! Then, subtly, the creamy white chocolate mousse cap adds depth and BALANCE, and you pause, enjoying—you guessed it—a combination of superb TEXTURES which suspend the experience in your mouth. And so it is with each Derry Church Artisan Chocolate.

But Cayton is clearly not afraid to take chances! Take for example the Palermo truffle, which features lemon juice, Italian Limoncello liqueur, bittersweet chocolate and white chocolate ganache, topped with thin roasted almonds. Can you imagine? It’s marvelous! And sure to extend your flavor universe.

We also thoroughly enjoyed Cairo, the result of smooth medjool date paste meeting aged balsamic vinegar reduction in a bittersweet chocolate ganache. This is not your standard truffle. Rather, it is a delicacy which makes one wonder what they just experienced. Was that for real? Did I just taste dates and vinegar and chocolate and love it? I did!

And then there are also the (almost) traditional chocolates. Caramel lovers will swoon over the Derry Church as we did. London presents crisp butter toffee underneath a crust of roasted and crushed almonds. Dublin mixes Bailey’s Irish Crème, Arabica coffee, and milk chocolate ganache. Each of these borders on mainstream, but somehow accomplishes just that much more than you expect. Why? We suspect it’s because Chef Cayton gets it. Taste, balance, and texture!

We end our journey with a few of the most creative and provocative chocolates you will find anywhere. New Orleans will captivate, as it offers Bananas Foster ganache (fresh banana puree, brown sugar rum sauce, a splash of cinnamon) with two chocolates. Forget about it! This is greatness! San Francisco proves that Mother Nature can participate in the Derry Church adventure very well, thank you: think Northern California Black Mission figs, organic molasses, roasted walnuts, bittersweet chocolate and bittersweet chocolate ganache topped with sugar crystals. And Savannah may have won our Blue Ribbon, combining peach jam in white chocolate ganache inside a bittersweet cup, topped with toasted oat/brown sugar, cinnamon crisp, and a drizzle of white chocolate.

After tasting so many of these chocolates, it did not surprise that Mr. Cayton has chosen only the finest ingredients, sourced from around the world, and fresh local butter and cream, for his creations. What did surprise was how marvelously each works together, without a hint of gratuitousness or pretense. The result is some of the most distinctive chocolate treats that we know of, which we intend to enjoy often! And who knows? Maybe help us understand if we’re drawn to Derry Church Artisan Chocolates mostly because of their taste, balance, or texture.

derry church contact information

clarine's florentines

2010-01-07T18:09:00.001-08:00

There are so many ways to describe Clarines Florentines it's hard to know where to start.

The first thing that comes to my mind is that feeling you get when you're snacking on a bowl of nuts and then you get that nut that is just perfect. It's been perfectly roasted and seasoned and you think - this is a good time to stop because I tasted the perfect one. Well, every sliced Almond that goes into Clarine's Florentines is like that one perfect nut - it as if she toasted each one individually by hand. Look at them! Each one is perfectly caramel colored and slightly toastier and browner around the edges.

The next thing is the high nut to brittle ratio making these a more sophisticated Florentine plus the brittle is just right - buttery and rich but not too buttery and rich and the perfect combination of crunchy and chewy. Now you're thinking - this is excellent. I need to try these now - and you do - but I haven't finished describing the full experience of a Clarine's Florentine yet because it gets better. This very excellent Florentine is also coated on one full side - not a chintzy corner dip - but with a nice generous full side of Guittard bittersweet chocolate. So when you bite into this crunchy, chewy, nutty delectable treat, you also get this creamy bittersweet chocolate melting in your mouth. It's heaven really.

However after devouring my last bag, I think perhaps the best way to describe a Clarine's Florentine is 60 seconds because that is about how long they last before the only things left are a ripped cellophane bag, a pretty, yellow silk ribbon…and a dreamy memory of something that was really, really gooooood.

clarine's florentines contact information

cake monkey cakewich

2010-01-06T14:42:00.001-08:00

There might be better things than a Cake Monkey Cakewich but if there are, they don't yet exist in my plane of reality.

Just the name - "Cakewich" fortells good things. I mean when you hear the word "cake" alone - you know that it's going to be pretty good. Then you hear the "wich" part which tells you that it is going to be better than pretty good and believe me it is better than pretty good. Much, much better. Phenomenally, "I am not going to share this with you not even a bite, even though I honestly love you and you are my life partner" better.

Let's start with the fact the Cakewich comes in a little foil package with a sticker of Cake Monkey's adorable logo on top. This allows you to peel all the crinkly foil away to reveal this perfectly sized bittersweet chocolate coated cake. Can you say anticipation? I mean say it without drooling.

Then you get to taste the Cakewich. When you bite the cake you get this mouthful of rich, fresh, chocolate cake - not too sweet, filled with real vanilla cream. And you can see the layers - the top chocolate layer, the filling and the bottom chocolate layer, all encased in bittersweet chocolate - (did I mention that yet?) I don't know why but visually it is extremely satisfying - like you accomplished or discovered something important. This already sounds pretty good, huh? But it doesn't end there. Inside the cream are Valrhona Crunchy Pearls, kind of like of a Rice Crispies but chocolate. They give the Cakewich some crunch. And something about the mix of different textures - the bittersweet chocolate coating, the soft rich cake, the crunchy pearls - tells you a higher power really does exist.

Cakewiches come in several flavors, Black & White (my personal favorite), Raspberry Red Velvet and Peanut Butter and Marshmallow. There is much chocolate goodness at Cake Monkey: Yo-ho's, Inside Out S'Mores, 'Nuff Said Chocolate Crumble Cookies and adorable mini Cakes - perfect for weekend indulgences - Must Love Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Caramel Cake, Monkey Crunch Cake...and more, enough to keep you in Chocolate Nirvana for a while.

I discovered Cake Monkey Cakewiches last year at Unique LA, and have been addicted ever since.

Cake Monkey Cakewiches are so amazing, I pre-order and drive a two hour round trip - and I hate driving, to satisfy my addiction - but good news is on the horizon for Cake Monkey fans - owner and master pastry chef Lisa and Elizabeth will be opening a storefront soon!

cake monkey contact information

europane chocolate tart

2009-12-29T12:04:00.001-08:00

There are many reasons why there is often a long line at the award winning Europane Bakery and this chocolate tart is clearly one of them.

The tarts start appearing at noon, after they have been baked and cooled down enough for the chocolate to set. I have seen people reserve them, wait for them and almost come to blows over them.

Last weekend I arrived before they were cooled and had to wait 15 minutes before I could take mine home. It was well worth the wait.

The chocolate is silky with just a touch of hazelnut to give it some depth, and the crust is a sable crust which sets the creaminess of the chocolate off perfectly. I love Sable Crusts - they're the kind of crust that is like a shortbread cookie that crumbles away in that oh_so_wonderful way that makes it feel as though it's melting in your mouth.

For the serial chocoholic, the chocolate offerings are not limited to the chocolate tart. There are also pain au chocolat, chocolate macaroons, a chocolate meringue cookie that has nice big dark chocolate chunks, an amazingly rich brownie, and once in a while a little slice of a chocolate layer cake on a square of wax paper. Honestly, you'll have to take one for the chocolate team and try them all.

Mouth watering? My only warning is to get there early as master chef Sumi Chang's wares move quickly.

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