sugardaddy's sumptuous sweeties

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!

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pure dark = pure ectasy

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.





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guittard chocolates - the motherlode- part II

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.

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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.



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