The Ultimate Chocolate Blog

A Dark and Delicious Gift for a Chocolate-Loving Mom

2013-05-20T06:20:00.000-07:00

What is the BEST EVER gift that a chocolate-lover can receive on Mother's Day? SOMA chocolate! Last week, I received a surprise shipment of very fine chocolate from Toronto-based Soma Chocolatemaker. I was delighted to find three dark chocolate bars and a box of truffles from one of Canada's finest chocolate makers.

I was excited about Soma's Green Tangerine chocolate bar - one of the best flavoured bars that I've tasted. Also, Soma's 'Black Science' Trinidad chocolate bar and Madagascar chocolate bars were a perfect gift for me because I love to taste and compare the two origin chocolates. And Soma's 8 year Aged Balsamic Vinegar truffle and their Olive Oil truffle were also included in the box of filled chocolates, which are two of my favourites.

But mostly, I was excited to find a new chocolate bar that I have not yet tried of Soma's, a new blended bean bar called 'Abstract Chocolate Science'. It has 82% cacao solids and a blend of beans sourced from four countries, plus large pieces of cacao beans from Madagascar were thrown in for some added crunch and cacao flavour.

This chocolate bar is intense, woody, smoky and also full of that disctinct flavour of Madagascar cacao. What's more, it does not have the bitterness that often comes with an 80-something percent chocolate - even a seventy-percent chocolate lover like me can appreciate it. I absolutely love it.

So next time you need a gift for that chocolate connoisseur in your life, check out Soma (www.somachocolate.com). Their selection is vast and their flavours are excellent. What's more, they make the chocolate directly from the bean in Canada!

Great Canadian Maple and Chocolate Combinations

2013-05-08T06:18:00.000-07:00

We Canadians know our maple. We have the maple leaf on our flag, our largest city has an NHL hockey team by the name, and Wikipedia calls it the "national symbol of Canada", claiming the maple tree was once called "the king of our forest" (ref). So naturally, we consider the maple tree's syrup to be our national (and natural) sweetener.

And since I am a chocolate lover who also happens to be Canadian, I feel it is my job to share information on all great chocolate bars with real Canadian maple. Today I have two kinds that I recently discovered, and of course they both come from the province of Quebec, which some may consider the maple capital our country.

Theobroma Chocolat makes organic chocolate in uniquely packaged 35 gram chocolate bars. I have tasted nearly every one of their fantastic flavours (raspberry - yum! banana, pineapple and more), but just a few days ago, I came across their 'Sweet Maple Butter' chocolate bar. This bar offers about five or six breakable pieces of 60% dark chocolate with a small dollop of maple butter in the centre of each piece. The shell is thick with dark chocolate and the sweetness of the maple butter comes as a surprise. However, the amount of maple butter is just small enough to not be overpowering. In fact, I think it is just the right amount to provide the full maple flavour without it being too sweet.

What I like about this chocolate is that there are only five ingredients (cocoa mass, cocoa butter, sugar cane, maple butter, and soy lecithin) which are natural and all organic, except for the soya lecithin. There is no added vanilla and there are no artificial flavours or colours.

The other maple chocolate bar is made by Olivia Chocolat. This bean-to-bar artisan chocolate maker has a selection of fine chocolate bars with maple, including "a touch of maple" chocolate bar and a touch of maple "with maple sugar flakes" chocolate bar. Also, they recently launched a raw chocolate bar line which includes a very bitter 92% chocolate bar that is partially sweetened with maple sugar. I have tasted this one; it is thin and delicate, and offers a nice hint of maple flavour. So if you can handle a very dark chocolate in the 90% range, I highly recommend Olivia's 92% Maple Raw chocolate bar (order here).

Both chocolate bars are Gluten-free. Check out their websites for more information on these products:
www.theobromachocolat.com/
www.oliviachocolatiers.com

If you know of any great Canadian maple and chocolate combinations, feel free to add them to the Comments below!

Gluten-Free Crepe Recipe (with Chocolate!)

2013-05-03T13:15:00.003-07:00

I love to experiment with grains. The reason? Well, when I look into my daughter's lunch box, all I see is wheat, wheat and more wheat, and I think, "no wonder there are so many gluten and wheat intolerance's". I truly think we have overdone it.

Most people that I know who are in their 30s can compare and recall eating all the same snacks and lunches: Ritz crackers, cheese and crackers, peanut butter and jam sandwiches. But nowadays, there are so many different kinds of snacks on the ever-expanding grocery store shelves, that our children will likely not be able to agree on which snack item was the most popular. Even all the main brands of cookies and crackers now come in "minis" and are pre-packaged for lunches.

In addition, our choices are now limited because we can no longer send anything with nuts in it to school (nor anything that "May contain" nuts); so wheat-based products are the easiest option. Also, no one is baking Rice Krispie squares anymore because nearly all the moms are working and have limited time to bake. I work from home and seem to constantly be cleaning, child-rearing or working and I have no time for baking wheat-free snacks except on the weekends.

So I like to change things up on the weekend, and give my kids a breakfast or lunch with non-wheat foods, just to ensure that they are not overdoing it with any one type of grain.

As a result, I have been converting a lot of crepe recipes to 'gluten-free'. Crepes can be made quickly and easily, and the lack of wheat is not noticed by my kids. The best one I found that converted easily to gluten-free was the Homemade Crepes recipe, which was in the Chatelaine Magazine this month (May 2013, Page 109). The recipe called for all-purpose flour, so I modified the recipe and used a gluten-free flour mix. The results were perfect! The best part about this recipe, was that you could not taste the grittiness that often occurs with gluten-free flour blends because the recipe was rich with eggs and milk (so rich in protein, which is great for the kids!).

RECIPE: Gluten-Free Crepes - All Natural and Delicious!
(adapted from Chatelaine Magazine, May 2013 issue, www.chatelaine.com)

You need:

2 eggs
2/3 cup milk (any percentage - I used skim once and homogenized another time)
1/2 cup Gluten-Free Flour Mix (I used a brand called "Purely Bulk", which also has Chia and Sprouted Flaxseed in it or you can use rice flour or spelt flour, which is non-gluten free but still non-wheat)
1 tbsp Grapeseed Oil, Canola Oil, or melted butter
1 tsp granulated sugar or agave syrup
1 tsp vanilla

Instructions:

1. Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat.

2. Whisk eggs in a medium or large bowl. Add in the milk, gluten-free flour, oil, sugar and vanilla and whisk or blend with hand mixer until there are no lumps.

3. Pour 1/2 cup batter into the centre of the hot pan. Immediately spread around into a circle with a spatula or lift the pan and tilt in a circle until you have the shape that you want.

4. Cook only about 30 seconds until edges are lifting from pan and flip. Cook only another 30 seconds or so until crepe is golden. Transfer to a plate.

5. Once the crepes are all on the plate and somewhat cooled, spread a large circle of chocolate spread (see below for the kind I used) and add a strip of all-natural peanut butter down the centre. Roll up. Alternately, use a hazelnut spread like Nutella or PC brand (see below again for comparison of the two brands).

For the chocolate spread, I used President's Choice Dark Chocolate spread - they come in 400 gram jars and the ingredients are pretty natural with no 'modified' or 'hydrogenated' oils and real vanilla extract (no artificial flavour or colours!). On top of the dark chocolate spread on some of the crepes, I added some MaraNatha No Stir Peanut Butter (this is not a paid plug for them, it is just my FAVOURITE peanut butter EVER and I eat it every day because it is all natural and partially organic and SO smooth). But another choice is the President's Choice Chocolate Hazelnut Spread. Compared to Nutella, I prefer PC's product because it does not contain any 'modified' oils and it has real Bourbon vanilla. Nutella's ingredients include Modified Palm Oil and Vanillin, which is artificial flavouring. Again, this is not a paid endorsement for PC, my kids liked Nutella so I searched for a healthier solution and PC's Hazenut Spread came out on top with their ingredients.

And of coure, you can always just make this recipe with wheat (just replace the gluten-free flour above with all-purpose flour), and you can also make this a meal by filling the crepes with chicken, lettuce and veggies or an egg and cheese, or whatever you like!

You can contact me at ultimatechocolateblog@gmail.com if you have any questions about the recipe above or feel free to leave a comment below.

Using Cacao Nibs to Make Chocolate at Home

2013-04-26T06:41:00.000-07:00

Whole cacao beans are not always easy for the average consumer to find. And when you do find them, the beans need to be shelled, which is a messy process that may leave you vacuuming your kitchen for a week. So one way to make chocolate 'from the bean' in your own kitchen is to use cacao nibs. These are considerably easy to find compared to whole beans, and the shells have been removed, so you will have less of a mess to clean up after you have made your home-made chocolate.

I have recently used three brands of cacao nibs that are readily available in stores (and online). Giddy Yoyo (Toronto), Camino and Organic Traditions.

Giddy Yoyo sells Wild Ecuadorian Heirloom Cacao in 454 gram (1 lb) bags, which is the largest package size that I have found in stores (at HomeSense). The flavour was mild and not too acidic. Giddy Yoyo also makes and sells raw chocolate and promotes a raw food lifestyle. I made chocolate from these raw cacao nibs once, then I roasted them to taste the flavour difference. Truthfully, I preferred the roasted flavour of my homemade chocolate best (see below for roasting instructions).

Camino sells 100 gram bags of organic and Fair Trade cacao nibs that come from Peru. Also raw, these nibs were tangy and acidic and offered a lot of bold flavour to my homemade chocolate. Once roasted, they also made for a great snack 'as is', if you can get used to the flavour of unsweetened nibs. Camino is available in many stores across Canada, like Loblaws and Superstore and these nibs can also be purchased online. I bought three cases!

Organic Traditions offers nibs in 227 gram (1/2 lb) bags. Also a little acidic, these are probably the most widely available in Ontario; I have found them at both Independent Grocer and HomeSense. With an unspecified origin, the packaging lists these nibs as organic. They are also raw.

I have seen nibs at American grocery stores in the health food section and I am sure that a health food store in your area would carry them. Or you can purchase nibs in both small and large quantities from Nuts.com (1 lb, 5 lb and 20 lb bags). They also sell peeled cacao beans, although they are more expensive and basically the same thing. Also, Nuts.com sells a Criollo variety of unpeeled cacao beans. While you are on their website, check out the cacao butter selection. Cacao butter is not easy to find, but you may want to add some while making chocolate to 'grease' your mixing equipment.

Where else you can buy cacao nibs online? Navitas Naturals Online sells 4 oz, 8 oz and 16 oz bags. In Canada, Upaya Naturals sells a Sunfood brand online. For people on the other side of the world, Life Foods - a New Zealand website also sells cacao nibs.

Roasting Instructions for Cacao Nibs
To roast cacao nibs, pre-heat your oven to 300 F. Spread the nibs out on a cookie sheet and bake for 12 to 15 minutes (check them at 12 minutes and stir to ensure that the smallest pieces are not burning). Take them out of the oven when they start to smell like baked brownies.

Quick Recipe for Making Chocolate at Home from Cacao Nibs (62% dark chocolate):

Grind 4 oz of roasted (or raw if you prefer) cacao nibs in a small, single blade coffee grinder. Pour into a bowl and set aside.
Grind 2 ounces of dry sugar crystals (coconut or cane sugar) in the same coffee grinder. Add the scraping of one vanilla bean if you like and grind with the sugar. Add to the bowl with the cacao beans.
Pour the ground cacao beans, sugar and vanilla bean into a dry blender. Start to blend on high. Let mix for a few minutes.
Meanwhile, melt about a 1/2 ounce of cacao butter over a double boiler or in the microwave (for 2 minutes on half power). Add to the blender. You will notice your chocolate becoming liquid as your blender warms up and the warm cocoa butter also begins to melt your chocolate.
Ensure that your blender is not overheating. Turn on and off if it is and try to blend for about 10 minutes in total.

If you have a thermometer and your chocolate is about 90 degrees F, then pour it into a chocolate mold (or a small square pan or plastic container if you do not have molds) - you may get lucky and it will be in temper! If your chocolate is a bit white-ish or streaky once cooled, you will need to temper it. Since you are making your own chocolate from scratch, you will not be able to use the 'seed' method to temper it. Here is a website that has excellent instructions to temper chocolate over an ice bath: http://www.healthyseasonalrecipes.com/cherry-almond-chocolate-bark/.

For choosing molds, I find the thinner the pieces, the better the taste since your chocolate will be a little gritty still (you need some fancy and expensive equipment if you want to make smooth chocolate at home).

Contact me at ultimatechocolateblog@gmail.com if you have any concerns with your homemade chocolate project or this recipe. Good luck!

Bite-Sized Delights

2013-04-21T11:28:00.001-07:00

When you need a little pick-me up, where do you turn? I turn to chocolate, of course. But opening up a 100-gram chocolate bar is not necessarily the best thing to do when our energy levels are at their lowest, because we are most likely to eat the entire bar in one sitting (precisely what the manufacturers want from us, despite their marks in the bars to make it 'easier' to break off small pieces!) and then we feel worse both mentally and physically because we've overdone it. So I love it when chocolate comes pre-packaged in bite-sized portions.

Apparently this is the time of year to cut out unnecessary indulgences, if you believe the numerous ads on television telling us that we have X-number of weeks left to drop five pounds in order to be beach-body ready for summer. But I say do not cut out, but rather, cut back! To me, this is the time of year to turn our attention to portion-controlled pieces of chocolate deliciousness.

Conveniently, I came across three different bite-sized portions of chocolate that would satisfy any chocolate lover's cravings during that 2:00 p.m. energy drop on a business day. The first were Saxon's 10 g bars of chocolate that came in two flavours: 70% Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt and Milk Chocolate Hazelnut. I liked both of those for different reasons. With the Hazelnut, I got that milk chocolate sweetness but with a boost of hazelnut protein and flavour. The 70% dark chocolate satisfied that side of me that says "stick with the dark stuff because it's healthier", but the salt added an extra flavour to make it stand out from the plain-Jane usual 70% chocolate that I eat. The other bite-sized chocolate was Ghirardelli's 10.6 gram 'Squares', which was nice because it covered my cravings for both sweet and bitter.

I found all three of these at Loco Beanz Coffee House in Little Current, Ontario. But Ghirardelli can be found all across the U.S. and you can buy it online: build a bag of 54 mini 'Squares' on their website with any mix of flavours that you choose. If you have these on hand, you can pack a square or two in your lunch bag every day. Smaller bags are also available. Saxon is available across Canada and in the U.S.; check their store locator for more information.

If you are trying to get your 'beach-body' back in time for summer, or just like your chocolate to be in portion-controlled packages, here are some other kinds of portion-controlled chocolate that I've found in the past:

The Ultimate Chocolate Recipes

2013-04-12T06:56:00.000-07:00

I've experimented a lot with chocolate in my little commercial kitchen and the results? New chocolate recipes! And over the last few years, I have shared many (not all...yet) of these recipes right here on this blog. But I know that searching for recipes online can be time consuming, particularly on a blog site, so I created this page to consolidate all my recipes into one easy-to-navigate page.

Chocolate Truffles

The Best Chocolate Truffles I Ever Made! Made with Valrhona's Caramelia chocolate, these truffles are milk-chocolate-caramel deliciousness that will stop you from wondering what heaven is like.
Super Simple Espresso Truffles
Bittersweet Truffles
Extra-Dark Chocolate Truffles (Made with 80% Chocolate)
Chocolate Truffles with Sea Salt
Red Wine Truffles

Chocolate-covered stuff

Extra-Dark Chocolate Poppers (with Rice Krispies) and Chocolate-Covered Popcorn

Chocolate Cookies

Chocolate Dipped Shortbread Cookies - this recipe is yummy as is, and it also discusses how to make organic cookies and how to make a gluten-free shortbread cookie!

Chocolate Brownies and Cakes

Making Chocolate from the Bean:

My first experience with making chocolate (from the bean) in my home kitchen
Not so much a recipe, but hints and tips

Hot Chocolate/Hot Cacao Beverages:

Easy Mint Hot Chocolate (with Soy Milk)
Brewed Cacao Drink (like coffee, but chocolate!)
Not so much a recipe, but a different way to taste chocolate!

Chocolate Mousses, Creams, Ganaches and Custards:

Accidental Bailey's Milk Chocolate Mousse Recipe
Simple Pot de Creme with Creme Fraiche or 18% all-natural sour cream
Dairy-Free Pot de Creme (extra bitter)
Easy Ganache recipe....scroll down in the post for this one!

Not really recipes....but fun suggestions!:

Help! My chocolate bar has melted! Ever wonder what you should do about those chocolate bars that melt in your grocery bags on the way home?
A quick chocolate & peanut butter breakfast.

Are you awake?

2013-04-09T09:05:00.003-07:00

Sleepy? Eat some milk chocolate. That will give you a sugar rush and a minuscule caffeine boost which will last for, oh, five minutes or so. The truth is, there is just not enough caffeine in your average milk chocolate bar to keep you energetic for hours. So why not try the new, caffeinated 'Awake' chocolate bar that just hit store shelves all across Canada?

Awake's website makes it clear that the target market is the average Canadian student. A video overview on the product shows students in the library sleeping, students going on a road trip and students just doing those fun things that students like to do (ahhh...I miss those days). Basically, 'Awake' is promoted as a caffeinated product that will help you wake up during the 3:00 p.m. lull, study alertly, party for longer and basically have fun for as much time as possible.

Since being showcased on Dragon's Den (yes, that's right, that hit Canadian business idea show that paved the way for the American show Shark's Tank....that show) the Awake chocolate bar has quickly moved into retail stores across Canada, including Loblaws, Shopper's Drug Mart, Shell, PetroCanada, BulkBarn and more. I purchased a bar at Valu-Mart on Manitoulin Island, in Northern Ontario, which clearly shows the reach of their distribution network.

With 230 calories per bar, this chocolate is very comparable nutritionally to the average chocolate candy bar sold in major retail chains. The difference? The price is higher. I believe I paid over $2 for mine. But I suppose that is about the average price for a standard cup of coffee these days. So if you prefer chocolate to coffee, I suppose that is a good deal. Personally, I prefer to eat my chocolate while drinking a hot, dark roast coffee. So I think that "Awake" would just be an over-buzz for me. But looking back at my university days, I think I probably would have purchased a handful of Awake bars to bring to my study mates during those crazy 'weekend special' projects that tested our ability to stay awake for 48 hours.

The taste? Well, to me it was very sweet. In my younger days, before I discovered bitter chocolate and high percentage milk chocolate, I might have liked this flavour. It compared to the flavour of those inexpensive foil-wrapped milk chocolate Easter eggs or perhaps a Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar (I haven't had one in many years, but Awake tasted the way that I remember Hershey's taste). In fact, the nutritional information is fairly comparable to a Hershey's bar of about the same size.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

When I saw the episode of Dragon's Den, I thought: "Why do we need a caffeinated chocolate bar, certainly there are many brands out there with espresso ground up in the bar?" Instantly, I thought of Ferrero's branded chocolate called Pocket Coffee from Italy, but available in Europe. It was all over France when I lived there in 2004 and 2005. Pocket Coffee is a chocolate shell with a shot of sweetened espresso in the centre, which bursts into your mouth when you bite into the chocolate. That is the closest thing to having a coffee and a chocolate at the same time - without the need for buying coffee and carrying around a hot cup. The locals did not much like the concept of 'carry away' coffee in France when I was there (I'm not sure if things have changed since or if Starbucks has influenced habits as they have in other areas of the world). I got many, many strange looks whenever I carried a coffee around on the few occasions where I could find one for sale in a take-away cup. So if I wanted a caffeine fix but had no time to sit down and drink the coffee 'properly', Pocket Coffee was my best bet.

Since coming back in 2005, I've often thought of Pocket Coffee and wondered why we do not have such a thing here in North America. But then, we are not ostracized when we carry a coffee onto the subway or a bus in North America. We are free to buy a coffee and eat a chocolate bar on the run!

So I wondered why on earth we would need a chocolate bar with caffeine in it....but with no actual coffee? I suppose, unlike me, there are many people out there who do not like the flavour of coffee and who do not drink it. But they like chocolate. So the makers of Awake wanted a chocolate to taste like chocolate, but have the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee. Okay, so I get it. I may not be a repeat customer, but I get it.

So if you are one of those non-coffee drinking students, age 18 to twenty-something who needs a caffeine boost every now and then (Awake recommends eating one every 3-to-4 hours, up to 2 bars daily), check out the Awake chocolate bar currently at a Canadian retailer near you. And non-Canadians need not worry, I suspect the whole world will soon be 'Awake' with this chocolate brand.

How to be a chocoholic and lose four pounds during Easter

2013-04-04T07:42:00.000-07:00

If you visited this page looking for a great tip on how to lose weight over a holiday weekend, like I did this Easter, unfortunately this article is not really about a diet program. It is more about a sad chocoholic who wanted to enjoy some Easter chocolate, but instead came down with the worst sore throat of her life. Swallowing water was painful, let alone eating any chocolaty Easter treats. Feel free to look at my diet below...but I do not recommend it!

So now I am on day six of the terrible sore throat (which also moved my ears somehow) and I find myself staring longingly at the pile of Easter weekend chocolate. So this morning once my painkillers kicked in, I thought I would take a tiny piece of each item and find out what they tasted like, just to satisfy my curiosity. So here are the chocolates that I did not eat on Easter:

Hammond's Sea Side Caramel bar is a 64 gram dark chocolate bar with a soft caramel centre and sea salt. The texture was nice, the ingredients were natural and the combination overall was tasty. The company that makes it, Hammond's Candies, comes from Denver, Colorado. This particular bar was purchased at Chapters.

Milk Chocolate Salted Caramels by IndigoSweets (TM) was a beautiful box of milk chocolate covered caramels sprinkled with chunky sea salt. They tasted great, and like Hammond's, the ingredients were real and natural (i.e. no artificial flavours or hydrogenated oils). This was made in the U.S. for Indigo Books & Music in Toronto (www.indigo.ca). It was also purchased at a Chapters (Indigo) store.

Kilwins New York Espresso Mix is a product that my mother brought back from Sarasota Florida for me. With every piece containing an espresso bean, this chocolate product has a little something for every kind of chocolate lover: white, milk, dark and candy coated. One type had even been coated in all three types of chocolate. It was a nice gift - I can't wait until I can eat something crunchy again! https://www.kilwins.com/

The Ferrero Rocher Bunny is very cool. I was trying to figure out how they would fit all the stuff that is in the original Ferrero Rocher chocolate into a medium-sized 'bunny', but it turned out to be a hollow bunny and the hazelnuts were chopped small and mixed into the milk chocolate shell.
I was a little sad not to find any Nutella-like hazelnut cream and a ball of crunchy wafer in the bunny, but I think hazelnut mixed into a bunny shell is a new and interesting concept. At least it is different than most of those standard hollow bunnies on the market!

The Russell Stover Dark Chocolate Egg said "cream egg" on it but had a dark soft caramel texture inside it. I am no longer a fan of the cream centre of most eggs, but I actually liked this.

My own birthday cake is the one I am most sad about. Since my birthday fell on Good Friday this year, and I had no real plans, I decided to make myself a large triple-dark-chocolate cheesecake with coconut sugar instead of cane sugar and 71% dark chocolate chips, and a semi-sweet ganache for a little sweetness. Too me, it was wonderful. I had a few bites of one piece before the sore throat came on, and besides a few other people taking the extreme dark adventure with me, the cake has been sitting there ever since. I know it is time to throw it out, but I just cannot bare to do it.

So that's it for my Easter weekend chocolate. Of course there are eggs filled with mini M&Ms and foil-wrapped milk chocolate eggs, but I will leave those for the kiddies. And if you really want the terrible diet that caused me to lose four pounds in four days, here it is:

The My-Throat-Hurts-Too-Much-Too-Eat Diet

Days 1 to 5: Little or no eating other than...

Breakfast: a teaspoonful of peanut butter in the mornings to get the painkillers down. Once the painkillers kick in, a little dark roast coffee. Maybe a yogurt, maybe not.

Lunch: Some cauliflower soup (just orange cauliflower, broth, heavy cream and curry spice, boiled for 20 min. then pureed) or, Vietnamese Pho soup with only a few noodles or...any other pureed soup.

Snack for 1 day: McDonald's or DQ small ice cream cone to numb the sore throat. Works for 20 minutes then you feel worse!

Snack for another day: Handful of unsalted, roasted cashews. They are almost as soft and easy-on-the-throast as peanut butter...almost.

Dinner: About 1 to 2 ounces of food. A two-inch piece of chicken or soft meat if the painkillers are working. Steamed vegetables.

Day 6 - A little bit of chocolate and 1 toast with PB for breakfast - yay! And no painkillers too! But anibiotics means no wine....booo.

You could probably also call this the '1000-calorie-a-day-diet' or the 'Hey! I am practically eating baby food!' diet. Either way, it is not fun!

At Easter, it is all about the Chocolate Bunny

2013-03-29T10:54:00.001-07:00

This Easter, what sort of chocolate bunnies are you buying for your family? The grocery store often has a large selection, but one glance at the ingredients list may cause you to never look at those sweet floppy-eared treats again. If those ingredients concern you, this might be a good year to take a look at your options and find a chocolate 'bunny' that is not only healthier, but also environmentally and socially responsible.

I live in a rural area and do not have access to a wide variety of chocolate unless I shop online or travel out of my way. But despite my limited access, I still came across two new options this Easter: organic chocolate 'bunnies'.

The first was a wonderful Camino Organic and Fair Trade Milk Chocolate Bunny, newly launched by La-Siembra Co-Operative this year. Camino was kind enough to send me a sample, and my family and I enjoyed every bite of it! The milk chocolate was rich and tasty (not super-sweet like those Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bars) and my kids really enjoyed it.

The best part about organic chocolate? Kids never need to know that they are eating something that is healthier for them than the regular sugary chocolate - and they certainly cannot tell the difference!

The second Easter 'bunny' that I found turned out not to be a bunny at all! I was perusing the gourmet Easter selection at Chapters in Sudbury and came across the Lake Champlain Chocolates ORGANIC milk chocolates. With a bunny on the front of the package, I thought the chocolate might be shaped like a rabbit, but they turned out to be chocolate bars! I didn't mind that at all, since the packaging made it feel Eastery and the chocolate was superbly delicious. I purchased the Milk Chocolate with Sea Salt & Almonds bar (for myself) and an Organic Milk Chocolate bar for my husband for Easter.

I normally do not like chocolate bars with almonds in them, but Lake Champlain's bar was delicious. The salt brought out the flavour of the almonds and the milk chocolate was rich (less sweet than that grocery store stuff!). I gobbled it up in just two days. If you like nuts and salted milk chocolate, this bar is definitely for you!

So if you are not satisfied with the usual Easter chocolate bunny that you have been purchasing for years, take a simple look around in other stores (or other sections of the grocery store) and you might just find something delicious, healthier and environmentally friendly...something that makes you feel good!

Camino's Fair Trade and Organic Milk Chocolate Bunny is available at retailers across Canada and Loblaws stores with natural value sections.

Lake Champlain Chocolates is from Burlington, Vermont and is available online and in stores in Canada and the U.S.

And if you live in a rural area like me and have not yet found the eggs to fill your Easter basket, check out these selections at your local grocery store.

Have a great Easter weekend everyone!

Organic Chocolate-Dipped Shortbread Cookies (with Gluten-Free Option)

2013-03-22T06:24:00.003-07:00

I have loved traditional Scottish shortbread cookies since I travelled to Scotland 10 years ago. I have only purchased imported shortbread cookies since then, until I was making a tart recipe recently and decided to eliminate the eggs and see what happened. Voila! I discovered that I had the perfect recipe for some tasty (and buttery!) shortbread cookies that can be dipped in a dark, milk or white organic chocolate. They make a perfect not-too-so-sweet treat with your afternoon tea.

Below you will find the original 'organic' recipe option. If you don't have access to organic ingredients, just make them with the usual stuff (i.e. regular unsalted butter, unbleached all-purpose flour, etc.). You can also change up the sugar for low-glycemic coconut sugar, which does not seem to change the taste much. Or make these Gluten-Free cookies with gluten-free flour (see this alternative recipe below).

Kids love these too! Just ask my 4-year old and my 20-month old toddler!

Recipe: Organic Chocolate-Dipped Shortbread Cookies (see Gluten-Free option below)

Ingredients (Organic):

· 1 pound / 454 grams of butter (organic)

· ¾ cup of organic golden cane sugar (I used Camino’s)

· 4 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour (organic)

· 16 ounces of semi-sweet organic chocolate

You can also use 70% dark chocolate, or white or milk chocolate depending on your preference! For organic chocolate options in North America, see this list: http://www.ultimatechocolateblog.blogspot.ca/2013/03/organic-and-fair-trade-chocolate-bars.html)

Baking Instructions:

1. Place flour and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer (I use a KitchenAid mixer) and stir for a few seconds to mix the two dry ingredients together. If your butter is not already softened or at room temperature, soften it for 20 seconds in the microwave. Chop it up into ½ inch squares and while the mixer is on, toss it into the sugar/flour mixture. Mix until it becomes coarse crumbs or all starts to stick together.

2. Take the cookie dough out of the bowl and kneed it on the counter using a little flour to ensure it does not stick. Roll it into a thin ball. You can try to roll it out and make cookies now, but it may be too soft. If it is too soft, refrigerate it for 2 hours. Take it out of fridge, break it up and kneed it for a minute to ensure it is all mixed together well.

3. Using flour to dust the surface of the dough and roll out the mixture to about 1/8 inch thick with a large a rolling pin. Use a cookie cutter or a glass to get the shape of the cookie that you want. Using a flat lifter, place each cookie on a pan lined with a piece of parchment paper. Bake for 12 minutes (check them at 10 minutes if you have a hot oven or if you have rolled the cookies very thin) and pull them out of the oven just before they brown. If they still look moist or buttery in the centre, bake for another minute or two. Let cookies cool completely then dip them in the chocolate.

To Dip the Cookies in Chocolate:

1. Melt 12 ounces of chocolate over a double boiler (ensure no water droplets get in the chocolate!) or in the microwave for two minutes on HALF Power. Use a digital thermometer to melt the chocolate to a temperature of 120 degrees F (for dark chocolate, 110 for milk chocolate and 105 for white chocolate). Cool quickly by adding another 4 ounces of solid chocolate to the mixture and stirring until it melts and reaches a temperature of 88 to 90 degrees and is about the same temperature as the back of your baby finger when you dip it in the chocolate (if it is too warm, throw in a tiny bit more chocolate and stir until it reaches the correct temperature). Dip a piece of wax paper into the chocolate and then place the wax paper into the fridge for a few minutes. If it is shiny and there are no streaks, the chocolate is in temper.

2. Dip ½ the cookie into the mixture and place on wax paper. Set in refrigerator for 1 hour. Seal in a container with an airtight lid. If you are layering the cookies, be sure to place wax paper between the layers so as not to scratch or dull the chocolate.

Gift them! Package each cookie individually in little clear bags as gifts or stocking stuffers.

Make them prettier! Temper some white chocolate, place in a small snack bag, cut a hole on the tip of one corner and make parallel lines on a diagonal over the cookies. This will add a nice pattern and some colour contrasting.

Gluten-Free Shortbread Cookie Recipe:

Although we have no gluten intolerance in my family, I made these because my daughter just eats too much wheat now that she is in school (toast for breakfast, sandwich for lunch, Goldfish, etc – it all has wheat in it!), so I wanted to provide an alternative grain and a healthier ‘treat’ for her lunchbox. I used the Purely Bulk brand of gluten-free all purpose flour (www.purelybulk.com) with Chia and Sprouted Flax, but I am sure any brand will do. Although they do taste a little different than the ‘original’ recipe above, the kids still loved them!

Ingredients:

· 1 pound / 454 grams of butter (organic)

· ¾ cup of organic coconut sugar (you can use regular cane sugar too!)

· 4 cups of gluten-free flour mix

· 16 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate (or 70% dark chocolate, or white or milk chocolate depending on your preference!)

Baking Instructions:

Follow the same baking steps listed above in the Original Organic Recipe!

Eat Chocolate Daily; Make it a Ritual

2013-03-17T02:58:00.001-07:00

If you have not yet tasted bean-to-bar craft chocolate, you should. It might just change your life. It changed mine.

When I first tasted craft chocolate that was made in an artisans' bean-to-bar studio (rather than chocolate made in a large manufacturing facility) I understood what real chocolate should taste like. Real chocolate should taste like cacao beans and the tropics where they grow, which includes the vegetation and root system that surrounds the trees that cacao grows on.

Factory-made chocolate tastes like a sweet treat; craft chocolate tastes like the deliciousness of what nature can offer. And like what nature truly intended when cacao was created.

Ritual Chocolate from Denver, Colorado is a craft chocolate maker. They make chocolate right from the bean in small batches. In fact, each batch is numbered and that number is stamped on the front of the chocolate bar wrapping so the consumer knows just when and where their chocolate was made.

Note the colour difference in these chocolate bars.
These are Ritual Chocolate's four flavours,
and all are made with no milk added, and 75%
cacao solids, yet some of them look like milk chocolate!

What I like most about Ritual Chocolate is that they do not mess around with their single origin chocolate. What I mean by that is: they have four chocolate bars, each made from cacao beans of a different origin, and each bar is made with 75% cacao solids.

So what is so good about making four kinds of chocolate with the same amount of cacao? Well, for starters, it places each origin on a level playing field and helps chocolate lovers to taste the difference in the cacao from region to region, without confusing the palate with varying amounts of sugar or milk.

For instance, when a chocolate maker creates a Madagascar-origin chocolate bar at 67%, a Dominican Republic bar at 75%, and an Ecuador bar in a 46% milk chocolate, it becomes difficult to taste the specific flavours of the beans' origin because our palates can become confused by the amount of sugar that is added to each bar.

Ritual Chocolate smartly made all their bars with the same cacao percentage, therefore making their product range excellent for chocolate tasting parties, and for wannabe connoisseurs like myself to learn about the differences in cacao bean flavours, colours and aroma.

I tasted all four flavours of Ritual Chocolate`s origin bars (Madagascar, Costa Rica, Gran Couva and Balao) and thoroughly enjoyed the tasting session. My two favourites were the Costa Rica and the Madagascar, which coincidentally both won Good Food Awards.

Ritual's Madagascar bar was delicious. Over time, I have become very familiar with the flavour of cacao from the Sambirano Valley of Northern Madagascar with its citrus fruit flavours so prominent that I think I can identify that origin blindfolded by now. I love the depth of the flavour and found similar qualities in Ritual's Costa Rican chocolate, but with a more tropical flair and berry fruit flavours. Gran Couva, from Trinidad, had a rich flavour also which I enjoyed, but Balao (Ecuador) I could have done without. Although it had the darkest colour to its chocolate, it was a bit pasty and dry. Other people who I knew that tasted it did like it, so I guess a `floral bouquet of orange blossom honey` was just not my thing.

Look at the milk chocolate colour of the Cabanero
on the bottom, except that is NOT milk chocolate!
It is very dark chocolate, even dark than the Peru 71%
above it in the picture. The milky colour is due to the rare
albino bean used to make the chocolate.

What I loved most about Ritual Chocolate was the overall chocolate experience that they gave me. Not only did I get to taste four great flavours and learn about each regions' cacao, growing conditions and history (the wrappings provide a nice blurb on each), I learned how passionate they are about their craft. The chocolate makers, Anna and Robbie, are so enthusiastic about bean-to-bar chocolate making that they shared information with me about the chocolate that other chocolate makers normally do not. They sent me an amazing sampling of a light-coloured Cabanero chocolate, and passionately explained the albino bean that was used to make it. And by contrast, they sent me a sample of a Peru 71%, which had a very dark colour and amazing rich flavour to the chocolate.

Also thanks to Ritual Chocolate, I had a chance to taste some chocolate made from unfermented beans, which were accidentally sent to them when they ordered fermented ones. It surprised me that it was not terrible, in fact, it was very interesting. I was expecting something that could not be eaten at all, but upon tempering the chocolate I learned that it was palatable, but just less chocolaty than the chocolate we are accustomed to. It was a bit chalky and dry on the palate, but exciting in a way. This taste experience helped me better understand reasons why chocolate is fermented in the first place.

Ritual Chocolate`s enthusiasm is infectious. And it makes me realize that I am not alone in my world of endless chocolate curiosity. If I lived closer to Colorado, I am sure that eating Ritual chocolate would become a daily ritual for me.

Ritual Chocolate is located at 3153 Larimer Street in Denver, Colorado. Please visit their website for more information: www.ritualchocolate.com. Here are the package details of the chocolate that I tasted this week:

Ritual Chocolate Madagascar 2012 Harvest, 75% Cacao, 42.5g (1.5 oz)
Batch #: 001

Ritual Chocolate Costa Rica 2009 Harvest, 75% Cacao, 42.5g (1.5 oz)
Batch #: 025

Ritual Chocolate Balao 2012 Harvest, 75% Cacao, 42.5g (1.5 oz)
Batch #: 003

Ritual Chocolate Gran Couva 2012 Harvest, 75% Cacao, 42.5g (1.5 oz)
Batch #: 002

Hop into Spring with this great Canadian chocolate contest

2013-03-13T06:09:00.002-07:00

Camino has launched a new product just in time for Easter: a milk chocolate bunny! This is the only Canadian brand to offer a Fairtrade and Organic-certified chocolate bunny nationally!

What a great way to be socially and environmentally responsible this Easter season, and to give our kids a chocolaty treat that is better for our health than the traditional chocolate bunnies of our generation's childhood. It is an all-natural food choice; in fact, it only has four ingredients and they are all certified as organic!

In addition, Camino has launched four new 100 gram chocolate bars this spring:

Milk chocolate (38% cacao) with hazelnuts
Milk chocolate (38% cacao) with butterscotch and sea salt
Dark chocolate (65% cacao) with ginger
Dark chocolate (65% cacao) with chili & spice (cinnamon, ginger and cayenne pepper)

See below for a photo of the four new flavours.

You can find the Camino bunny available at retailers all across Canada, including Loblaws with natural value sections, or buy it online here.

Or you can WIN IT! I have a gift basket of Camino products available to give away to one lucky Canadian Ultimate Chocolate Blog reader! The package is $25 in value and includes one Camino Milk Chocolate Bunny and four Camino chocolate bars (one of each of the new flavours!).

So how can you win? Add a Comment to this blog article below and tell me one reason why you like to buy organic and Fair Trade chocolate! I will choose a winner (by random software selection) in one week from now, on March 20th, 2013 at 9 p.m. EST, and the prize will be mailed before Easter! NOTE: If you are an iPad user, you may have trouble adding Comments to this page, and if that is the case, you can enter by posting your reason for buying Fair Trade and Organic Chocolate on this blog's Facebook page or on by tweeting it to @ultimatelychoc.

This is a Bunny of a Contest for chocolate lover's - so don't miss out! Add your Comment below now to enter! Tell us why you choose Fair Trade and Organic chocolate!

If you want to learn more about Fair Trade and Organic Chocolate Bars in Canada and the U.S., check out these two articles:

Certified Organic and Fair Trade Chocolate Bars: From trend to market segment

2013-03-11T09:49:00.000-07:00

See a list of organic and fair trade chocolate bar brands here.

A chocolate bar is not just a chocolate bar anymore. It is many things to many people: a pleasure for some and a pain for others, a junk food or a health food, a superfood or a food that can spike a person's blood sugar in unwanted ways.

Chocolate now fits into more categories than just white, milk, semi-sweet and unsweetened. Now you can choose chocolate with nearly any percentage of cocoa solids, including very high-percentage milk chocolate or 90% extra dark chocolate.

But you can still go beyond the percentages and choose chocolate that fits with your preferences, lifestyle and beliefs, including chocolate that is:

single origin or mixed origin
stone ground or 72-hour conche for smoother chocolate
roasted or raw
fair trade or under-priced and made with slave labour
organic and shade-grown versus pesticide ridden
natural and made with real cacao or cocoa powder mixed with hydrogenated oil and labelled a 'candy'

As a result of all this categorization, the chocolate industry has changed rapidly in the last 10 years, particularly in North America. More and more products have hit the store shelves, with a huge range of chocolate bars fitting into each category mentioned above. No longer is a 'candy bar', like Hershey's milk chocolate bar or a Mars bar, the only choice to get your chocolate fix. You can take a stand, support a cause and choose a side while satisfying your sweet tooth.

One type of chocolate bar that has grown in popularity over time is the 'Organic and Fair Trade' chocolate bar. Although these appear to be two separate categories, most brands have lumped them into one super-guilt-free treat.

Green & Black's Organic founders, Craig Sams and Josephine Fairly, could arguably be the ones that started the organic and Fair Trade chocolate movement when they began buying Fairtrade cocoa from Maya farmers in Belize in 1994 and were awarded the U.K.'s first Fairtrade mark (ref: Wikipedia). Green & Black's eventually brought this trend to North America with Green & Black's U.S.A. and a manufacturing operation in Canada. It is now owned by Kraft Foods, and their chocolate is still certified organic and Fair Trade.

Many others have helped to shape this trend and to turn it into a full-fledged market segment. And in fact, they have improved on its original business model. In Canada, La-Siembra Co-operative established in 1999 and began developing a recipe for organic chocolate and guidelines for a Fair Trade Foundation (ref). This eventually lead to the launch of the Camino brand (originally Cocoa Camino) of chocolate bars, which are now available in both large and small retailers all across Canada. They not only sell chocolate that is Fair Trade, but also certified organic.

I remember when I first spotted a Camino chocolate bar in Ottawa at a cafe chain that focused on serving and selling Fair Trade and Organic products, so naturally they supported Camino's chocolate bars. I also recall the difference in price compared to more commercially available 100 gram chocolate bars, like Lindt Excellence. Nearly $5 (Cdn) for a chocolate bar seemed insane to a woman in her mid-twenties who had barely paid off her student debts. But upon tasting the chocolate, and reading the story behind it, I understood why I was paying a premium price.

The company not only brought gourmet flavours (like 67% Mint Crisp and Espresso Dark Chocolate) to a Canadian industry that had long been saturated with sugary chocolate 'candy', they told us the story of the farmers, displaying pictures of them inside the chocolate bar wrappings and on their website, to help the consumer understand the supply chain and why the prices were higher than we were accustomed to.

And each year since, I see this section of the market growing. Gourmet food stores and health food stores now regularly stock a range of Organic and Fair Trade chocolate bars. And every few months I see a new brand being added to the shelves of stores like Bulk Barn, that sit alongside Camino's and Green & Black's 100 gram chocolate bars. And I am continually surprised at how similar these products are to each other, in their flavour range and purpose. In fact, many in this category now offer a Dark Mint bar with "mint crisps" in it like Camino's bar (Alter Eco and Equal Exchange brands, for instance).

Some of the newer chocolate bars entering this market segment are only certified as Fair Trade, some are listed as Organic only, and some are both. Others are simply 'Rainforest Alliance Certified' (like the Bissinger's brand of Missouri). And although each brand has a key feature that they focus on, like the origin of where the cocoa beans are sourced from, they are all competing for the same space.
And what I find more interesting, from an industry perspective and the perspective of someone with a degree in business marketing, is that Fair Trade and Organic chocolate was once (not that long ago) the gourmet, premium-priced segment of the market. However, in very recent years that segment is becoming middle-of-the-road, with a price ranging from $2.99 to $5.99 per 100 gram chocolate bar. Consumers have become accustomed to those prices and no longer see the cost as unfavourable. In fact, the new gourmet and premium-priced segment of 2013 is the growing craft bean-to-bar, single origin-sourced chocolate bar segment, where the price begins at $5 for only 50 grams of chocolate and can be as high as $20 for an 80- or 100-gram chocolate bar. And unlike many of the original Fair Trade/Organic chocolate bar brands, these bars are made in-house and from the bean by the company that is marketing it.

In fact, some say that direct trade is far superior to Fair Trade because the craft chocolate maker visits the farm, builds relationships with the farmers and buys beans directly from the farm (ref). This way, the farmer is being paid a fair price and they do not have to pay annual fees to be Fair Trade Certified, so they can invest more money into their farm, better quality trees and beans and in their workers (i.e. so less chance of child slave labour being used). Dandelion Small-Batch Chocolate sells chocolate that is an example of direct trade with their 70% Ambanja Madagascar chocolate bar. According to SingleOrigin.ca, "The beans originate from the Akesson farm in Madagascar that Dandelion visited at the end of last year. " (ref) The price is normally $7.95 Cdn for 2 ounces (56 grams) on SingleOrigin.ca; so you can see the price difference compared to the certified Fair Trade chocolate bars (e.g. Green & Blacks).

So in summary, the Organic and Fair Trade chocolate movement has turned from a simple chocolate bar trend to a fully competitive market segment. And the price may have started out as premium, but has moved to a middle-of-the-road position, falling below the high prices of directly traded bean-to-bar, craft and origin chocolate.

In addition, I do not believe it is completely saturated yet, but it is certainly heading in that direction. Not only are co-operatives and socially responsible chocolate companies competing head-on, but more and more big-name brands are adding Organic and Fair Trade chocolate bars to their product range, as are small craft producers who have not normally made chocolate from organic beans. But all this competition is great for consumers who feel that supporting Organic and Fair trade is important, because now, as opposed to 10 years ago, consumers have a lot of chocolate choice.

For a listing of Organic and Fair Trade Chocolate bars that compete in this segment in North America, click here.

Other references on this topic:

David Suzuki Foundation "Fair Trade Chocolate" (December 2, 2012) http://www.davidsuzuki.org/blogs/queen-of-green/2012/12/fair-trade-organic-chocolate-is-the-sweetest-deal/?gclid=CO3UpZaKxbUCFShgMgodb0AASQ
Slave-Free Chocolate article (January 19, 2009): http://vision.ucsd.edu/~kbranson/stopchocolateslavery/main.html
Rainforest Alliance http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/ and Rainforest Alliance products in Canada: http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/green-living/shopthefrog?l=98&pc=178&p=184 and in the U.S.A: http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/green-living/shopthefrog?l=93&pc=178&p=184
Direct Trade vs Fair Trade: Can you trace your chocolate? (author: Healther Palmer)http://www.fearlesschocolate.com/direct-trade-vs-fair-trade-can-you-trace-your-chocolate/ September 12, 2011
And of course...my own personal observation of the industry and its changes since the year 2000!

Don't Like the Taste of the Chocolate Bar?

2013-03-08T06:24:00.000-08:00

If you open a new dark or milk chocolate bar and you do not like the taste, spread some peanut butter on it!

I opened a 100 gram 60% dark chocolate bar last night and there was just too much vanilla in it for my liking and it had poor bean quality. But when I added peanut butter to it, it suddenly had the wonderful flavour of a dark chocolate Reese Peanut Butter Cup....only better.

Plus, it made a wonderful, low-carb breakfast. Well, sort of. In my mind, it was a healthy breakfast. And it tasted great with a cup of dark roast coffee.

Organic and Fair Trade Chocolate Bars - The (Almost) Complete List of Brands in North America

2013-03-03T19:59:00.002-08:00

The list below focuses on a very specific segment of the North American chocolate market. I have labelled it as "Organic and Fair Trade Chocolate Bars", which are sold in supermarkets, local grocery stores, health food stores and other retailers on a national level (i.e. all across Canada or the U.S., or both). They are usually 80 to 100 grams (3.5 oz) in size, but common packaging makes them all appear to be about the same size. If you are a chocoholic like me, you will know exactly what I am talking about.

The price range for chocolate bars in this segment is about $3 to $6 Canadian (and similarly in the U.S.) for a chocolate bar that is 80 to 100 grams, making it a premium price at the supermarkets and pharmacies. However, this is only a middle-to-upper range price within the entire chocolate market when compared to craft, single origin and premium-bean chocolate, where the price starts at about $5 for 50 grams and higher.

To learn more about this market and read an observational analysis of its growth trends and competitive behaviour, stay tuned for an upcoming article on this site.

If you are looking for a list of every chocolate bar that is either organic or Fair Trade in North America, unfortunately you have come to the wrong place. Numerous craft chocolate makers and large chocolate manufacturers have added an organic, Fair Trade or Rainforest Alliance option to their product lists in recent years. Such a list would take me years to develop (I'm not saying that I won't do it one of these days, but just not today!).

What you will find below is a list of Organic and Fair Trade Chocolate bar brands in North America that I feel compete directly in the same market space. There may be other brands in America and other regions of Canada that I have not come across yet, so I will add to this list as I learn of them. These are the most common ones that I have seen in stores and that fit within the specific price range/product size that I outlined above.

List of Organic and Fair Trade Chocolate Brands (and their makers) in North America:

· Alter Eco (San Francisco, CA) - Certified as both Organic and Fair Trade. I am IN LOVE with two of their chocolate bars: the 63% Dark Cacao with Nibs bar, where the nibs add that fruity, zesty and acidic flavour of unprocessed cacao in a chocolate that has a nice flavour to begin with. Also their 60% Dark Chocolate Quinoa bar – I finished it in less than a day! But since these bars are only 80 grams rather than 100, there is a little less guilt. The chocolate is also soy-lecithin free and listed as gluten free. Although Alter Eco is American, the chocolate is also available in Canada. http://www.alterecofoods.com/products/chocolate/dark-cacao

· Camino by La Siembra Co-Operative (Ottawa, Canada) - Their 100 gram (3.5 oz) chocolate bar line-up includes three solid dark chocolate bars (a 55%, a 71% and an 80%) as well as flavoured dark chocolate bars like Espresso (my favourite), Coconut, Almond, Mint, Caramel Crunch and Raspberry. Camino’s milk chocolate bars include Milk Chocolate with Sea Salt and their really interesting 38% solid Milk Chocolate bar (this one is fun in chocolate tasting workshops to see who can identify hazelnut as Camino’s secret ingredient!). And Camino has just launched four new flavours in their 100 gram bar line: Milk Chocolate with Hazelnuts, Butterscotch & Sea Salt Milk Chocolate (oh yum!), Ginger Dark Chocolate and a 65% Chili & Spice chocolate bar. In addition to being organic and Fair Trade, these chocolate bars have real ground vanilla beans, no soy lecithin and are gluten-free. http://www.lasiembra.com/camino/en/chocolate-bars)

· Equal Exchange Co-Op (West Bridgewater, MA ) - Also a co-operative, I call the Equal Exchange brand the American version of Camino. With a similar product line-up, they offer a range of dark and milk chocolate bars in 100 gram (3.5 oz) sizes, including an Ecuadorian 65% dark bar, a 71% Very Dark bar, and flavours like Mint, Orange, Caramel Crunch & Sea Salt, Espresso and Almond as well as a Milk Chocolate bar. Also like Camino, the chocolate is both organic and fair trade, has real ground vanilla beans and no soy lecithin. Their chocolate is available at a variety of retailers throughout the U.S.A. (I have purchased their chocolate once in Canada but have not seen it since). http://www.equalexchange.coop/chocolate-bars

· Green & Black’s is likely the most widely known organic and Fair Trade chocolate bar brand. Green & Black’s Maya Gold bar was the original Fair Trade bar made from organic cocoa beans from Belize. The recipe was based on a spiced cocoa drink made locally by the farmer's in Belize and it is still a best seller world-wide today. Green & Black's sells many other flavours, like the Cherry 60% dark chocolate bar and a White Chocolate bar with Madagascar vanilla and 30% cacao solids (one of the few organic and Fair Trade competitors to offer a white chocolate bar) and all their chocolate is made from chocolate is made from Trinitario and Criollo cacao (that’s the good stuff!). The company is now owned by Kraft Foods. www.greenandblacks.com

· Mama Ganache Artisan Chocolates (San Luis Obispo, CA) www.mama-ganache.com They sell three flavours of certified organic and certified Fair Trade chocolate bars in 3.5 oz (100g) packages (Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate and Dark Chocolate with Peppermint Crisp). These are 100% made in the U.S.A. and sales of these chocolate bars help the development of a Cocoa Study Centre in Cameroon. Mama Ganache also has a chocolate bar made from the bean, as well as filled chocolate bars that are also organic and Fair Trade (although at a higher price, above $7 per 100g/3.5oz)

· Chocolove (Boulder, CO) www.chocolove.com They have 24 flavours in 90g (3.2oz) bars, and three of these are certified Organic and certified Fair Trade (by FairTradeUSA), including: a Cherries in Dark Chocolate bar, a Currants and Almonds in Dark Chocolate bar and a simple 73% Dark Chocolate bar. To ensure that you feel extra-good about your purchase, you will find a love poem inside the wrapper.

· Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-Op (Wolfville, NS) Although this Eastern Canadian co-op got its beginnings in Fair Trade coffee, they opened a chocolate factory in Hantsport, Nova Scotia in 2005 and now sell a range of 100 gram organic chocolate bars, as well as 42 gram bars and 35 grams bars (check the product list here).

· Zazubean Organic Chocolates (Vancouver, BC) www.zazubean.com Fair Trade certified and 100% organic, Zazubean makes dark chocolate from bean-to-bar with really unique and totally awesome flavours. Currently their chocolate is only available in Canada– check the store locator for a location near you: http://zazubean.com/store-locator/store_locator.php

· Theo Chocolate(Seattle, WA) http://www.theochocolate.com Founder, Joe Whinney pioneered the supply of organic cocoa beans into the U.S. in 1994. ECI Vanilla Nib 65% Dark Chocolate bar and Pili Pili Chili 65% Dark Chocolate bar are Organic and Fair Trade Certified by IMO. All their bars are organic and Fair Trade certified and the beans are sourced from farms in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic and Peru. Products are now offered at more than 4,000 retail outlets across the U.S.A. They are also a bean-to-bar chocolate company.

· Endangered Species (Indianapolis, IN) www.chocolatebar.com Endangered Species has a slightly different spin on their certified organic chocolate. They focus on protecting the species within the Rainforests where cocoa beans grow and they educate their chocolate-eating consumers by providing information about particular types of endangered species on the inside of the chocolate bar wrappings. Although they do not list "certified Fair Trade" on the label, they are Rainforest Alliance certified and state that farmer's are paid fairly. They have a range of five organic chocolate bars in a 3 oz size.

· Newman's Own Organics (Connecticut, U.S.A.) www.newmansownorganics.com sells a series of chocolate bars that are organic and Rainforest Alliance Certified (not listed as "Fair Trade" specifically). They offer six flavours in both 3.25 oz and 2.25 oz sized packages. You can find more information on their flavours, ingredients and nutritional information here. You can find Newman's Own Organics at a variety of retailers all through the U.S.A., check here for a retailer near you.

If you know of a widely sold Fair Trade and Organic chocolate bar in North America that should be on this list, please add it to the Comments below and I will check it out and add it to the list! But first, see below for more chocolate bars that 'almost' made the list.

Fair Trade, Organic or Rainforest Alliance Only Chocolate Bars in North America:

Here are a few similar chocolate bars that compete for the same customers in the same market 'space' (i.e. similar packaging and product size, similar pricing, and a focus on Social Responsibility and Environmental Sustainability) but are not labelled as both Fair Trade and Organic:

Organic-Only Chocolate Bars:

· Divine Chocolate (Washington, DC) Divine chocolate was started by a co-operative in Ghana that was known for ensuring fair prices to farmers. It has since invested its chocolate income into schools, water, medical clinics and other infrastructure that assists the farmers who grow the cacao. The chocolate bars are sold in the U.S. and the U.K., and in fact, I think I have purchased one in Canada. All of their ingredients are certified as Fair Trade. Although it did not make my above list because ingredients are not also listed as 'organic', it does compete direclty within the same market space as it is $3.99 per 3.5 oz/100 gram bar (according to Divine's U.S.A. shop online site).

· PC Organics(TM) European Chocolate (Canada) www.presidentschoice.ca President's Choice 'Organics' brand includes organic 100 gram chocolate bars, including a 'European Extra Dark Chocolate' bar which is an 85% dark, a 70% 'European Dark', a 'European Milk Chocolate' bar and a milk chocolate with raisins and hazelnuts.

· Dagoba Organic Chocolate (San Francisco, CA & Ashland, OR) www.dagobachocolate.com Dagoba is a brand of organic chocolate that is well-known in North America. It was purchased by Hershey's in 2006, so it is now more widely available. I might have included it in the listing above, but there are a few reasons why I placed it in the 'other' list: 1. The price is above the range outlined above. On Dagoba's website, the price is $3.45 (U.S.) for the 56 gram chocolate bars, which would place it just over the $6 mark. Also, it is not certified as Fair Trade, but rather Rainforest Alliance certified. They also purchase their beans directly from farmers in Peru, Tanzania and the Dominican Republic, and some consider direct trade to be better than Fair Trade. They also have organic chocolate bars for baking in 170 gram (6 oz) sizes, which you can learn more about here.

· Trader Joe's Organic Chocolate Bars (U.S.A.) www.traderjoes.com In their numerous stores across the U.S.A., Trader Joe's sells two kinds of store-branded organic chocolate bars: a 73% Super Dark chocolate bar and the same dark bar with the addition of Almonds. Like Dagoba, this chocolate is organic, but not Fair Trade certified. Also, Trader Joe's has an affinity for beating out the competition on price, with a list price of only $1.99 (U.S.) per 3.5 oz (100g) bar.

· Nativa™ Organics Chocolate (Shopper's Drug Mart, Canada-wide)- This is a Shopper's Drug Mart brand that is a part of their organic product line, Nativa™. There is very little online information about this product, other than a blog article that I have written and a blurry image on the Shopper's website. Although not listed as Fair Trade, these chocolate bars are clearly designed to compete within the Organic and Fair Trade market space. The chocolate bars are 100 grams and come in three flavours: milk, milk with hazelnut and dark chocolate.

Fair Trade-Only Chocolate Bars:

· President's Choice Fair Trade Chocolate (Canada) www.presidentschoice.ca The PC brand offers two chocolate bars that are Fair Trade Certified by Transfair Canada, including a 100 gram 70% Dark Chocolate bar made from Peruvian cocoa beans and a 100 gram Fair Trade Milk Chocolate Bar made from cocoa beans of Ecuador. These are sold at all grocery stores that sell President's Choice products (Loblaws, Superstore, Valumart) all across Canada.

Rainforest Alliance-Only Chocolate Bars:

· Bissinger's (St. Louis, MO) - www.bissingers.com Bissinger's sell a range of 3.5 oz (99 gram) bars that are Rainforest Alliance Certified, which promotes the maintenance of eco-systems and sustainable farming. They promote their chocolate as being European but using 100% African Beans for a "Richer Chocolate Taste". I find their dark chocolate (Bissinger's 60% and 75% chocolate bar) tastes very similar to many commercially sold 60% to 80% chocolate bars that are 100 gram (3.5 oz) in size, such as Lindt, Godiva, and President's Choice's 60% to 80% dark chocolate bars, made from mixed Forasterro beans and strong vanilla extract flavour. I liked their 38% Milk Chocolate Bar very much. Their chocolate is labelled as "All Natural" as well as "Gluten-Free".

Lisabeth's Disclaimer:

The list above and market analysis is based solely on my observation of the market from a highly-engaged consumer's perspective for the last 10 years, as well as complementary market research. I have a natural need to analyze market space, since I have a whole lot of experience in competitive research and analysis from my former career in marketing and degrees in business marketing. In order to understand any market space, I always need to know who all the players are and develop lists of them, their prices, their ingredients and their marketing messages in order to learn more about the competitive behaviours within it.

So if you have concerns with my above analysis of the market, please do add your concerns or suggested modifications to the Comments below. I am always open to learning more about chocolate!

The sweet and the savoury, Conillin™ Chocolates has something for everyone

2013-02-25T07:10:00.001-08:00

Connecticut-based Conillin™ Chocolates has an intriguing story and a totally unique product concept. They make whole freeze-fried fruit that are rolled in chocolate (panned), as well as chocolate bars with fruit flavours. It began with an idea to provide the same taste experience that you get from real chocolate-covered strawberries, but in a product that can be packaged and endure long travel and shipping.

Founder Patrick Cayer decided to freeze-dry fruit because he believed that "fruits dried with sugar produced a gummy and raisin-like texture, which in the end was too sweet on the palate" (ref). I agree. Personally, I have never liked dried fruit in chocolate for the same reason - it just tastes too sweet. And when added to chocolate, the resulting super-sweet combination also has a chewy texture, rather than a nice chocolaty melt.

Freeze-dried fruit never seems to taste any sweeter than fresh fruit. So when combined with Conillin's chocolate, there is a wonderful fresh fruit taste without the added sweetness, and a nice crunch from the freeze-dried pieces.

This fresh-fruit flavour was clear in Conillin's jar of panned Raspberries, which I tasted for the first time a few days ago. These whole freeze-dried raspberries are lightly rolled in a semi-sweet 58% dark chocolate and then tossed in more raspberry powder for a unique look and taste. The raspberry flavour really stands out and holds all its naturally bitterness, but with a hint of semi-sweet chocolate.

I love the Raspberries because they satisfy my cravings for a chocolaty snack. I also feel less guilty while eating them; there is little fat in this product and it is mostly made of freeze-dried raspberries, with important vitamins and antioxidants. And we cannot forget those weight controlling 'rasberry keytones' that are all the rage! So I feel that this product is a way to enjoy a gourmet dessert while being healthy.

On the other hand, if you prefer your chocolate-raspberry combination to be sweet, try Conillin's 58% Dark Raspberry chocolate bar. In this case, the chocolate's sweetness really stands out and there is just a hint of raspberry. This is a nice change from many other raspberry dark chocolate bars on the market, which are either too bitter (i.e. a 70% paired with unsweetened raspberries) or overwhelmed with raspberries and you are left crunching seeds for hours after. In Conillin's chocolate bar, you will get your semi-sweet chocolate fix while enjoying just a hint of raspberry flavour.

Conillin also sells a 38% Milk Chocolate Chai Tea bar with a nice balance of spice and chocolate, and a wonderfully smooth texture.

Their other milk chocolate bar is Passionfruit, which was also very tasty. The fruit flavour was at the forefront, but very naturally paired with the milk chocolate.

Conillin™ Chocolates uses real vanilla and no artificial ingredients - an important fact for any true chocolate lover to know!

Patick Cayer is now planning to bring his chocolate-and-freeze-dried-fruit concept to many more consumers through his Kickstarter campaign. The goal is to increase production space and distribution in order to bring Conillin's chocolate-and-freeze-dried fruit concept to more consumers. So check it out! Every level of donation will provide you with a variety of Conillin's products to try, which are well worth the taste (speaking from experience!).

Conillin also sells jars of panned blueberries, orange pieces and strawberries, as well as an Earl Grey Tea chocolate bar. For more information on Conillin™ Chocolates, check out the website: www.conillin.com.

From Bean-to-Bar: a Month of Do-It-Myself Chocolate Making

2013-02-16T05:14:00.002-08:00

So how does a wanna-be-chocolate-connoisseur spend the coldest months of winter? Making chocolate of course! And not just any chocolate either, I have made chocolate from bean to bar. That's right folks, once again I have roasted cocoa beans, shelled them, and ground them until they have liquefied into real chocolate and I have done this nearly every day for the past month.

So why would someone go to all this trouble? Well, certainly not to start my own bean-to-bar chocolate business since I have no plans to invest in costly equipment any time soon. Nor do I plan to figure out where to order beans from and try to winnow the darn things in my tiny commercial kitchen, even if I would love to fill my garden this summer with cacao shells instead of mulch. Nope. No way. Those certainly are not the reasons why I have been making chocolate from bean-to-bar.

The reason is as it always is: learn more about chocolate, understand the process by doing it myself and become a better chocolate connoisseur.

Another reason was to brush up on my skills and to develop a few new recipes. I was giving a class last weekend on making chocolate at home by using simple, inexpensive appliances like a blender and a coffee grinder, so I wanted to go beyond my usual recipe and test several different ones in preparation (like homemade chocolate with lightly ground espresso beans - yum!). In the end we only had time to try out one recipe in the class. But I still learned a lot this past month.

One of the things I learned the most about was roasting. Roasting cocoa beans greatly affects the final chocolate flavour. So by making several batches of chocolate using both roasted and unroasted beans, I learned how the flavour differs depending on the darkness of the roast (or lack thereof). I also learned that chocolate made with roasted cocoa beans does taste better. Do not get me wrong: both the raw and roasted chocolate that I made tasted good to me, but the chocolate made with the roasted nibs had a smoother and more well-rounded flavour.

I also learned that it is not easy to tell the difference in taste between cocoa beans before they are made into chocolate. I suppose that some people are advanced enough to taste the difference between cocoa beans from different origins when tasting them plain and raw, but I am just not there yet. So this taught me that I have more to learn.

And my new goal? Learn to tell the difference in cacao bean flavours by origin, or at least identify which is better, tastier or has a better flavour profile. Is that even possible? I don't know. But I intend to try!

Hummingbird Chocolate Maker from Ottawa helped me get started. They sell roasted Dominican Republic cacao online, which I have previously ordered. Then a few weeks ago, I put in another order for their beans, but this time asked for a different origin. They sent me roasted Bolivian cacao. So I have been eating cocoa beans every day in order to taste the difference between Bolivian cacao and Dominican Republic cacao. I've also been tasting these against various brands of nibs from Ecuador and Peru. So far, I can still only taste the difference in the roast (the Bolivian have been roasted for longer, some of the nibs I roasted myself, and some are raw), but I think I might be getting somewhere with tasting the difference. However, they most often still taste like cacao to me: unsweetened, crunchy and bitter.

What's also great is that after a month of bean-to-bar chocolate making, I have two new chocolate-related addictions:

I LOVE snacking on roasted, unsweetened cacao beans (never thought that would happen!) and,
Crunchy, under processed, unconched chocolate is the bomb! There is such a tangy, acidic flavour to it and I have developed a fondness for it and for the crunchiness. This does not mean that I will never eat smooth, fine chocolate again, it just means that I now can satisfy my chocolate craving when I have no other satisfactory chocolate on hand. I can simply take out my coffee grinder, grind up cacao nibs and sugar and in 15 minutes I will have an old-fashioned style chocolate to snack on.

What else did I learn?

This is the B&D Smartgrind(r)
- excellent for grinding up
cacao beans & nibs.

Only certain types of coffee grinders work for grinding cacao beans at home. Check out the photo of the one that works best on my previous post about making chocolate from bean-to-bar at home: http://ultimatechocolateblog.blogspot.ca/2012/04/making-chocolate-from-bean-to-bar-at.html I learned that a Black & Decker Electric Coffee Grinder is amazing at grinding coffee, but not for cocoa beans. Unfortunately cacao quickly liquefies from the heat of it and gets stuck deep within the grinder. It took me several hours to clean it out, so now it is back to being a coffee grinder again! Instead I bought a second blade grinder called the Black & Decker Smartgrind(R) Coffee Grinder with stainless steel grinding blades. It was only $19.99 at the Home Hardware. Check www.blackanddeckerappliances.com.
I also learned that you can make very small batches of chocolate in your Coffee/Herb grinder, which will liquefy if you add melted cocoa butter, but it is not as fine (grittier) than if you transfer to a decent blender with a new blade (I used an old blender at one point and it did not do anything to further refine my chocolate beyond what the coffee grinder did - but my trusty Osterizer 12-Speed Blender worked great.

A tea monitor works
great for chocolate!

There is such a thing as a tea monitor and it can be used to measure temperature of chocolate. I've been using it for a month and it works great. See the picture on the right.

Raw Chocolate: Forget the Next Big Thing, it is the Right-Now Thing

2013-02-07T08:02:00.002-08:00

The Story of Raw Chocolate: The Upside, The Downside and The Middle Ground
For a list of raw chocolate makers, click here.

Two years ago I bought a “raw chocolate” bar at a local food store. So I decided to write an article on raw chocolate and why a chocolate manufacturer might make chocolate using unroasted cocoa beans. But at that time, Google Searches on the subject were a disappointment and there seemed to be little information available. All I learned was that raw chocolate is made from cocoa beans that are unroasted and Pacari is a brand of raw chocolate. But I still could not quite understand why raw.

Today ‘raw chocolate’ seems to be everywhere, with more and more chocolate makers using unroasted cacao to make chocolate and explaining exactly why they do this. This has clearly become a chocolate trend.

So why do they make it? The reason is similar to why we might choose to eat raw fruit and vegetables over cooked ones: consume more nutrients. One chocolate maker, Amai Raw Chocolate, described their reasoning as: “It maintains its nutritional density because it is not subjected to the same high heat as traditional/ commercial chocolates.” (ref).

My research on raw chocolate has told me that it started out as being made by hand, and often includes natural and low glycemic sugars, such as coconut sugar or xylitol, and it is often mixed with other raw, organic fruit and 'superfoods', like Maca root in many cases. The cacao beans used are organic and the resulting chocolate is most often vegan. Also, what I uncovered is that many of the original makers of raw chocolate participate in a yoga lifestyle or in holistic healing.

However, more and more bean-to-bar chocolate makers are beginning to add a raw chocolate bar to their range of product offerings. As a result, smoother-textured versions of raw chocolate are becoming available. Also, these newer raw chocolate bars are being introduced by businesses with a lot of experience in chocolate production, flavour mixing and development, so the taste is improving.

There is some controversy in the chocolate world over raw chocolate. Raw food advocates say that the cocoa beans and the resulting chocolate can not be heated to temperatures above 118 degrees Fahrenheit (or 114F in some cases) while being processed. However, Jeffrey G. Stern, a cacao education professional, says that after the beans are fermented and dried in the sun on cement pads in the jungle where they are grown, the temperatures reach above 118 degrees F. So no chocolate can truly be 'raw' as defined by raw food advocates (ref). And unfermented beans have such a poor taste, that no one would dare eat them or turn them into chocolate. Some describe the taste of unfermented beans as "soggy, unripe nuts" or more vividly as "cats pee" (ref: Twitter, @ultimatelychoc).

Another concern about raw chocolate is bacteria, bugs, and other potential health hazards that may be on the cocoa beans, which can only be killed off by heating them. Raw advocates argue that "...chocolate-industry professionals...claim that the conventional method of heating chocolate is necessary to kill bacteria present in the raw ingredients, and that even after cooking, companies such as Cadbury's have still suffered salmonella outbreaks." (ref) However, it is understandable why large companies would roast the beans, if not for improved taste, but to ensure that they have done everything possible to remove the risk of illness for their customers.

Roasting cocoa beans is similar to roasting nuts, like almonds and pecans. It not only kills bacteria, it improves overall flavour. I have been making chocolate at home with my little coffee grinder and blender, and have now made some chocolate with roasted beans and some chocolate with raw beans. I can tell you that flavour is much improved with roasted beans. Much like with raw versus roasted pecans or other nuts, roasting pulls out some of the tartness and sweetens the end flavour in a way. It also adds a beautiful dark chocolate colour to cacao nibs, versus the grayish colour of raw nibs.

All that said, I still sit on my chocolaty 'fence' of raw versus roasted. Like with most other food arguments, I am just not sure which is better for my health? It is sort of the same as the debate over butter versus margarine. Or diet pop with aspartame versus full-sugar pop. But in the case of raw chocolate, it is the argument: more nutrients and risk of bacteria versus less nutrients but better taste and low risk of bacteria. So my decision is to do what I always do: mix it up. A little of raw chocolate at times to get those extra antioxidants and nutrients and a little (well, a lot) of roasted at other times.

So I have chosen to take the middle road and just be happy that there are more chocolate makers in this world, adding more and more options to choose from.

If you want to learn more about raw chocolate, there are a few books on the subject, including:

· Naked Chocolate by David Wolfe and Shazzie (Barnes & Noble Link) - this is one of the originals. David Wolfe introduced the concept of raw chocolate as a holistic and spiritual treatment to life's health challenges. Includes an "unconventional history of cacao".

· Raw Chocolate (Barnes & Noble Link) - with this book, learn to make the chocolate, then make many recipes like truffles, dipped fruit, cakes and more with a raw chocolate base.

· Ultimate Raw Vegan Chocolate Recipes book (Barnes & Noble Link)

If you are interested in trying Raw Chocolate, you will find a full list raw chocolate bars and confections, a long with links to their makers' websites here: http://www.ultimatechocolateblog.blogspot.ca/2013/02/the-ultimate-raw-chocolate-list.html.

The Ultimate Raw Chocolate List

2013-02-07T06:22:00.000-08:00

If you are looking for raw chocolate brands in your region or throughout the world, you have come to the right place. Below is a list of raw chocolate makers by the country in which they are sold and/or made. For information on this trend, which has been dubbed "The Raw Chocolate Revolution" by some, and both the benefits of and concerns with raw chocolate, please see my recent article here.

Canadian:

ChocoSol Traders (Toronto, ON) http://chocosol.posterous.com/ They make a range of bean-to-bar chocolate and offer a few options for raw chocolate, including a sugarless base for chefs and raw truffle lovers: http://chocosol.posterous.com/pure-rawness. Available at various Farmer's Markets and locations throughout Toronto.
Giddy Yoyo www.giddyyoyo.com Makes a range of flavoured 75% dark raw chocolate bars that is gluten free, soy free, dairy free, and free of refined sugar and "other nasty funk" as the folks at Giddy Yoyo like to say. They also sell raw cacao nibs, which I received as a gift at Christmas. It was purchased at HomeSense.
Olivia Chocolatiers (Cantley, QC) www.oliviachocolatiers.com This Quebec-based bean-to-bar chocolate maker has a new raw collection of chocolate bars made from non-roasted Trinitario/Criollo. The collection includes: a 92% Maple Raw (I've tried this and it is bitter, but very good), a Raw 86% and a Raw 76% chocolate bar. Available in various locations in Quebec, Ontario and B.C. and can be purchased online.
Living Libations (Haliburton, ON) www.livinglibations.com A fun, nutty couple from Haliburton who make raw chocolate that is more like a 'food' with the purpose of holistic healing and energy building. Their chocolate includes maca root, camu berries and other superfoods. They have excellent quotes on their website from celebrities like Alanis Morrisette and Woody Harrelson, who have tried their chocolate.
Live on Chocolate (Toronto, ON) Facebook Page Raw chocolate and desserts made with cacao from Ecuador. Available at various locations throughout the city.

American:

Amai Raw Chocolate (San Meteo County Peninsula, California) www.amairaw.com Sell raw chocolate by the ounce, chocolate dipped bananas, cashew cups, caramels and more.
Lulu's Chocolate (Sedona, Arizona) www.luluschocolate.com Raw, vegan, organic, fair trade and gluten-free chocolate, including truffles, buttercups and chocolate bars. And some pretty fun pictures on their website advertising the chocolaty underwear that they sell!
UliMana (Asheville, NC) www.ulimana.com Awesome-looking raw, vegan truffles. Their first truffle was inspired by David Wolfe's book, Naked Chocolate. They sell worldwide.
Gnosis Chocolate (New York, NY) www.gnosischocolate.com Hand-made, sweetened with Coconut Palm Sugar, Sourced directly with "raw integrity" from origin, and infused with superfoods and functional herbs. (ref) Uses raw cacao from Bali, Ecuador, Peru, Grenada, & Madagascar which are turned into truffles, gift collections, etc. plus single origin bars (Madagascar, Bali, other). Also works with Francois Pralus to make raw cacao paste. Ships world-wide.
Madre Chocolate (Honolulu, HI) www.madrechocolate.com This is true Hawaiian chocolate and as I've written before, I love this brand. I have never tried their raw chocolate bar; it is not widely available & is limited edition, and it disappears quickly when they make it!
Luminaria Raw Chocolate / Luminaria Guiltless Chocolate (Santa Monica, CA) http://indulge.luminariachocolate.com/ Organic raw chocolate marketed as having only 1.5g of natural raw sugars and each bar is under 100 calories. There is not much on their website, you will find more on info their facebook page.
Pacari Ecuadorian Organic Chocolate (Ecuador, but with US sales) www.pacarichocolate.com I have tried Pacari's chocolate and recall that I enjoyed it very much. They have line of raw chocolate bars (70%, 85% and 100%), which is probably the most widely selling raw chocolate brand available. Single origin chocolate made entirely in Ecuador.
Sacred Chocolate (Marin Country, CA) www.sacredchocolate.com This chocolate is stone ground and kept under 115 degrees Fahrenheit from bean to bar. They hand pour and hand wrap each bar in a small custom designed, certified organic, vegan, and 100% renewable energy and carbon balanced factory. This chocolate brand was founded by David Wolfe (one of the authors of the book Naked Chocolate) and Steve Alder.
Fearless Chocolate (Berkeley, CA) www.fearlesschocolate.com They favour "bold and dynamic" flavours but keep their recipes simple and uncluttered to allow "the natural vibrance of each ingredient to shine". Their chocolate bar range includes flavours like 70% Exploding Coconuts, 70% Green Tea Mint and a 75% Dark as Midnight bar. Buy online or check their Store Locator for a retailer near you.

United Kingdom and Other:

The Chocolate Tree (Edinburgh, Scotland) http://www.the-chocolate-tree.co.uk makes chocolate straight from the bean in a private kitchen in Haddington, and has a storefront cafe at 123 Brunstfield Place. To complement their range of single origin chocolate bars, they have recently begun to make a rawMadagascar bar with 68% cacao solids. It is available to purchase online here: http://www.the-chocolate-tree.co.uk/products/single-origin-chocolate-bars/.
iQ Chocolate (Manor Loan, Stirling, Scotland) http://www.iqingredients.com Scotland's bean to bar chocolate makers. Specialising in making single origin, raw chocolate by stone grinding the beans slowly and coconut blossom/palm nectar as a sweetener.
Conscious Chocolate (Kent, UK) www.consciouschocolate.co.uk or http://www.consciouschocolate.com Handmade, raw, organic chocolate. Free from pesticides, dairy, soya and gluten. Sweetened with natural agave nectar. Made in Kent, sold worldwide.
Ombar Superfood Chocolate (Cambridge, UK) http://www.ombar.co.uk It's all about tapping into the amazing complex nutrition of the cacao bean!
Kali Ma (Jersey, Channel Islands) http://earth-beauty.com/kali-ma-raw-organic-chocolates/ Eco-friendly, 'high vibrational chocolate', raw, dairy free, gluten free and most of the chocolates do not contain sugar and are instead sweetened with agave nectar. Made in Jersey, off the coast of Normandy, France but sort of part of the UK, also independent?
The Raw Chocolate Company (West Sussex, UK) www.therawchocolatecompany.com - a full range of flavoured chocolate bars and other raw chocolate confections.
The Raw Chocolate Shop (United Kingdom) www.therawchocolateshop.com - they do not make chocolate, but this is a 'one-stop' shop where you can buy many brands within one order for one shipping price, including Pacari and The Raw Chocolate Company products and nearly all the UK brands listed here.
Elements for Life (UK) www.elementsforlife.co.uk They sell a kit for making raw chocolate yourself (no actual nibs or beans int he kit though, just raw cacao powder & cacao butter) and also sell the Yummy Scrummy Brownie and raw ingredients like nibs and nuts so you can make your own creations at home.
Booja Booja (Norwich, U.K.) www.boojabooja.com/chocolate They sell vegan, dairy-free, organic and raw chocolate products, including raw Nacional Arriba cacao beans and nibs from Ecuador, a large collection of truffles and ice cream. You can find them in stores in London and other parts of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Check their website for the full listing.
Mulu Chocolate (Devon, UK) www.muluchocolate.co.uk/ Sells a range of handmade bars and buttons throughout the UK and online.
Rawr Chocolate (Cambridge, UK) www.rawrchoc.com dairy free, refined-sugar free, organic, handmade raw chocolate. Sells a large range of raw chocolate bar flavours.
Living Food of St. Ives (Cornwall, UK) https://www.livingfood.co.uk/Raw_Chocolate_Pie Not sure it if these 'pies' / bars can be classified as chocolate, but is made with cacao nibs, various ingredients and held together with coconut oil. A large range of interesting flavours.

This list is by no way complete, but that is my goal! So if you know of any other raw chocolate makers, please do add them to the comments below and I will update the list periodically with your suggestions. Or feel free to e-mail me at ultimatechocolateblog@gmail.com.

For an intense chocolate experience, try Peru's Pure Nacional cacao

2013-02-03T12:13:00.002-08:00

Simple Ingredients; complicated history

Well, I did it. I finally tasted chocolate made from Peru's pure Nacional cacao. After reading much about this once-thought-to-be-extinct cacao bean, I thought it was high time that I experienced it first-hand. After all, how can a person who is on a quest to become a chocolate connoisseur not taste chocolate made from a rare and highly acclaimed bean?

According to an article in the New York Times, the Peruvian pure Nacional cacao bean is a very rare bean indeed. In fact, it was thought to be extinct until two men, Don Pearson and Brian Horsely, who were providing supplies to mining companies in a hidden mountain valley of the Marañón River, came across a cacao tree. They sent the beans to the U.S. government's Agricultural Service to be tested and discovered they had essentially found a cacao 'treasure chest'.

At one time, pure Nacional cacao was widely grown in Peru, being part of the usually resilient Forastero-tree family (as opposed to Criollo or Trinitario type of trees). Eventually it was nearly wiped out by disease, with some still growing there but not pure. But thanks to Pearson and Horsely and a Swiss chocolate expert, 15 tons of 68% dark chocolate were made from the beans and processed in Switzerland by a chocolate company (ref).

Also according to the article, another unique aspect of the pure Nacional bean is that some of the beans are apparently white, a result of the trees being left undisturbed for hundreds of years. They still turn brown when roasted, but this differs greatly from most other cacao beans, in that they start brown, reddish or purplish.

Canadian chocolatier, Christophe Morel, must have gotten his hands on some of this precious chocolate because I received an expensive 80 gram 2011 pure Nacional Pérou chocolate bar for Christmas (it cost $20 for one bar). I savoured the chocolate for the entire month of January, eating one small piece at a time. And what an enjoyable experience it was. The chocolate was very rich in flavour, and intense, just the way I like. Also, it had an excellent colour and snap, indicating expert tempering on the part of Christophe Morel.

Clay Gordon, a chocolate expert and founder of the The Chocolate Life, had the same experience with the pure Nacional chocolate as me when he tasted a bar made of the same chocolate, but marketed by another chocolatier. He wrote "...Nacional is known for fruity/floral aroma...yet the chocolate did not deliver on that expectation." (ref) I felt the same, that it was not fruity or floral. It was more intense with deep flavours that I could not really categorize. However, I did enjoy the chocolate and its rich flavour immensely.

Some key points on the pure Nacional Peru cacao bean:

It is related to the nacional (Arriba) of Ecuador, but it grows at higher altitudes
Also called Fortunato No.4 chocolate and produced by Marañon Chocolate, a company founded by Dan Pearson and Brian Horsely after their discovery of the beans
Marañon Chocolate pays premium pricing and a percentage of the profits to farmers, ensuring a fair trade for the farmers who cultivate the pure Nacional (ref)
The company that makes the chocolate from the beans for Marañon is kept very hush hush, although Clay Gordon believes it is crafted by Felchlin (ref).
About 40% of the beans are white - there is a gorgeous picture with a great example of the white bean on Marañon's main home page: http://www.maranonchocolate.com/

So where else can you buy this chocolate?
Besides Quebec chocolatier Christophe Morel, who sells the bar online as well as in stores in the Montreal area, it is also available in the Gatineau/Ottawa area by chocolatier rochef, in Alberta by Sweet Lollapalooza Confections and in the Vancouver and B.C. regions by thierry, gem chocolates and Cocoa West Chocolatier. Two Canadian wholesalers also carry the product Point Carré and Quizna.

In the U.S. it is widely available by at least one chocolatier in most major cities. You can check the list here to see where it is available near you: http://www.maranonchocolate.com/select-chocolatiers/. The same list outlines chocolatiers in Europe and other regions of the world.

Here are the package details from the chocolate that I tasted this month:

CM Chocolatier Pure Nacional Pérou, 68% cacao, 80g (2.8 oz)
Christphe Morel Chocolatier (Montreal, QC, CANADA)
www.morelchocolatier.com
Ingredients: Dark chocolate (cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter). Allergies Allert: All our products may contain nuts, peanuts, milk protein, soybeans, gluten and sorbitol.

Sour Cream or Crème fraîche? Either way, make a rich, delicious Chocolate Pot de Crème with this new product!

2013-01-27T10:32:00.001-08:00

The Canadian sour cream industry is finally taking a turn for the better. While shopping at my local grocer last week, I noticed a new sour cream product in the refrigerated section: Gay Lea Gold Premium Sour Cream. Since my dessert business relies on fresh cream products, I needed to take a closer look. I picked it up, read the ingredients and instantly noticed the difference between this new product and all the others: it is more natural and has very few ingredients.

If you have ever tried crème fraîche in Europe, you will know that it is similar to North American sour cream. However, it is not the same. During the year that I lived in France, I spent a lot of time reading labels and ingredients. I was trying to figure out what made French food so different (i.e. so much better) than North American food. What I learned is that French food products are just more natural than what is (or was in 2004) available in North America. In fact, European labelling regulation "disallows any ingredients other than sour cream and bacterial culture" in crème fraiche (ref).

The ingredients for Gay Lea GOLD premium sour cream.

The ingredients list for a No Name sour cream brand.

Crème fraiche simply contains "cream" or "milk ingredients" and the bacterial culture used to sour it. North American sour cream has all sorts of added ingredients, including: milk, cream, modified milk ingredients, modified corn starch, disodium phosphate, guar gum, carrageenan, carob bean gum, microbial enzyme, bacterial culture. However, this new Gay Lea Gold product has only three ingredients (milk ingredients, bacterial culture and microbial enzyme), making it the closest thing that I have seen to crème fraiche on the shelf of my local grocery store since I arrived back from France in 2005.

The difference is also clear as soon as you open the container. Gay Lea Gold sour cream is thick, rich and dense - like Greek yogurt. The 14% No Name sour cream is thick, but it is no where near the texture of Gay Lea's. Also, Gay Lea Gold has a mild flavour, much like how crème fraîche is not as sour tasting as sour cream (ref). In fact, the flavour was so mild that I could have eaten a bowl of it plain; something I would never do with regular sour cream!

I bought a few containers and tried Gay Lea's Gold sour cream in my baking. My cheesecakes came out creamier and my cakes tasted richer. But what I just had to try with this product was a simple Chocolate Pot de Crème - my very own rich chocolate pudding! I made a semi-sweet dark chocolate version, and then followed it up with a rich milk chocolate. I preferred the dark chocolate , but I have outlined both in the recipe below.

Warning: If you are looking for a sweet milk chocolate dessert, this is not for you! This is rich and, well, slightly sour. Which is how I like my chocolate desserts! But if you prefer, you can always add a tablespoon of agave syrup for a sweetened version of this dessert.

Simple Chocolate Pot de Crème (egg-free and no whisking required!)

2 ounces (57g) semi sweet dark chocolate chips (I used Guittard's All Natural 63% Extra Dark chips) OR 2.5 ounces high percentage milk chocolate (I used Camino's 40% organic milk chocolate chips)
2/3 cup Gay Lea Gold Premium Sour Cream at room temperature

For a maple topping:

My dark Chocolate Pot de Crème
made with Gay Lea GOLD
Premium Sour Cream is extra thick
smooth and delicious!

1/3 cup Gay Lea Gold Premium Sour Cream
1-2 tablespoons maple syrup (to taste) or agave syrup & 1/4 tsp cinnamon

For a cinnamon topping:

1/3 cup Gay Lea Gold Premium Sour Cream
1-2 tablespoons agave syrup or honey & 1/4 tsp cinnamon

For a crumble bottom (North American cheesecake-style!):

1/4 cup chocolate cookie crumbs
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp butter

Instructions:

Melt the chocolate in the microwave for two minutes on half power (50% power). Stir until smooth. If it is not fully melted after two minutes, melt for five second increments ONLY.
Let cool slightly (five minutes).
In a small bowl, mix the melted chocolate with the sour cream using a spoon. Stir quickly so the chocolate does not harden (it can harden if your sour cream is too cold; if this happens you will have little pieces of hard chocolate in your Pot de Crème. So if you have to, heat your sour cream in the microwave for 10 seconds to get it to a similar temperature as your chocolate).
Pour into two or three small ramekins or small coffee cups or espresso cups, depending on the size of serving that you like. If you want a crumble bottom, place in the bottom of each ramekin before pouring in the Pot de Crème. Refrigerate at least one hour.
Top with whipped cream, a chocolate, or one of the toppings mentioned here (see instructions below).

Instructions for the topping:
Stir together the sugar, syrup, cinnamon or maple syrup with the sour cream. Once smooth, place a dollop on top of each pot de creme.

Instructions for the crumble bottom:
In a small bowl, stir together the cookie crumbs and sugar. Melt the butter in microwave for 15 seconds. Then mix the butter into the crumb mixture. Place into the bottom of the ramekins or the coffee cups that you are using for your Pot de Crème. Pour the Pot de Crème mixture on top and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Other desserts....
I also made a Vanilla Cheesecake on a Shortbread Crust with the Gay Lea Gold sour cream and an Cookies & Cream Cheesecake. Both cheesecakes turned out richer and creamier as a result of the new premium sour cream. They are also now more natural!

(I know this sounds like I was paid to endorse the product, but I was not. The makers of Gay Lea have no idea that I am writing this article. I am just excited about this new, thick premium sour cream product!).

For more information on Gay Lea and Gold premium sour cream, the website is: www.gaylea.com.

Chocolate Easter Eggs for Valentine's Day?

2013-01-23T08:29:00.000-08:00

While perusing my local grocery store yesterday, I came across a huge bin of colourful chocolate treats. Thinking it was a display of Valentine's Day treats, I went over to see if there were any new products this year. What a surprise when I realised that the display contained Easter chocolate!

To be honest, my first thought was: are commercial chocolate manufacturers trying to convince us that we should give chocolate eggs for Valentine's Day?! Yup, it was a silly thought. But what do you expect when Valentine's Day is three weeks away and yet Easter chocolate is the main display at the grocery store? It turns out that the Valentine's chocolate was displayed on the end of an aisle at the back of the store, and there was less than in the Easter chocolate bin.

Once my confusion passed, I decided to get a head start on Easter this year. I started reading some chocolate egg labels to decide which to buy. What I discovered was: not all commercially-sold milk chocolate Easter eggs are unnatural and filled with hydrogenated oils, modified starches and artificial flavours (as I had suspected they were). And in fact, they are not all imports to Canada either.

One Better is a brand of solid milk chocolate Easter eggs with only seven straight-forward ingredients, including natural flavours and NO hydrogenated oils. Although I prefer milk chocolate to have high cocoa percentages and to be made from high quality beans, I think this is not a bad choice when you need to save money on Easter chocolate, but still want to make the day special for your kids.

I also purchased another bag of eggs by One Better called Original EggSquisites, which are pure milk chocolate eggs with Peanut Butter. I love peanut butter and these did not disappoint me. The eggs are sweet overall, but the peanut butter is not overly sweet from icing sugar like many peanut butter treats are. Palm Oil is used in the peanut butter filling, which is not listed as hydrogenated like most commercially sold peanut butter is. And although artificial flavour is included, the ingredients overall are not as bad as some milk chocolate available on the market. But most importantly, they were tasty.

The only down side is the lack of information on the manufacturer. The package claims to be "Made in Canada" from domestic and imported ingredients and is distributed by One Better Inc, a company located in Oakville, Ontario. Interestingly, I cannot find a website for that company or for the One Better brand. Nor can I locate the company on Canada411.ca. For me as the consumer, I find this confusing; these days anything can be found online and most companies are enthusiastic to promote their products on the Internet. So when no information can be found online, it makes the information on the product package seem unreliable.

Regardless of a lack of online information, the products do exist and can be found in stores now until Easter. I purchased mine at Valumart, which is owned by Loblaws.

Here are the package details from the chocolate that I wrote about today:

One Better Milk Chocolate Easter Eggs, 800 g
Distributed by ONE BETTER (Oakville, ON)
Ingredients: Milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, unsweetened chocolate, milk ingredients, soya lecithin, salt, natural flavour).
Allergen information: May contain peanuts, tree nuts, eggs and/or wheat. Made in Canada.

Original EggSquisites, Pure Milk Chocolate Eggs, Peanut Butter, 335 g
Distributed by ONE BETTER (Oakville, ON)
Ingredients: Sugar, milk ingredients, cocoa butter, unsweetened chocolate, peanuts, palm oil, soyabean lecithin, artificial flavor, salt). Allergen Information: May contain tree nuts, eggs or wheat (and peanuts of course!). Made in Canada (from domestic and imported ingredients).

A Taste of Colombia with a Twist of Swiss Tradition

2013-01-21T13:39:00.001-08:00

Imagine the tropical flavours of Colombia combined with Swiss-style chocolate. Well imagine no more because Astor, a Colombian chocolate brand, makes that precise range of chocolate bars.

So how does a Colombian chocolatier make Swiss chocolate? Well, way back in 1930 in Medellin, Colombia, a Swiss couple, Enrique Baer and Anny Gipppe, opened a tearoom called Astor. With seven other locations still open today, its mission is to develop, produce and market bakery products, ice cream, confectionery and more (ref). So with a strong influence of Swiss tradition in chocolate-making, the company now makes a range of chocolate bars in Colombia.

So how did I learn about chocolate in Colombia? Astor chocolate has made its way to Canada! I was introduced to Astor's chocolate bars at the Toronto Luxury Chocolate Show last Fall by FLO Trading, a Toronto company that imports and distributes gourmet Latin American products to the Canadian market, including the Astor line of chocolate bars.

Although many of Astor's confections are based on Swiss tradition and recipes, they combine chocolate with fruit and ingredients native to Colombia to create interesting flavour combinations. For example, the "Milk Chocolate with Physalis" bar is one such combination.

You might be asking yourself: What exactly is physalis? "I asked myself the same question when I first read the label of the chocolate bar. As it turns out, Physalis fruit are a significant export product for Colombia" (ref: Wikipedia) and are native to warm temperatures and subtropical climates. They look like small orange tomatoes enclosed in paper husks. These are also often called groundcherries.

This is Physalis.
The photo originated from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physalis

In Astor's milk chocolate, these dried physalis have a very strong, tart flavour, much in the way that raspberry or cranberry flavours can offer an explosion of sour flavour in chocolate. But the taste and texture is similar to a mix of dried fig and cranberry. It definitely offsets the sweetness of the milk chocolate. And it certainly offers a taste of Colombia.

I also tried Astor's White Chocolate and Coffee bar, which was a nice combination of not-too-sweet white chocolate couverture with crunchy ground and whole coffee beans. With 32% cocoa solids (i.e. cocoa butter), it was quite good.

I purchased two other chocolate bars by Astor that I have not yet tried, a 59% Dark Chocolate with Feuilletine bar and a 59% Dark Chocolate with Almond and Sun Dried Banana. Certainly the Feuilletine reminds me of a Swiss chocolate combination and the Sun Dried Banana adds a nice Colombian tropical touch. However, I will not eat these two chocolate bars. Instead, I will share them with some lucky readers! Follow this blog on Twitter or 'Like' it on Facebook or become a blog 'Follower' (on the right side of this screen) by January 31, 2013 in order to enter the contest to win these two chocolate bars.

More on Astor (Colombia)...
For more information on Astor's products and particularly their range of chocolate bars, visit:
http://elastor.com.co.mandrake.arvixe.com/productos.php

Astor the American Brand...
You may be confused by this information if you have heard of an Astor Chocolate before. In fact, there is another Astor Chocolate, the family-owned business that was established in New York in 1950 and uses Belgian chocolate to make their confections. They are very different from the Astor-branded chocolate from Colombia; although they sell some chocolate bars under the brand, they also market a huge range of chocolate gift items and confections.

More on Colombian Chocolate...
The only other Colombian chocolate that I have tried, which was very tasty, was Chocolate Santander's 65% single origin Colombian chocolate bar. The beans are of Trinitario and Criollo variety (unlike the inferior-tasting Forastero beans which are used in mass-produced chocolate) and the chocolate is made with environmentally friendly techniques.

Guilt-Free Chocolate Snacking with Saxon

2013-01-13T12:51:00.001-08:00

Although we should choose healthy foods all year long, January is the season where many people want to make healthier snacking choices. And for a lot of us, chocolate is a real craving that does not go away during the first months of the new year. So now is a good time to tell you about some 'healthier' chocolate snacks that I have recently found. These might just help satisfy those chocolate cravings with minimal guilt.

Saxon Chocolates is a Toronto-based chocolate business that makes a large range of chocolate treats, which are sold in the United States and Canada. I have tried many of their products and have liked several, but also tasted a few that I would not buy again. However, there are a few great ones that stand out in my mind, and also happen to be 'guilt-free'.

A local cafe recently began selling three kinds of Saxon 100 Calorie Chocolate Bars: a 38% milk chocolate, a 64% dark chocolate and a 70% dark chocolate. These are excellent snack-sized chocolates for those times when you need a pick-me-up, like during that mid-afternoon sleepy lull at the office. The bar is small enough to control your portion and large enough to satisfy your craving.

I really liked the milk chocolate bar, despite my usual preference for dark chocolate. I also enjoyed the 64% dark chocolate, which was a perfect balance of sweet and bitter, but was not a fan of the 70% (which I felt had too much vanilla flavour in it, causing it to taste sweeter than the 64% and also flatter in chocolate flavour).

Another of my Saxon-favourites are Cocoa Cinnamon Almonds. These have a nice crunch and are not very chocolaty, in fact there is only cocoa powder in the ingredients list with the almonds, cane sugar, natural flavours, spices and salt. There is no added fat or unnatural stuff and they are not slathered in milk chocolate, so the almonds are a perfect not-so-sweet sweet snack. This is also a filling snack, perfect for mid-morning when you feel that pre-lunch hunger or four o'clock p.m. when you need to fill up a bit before the ride home from work. And with the perfectly portioned package size, you can either have a handful of almonds for good heart health each day, or eat more without the nagging guilt that comes with eating too many traditional chocolate-covered almonds.

I purchased these products at Loco Beanz cafe in the town of Little Current on Manitoulin Island. However, Saxon sells a large variety of chocolaty gift items at retailers in Canada and the United States (like Chapters/Indigo and Neiman Marcus). You can see the full list of retailers here: http://www.saxonchocolates.com/store_locator.html. You can also purchase some items online: http://www.shopsaxon.com.

Happy Chocolate Snacking!

The Path to Becoming a Chocolate Connoisseur is Made Easier with a Bounty of Chocolatey Gifts

2013-01-09T07:00:00.000-08:00

I was blessed to receive a lot of chocolate this past holiday season. This is becoming the usual tradition since I started expressing to my husband and family that I really only want gourmet chocolate as gifts at holidays. Since my goal is to become a true chocolate connoisseur, which can be an expensive endeavour, any gifted chocolate helps me reach that goal. So I feel happy and lucky to have received such a bounty at Christmas.

I liked all of the chocolate that I received, but my absolute favourites included:

Vosges Haut Chocolat's Organic Peanut Butter bonbons which have a milk-chocolate and peanut butter center and are enrobed in more of Vosges' "deep milk chocolate" (it is considered 'deep' because it has 40% cocoa solids, which is very high for milk chocolate!). This is not smooth and not sweet and definitely salty, since the top is sprinkled with "pink Himalayan salt", but overall it is a delicious treat when you want something filling and tasty with minimal sugar guilt. This is a great organic and all-natural alternative to Reese Peanut Butter Cups. And any Vosges chocolate is usually a favourite of mine because of their usage of high quality ingredients and interesting flavour combinations. Who can forget Mo's Bacon Bar? www.vosgeschocolate.com

Bovetti Artisan Chocolatier's Milk Chocolate Caramel Sea Salt is a 100 gram milk chocolate bar sprinkled with crunchy and chewy caramel bits. Although a wee bit hard on my delicate teeth, this milk chocolate bar was not too sweet and was made with natural vanilla, flavours and colouring. This is a product of France, but was bought for me at the Fromaggerie in Sudbury, Ontario (Canada). However, Bovetti is sold in more than 35 countries and you can likely find Bovetti chocolate at a retailer near you. They make many artisan chocolate bars and the full range can be found here.

Christophe Morel Pure Nacional Pérou 68% bar is made from a cacao bean that was thought to be extinct, and made with a 60 hour conching giving it an extremely smooth texture. The flavour is said to have fruity, floral and hazelnut tones; I am still just beginning to savour this chocolate and nursing a sinus cold, so I cannot yet comment on the flavour. But even with the cold and no sense of smell, the flavour is strong and wonderful and has a well balanced bitter and sweetness. This chocolate bar cost about $20 CAD (plus taxes and shipping), and is the most prized chocolate gift that I received this Christmas. www.morelchocolatier.com

Michel Cluizel Mangaro bar has 65% cacao solids and is made from beans of a single plantation in Madagascar. Single-origin Madagascar chocolate is quickly becoming my favourite type of chocolate overall, since I love the tropical fruit flavours often found in Madagascar beans. Michel Cluizel also makes unbelievably smooth chocolate with an unparalleled flavour. I enjoyed every single square of this chocolate bar. www.cluizel.com

Endangered Species Dark Chocolate with Raspberries is a very interesting 72% dark chocolate bar because the chocolate makers have used unbleached water-filtered beet sugar. This is a sugar that I have not seen used in any other chocolate and I am a big believer that all of the food we consume should be 'unbleached', so I am looking forward to researching endangered species reasons for using beet sugar. There are not a lot of raspberries in this bar and I haven't decided yet if I like the flavour, but I do love what the Endangered Species brand is all about. www.ChocolateBar.com

I was also blessed to received some cacao nibs and a new, larger coffee grinder, to assist with my hobby of making chocolate from the bean at home. So all-in-all, 2013 has started off just right. I am still on my path to becoming a true chocolate connoisseur!