What you don't know won't hurt you...?

It is interesting how our palate can change over time as we become more aware, more knowlegeable and more exposed to certain foods.  For example, over the last 10 years, since I graduated from university and have spent much of my free time learning about  - and tasting - chocolate, I have developed an awareness of the variety of ways chocolate can, and should, taste.  Previous to that, I just ate any chocolate in any form and loved it.  If it had been melted in the sun, then solidified again, I never seemed to notice the change in texture and flavour from improperly storing it. 

I had not thought about this until I recently asked a teenager to taste two different 70% dark chocolate bars.  One of these chocolate bars had been improperly stored in direct sunlight in the small gourmet food store that I bought it from, so it was chalky with the tell-tale white film on the outside, tough to bite through and lacked any ability to melt in your mouth.  The other bar was shiny, had a nice snap and melted deliciously in the mouth, but was definitively more bitter because it had small pieces of cacao nibs in it.  The youth was not used to bitter chocolate, and primarily eats milk chocolate.  So when I asked her which one she liked better, she chose the dark chocolate that had been improperly stored because it tasted sweeter.  This caused me to stop and consider myself as a teenager and I realized that, although I would never pick that chocolate bar over the other now, I certainly would have made the same choice when I was a teenager and chosen the chalky-but-sweet chocolate bar. 

I envy the teenager in many ways. Sometimes I wish I had not gained all this knowledge of chocolate over the years so I could just happily enjoy a KitKat bar now, or any kind of chocolate with hydrogenated oils in the truffle centre, or simply enjoy some plain dark chocolate with an unknown bean source.  However, the knowledge that I have sought and gained has led me to a whole new world of chocolate that I might never have explored, and caused me to become addicted to tasting new and innovative flavours, while staying true to my belief that chocolate should be made from natural ingredients.  

So although I am happy that I have learned so much about chocolate over the years, I also believe (in a way) that what you don't know, won't hurt you.

More "Deep Milk Chocolate" by Vosges...with more salt and fun flavour combos

Mmmmm....what can be better than snacking on plantain chips?  If you've never tried fried plantains, I feel sorry for you.  When I went to school in France, I had a wonderful friend from Africa who fried me up some plantain chips one afternoon in her apartment and it was one of the best snacks I have ever had.  So when I was shopping at Vosges in Las Vegas, and saw their Habana organic milk chocolate bar with plantain chips, I couldn't resist buying it (if you've read my blog before, you'll know that I couldn't resist much of anything at the Vosges store and pretty much bought every flavour of their chocolate bars!).  I also couldn't resist the mini "Barcelona Bar" with hickory smoked almonds, grey seas salt and milk chocolate. So today I am tasting both of those chocolate bars.

Yesterday I had the Vosges Organic Peanut Butter bar and was inspired to go through my chocolate cupboard and try the rest of the Vosges milk chocolate bars.  They all say "deep milk chocolate" on the packages, which somehow makes it more appealing than regular milk chocolate.  I suppose it is "deep" because it contains 45% cocoa solids, which makes it my kind of milk chocolate, since I usually like to eat 70% dark chocolate.  Normal high-end milk chocolate might contain 30-35% cocoa solids, and commercial milk chocolate candy would contain a lot less cocoa solids (15% to 25% if you are lucky), so this truly is "deep milk chocolate". 

The Habana bar is fantastic.  The chocolate just melts in your mouth but isn't really sweet and there is definitely a salty taste to it.  The plantains are not overpowering, just a little crunchy with a hint of banana-y flavour that doesn't sweeten the chocolate in a way that banana chips would.  The whole bar was 85 grams, and I had trouble stopping myself at the halfway point.  However, with the Barcelona Bar staring at me, waiting for its tasting turn, I had to stop and move on. 

The Barcelona Bar is really tasty in a similar way: the milk chocolate melts in your mouth and there is a salty aftertaste. However, I found the hickory smoked almonds to be almost too subtle in the chocolate.  The pieces were very small and, although, made the texture nice (I don't usually like huge chunks of almonds getting in the way of experiencing the smooth chocolate texture), it could have had a little more almond bits.  But overall, it was still a tasty chocolate bar and at only 0.5 oz or 14 grams, you can't over-indulge on this little treasure!

Some other good points about the Habana bar are: the cocoa is Rainforest Alliance Certified and organic too.  Also, the manufacturer has used sunflower lecithin instead of soy.  So if you are avoiding soy for whatever reason, then you can eat this chocolate bar.  However, see the package details below for the manufacturer's warning that they do make the chocolate bar in a facility that handles soy.  Oh and both chocolate bars are Gluten Free - good news for people who can`t have gluten!

Well, it was a good chocolate-tasting day, thanks again to Vosges Haut Chocolat.  I hope my chocolate cabinet has not yet been emptied of "deep milk chocolate" by Vosges, because I am beginning to enjoy my daily milk chocolate treats!

Here are the package details and manufacturer info on the two Vosges chocolate bars that I tasted today:

Vosges Haut Habana Made with Organic Milk Chocolate and Plantain Chips, 45% cacao, 3 oz (85g)

Vosges IP, LLC (Chicago, IL USA)

www.vosgeschocolate.com

Ingredients:  *Milk chocolate (*sugar, *+cocoa mass, *+cocoa butter, *dry whole milk powder, sunflower lecithin-an emulsifier), 9% plantain chips, salt. Chocolate bar contains: 40% cocoa solids minimum, 15% milk solids minimum. *Organic ingredients. +Cocoa mass and cocoa butter from Rainforest Alliance Certified(TM) farms.  Contains: Milk.  Manufactured in a facility that handles tree nuts, sesame seeds, milk, eggs, wheat, shellfish and soy.  Gluten-Free.  Certified organic by Oregon Tilth.

Vosges Haut Chocolat Barcelona Bar with hickory smoked almonds, grey sea salt, deep milk chocolate, 45% cacao, 0.5 oz (14g)

Vosges IP, LLC (Chicago, IL USA)

www.vosgeschocolate.com

Ingredients: milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa mass, cocoa butter, dry whole milk powder, soy lecithin-an emulsifier, vanilla), 6% smoked almonds (peanut oi, natural smoke flavor, salt), sea salt.  Chocolate bar contains: 38% cocoa solids minimum, 15% milk solids minimum.  Contains: Soy, milk, almonds, peanuts. Manufactured in a facility that handles tree nuts, peanuts, sesame seeds, milk, eggs, wheat, shellfish and soy. Gluten-Free.

Okay, okay! So I've tried nearly every flavour of Vosges' chocolate bars.  Want to read reviews of other Vosges Haut chocolate bar flavours?  Check these out:

• Chili and chocolate flavours by Vosges: http://ultimatechocolateblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/fire-and-ice-vosges-uses-chili-and.html
• Single Origin Chocolate by Vosges: http://ultimatechocolateblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/vosgues-dominican-dark-chocolate-and.html
• Bacon and Chocolate by Vosges: http://ultimatechocolateblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/las-vegas-chocolate-part-2-bacon-and.html 
• Peanut Butter and Milk Chocolate by Vosges: http://ultimatechocolateblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/mmmmpeanut-butter-exotic-salts-and-deep.html

Mmmm....peanut butter, exotic salts and "deep" milk chocolate after a long stretch of peanut-free eating

I have pretty much dropped peanut butter for the last nine months because of my pregnancy.  I once read somewhere that if you have seasonal allergies or food/medication allergies and you eat peanuts during pregnancy, it can cause your child to be allergic to peanuts.  Of course, this is all without back-up research, since there still seems to be no solid research to explain the reasons why some kids are allergic to peanuts and others are not.  However, since I LOVE peanut butter so much and I do have seasonal allergies, pet allergies and allergies to some medications, I figure that dropping peanuts for a limited amount of time is much better than having to drop them from my life forever because my child is allergic.  So I have been living (mostly) without peanut butter for the duration of this pregnancy.  I say mostly because this is my second pregnancy and I am struggling more and more to drop all the things I love this time around.  I followed the rules very closely last time that I was pregnant, but this time it seems to be more annoying. So I have fell off the peanut-free wagon more than a few times during this pregnancy, but I suppose it is better than my non-pregnant days when I ate peanut butter ever single morning for breakfast.

Today, I have decided to treat myself.  Since my baby's due date was three days ago and there is still no baby, I feel like I deserve a treat and truthfully, I can't wait anymore to try the Vosges organic Peanut Butter Bonbon chocolate bar.  The package says it has organic peanut butter, pink Himalayan salt, Maldon sea salt and "deep milk chocolate". I would have been sold simply on the organic peanut butter and deep milk chocolate, but must admit that the exotic salts peaked my curiousity.

The overall flavour is awesome.  At first I felt that it wasn't a real sweet treat - which is fine with me since I usually prefer chocolate to be less sweet than your average candy bar.  But as I ate more of the chocolate bar, I found that the treat seemed to taste richer and more luxurious.  The salt was a nice touch and added a wonderful hint of crunchy texture to the otherwise smooth, melt-in-your-mouth milk chocolate and peanut butter combination.

I not only loved the taste, but I like the fact that this chocolate is made from organic ingredients and is all-natural. It is not easy finding a peanut butter-and-chocolate treat that does not have hydrogenated oils or modified corn starch in it, but Vosges Haut Chocolat has done a wonderful job of making an all-natural and organic peanut butter chocolate bar with a big flavour kick.

So if you like peanut butter and chocolate and want to treat yourself with a high end product that includes exotic salts, the Vosges Organic Peanut Butter Bonbon bar is worth the $8 for 85 grams of chocolate indulgence.

Here are the package details from the chocolate that I tasted today:

Vosges Haut Organic Peanut Butter Bonbon, 45% cacao, 3 oz (85g)
Vosges IP, LLC
http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/
Ingredients: *Milk chocolate (*sugar, *cocoa butter, *whole milk powder, *cocoa mass, *vanilla powder), 22% *peanut butter (*dry roasted peanuts, *palm oil, *sugar, salt), salt. Milk chocolate (45%) contains 40% cocoa solids minimum, 25% milk solids minimum. *organic ingredients.  Contains allergens: peanuts and milk.  Manufactured in a facility that also handles tree nuts, peanuts, sesame seeds, milk, eggs, wheat, pearl dust (shellfish) and soya.  Gluten-free.  Certified organic by Oregon Tilth.

Want to read reviews of other Vosges Haut chocolate bar flavours?  Check these out:

• Chili and chocolate flavours by Vosges: http://ultimatechocolateblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/fire-and-ice-vosges-uses-chili-and.html
• Single Origin Chocolate by Vosges: http://ultimatechocolateblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/vosgues-dominican-dark-chocolate-and.html
• Bacon and Chocolate by Vosges: http://ultimatechocolateblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/las-vegas-chocolate-part-2-bacon-and.html

Amano in Summertime

Well, the more pregnant I get the worse I get at eating chocolate!  I thought I'd eat more chocolate by the end of my pregnancy because the nausia is gone and my appetite is back. But, given the heat of the summer so far, I seem to be eating less and less chocolate (and more and more ice cream!).  So today I decided to sit down and taste some chocolate to get my palate back into it.  I wanted a little milk chocolate to go with the weather (I find sweeter chocolate to be tastier in the heat), so I pulled out some of my Amano Artisan Chocolate stash. 

Today I am tasting Amano's Ocumare 30% cacao milk chocolate bar and the Ocumare 70% dark chocolate bar.  Both are made from beans from the Ocumare Valley in Venezuela. 

There is a nice strong flavour to the milk chocolate, with a bitterness that is reminiscent of dark chocolate but milky and sweet all at the same time.  With a slightly woodsy smell and taste, this chocolate could easily be a favourite milk chocolate of mine from here on forward.

The dark chocolate 70% Ocumare bar has a lot of strong flavour, and to me it is reminiscent of cedar smoke and tobacco all rolled into one dark chocolate. The colour of the beans are fairly light and the chocolate is shiny, smooth and tempered just right. Although the strong and bitter flavours seems harsh at first, it wears off quickly and you can find yourself just enjoying a flavourful 70% smooth dark chocolate.
Overall, I liked both bars, but enjoyed the milk chocolate much more.  It's hard to say if that would be my "normal" opinion, since I usually choose dark chocolate over milk chocolate, or if that is just the pregnancy and the heat heightening my cravings for sweeter treats.

The baby is kicking fiercely now in my belly, so I guess that is an indication that I've had enough chocolate!

For other reviews of Amano's chocolate, click here.

Here are the stats on the two chocolate bars that I tasted today:

Amano Artisan Chocolate "Ocumare" Handcrafted Milk Chocolate 30% Cacao, 2 oz (56g)
"Made from Premium Beans from the Ocumare Valley in Venezuela"
Amano Chocolate, Orem, UT (USA)
http://www.amanochocolate.com/
Ingredients: cocoa beans, pure cane sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, whole vanilla beans. "Our vintage equipment is used to process milk chocolate and chocolate containing tree nuts, peanuts and soy lecithin...".

Amano Artisan Chocolate "Ocumare" Handcrafted Dark Chocolate, 70% Cacao, 2 oz (56g)
"Made from Premium Beans from the Ocumare Valley in Venezuela"
Amano Chocolate, Orem, UT (USA)
http://www.amanochocolate.com/
Ingredients: cocoa beans, pure cane sugar, cocoa butter, whole vanilla beans. "Our vintage equipment is used to process milk chocolate and chocolate containing tree nuts, peanuts and soy lecithin...".

Hägeland Dark Chocolate Pear & Almonds

I recently bought a few Hägeland chocolate bars because they reminded me of another brand that I tried in the past - which I will discuss later this week. But I specifically bought the Pear and Almonds bar because it is unusual to see pear flavoring in a dark chocolate bar, so I was curious. Since today is hot and sunny, it seemed like the right kind of day to taste the refreshing flavour of pear.
The almonds in this bar are slivered and create crunchy little flakes that add a nice texture to the chocolate. It also adds a slightly nutty flavour. The pear flavour is subtle, but a little on the sweet side, especially since this dark chocolate only contains 57% cocoa solids, so it is already a bit sweet.  Also, the ingredients list shows that all the flavouring is natural and from actual pear powder, so I give the manufacturer a big 'thumbs up' for keeping its chocolate natural. As for the chocolate, it is just sort of your commercial chocolate with okay quality.

Overall, the chocolate bar is good. If you like a sweeter dark chocolate, you may like this one. I am not a big fan of fruit-flavoured chocolate, so it isn't my thing, but if you are into fruit and chocolate, it may be yours!

Here are the package details from the chocolate bar that I tasted today:

Hageland Premium Belgian Chocolate Dark Chocolate Pear & Almonds, 3.5 oz (100g)
http://www.hageland-chocolate.com/
Made in Belgium, Imported by: Sco Koladen, LLC (Hayward, CA)
Ingredients: cocoa mass, sugar, almonds (8%), pear granule (3.5%) [inuline (fibre), pear powder (5%), natural flavoring pear type], cocoa butter, butter oil, emulsifier: soy lecithin.

Sugar free mint chocolate brings "cool" and "refreshing" to a hot day

Earlier today I was sifting through my chocolate tasting cupboard, which is getting a bit low.  This is slightly depressing since summer weather is now upon us and I may not be able to order any more for months!  But I saw a huge collection of mint chocolate bars.  I have been waiting to have a party to taste all of the mint bars that I have on hand, but with the sluggishness of pregnancy and a busy job, I haven't gotten around to inviting anyone over for my tasting party.  So I decided to crack open a few minty-fresh chocolate bars today.

And since I feel guilty every time I put something sweet in my mouth lately (pregnancy guilt! Always worrying about the baby in my belly...), I thought, why not taste the "sugar free" mint chocolate bars today?  Of course, I have not eliminated any guilt because I always question whether or not sugar substitutes are better to eat than sugar - or worse - and if worse, how much worse for the baby? (See, it's easy to question everything when you are pregnant.) But I decided I would try just a few pieces of each and try not to worry about it.  After all, it's not like I eat sugar-free chocolate everyday. 

So today I am tasting two mint chocolate bars.  The first is the very widely distributed Russell Stover Sugar Free Dark Chocolate Mint bar.  I have seen it in the stores many times, but never actually tasted one.  The second chocolate is a Canadian-made "no sugar added" mint dark chocolate by Daniel Le Chocolat Belge, a great little chocolate manufacturer from Vancouver. I have tried some of their other chocolates in the past and have loved them, particularly their organic line of chocolate. 

I started with the sugar free mint Daniel Le Chocolat Belge.  It was a minty, refreshingly sweet bitter chocolate and rather good.  What I love about this chocolate is that the package is comparable in size to other larger chocolate bars (75 grams or 2.6 oz per package), but it is broken up into 8 small individually wrapped pieces of chocolate. This can help you to achieve some sort of portion control while eating your chocolate (which is good since there is a warning on the package that eating too much - because of the maltitol - can cause a laxative effect.  So portion control is key when eating this sugar free chocolate!). 

Daniel Le Chocolat Belge also advertises that their chocolate uses the finest cocoa beans, all natural ingredients and is preservative free.  This can be identified by reading the short list of only six ingredients with natural vanilla and organic mint oil being the only flavourings used in the chocolate. To me, this shows that they pay attention to quality and are health conscious while making the chocolate.

Russell Stover's Sugar Free Dark Chocolate Mint bar is slightly sweeter and smoother and has a cool layer of soft minty milk chocolate between the already very thin outer layers of dark chocolate.  The texture of the chocolate is great, and the thin design makes it refreshing to eat (it is reminiscent of an After Eight). I like it very much, however, I do have some issues with the ingredients list. For starters, partially hydrogenated palm kernel oil is used.  Hydrogenated oil is known to be unhealthy for us.  Also, "vanillin", which is artificial vanilla flavour, is also listed and "milk fat" has been added, I'm guessing to add softness to the milk chocolate centre. So clearly the manufacturer cares more about taste than the consumer's health.  Although unhealthy chocolate is not my thing, I guess some people don't worry about that. Or they just don't read the ingredients list. But I might not worry about it either if I couldn't have sugar and this was one of the only chocolate bars that was commercially available to me.

Both chocolate bars tasted good, but I'd recommend that if you like sugar free mint chocolate, check out the Daniel le Chocolat Belge website.

In the end, today is the perfect day for mint chocolate. It added a cool and refreshing element to an otherwise hot and sticky day.

Here are the package and ingredient details from the two chocolate bars that I tasted today:

Daniel Le Chocolat Belge - Mint, No Sugar Added, 75g (2.6 oz)
Vancouver, Canada
www.danielchocolates.com
Ingredients: Cocoa mass, maltitol, cocoa butter, organic mint oil, soy lecithin, natural vanilla.  may contain nuts, peanuts and milk.  Excessive consumption may cause a laxative effect.

Russell Stover Sugar Free Dark Chocolate Mint, 3 oz (85g)
Kansas City, MO
www.russellstover.com
Ingredients: consist of dark chocolate (maltitol, chocolate (processed with alkali), cocoa butter milk fat (milk), soy lecithin (an emulsifier), salt, vanillin/an artificial flavor and sucralose), chocolate candy (maltitol, chocolate, cocoa butter, sodium casenate (milk), milk fat, soy lecithin/an emulsifier, sucralose, natural and artificial flavour, and salt), partially hydrogenated palm kernel oil, and peppermint oil.  Allergy information: Products have been produced on shared equipment  with peanuts, tree nuts, eggs and wheat.  Excessive consumption may cause a laxative effect.

Fire and Ice - Vosges uses chili and chocolate to create two chocolate bars that will appeal to both the fire and ice in you

It is a spicy sort of day - sunny and chilly outside -  so it is a great day for tasting and comparing two chocolate bars with chili peppers.  And among the large stash of Vosges chocolate bars that I have on hand, two of them happen to be spicy.

The first that I tasted today was the Vosges Haut Chocolat Red Fire Bar with 55% cacao. Although this comes in a larger size, I have the tiny 14 gram version of this chocolate bar.  It is just the right size for a tasting, or an afternoon chocolate treat when you're at the office.  In other words, it is the perfect size when you want portion control.

As the chocolate began to melt in my mouth, I immediately tasted the cinnamon. That was followed by the burning sensation - this chocolate definitely has a kick to it. It is the perfect balance of cacao percentage to spices. No single flavour takes control; the chocolate just blends from cocoa flavour to cinnamon to chillies seamlessly.

I'd say that the name "Red Fire Bar" is absolutely perfect for it. It is a little reminiscent of those traditional Valentine's Day cinnamon heart candies, but not quite as strong or so unnaturally flavoured as cinnamon hearts. I think that for anyone who likes spicy chocolate or "Mayan"-style flavoured chocolate, this chocolate would be popular with them.

The second Vosges chocolate bar I tasted today was the Oaxaca Bar (pronounced waa-haa-kah bar, according to the package). This has Oaxacan (Mexican) guajillo y pasilla chillies and is made with single-origin Tanzanian bittersweet chocolate. When I opened the tiny package, it had that strong smell of origin chocolate with notes of tobacco. However, the immediate taste and texture was of improperly stored or tempered chocolate.  A noticeable lack of shine to the chocolate was also telling.

When the flavour took over, it was a little sweeter than I expected, especially since it is a 75% bar. The chillies (guajillo chili peppers and pasilla) are not nearly as spicy as the Red Fire Bar.  I much prefer the balance of cacao solids to the spice and flavour in the Red Fire Bar.  The Oaxaca Bar is too bitter-sweet for me.  In fact, it is a little on the sickeningly sweet side.

So I guess it is up to you which to choose...if you prefer a smooth combination of heat and sweet spice with a lingering cinnamon burn then you will like the Red Fire Bar by Vosges.  If you like your bitter chocolate to taste really sweet and mildly spicy, then the Oaxaca Bar is for you. I guess the real question is: do you like fire or ice?

As a side note: the packages of both chocolate bars state that they are "Vegan" and "Gluten-free", although it does say that it is manufactured in a facility that handles wheat...which may mean that you do not have a gluten-free guarantee.

Here are the package details of the two bars that I tasted today:

Vosges Haut Chocolat Red Fire Bar, 55% cacao, 0.5oz (14g)
Vosges IP, LLC, Chicago, IL (USA)
http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/
Ingredients: Dark chocolate (cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin-an emulsifier, vanilla), ancho and chipotle chili peppers, cinnamon. Chocolate bar contains: 53% cocoa solids minimum. Contains: Soy.  Manufactured in a facility that handles tree nuts, peanuts, sesame seeds, milk, eggs, wheat, shellfish and soy. Vegan. Gluten-free.

Vosges Haut Chocolat Oaxaca Bar, 75% cacao, 0.5oz (14g)
Vosges IP, LLC, Chicago, IL (USA)
http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/
Ingredients:  Select origin dark chocolate (cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin-an emulsifier, vanilla) guajillo and pasilla chili peppers. Chocolate bar contains: 73% cocoa solids minimum. Contains: Soy.  Manufactured in a facility that handles tree nuts, peanuts, sesame seeds, milk, eggs, wheat, shellfish and soy. Vegan. Gluten-free.

Would you like to read more about Vosges' chocolate?  I have their full range of chocolate bars at home and have been tasting them and blogging about them slowly.  Read more here:

• Vosges Bacon and Chocolate (http://ultimatechocolateblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/las-vegas-chocolate-part-2-bacon-and.html)
• Vosges single origin chocolate and Creole with chicory(http://ultimatechocolateblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/vosgues-dominican-dark-chocolate-and.html)