Where is the Red in Raspberry?

One topic that I find interesting is: expectations versus reality. Why? Well, our expectations completely dictate what our experiences will be, especially when it comes to food. I expected, when I bought a milk chocolate bar that advertised a 'raspberry-flavoured filling' to find a raspberry-coloured filling inside the bar. My expectation to find a bright reddish coloured filling also came from the large images of red raspberries that were printed on the front of the package, and from the ingredients that specifically listed "raspberry paste" and "food colour: beets juice concentrate". So you can imagine my surprise when I opened the package and bit into my first piece and the filling was white. 

Ummm....what happened to the "food colour: beets juice concentrate"?  Are beets not reddish coloured? I guess it did not work as well as a colouring as they thought it would?  Also, how does raspberry paste turn white?  This simple surprise immediately caused me to be suspicious of the chocolate bar and its manufacturer. I could no longer enjoy the chocolate because my expectations did not match up to reality.

As for the taste? It was great: a strong bitter raspberry flavour somehow came through in the all-sugar filling, and a milk chocolate flavour that somehow paired well with the filling. There was no strong gross artificial raspberry flavour as some chocolate bars have, and there also was no strong alcohol flavour.  I was also happy that they used real raspberry flavouring, as opposed to artificial, although the milk chocolate coating had some strange additives and artificial "vanillin" flavour.  Why use real raspberry if you are not going to use real vanilla?

So although the chocolate tasted great, my experience was not great because my expectations were not met.  It is not that I find it necessary that the chocolate bar have a red raspberry colour in it, it is just that I thought it would, and was surprised by its actual colour.  That caused suspicion, making me wonder where all the colour went and if the company had somehow forgot to add the raspberry paste and beet powder that was listed on the ingredients. And if they forgot that, then what else is wrong on the ingredients listing? It also made me wonder: what was the chemical process used to cause the raspberry paste and beet powder to turn white?  And, did the company somehow save money by removing the colour?  Or does a white filling sell more chocolate bars than a red coloured filling? All these suspicions caused me to enjoy the taste of the chocolate less than I would have, had the raspberry filling simply been as I expected it to be.

So how could the company have changed anything to make my experience better? Well, they do not necessarily need to change their chocolate, the flavour was good.  But perhaps remove or shrink the giant red raspberries on the front of the package and replace them with an image of the actual chocolate and its filling instead. Or go with no image at all and let the consumer have no expectations when they open the package. Sometimes I find that chocolate is better when I have no expectations.

Please note though, the German description on the package includes "...mit Himbeer-Creme-Fullung", meaning "with raspberry cream filling".  The English description left the "cream" part out, so perhaps German-speaking consumers would have understood that it is a cream filling that might be white coloured.  But I still would have thought a raspberry cream would be raspberry coloured.

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

Porta Himbeer Milk Chocolate with Raspberry Flavoured Filling, 100g (3.5 oz)
Ludwig Weinrich GmbH & Co. (Made in Germany)
Ingredients: milk chocolate: sugar, cocoa mass, whole millk powder, cocoa butter, whey powder, emulsifiers: soya lecithin, polyglycerol polyricinoleate; flavour: vanillin. Filling (42%): sugar, glucose syrup, citric acid, alcohol, humectant: invertase; raspberry paste, food colour: red beets juice concentrate, flavour: raspberry.  Cocoa solids: 30% minimum in the chocolate content. Milk solids: 8%. May contain traces of hazelnuts, almonds and wheat components.

Sipping Sunday without the "Sip"; It's Time for Tea!

When I think of tea and chocolate, I usually think of relaxing with a hot cup of tea in the afternoon while taking a moment to savour a piece of rich chocolate. But mixing tea into solid chocolate is becoming more and more common. Many companies that make flavoured chocolate bars offer an Earl Grey flavoured chocolate or chai-spiced chocolate bar. But there is a company, The TeaRoom, that is devoted to creating chocolate-tea 'fusions', and giving their consumers that wonderful flavour combination without the need to steep anything.

I bought two "chocolate fusions" by The Tea Room last weekend, and since it is Sunday, I thought it was a great day for relaxing with a cup of tea and chocolate.

The first chocolate bar that I tasted was Chamomile & Honey fused with a sweet White Chocolate. The chocolate bar was not big - only 51 grams (1.8 oz) - and it had the subtle flavour of chamomile tea in it. The white chocolate was quite sweet, but was nice with no artificial flavours like commercial white chocolate often has. I also liked that there was no vanilla in it, so that the chamomile and honey flavours were highlighted and not overwhelmed by other flavours.

The second bar was a 38% milk chocolate bar fused with Black Masala Chai tea.  For those who do not know, Masala Chai has the flavours of cardamom, cinnamon, pepper and clove combined, creating a really spicy chai flavour.  The combination with the milk chocolate was a sweet and spicy combination, which sort of tasted like drinking a chai latte with chocolate.  My recommendation would be to drink a nice warm cup of milk with this chocolate bar and it would be like having a chocolate chai latte!

I bought these two chocolate bars at the Bulk Barn in Sudbury, Ontario.  They are both listed as USDA Organic and neither have artificial flavours or colours. Although both bars were a little on the sweet side for me, I would likely buy their other flavours to try and I would purchase these chocolate bars again as gifts for friends who love tea. Here are the details from the wrappers of these two chocolate bars:

Chamomile & Honey Chocolate Fusion, White Chocolate, 30% Cacao Organic, 1.8 oz (51g)
The Tea Room (San Leandro, CA, USA)
http://www.thetearoom.biz/
Ingredients: organic cane sugar, organic cocoa fat, organic dry whole milk, organic chamomile tea, organic honey, soy lecithin (added as emulsifier). Contains: soy, milk products. May contain traces of peanuts, gluten, wheat and/or other nuts and spices.

Black Masala Chai Chocolate Fusion Milk Chocolate, 38% Cacao, Organic, 1.8 oz (51g)
The Tea Room (San Leandro, CA, USA)
http://www.thetearoom.biz/
Ingredients: organic unsweetened chocolate, organic cane sugar, organic cacao fat, organic dry whole milk, organic black tea, organic cardamom, organic cinnamon, organic pepper, organic clove, soy lecithin (added as emulsifier).  Contains: soy, milk products. May contain traces of peanuts, gluten, wheat and/or other nuts and spices.

Looking for other tea and chocolate combinations?  A few days ago I tried a Raaka Virgin chocolate bar with Vanilla Rooibos tea.  It too was tasty and a very relaxing flavour combination, so checkout the post! http://ultimatechocolateblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/raaka-virgin-chocolate-flavours-of.html

Raaka Virgin Chocolate, the flavours of relaxation

Through the old farmhouse window I can see the snow blowing sideways in gusts.  It is that sort of painfully white sky brightness outside that can only indicate a cold, damp and windy day that can make you shiver to your soul.

Inside, however, is a different story.  The electric heaters are on, warming up the rooms that the oil heater cannot reach, or that are so poorly insulated that they require extra measures.  I have a cup of tea in my left hand while I type with my right, and two empty chocolate bar wrappers are resting next to the laptop.  Yes, today is a good day. Well, inside at least.

Those two chocolate bars that I so much enjoyed were Raaka Virgin Chocolate's Vanilla Rooibos bar and the Blueberry Lavender chocolate bar.

Although both contain only 67% cacao content, they both tasted much darker and had more bitterness than your average 60-something percent chocolate. I guess that is because the beans are not roasted, which can take away some of the bitterness, thus the reason for the name `virgin chocolate`. Also, the combination of organic chocolate, the flavours, and the rough texture of this minimally processed chocolate that gives it that bitterness.  Its roughness is not a bad thing though.  Although the chocolate was not smooth, I was not expecting it to be, since it is made by a craft chocolate maker who believes that less processing is better.  And it offers a new and interesting tasting experience.

The flavours of the chocolate in both bars were similar.  The Vanilla Rooibos tea was subtle, as was the blueberries and lavender in the other bar, so the flavours of the cacao beans stood out beyond the flavours added to them.  There were not many dried blueberries in the bar (I think I counted four), which was nice because it did not overwhelm me with chewiness or blueberry flavour.

I like that this company cares about the environment through its recycled packaging and organic nature of its chocolate, and also cares about the cacao farmers, proudly stating on the packaging that cocoa farmers receive at least $500 per metric tonne above market price.

I also like how they sell their chocolate.   I bought this as a four-pack and it came in a lovely sack made of natural materials.

Here are the package details:

Raaka Virgin Chocolate Vanilla Rooibos, 67%, 1.25 oz
Made in Brooklyn (USA)
http://www.raakachocolate.com/
Ingredients:  Organic cacao beans, organic turbinado sugar, organic cacao butter, vanilla rooibos tea.


Raaka Virgin Chocolate Blueberry Lavender, 67%, 2.5 oz
Made in Brooklyn (USA)
http://www.raakachocolate.com/
Ingredients:  Organic cacao beans, organic turbinado sugar, blueberries, organic cacao butter, lavender.

A Perfect Wine and Chocolate Pairing...Barrel-Aged Shiraz and Semi-Sweet Organic Chocolate!

Last night I tried some really interesting wine: Konzelmann Estate Winery 2010 Barrel Aged Shiraz from the Niagara Peninsula. It was oak barrel aged, spicy and peppery.  I thought it might go well with a semi-sweet dark chocolate so I went to the cabinet and grabbed a Camino Dark 55% chocolate bar. I was right! They went perfectly together. The sweetness of the chocolate only complemented the wine, without modifying the flavour. It was a perfect pairing!

I moved on to an Equal Exchange Co-Op 55% Dark Chocolate with Almonds bar and it was also a fantastic pairing: the nuttiness combined with the spicy wine was an intriguing combination.  If you cannot find this chocolate bar, Camino has a similar one (http://www.lasiembra.com/camino/en/chocolate-bars/almonds) - I believe it is the same 55% dark chocolate that I mentioned above, only with almonds in it.  

So if you are looking to pair chocolate and wine, try a Barrel Aged Shiraz with notes of blackberry and spice with a 55% organic dark chocolate....with or without almonds!

Here is the package information from the chocolate that I tasted this week:

Camino Fair Trade, Organic Dark Chocolate, 55%, 100g

La Siembra Co-operative (Ottawa, ON Canada)

Made in Switzerland.

www.tasteofcamino.com

Organic Ingredients: cocoa mass*, golden cane sugar*, cacao butter*, whole cane sugar*, ground vanilla beans*. *Fair trade certified.  Minimum 55% cacao.  May contain traces of nuts, peanuts, soy and dairy products.

Organic & Fairly Traded Dark Chocolate with Almonds, 55% cacao, 3.5 oz (100 grams)

Equal Exchange (West Bridgewater, MA, USA)

www.equalexchange.coop

Ingredients: *organic chocolate liquor, *organic raw cane sugar, *organic cocoa butter, organic chopped almonds (10%), *organic unrefined whole cane sugar, *organic ground vanilla beans. *Fair trade ingredient. by weight 90% fair trade content. May contain traces of milk, peanuts, hazelnuts, cashews, pistachios & pecans.

Dancing in Your Head with Green Tangerine Chocolate

I love funky chocolate combinations.  Last week I was snacking on Theo's Bread & Chocolate bar and Coconut Curry Milk Chocolate bar, and today I am tasting the zesty, lime-flavoured Soma chocolate bar called Green Tangerine.

The chocolate is wonderfully smooth and the colour of the chocolate is gorgeous.  There is a strong lime flavour combined with very strong Madagascar cacao flavours.  The two words that come to my mind are 'extreme tang'. The whole flavour is very bitter and zesty at the same time. This is one of the more interesting chocolate bars that I have tasted in a while.

I have to say, Soma's Green Tangerine is one of the sunniest, happiest Madagascar chocolate that I have ever tasted. Not that single origin Madagascar chocolate is not sunny and happy, it just has a bold, intense flavour that I would not normally describe as 'sunny'.

And speaking of bold and intense flavours, I have been tasting another of Soma's creations this week, which is the Microbatch Dancing in Your Head 70% dark chocolate bar. It does have a molasses flavour, as the package describes.  As for the texture? It is smooth, melt-in-your mouth and creamy, just like the Green Tangerine bar and Soma's 100% Arcana bar that I tasted last month. It  lacks a cocoa-y flavour and the earthy organic flavour that some microbatch bars have, but instead offers the full flavours of all the mixed beans that are used to create this chocolate bar (made from beans from: Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Hawaii, Haiti and Organic Sambirano from Madagascar). So if you like bold, dark chocolate with intense favours, then this bar is for you. 

With each tasting of their chocolate bars, Soma is quickly becoming one of my favourite chocolate makers.  Read another review of Soma's chocolate here.

Here are the details on the two chocolate bars that I tasted this week:

Green Tangerine 66%, 80g
SOMA chocolatemaker (Toronto, Canada)
http://www.somachocolate.com/
Ingredients: cacao beans, organic cane sugar, cocoa butter, all natural ingredients, may contain trace amounts of nuts, gluten, soy & dairy.
Bean Origin: Madagascar.  Bean Type: Trinitario/Criollo (I love that they write this on the package!)

Microbatch Dancing in Your Head 70%, 80g
SOMA chocolatemaker (Toronto, Canada)
http://www.somachocolate.com/
Ingredients: cacao beans, organic cane sugar, cocoa butter, all natural ingredients, may contain trace amounts of nuts, gluten, soy & dairy. Bean Origin: Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Hawaii, Haiti and Organic Sambirano from Madagascar. Bean Type: Trinitario, Forestero, Criollo.

Bittersweet Chocolate Truffle Recipe for a Happy Valentine's Day!

It is Valentine's Day and I have a gift for you....Chocolate Truffles! Well, maybe I cannot give them to you directly, but at the very least I can share the recipe.  If you do not have Valrhona chocolate, just use any good quality bittersweet chocolate in the 60% to 70% range.

Bittersweet Valrhona Chocolate Truffles

Ingredients:
16 oz (1 lb) Valrhona Bittersweet Dark Chocolate (66% Caraibe)
3/4 cup whipping cream

Put 8 ounces of the chocolate into a bowl. Place the cream in a sauce pan.  On the stove top, bring the cream just to a boil and immediately pour 1/2 the hot cream over the chocolate and stir until it starts to emulsify.  Then pour the remaining cream over the chocolate and continue stirring slowly. Do not lift the spoon off the bottom of the bowl and stir in just one direction to prevent bubbles from forming.  Stir until completely mixed and all chocolate is melted.

Cover with plastic wrap and let rest on counter over night  (or for 6 hours until set).  Place in refrigerator for two hours to harden so you can form balls from the truffles. 

Once chilled, take out of refrigerator and scoop out one spoonful of truffle at a time and roll between the palm of your hands to form a ball.  If your hands are warm, wearing rubber gloves will help prevent the chocolate from melting. I will leave it up to you to decide how big to make these truffles! Place truffle balls on cookie sheet, cover with plastic wrap and place back in fridge while you prepare the chocolate for dipping.

If you are comfortable tempering chocolate, then use our own method with a double boiler or marble slab.  Otherwise, follow these directions for easy tempering:

Melt the other 8 ounces of chocolate in a microwavable DRY heatproof bowl for 2 minutes on MEDIUM Power (50%).  Take out of microwave and stir until completely melted.  Feel the chocolate with the back of your baby finger - if it is the same temperature as your finger it is ready.  If too cold, warm for just five seconds in the microwave.  If too warm, continue stirring until it cools, lifting the spoon high in the air to cool the chocolate as you stir. Ensure no water drops or moisture get into the chocolate.

Take truffle balls out of the fridge and using a fork, dip the truffles in the chocolate one-by-one and roll around.  Lift out with fork and place on wax paper to cool and set. (You can also toss these while chocolate coating is wet into a bowl of cocoa powder and roll around for a cocoa-y outer layer. Lift out of cocoa powder with fork and let set on wax paper).

Once set, place in mini cupcake papers for a pretty display. You can also freeze these in an airtight container and pull out when you are ready to consume. Can be consumed at room temperature or out of the fridge (best at room temperature).  It should make two dozen, but it depends on the size of your truffles!  Make as big or small as you like.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Take a Trip Around the World through Interesting Flavour Combinations by Theo

Bread and Chocolate? How did they come up with that one? And what about Coconut Curry and Chocolate?

I am having a new love affair with Theo chocolate.  I recently found myself captivated by Vosges' line of chocolate bars for the very same reason as why I am loving Theo right now: chocolate bars created with a vast array of interesting flavours that take you on worldwide cultural explorations.

In January, I ordered some Theo chocolate from Chocosphere.com.  The two chocolate bars that I found most interesting were Theo's Bread and Chocolate bar and their Coconut Curry Milk Chocolate bar. I was most curious about the bread and chocolate combination for nostalgic reasons. When I spent a year in France seven years ago (one of the happiest years of my life) ,  I took an alternate walking route to school one day and came upon the tiniest little 'Boulangerie'.  Being unable to resist any bakeries in France, I went in despite being a little late for school. What I discovered inside that bakery was a bin of baguettes. But these were not normal baguettes. They had dark chocolate chips baked right into them! I had fallen in love with true French bread and dark chocolate since arriving in France, and so on that morning on the way to school, I had found my two favourite foods all baked into one yummy loaf.  From that point forward, I never took the other route to school again. So when I saw Theo's chocolate bar stating that French crusty bread was combined with dark chocolate, I was compelled to buy it.

Although it was nothing like the long baguette filled with chocolate chips that I had loved eating so much on my walks to school, Theo's Bread and Chocolate bar did not dissapoint. I found it very difficult to put away half of the bar for later.  It had a bold salted flavour with the coolest crunch that I have ever experienced. I highly recommend trying it.  It is a great "snack" food when you are looking for that sweet and crunchy treat. 

I especially find it interesting that someone at Theo came up with this idea. Perhaps I am not the only one with a memory of French bread and chocolate combined, or perhaps they just thought it would be a good combination because the French are known for their bread and for their chocolate, so it would make sense that they should go together.  Either way, they got the crunch just right - just like the crust on French crusty bread. I wish there was a store close by that sold these chocolate bars, because I would eat one every day!

The Coconut Curry bar is unbelievably good.  The curry flavour is the strongest that I have tasted in any chocolate, and at the very first bite I have to admit that I thought, "why am I eating this?".  But in an instant, it grew on me and then I wanted to eat the entire bar. The inside of the wrapper was even stained yellow from the curry powder!  The sweetness is just right and paired well with the curry spice.

This chocolate bar made me think about dinner time, and how I should maybe consider making coconut curry chicken, since there are no Indian restaurants here on this cold Island in the great North. Or perhaps I should just sit here a little longer and savour another piece of curry-flavoured chocolate. Who needs flavourful dinners when there is flavourful chocolate?

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

Bread & Chocolate, Dark Chocolate 70% Cacao, 2 oz/57g
Theo Chocolate (Seattle, WA)
http://www.theochocolate.com/
Ingredients: Cocoa Beans*+, Sugar*+, Cocoa Butter*+, French Bread* (Organic wheat flour, filtered water, yeast, sea salt), Butter* (Milk), sea salt, ground vanilla bean*. *Organic +Fair Trade Certified
Contains wheat and milk.  Manufactured on shared equipment with products containing milk, wheat, eggs, peanuts and other nuts.

Coconut Curry Milk Chocolate, 45% cacao, 2 oz/57g
Theo Chocolate (Seattle, WA)
http://www.theochocolate.com/
Ingredients: Sugar*+, cocoa beans*+, milk powder*, cocoa butter*+, toasted coconut*, yellow curry powder (coriander, turmeric, mustard, cumin, fenugreek, paprika, red pepper, cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves), ground vanilla bean*. *Organic +Fair Trade Certified
Contains milk and tree nuts (coconut).  Manufactured on shared equipment with products containing milk, wheat, eggs, peanuts and other nuts.