My friend Karen emailed me this research brief from the Center for Media Research that states that while passionate female bloggers would give up quite a lot to continue their bloggy lifestyles, precious few would give up chocolate.

According to this survey, for 80% of the female blogging population, chocolate is more important than blogging. So, really, the only way out of this chocolate vs. blog power struggle is to write about chocolate on your blog. OR eat chocolate while writing your blog. Pure genius.

To celebrate, I enjoyed the following chocolate while I wrote this:

Soma Chocolatemaker Africa 70% - Ghana Forastero: Soma is a chocolate maker based in Toronto that makes a line of really interesting micro-batch chocolates. Here's a past post about them. The problem is that I was so focused on writing this blog post, that I forgot to pay attention to what I was tasting, and therefore cannot write an accurate description. So lesson learned, blogging and chocolate are best enjoyed separately, contrary to what I just said two paragraphs ago.

To remedy this situation, I will try the chocolate again tomorrow and then write about it (but only afterward), breaking all convention by posting here two days in a row!

The picture above is of me peeking into a really big closet while apartment hunting at some point last fall. It relates to this post because it reminds me of how happy I will be tomorrow when I re-taste Soma's 70% Ghana bar.

This past weekend, Dan, Eric, Angie and I trekked (in the car, that is) two and a half hours to the Berkshires of Massachusetts to make a day out of two stops (three if you count McDonalds on the way - which is a road trip staple, in my opinion): The first was the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams. The second was Chocolate Springs in Lenox.

Chocolate Springs is an artisan chocolatier that I discovered a few years ago (in Boston you can get their chocolates at Formaggio Kitchen). This past Saturday was the first time I visited their chocolate cafe. The beautiful cafe (which is also where they make their chocolate confections) offers countless varieties of handmade truffles that range from classic to quite curious, pure chocolate bars and chocolate dipped goodies , lovely cakes and confections, truffle and nougat bars, mini chocolate sculptures, the ideal hot chocolate, and other chocolate treats too numerous to name. And it's a cafe, so that means that there are tables where you can sit with your friends. And we did, for around 2 hours.


Chocolate tasting with good people is, without a doubt, the very delicious reason that I got so into chocolate in the first place. Here's a great idea for a fun afternoon for four friends:

• Go to the nearest chocolate boutique that offers table seating
  
• Select 10 chocolates (to start) and grab a bottle of water for each of you
  
• Cut each truffle or chocolate into 4 pieces
  
• Taste each chocolate as a group and have a fabulous, magical afternoon
  
• And then get a light dinner somewhere after (Optional, but highly recommended)
  

Creme Brulee: A white chocolate ganache sprinkled with flakes of burnt sugar and dipped in dark chocolate. Wonderful texture, at once smooth and creamy and a tiny bit crunchy sweet.

Rose Tea: A black tea truffle. The tannins from the tea leaves come through in a very interesting way in this tea truffle (as well as other tea truffles that we tried), leaving that sensation on your palette that you have when you've just had a cup of tea.

Venus: This milk chocolate ganache with a touch of rum was an all around favorite. On a side note, we all noticed that this truffle looks somewhat... female. And then Joshua told me that truffle is, indeed, a nipple-inspired design, hence the name Venus (originally "Venus' Nipple").

Mint: Oh fresh mint leaves. Why are you not utilized in more desserts? (Garnish doesn't count.) This truffle was so fresh and delicious. Another instant favorite.

Jas-tea-sia: This was the one that blew us all away. They didn't have any Jas-tea-sia truffles left, so we would not have had the chance to experience this chocolate miracle if Joshua had not popped by our table offering a tiny vessel of freshly made Jasmine tea ganache and 4 spoons. Utterly fascinating. The tannins came through alongside all of the subtleties of gentle, complex Jasmine green tea.

A few more pics from our daytrip on are on flickr.

So I realize that I'm falling a little behind on my posts for Hot Chocolate Fortnight at The Tasty Show. That said, I've decided to extend my deadline. This 'fortnight' will now last through the end of the month and is thus renamed Hot Chocolate Month at The Tasty Show.

Hot Cocoa at Athan's
Moving right along, my friend Jon and I went to Athan's European Bakery in Brookline to check out their hot chocolate. First let me say that Athan's is hands down one of my favorite pastry shops in the city. Their goods are European-style and the owners are Greek, so we've got fruit tarts, classic orange pound cakes, French-style mousse tortes, individual tiramisus, napoleons, and panna cottas alongside a wide array of baklavas, shortbread biscuits, and chocolates.

That said, I had high expectations for the hot chocolate. Probably too high. Athan's offers a hot cocoa (rather than hot chocolate) that is quite sweet, with more of an overall sugary sensation that real cocoa flavor. Jon said that it reminded him of Swiss Miss, and I have to agree that it was kind of instant-y. The hot cocoa at Athan's is made of dutch processed cocoa, dried skim milk, cornstarch, confectioners sugar, and Callebaut milk chocolate. I'm surprised by the use of milk chocolate - I wonder if it would be more up my alley if it was dark? Either way, I'm probably going to stick with the solid sweets at Athans, rather than the liquid ones.

We did, however, ask a lovely Athan's barista for suggestions on what treats to enjoy alongside our cuppa cocoa. She directed us to a bunch of little cubbies that held all different kinds of shortbread-type cookies, which she called biscuits. We tried all sorts of delicious ones and they do, indeed, pair extremely well. Similarly to the brioche that we had with the hot chocolate at Flour, these biscuits were simple and not extremely sweet. And they are dry and crumbly and a little crunchy in a really awesome, satisfying way, particularly when enjoyed with hot chocolate. We tried an almond flavor, a coconut cherry pistachio, and a mustokouloura, which is made with grape molasses and sesame.

Conclusion [regarding hot chocolate + dessert pairing]
Shortbread! Rich, buttery, but not overly sweet shortbread. Delicious with hot chocolate! Not everyone can pop over and pick up some of Athan's delicious shortbread-like biscuits, but shortbread is available everywhere in one form or another and pairs beautifully.

In honor of the cold, wet, snowy, nasty weather, I am designating this week and next as Hot Chocolate Fortnight At The Tasty Show, which is 'officially' running from February 1 - February 14. So that means that I will be 'officially' trying out various hot chocolates with various pals for another 7 days or so. For each hot chocolate, I'll post details about the hot chocolate itself + a hot chocolate-related conclusion.

This week I tried two very different hot chocolates. Here are the two that I tried + two conclusions that we made:

Hot Chocolate at Flour Bakery
I had an entire page of notes that I wrote about the hot chocolate I had with Dan at Flour, but unfortunately I lost them. What I do remember is that it is rich but not overly sweet. And it's a little fluffy, which I liked. It is made with steamed whole milk and dark chocolate ganache. As you can see, I am smiling. We enjoyed our hot cuppa chocolate with a sugar-brushed brioche roll. They went incredibly well together! And it does help that Flour Bakery offers some of the best baked goods in Boston. I tried to take a pic on Dan's phonecam but I'm not sure it really does Flour's array of oven treats much justice (see pic above).

Conclusion [regarding hot chocolate + dessert pairing]
Hot chocolate is a dessert in itself, and should only be paired with something light and gentle. Rich, gently sweet, luxurious brioche does the trick.

Mexican Hot Chocolate at Tu Y Yo
The "Chocolate Caliente de Oaxaca" at Tu Y Yo was made with water rather than milk, & a pinch of cinnamon (but just a pinch) spiced up the deal. It comes in a little earthenware jug (which is great, because I've always liked mini versions of big things).The first and foremost thing we noticed about the Mexichocolate drink is that it was super light and a little watery. It wasn't rich at all. If you're looking for your hot chocolate to transport you to the land of sensual luxurious chocolate decadence with each sip, this hot drink would disappoint you. But if you've just enjoyed a rich, potentially exhausting meal (as we had) and you want to keep it light, then it is perfect. My friend Eric noted that it was much more like a chocolate tea than the thick (sometimes exhausting) hot chocolates we've had elsewhere.

Conclusion [regarding using water as a hot chocolate base]
Try making hot chocolate with water instead of milk for a refreshing hot drink that won't overload you. For a homegrown Mexican hot chocolate, check out Taza Chocolate's Mexicano. If you want to try a made-in-Mexico hot chocolate at home, try Ibarra.

Every chocolate-covered coffee bean I've ever tasted was made with bittersweet chocolate. Bitter chocolate + bitter coffee bean = yes, that's right, a lot of bitterness, which is why I'm not really into it, despite being the dark chocolate lover that I am. Then two days ago I finished an entire box of chocolate-covered coffee beans. I don't even drink coffee. Well, I do, but only socially and on weekends and about 1/3 of a cup every two weekdays. As I was crunching away, I realized what made them so delicious. It was the contrast in flavor intensities.

This particular brand of chocolate-covered coffee beans used milk chocolate. And it was that simple. Rather than overpowering the palette with bitterness from all angles, the milk chocolate and coffee bean pairing offset each other. The sweetness of chocolate softened the bite of the bean without overpowering the coffee flavor. The power of pairing opposites together can apply to other food and chocolate pairings as well (though wines operate a little differently and would not necessarily abide by this rule). I'd pair milk chocolate with a strong coffee the same way I'd pair a dark chocolate dessert with a sweet raspberry sauce or a crunchy bitter cacao nibby tart with a sweet, creamy chocolate ice cream.

That said, I recently wrote an article about chocolate and beverage pairing that is in the December issue of Diversion magazine (for all you leisurely doctors out there). In testing out pairings for the coffee pairing section of the article, I found that lighter, sweeter chocolates are delicious with strong roasts, and darker chocolates are delicious with mild roasts. It goes against the traditional espresso + dark chocolate pairing that you'll find in so many European cafes, but my tastebuds don't lie (at least not to me). Now that I've discovered how delightful milk chocolate-covered coffee beans are, it really highlights the concept of pairing mild + strong to balance and complement each other.

The milk chocolate coffee beans I had are made by a company called Intelligentsia. But they don't seem to have them available online. I got them at my local coffee shop. I found some others that you can get online here (but note that I haven't tried them).

I'm really into food pairing these days. Next time you decide to get all European on your morning coffee, here's a quick pairing guide to try out contrasting flavor intensities in coffee and chocolate:

• Strong black coffee + a piece of milk chocolate
• Mild black coffee + a piece of slightly more intense milk chocolate or a mild dark chocolate (50% - 60% cacao)
• Coffee with cream + a piece of dark chocolate (65% - 70% cacao)
• Coffee with cream & sugar + a piece of very dark chocolate (70% cacao and above)

The 5 Star Bar is most definitely a candy bar. That's what's so great about it. It's a guilty pleasure candy bar for foodies. Gourmets. Food lovers. Gastronomes. Epicureans. Food snobs. Whatever. Last week when we went to the Lake Champlain Chocolate Factory, Dan bought a whole box of the 5 Star Bar peanut variety. The peanut bars are chunky, full of whole peanuts that are mixed into a rich peanut butter rice crisp filling then all enrobed in milk chocolate. They're so good that I almost can't believe it. I can't stop eating them.

If you need a peanut butter fix, you can get them at most Whole Foods. They also have hazelnut, fruit & nut, and caramel.

People sometimes ask me what I would get if I was standing in a supermarket checkout line and wanted a candy bar. If they didn't have 5 Star Bars (which aren't found in the checkout area at regular supermarkets anyway), here's what I would choose, in order of priority starting with my favorite:

1. Kit Kat Big Kat: My number one favorite supermarket candy bar. It's a monster version of the regular Kit Kat, and the ratios of chocolate-to-wafer are a little skewed, so there's a lot more solid milk chocolate coating the wafer part.)


2. Reeses Big Cup: Kind of the same theme as my top pick... the Big Cup is a monster version of the classic Reeses peanut butter cup with the ratios switched up in favor of the peanut butter.


3. Cadbury's Fruit & Nut: Not everyone agrees with me on this one, I know. But I think raisins (and other dried fruit) in chocolate are delicious with a chewy, satisfying texture.


4. Peppermint Patties: A classic, really.


5. Peanut M&Ms: No explanation necessary here. M&Ms are totally addictive.

Above Lake Champlain 5 Star Bar Peanut Photograph from Lake Champlain website.

Yesterday I had the following unopened bars sitting on my desk in my office:

• Vosges Mo's Bacon Bar
  
• A selection of 5 of Soma Chocolatier's Micro-batch Single Origin Bars
  
• Taza's Chocolate Mexicano (not really a bar, and this one's actually half eaten)
  
• Scharffen Berger's Bittersweet 70%
  

I've been thinking about mood-matching chocolate a lot lately. Here's a list of 5 excellent pure chocolates that cater to 5 very different moods:

• If you're feeling edgy or impatient: Scharffen Berger's 70% - a burst a sweetness and deep chocolate comes through asap for instant gratification.


• If you're feeling reflective: Valrhona's 70% Guanaja - this bar has a deep aroma that moves into a long, interesting flavor experience with an equally long finish (aftertaste), leaving you lots to think about.


• If you're feeling sexy: Valrhona's 66% Caraibe - this bar is ultra-velvety smooth, mildly fruity, and will coat your palette with sensual deliciousness.


• If you're feeling mellow: El Rey Dark 58.5% - this bar is well-balanced and an all-around crowd pleaser - there aren't many ups and downs in this bar's flavor profile, it's pretty much smooth-sailing from beginning to end.


• If you're feeling angry: El Rey Milk 41% - this sweet, buttery, caramel-y bar always makes me smile.

I really like sweets and try to incorporate things that are sweet into every facet of my life. I do a lot of events for my clients at my main gig, and sweets and chocolate often make their way into my client work in one way or another. So this past weekend, I was at an event that I organized for one of my clients, English tea boutique Whittard of Chelsea, that featured desserts made with Whittard's green teas. The recipes were developed especially for the event by the pastry chef at Boston's revered South End Buttery.

Lee Napoli, the Buttery's pastry chef, was kind enough to supply the event attendees with all of the recipes for the green tea dessert menu that she created. The Green Earl Grey truffles were really fabulous, and demonstrate a concept in truffle-making that can be replicated with many different kinds of flavors and interesting ingredients. Here's the recipe that she gave me for the truffles:

Green Earl Grey Truffles

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup Whittard Green Earl Grey tea leaves
• 1 pound chopped dark chocolate
• cocoa powder

Place tea leaves and heavy cream in a medium saucepan. Scald heavy cream and tea. Remove from heat and cover with plastic wrap. Let the tea steep in the cream for 30 minutes. Strain out tea leaves and rescald cream. Pour hot mixture over chocolate and whisk until chocolate is fully melted and smooth. Chill chocolate mixture to set.

Scoop chocolate mixture with teaspoon or mini ice cream scoop. Roll each scoop in cocoa to finish.

A quick note on scalding: Scalding is when you heat a liquid - most often milk or cream - until it almost boils. Here's the best practice for scalding from my own experience: Use cream that's at room temperature or close to room temperature to minimize the potential for burning (big temperature differences will give you a higher chance of burning). Use low to medium low heat and stir pretty much constantly. The cream is scalded once small bubbles appear at the edges of the surface.

Steeping the tea in the cream is a flavor infusion method that can be used as the basis for lots of fun experimentation in truffle-making. The recipe above uses Earl Grey green tea, but you can infuse many different flavors into your truffle ganache by steeping the raw ingredients in the cream as it scalds. Here are a few of the ingredients that I've infused this way:

• black tea
  
• lavender
  
• apples (but this one's tricky, because the acidity of the apples can curdle the cream if the apples are too tart, or if the cream is heated too quickly.)
  
• cardamom pods
  
• coffee beans
  
• dried chili peppers and cinnamon bark
  
• vanilla beans
  

Recipe above provided by Lee Napoli of the South End Buttery.

I had the pleasure of having lunch with Larry, co-founder of Taza Chocolate last week. Taza Chocolate is a pure chocolate-maker based in Somerville, MA (which is the very same town I live in). They released their very first bar, a 70%, this past winter, and then followed shortly after with an 80%. So last week I was excited to learn that they are rounding out their line with a third bar, this one a 60%, which will be coming out within a couple weeks. Taza's chocolate bars are stone-ground using antique Mexican molinos (stone grinders). When I was at their chocolate studio a few months ago, the Taza guys explained that using a stone grinder (rather than a steel grinder, which is what most other chocolate-makers use) to process their cacao preserves more of the natural flavor of the bean. They have an online chocolate journal that has some pictures of the molino and explanations of exactly how their chocolate is made.

Taza 60% Stone Ground Organic Dark Chocolate: I have to admit that I shared this bar with all sorts of people and did not end up being able to taste a whole lot of it. But what I did manage to note was its earthiness and bold notes of raisin and spice. The Taza bars most certainly do not fall in the smooth and velvety category. The bars are minimally refined in order to keep the chocolate flavor as close to the natural form and flavor of raw cacao as possible. That said, the mouthfeel is quite textured and a little gritty; overall, a wholly different experience than other pure chocolates. I'll have more indepth tasting notes once the bar comes out.

So once the 60% bar is out, I'll post an update! In the meantime, you can get Taza Chocolate's other bars online or at one of these places.

I went over to the South End for brunch this past Sunday and happed to stop by two boutiques that have been on my places-I-need-to-stop-by list for a while now:

Olde Dutch Cottage Candy: A fascinatingly eclectic space full of antique wares and old school candy. It's all about the classics here - candy lipsticks, rock candy, every kind of gumdrop and taffy among glass jars of Mary Jane candies and Squirrel Nut Zippers (it was a caramel candy made in Massachusetts before it was a band from North Carolina...), and multi-colored candy corn line the crowded counters. Candy necklaces and stuffed animals hang from the ceiling, and the cramped floorspace is stocked with antique tea sets, layers upon layers of crystal dishes, stacks of silver trays, old books, posters, and framed mirrors, various chests and antique wooden furniture pieces. I found all the penny candies that I remember from when I was little - except for flying saucers... but there was so much to look at I might have just missed them. Next time I go in there, I'll have to ask.

Choco Choco House: I've always liked Choco Choco House ever since I discovered chocolatier/founder Aliya Wali's couture chocolate purses a few years ago. Late in Fall 2006, they opened a retail boutique in the South End where they've got chocolate handbags, chocolate shoes, truffles (pictured above), and other chocolate confections. Choco Choco House has always been into using really unique flavors - rose petals, curry powder, chili pepper, lavender, and champagne (no, not all in the same recipe), among classics like cognac and hazelnut. We tried two truffles:

Goat Cheese Truffle: Chocolate and goat cheese is a combination that I have done a lot of experimentation with. As unlikely as it sounds, the tanginess of fresh goat cheese can be a heady, rich complement to chocolate. Sometime I'll have to post my recipe for fig and goat cheese appetizers with chocolate balsamic vinaigrette. Anyway, the Choco Choco House goat cheese truffle sports just a bit of tang - nothing too overpowering. It flirts with your palette, giving you a subtle introduction to a potentially explosive flavor combination. The ganache is coated with dark chocolate and cocoa powder.

Fresh Mint Truffle: This truffle was extremely herbal. It takes a step beyond plain ol' minty freshness and made its way into the grassy, earthier origins of fresh mint leaves. The texture of the ganache is quite firm and dense, similar in style to that of the goat cheese truffle.