Posted by Clay Gordon, August 27, 2008 at 2:30 PM
In my last post I wrote about Hometown Favorites, the chocolate shop that has built strong emotional ties with chocolate fans for generations. As an outsider, it's sometimes hard to locate these gems while traveling but they're typically worth seeking out. A couple of years ago, my family members were in Buffalo, New York, and dropped off some sponge candy from Fowler's Chocolates (founded in 1901) for me.
Sponge, also known as honeycomb, is one of my all-time childhood favorites, but very few people make it anymore. I have to buy it wherever I find it.
For the past six or seven years I've been road-tripping every summer to Burlington, Vermont, and it's no surprise that many chocolates are being made in Vermont. Some of the key ingredients in confections—high quality dairy products—are readily available here.
The Predictable Vermont Chocolates
If you spend some time along Church Street, the spectacular pedestrian mall that anchors downtown Burlington, you might be tempted to believe that Vermont has no hometown favorite chocolates. Yes, I know all about Lake Champlain Chocolates and even Birnn Chocolate. There's even a Lindt store on Church Street.
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Posted by Lucy Baker, August 25, 2008 at 1:00 PM
From classic cakes, tarts, and cookies, to newfangled churros, marshmallows, and pain perdu, the recipes in this week's Cook the Book selection all have one key ingredient in common: chocolate, and lots of it.
In Chocolate Epiphany, fêted French pastry chef François Payard (owner of New York's acclaimed Payard Pâtisserie & Bistro and author of two previous cookbooks, Bite Size and Simply Sensational Desserts) turns his attention exclusively to chocolate, in all its luscious incantations.
The 100 recipes range in difficulty from simple-yet-impressive chocolate crème brûlées and chocolate-honey madeleines (perfect for beginner home cooks) to show-stopping chocolate gâteau de crêpes with green tea cream and chocolate pavlovas with chocolate mascarpone mousse (a sumptuous challenge for ambitious bakers). According to François, his purpose in writing this book was to "give you options to explore chocolate at whatever level you with to make irresistible desserts for loved ones."
In addition to chapters devoted to Breads and Brunch; Cookies and Petit Fours; Candies and Chocolates; Custards, Mousses, Meringues and Ice Cream; Tarts; Cakes; and Plated Desserts, François includes special sections devoted to "The Many Shapes of Chocolate" (such as bars, chips, and nibs), and tips on how to store chocolate, prevent seizing when melting, and properly temper it for a perfect, glossy finish.
Win 'Chocolate Epiphany'
We’ll be excerpting a recipe from Chocolate Epiphany each day this week. In addition, you can enter to win one of five (5) copies of this delectable dessert compendium. Simply tell us in the comments section below: if you could eat chocolate only once more in your lifetime, what would you have?
Five (5) people will be chosen at random from among eligible comments below. Comments will close Monday, September 1 at noon ET. The standard Serious Eats contest rules apply.
Posted by Robyn Lee, August 22, 2008 at 4:45 PM
For the person in your life who loves eating a bite-sized piece of chocolate every hour in a controlled setting, get them the Chococlock. The clock releases a piece of chocolate once an hour. Grab the piece within its 30-second exposure to the outside world and the calories are all yours! If you miss your scheduled appointment with the chocolate, you'll have to wait another hour. Or press the cheat button that releases a piece on demand. Or just open a bag of chocolate candies. Bonus feature: the Chococlock also dispenses non-chocolate matter, like Skittles, or Advil! [via Gizmodo]
Previously: Wake N' Bacon Alarm Clock: The Best Sleep-Ending Device Ever
Posted by Erin Zimmer, August 18, 2008 at 5:00 PM
Somewhere in between writing Cthulhu Mythos, Necronomicon, and other horror fiction, 20th century author H.P. Lovecraft might have enjoyed a stint as a Whitman's Sampler copywriter. Shifting from macabre folklore to confectioneries could be a nice change of pace, no? McSweeney's writer Luke Burns thought so, creating these Lovecraftian descriptions for Whitman's Sampler sweets.
For the white chocolate truffle:
The horror of the unearthly, corpselike pallor of this truffle's complexion is only offset by its fiendish deliciousness.
For the peanut butter cup:
In 1856, a fisherman from a tiny hamlet on the New England coast made a terrible pact with serpentine beasts from beneath the sea, that he might create the most delicious sweet seen upon the Earth since the days of the great Elder Race. Thus was forged the satanic pact between peanut butter and chocolate...
Chocolate and night terrors, teamed up like never before!
Posted by Clay Gordon, August 6, 2008 at 2:00 PM
A couple of years ago after giving a chocolate tasting, I was approached by a husband and wife from the audience who boldly announced to me, "We know what the best chocolate in the world is."
Naturally, I was intrigued, so I asked the name (which I do not remember) and had to admit that I'd never heard of the place, which was in a small town near Turin, Italy. As I'd never been to the town nor heard of the shop, I was not able to offer an opinion about whether or not the chocolate actually was the best in the world.
The man went on to explain that they happened across the chocolate shop while he and his wife were on their honeymoon. At this point I knew that there was nothing I could do to convince these two that the chocolate wasn't the best in the world because it had nothing to do with the chocolate—and everything to do with their memories of the emotions surrounding the experience of eating the chocolate.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, July 26, 2008 at 12:30 PM
Chocolate pudding from Amy's Bread in New York City.
July 26 is National Chocolate Pudding Day! Celebrate this random and momentous occasion by stuffing your face with the beloved spoonable chocolate-flavored dessert. Here are some recipes to help you enjoy it at home:
Posted by Robyn Lee, July 25, 2008 at 12:15 PM
Boing Boing TV takes us into the factory of San Francisco-based chocolate manufacturing company TCHO. Founder Timothy Childs, former space shuttle technologist, shows us how Space Shuttle tape, a RONCO turkey oven, and stone grinders are used in the Research and Development lab, and how computer vision techniques are reducing labor. Also, learn about the science behind the crystallization of chocolate. Watch the video after the jump.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, July 24, 2008 at 10:15 AM
Photograph from rahims on Flickr
This chocolate bar was so close to being the chocolate bar of my Internet meme dreams; it just needs a space between the "O" and the "RLY."
If the word "ORLY" reminds you of an airport in Paris and not a snowy owl, then you are safely beyond the grasp of the Internet's attempt to destroy your brain. Not in this category: ytmnd's many ORLY chocolate homages (warning: annoying music automatically plays).. [via Neatorama]
Posted by Erin Zimmer, July 24, 2008 at 7:30 AM
Pretzels, strawberries, and bananas do their share of bathing in chocolate, but bacon? These indulgent strips are a new item at Marini's Candies in Santa Cruz, California, brought to our attention by Serious Eater Fast Food Critic. Do we consider this pushing bacon's limits? Or accentuating its beauty?
Yet another sign that bacon is taking over the world.
Posted by Clay Gordon, July 23, 2008 at 2:15 PM
Photograph of a longitudinal conche at the Felchlin factory in Schywz, Swtizerland.
As an invited guest and featured speaker at the 100th anniversary celebration for major chocolate company Max Felchlin AG in Switzerland last week, I was reminded that chocolate didn't possess the smooth, creamy texture we take for granted today until Rudolphe Lindt invented the conche in 1879.
The Swiss are famous for producing chocolates with a very fine "mouth feel," achieved through a number of manufacturing secrets, last of which is "conching." Perhaps apocryphal, the creation story of the conche says that Lindt, well known for his chocolate manufacturing techniques, left his lab one Friday afternoon to go hunting for the weekend, but forgot to turn off a piece of machinery. When he returned to the lab on Monday morning, he found the machine still running and the chocolate inside, transformed.
The conching process delivers several important improvements to chocolate's taste and texture.
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Posted by Raphael, July 23, 2008 at 12:30 PM
Judging from the preview episode that aired this past Sunday night, the new Dinner Impossible with Michael Symon looks like a winner. This episode takes place in Wildwood, New Jersey, with a challenge to make "upscale boardwalk food" for 600 people using the boardwalk's vendors and supplies. In a stroke of brilliance, Symon gets the venerable Laura's Fudge to help make chocolate-covered bacon with almonds. Video of the bacon after the jump.
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Posted by Clay Gordon, July 9, 2008 at 10:30 AM
Photo composite by Clay Gordon, photographs from stock.xchng
So far, one food crop that has proved resistant to genetic engineering is cacao. However, that may change as a result of a new study, funded by Mars, Inc., to completely analyze the more than 400 million base pairs in the cacao genome. (The human genome has about three billion base pairs.)
The reasons given for undertaking this research effort, which Mars is funding to the tune of more than $10 million, are to help identify traits that make cacao trees susceptible to the entire range of diseases, pests, and environmental stresses such as drought. Oh, and maybe even find some genes that contribute to taste.
Why Research The Cacao Genome?
While only a very small amount of cacao is grown in the US (currently only a few tens of tonnes, all on various Hawaiian islands), one reason for undertaking the study is that for every dollar of cocoa imported into the US, between one and two dollars of domestic agricultural products are used in the production of chocolate products. Mars, for example, is the nation's largest purchaser of whole peanuts, as well as a major buyer of milk products and sweeteners.
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Posted by Clay Gordon, July 3, 2008 at 7:00 PM
Photo composite by Clay Gordon
Celebrating our nation's independence with chocolate? Now that's a revolutionary idea. And, no, I'm not talking about a totally new form of chocolate or a new chocolate flavor, or even about the possibilities that a complete map of the cacao genome might create—I'm talking about the American Revolution and chocolate in observation of tomorrow's 4th of July festivities.
Like Father's Day, Independence Day is not one of those holidays where people think a lot about chocolate. First off, it's the middle of summer and if people are thinking about chocolate, it's in a frozen form (milkshakes, ice creams, and the like) as regular chocolate melts and gets messy. Secondly, where's the connection between chocolate and securing our independence from the British?
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Posted by Sarah Wolf, June 26, 2008 at 6:15 PM
Who needs peanut butter or caramel when you can fill your chocolate bar with radium? Sold by Burk & Braun of Germany from 1931 to 1936, this candy was promoted for "its rejuvenation power," believe it or not. But apparently this was normal back then—people had some strange notions about radium's "therapeutic" qualities, adding it to everything toothpaste to baby blankets. Not exactly the same as putting the other kind of coke in Coke, but not far off either.
Posted by Clay Gordon, June 25, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Box of chocolates from Bouchon Bakery in New York City. Photograph taken by Robyn Lee.
What makes a great chocolate great? Taste? Texture? Aroma? Snap? Marketing? Beans? Fermentation? Roasting? Something else? All of the above?
Identifying great chocolate is sort of like knowing art when you see it. It's hard to describe but instantly recognizable. And answering the question of what attributes constitute a great chocolate brings us no closer to an understanding of what it takes to actually make a great chocolate (bar or confection).
It is my belief that while selecting a "best" chocolate is a personal and subjective decision—it's all about individual taste preferences—identifying great chocolates is objective in the sense that a group of trained chocolate professionals can all agree when they come across it.
More Than Just Taste
It goes without saying that a great chocolate engages all of the senses. A great chocolate has to look inviting, smell glorious, make an alluring sound when we snap it or bite into it, and feel luscious in the mouth. The taste then has to invoke one of the OMG responses: Oh [pause] My [pause] God, or, ohmigawd!
It is fair to say that a great chocolate not only has no defects but that it has a certain indefinable something that transports it out of the realm of the merely very good. How do I know a great chocolate when I eat it? Well, like I said, it's like recognizing art.
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Posted by Sarah Wolf, June 12, 2008 at 10:30 AM
No, someone did not sneak an iPhone into the pile of strawberries next to the fondue pot. That's because no one wants his iPhone to be eaten—which makes Homade's chocolate bar-inspired Chococase iPhone protector seem like a somewhat dangerous idea. If it were my $400 gadget extraordinaire, I would rather decrease the chances that someone might try to take a bite out of it. Besides, brown rubber kind of ruins the high-tech appeal. Still, I guess it is sort of cool looking. Just keep it away from anyone who looks hungry and nearsighted. [via Boing Boing Gadgets]
Posted by Clay Gordon, June 11, 2008 at 11:30 AM
Dads deserve chocolate too!
When you think about the holidays where gifting chocolate is popular, Father's Day does not immediately come to mind. There's Halloween and Easter, of course, and Christmas—the biggest holiday for gifting chocolate there is. And let's not overlook the timeless appeal of Chanukah gelt. Then there's the oh-so-very romantic pair of Valentine's Day and Mother's Day.
Father's Day lacks respect, from the chocolate perspective, because people don't think chocolate is manly and that any self-respecting Dad who's not jonesing for power tools, a riding lawnmower, or personal watercraft really doesn't understand what Father's Day is all about. However, as a Dad and a chocophile, I prefer to think that it is gifters' attitude toward chocolate that really needs to be addressed. Not all chocolate is for wussies and Dads who crave chocolate shouldn't be made to feel that they somehow less than "adequate" if they ask for it.
Let's start at the top—the top of the cocoa content spectrum, that is. There are a number of what I call "heavyweight" chocolates—85 per cent cocoa content and above.
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Posted by Clay Gordon, June 4, 2008 at 10:45 AM
White chocolate sits among the milk and the dark—they're family.
Among all the controversial subjects in chocolate, perhaps the most controversial is the question, "Is white chocolate really chocolate?" It's a question that evokes almost religious fervor and is akin to the question, "Mac or PC?"
Naysayers point to the fact that white chocolate only contains cocoa butter and no cocoa powder (which is what gives chocolate its color) and in order to be truly chocolate it has to contain both.
On the other hand, the FDA says that there is such a thing as white chocolate. In the US, white chocolate must contain a minimum of 20 per cent cocoa butter, not less than 3.5 per cent milkfat, and 14 per cent milk solids. White chocolate may contain up to 55 per cent nutritive carbohydrate sweetener (sugar).
So, like it or not, yes, Virginia, there is a white chocolate. Even though it's little more than really sweet fat.
What few people stop to think about however, are questions like, "Why does white chocolate taste so bland?" and "What is it about white chocolate that people find attractive?" Fortunately for you I am one of those few who have, and here's what I've learned.
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Posted by Sarah Wolf, May 25, 2008 at 4:00 PM
If you're not sure exactly how to approach fudgy brownies, Matthew Amster-Burton is your go-to guy. He answers his own comprehensive list of cocoa powder FAQs on Culinate. The article enlightens chocolate lovers about uses, measurement, fanciness, and Dutched vs. natural. A sample insight:
Q: Is higher-fat or lower-fat cocoa better?
A: You’re kidding, right?
Related
What's the best cocoa powder for chocolate cake?
What brand cocoa powder is most chocolaty for baking?
Your favorite hot cocoa recipe
Posted by Adam Kuban, May 22, 2008 at 1:45 PM
The limited-edition Indiana Jones Snickers bar. What makes it Indy-worthy? It has a hint of coconut in it. And can I just say that that little addition makes all the difference?
You know how when Indy had that medallion thingy that needed to go on the top of the staff and then the sunlight would shine through it and reveal the location of the Ark of the Covenant on that miniature city in the tomb?
And you know how that Nazi dude with the black hat and round glasses burned only half the medallion on his hand and tried to use it to create a reproduction medallion to do the same thing? And remember how that didn't quite work?
Well, the coconut-tinged Snickers is like Indy's medallion, and regular Snickers is the fake-ass Nazi one. I wish they'd keep the Indy Snickers FOREVER. Sadly, it will eventually be locked away in Indiana Jones's Nazi Loot Storage Warehouse. Innard shots, after the jump.
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Posted by Clay Gordon, May 21, 2008 at 11:30 AM
Despite everything you have probably heard about the number 70 and chocolate, there is absolutely no (none, nada, zilch) relationship between cocoa content and chocolate quality.
70 per cent is a quantitative measure not a qualitative measure. The only thing that the cocoa content of a chocolate tells you is what percentage of the chocolate, by weight, is derived from actual cocoa beans. It does not tell you, for example, the relative amounts of cocoa butter and cocoa powder, which have a profound affect on texture and taste.
Just as an 86 proof vodka is not better than an 80 proof vodka just because it has 3 per cent more alcohol, a 70 per cent cocoa content chocolate is not better than a 65 per cent cocoa content chocolate just because it has 5 per cent more cocoa.
The proof content of a spirit tells you nothing at all about the ingredients used to make it, the processes or equipment used, the skill of the person or people who make it, and absolutely nothing at all about what the spirit tastes like, what it smells like, or how smooth it is.
The same holds true for chocolate: the cocoa content is not a clue to anything except...the cocoa content. The number 70 provides absolutely no information about the quality of the cocoa beans, if those cocoa beans were processed properly, how the beans were roasted, how much and what kind of vanilla (if any) was used to make the chocolate, what the chocolate tastes like, what it smells like, or what the texture is. And it is not a reliable indicator of how "healthy" the chocolate might be.
Come again? If there's no connection, why is there this fixation on the number 70?
It's a case of marketing hype, pure and simple.
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Posted by Clay Gordon, May 14, 2008 at 11:00 AM
I was reminded while doing some grocery shopping recently just how important it is to pay attention to what you put in your cart and how you can't always trust your old stand-by brands, especially when those brands start showing up on products outside the area the company built its reputation on.
Case in point: Land O'Lakes®. I've always thought pretty highly of their dairy products and it really didn’t surprise me when I noticed their name on some bags of powdered hot chocolate mixes. What did surprise me was the phrase on the front of a bag of Land O'Lakes Triple Chocolate International Drinking Cocoa™ ... "Brimming With Chocolatey Flakes."
Just between you, me, and everyone else who is going to read this–chocolatey is shorthand for faux-chocolate. Even though the FDA legalized white chocolate in 2002 (a crime against chocolate according to most chocolate lovers) they actually do regulate the use of the word chocolate very closely; a food or ingredient must contain a minimum percentage of ingredients that actually come from a cocoa bean in order to call itself chocolate.
So, when Land O'Lakes says that their Triple Chocolate International Drinking Cocoa is Brimming With Chocolatey Flakes what they're really telling you is not to expect much actual chocolate in the product. A glance at the lengthy list of ingredients reveals just how true this is.
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Posted by Clay Gordon, May 9, 2008 at 10:00 AM
"The best place to store chocolate is in your mouth."
Phinney Chocolate "inclusion" bars, here with curry.
Consider this fact for a moment: more than 90 percent of Americans consume chocolate in some form every day.
Americans are obviously fascinated by chocolate. The retail chocolate business in the United States is more than $15 billion annually. That makes the United States the largest market for chocolate in the world. While it is true that Americans might not eat as much chocolate per capita as other countries, the fact that there are over 300 million chocolate eaters in the US compared with only 7.5 million in Switzerland, the country with the highest per capita consumption, lets the United States take the overall crown by a wide margin.
I have been writing about chocolate and giving chocolate appreciation classes for a decade now. One question that Americans obsess about when it comes to chocolate also happens to be one of the major differences that separates Americans from the rest of the world when it comes to appreciating fine chocolate: "What's the best way to store chocolate?" The answer I now invariably give is, "The best place to store chocolate is in your mouth."
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Posted by Erin Zimmer, April 29, 2008 at 10:45 AM
While at Baja Fresh last week, I noticed a basket of saran-wrapped cookies near the register. Each label said "Aztec Chocolate Chunk Cookie" and the lady who just rang up my steak tostada looked at me and swore, "They are really, really good." The ingredients didn't look too 13th century Aztec: enriched bleached wheat flour, dextrose, palm oil, high fructose corn syrup. There was one mention of "spices" near the bottom, but nothing specific about chili peppers or aromatic flowers, an integral part of the original Aztec recipe.
Cinnamony and buttery, the cookie was good—the lady was right—but not necessarily Aztec-y. According to folklore, the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl descended from heaven with a cocoa plant and since sugar wasn't around, the Mesoamericans used hot chili peppers to zazz up the otherwise dull brown beans. Baja Fresh, on the other hand, embraces modern sugar availability (both brown and white are listed), and the chili pepper content is questionable. Would Quetzalcoatl be ashamed of this and other packaged renditions of his ancient treat?
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Posted by Gina DePalma, April 29, 2008 at 8:30 AM
It is nearly impossible to visit Torino without having a deep, personal encounter with chocolate in some way, shape, or form. Solid chocolate was born in the city toward the end of the 18th century, and today its aroma wafts through the air inside pastry shops and beckons from elaborately decorated window displays. There are oodles of places to worship chocolate in Torino, but during a recent whirlwind trip I was most excited about visiting the bottega of Guido Gobino. The elegant, wood-paneled shop on Via Lagrange presents a traditional setting for handmade chocolates with a decidedly modern edge.
Enter the shop and your eyes are immediately drawn to the display of tiny, molded chocolates filled with different flavors of ganache and decorated with touches of color; a dusting of spice or a sprinkling of pulverized nuts give clues to the flavors enclosed. Peperoncino, mint, hazelnut, and orange were each delectable, and my friend Jay and I nearly swooned when we tasted the ganache flavored with Barolo Chinato.
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Posted by Adam Kuban, April 28, 2008 at 4:45 PM
Or, 'Nice Work, If You Can Get It'
Scientists in the UK are seeking 150 women to eat chocolate every day for a year in the cause of medical research.
Women taking part in the study must eat one bar of chocolate a day. The trial, at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, eastern England, will test whether a natural compound found in cocoa, the main ingredient of chocolate, could cut the risk of heart disease among women with diabetes.
Qualified applicants will be post-menopausal and under 70 years of age.
Related But Diametrically Opposed: In Videos: Death by Chocolate
Posted by Emily Stone, April 23, 2008 at 10:15 AM
I've been procrastinating a lot this month. There are two things that I do when I procrastinate: eat chocolate and fixate on stuff I find online. And that's how I found myself unwrapping about a dozen five-gram chocolate squares (each one with a funky cacao-pod design indented in it along with the words STARBUCKS CHOCOLATE) while watching a PR video.
The new Starbucks Chocolate line is old chocolate news by now: Cybele at Candy Blog rated everything in the lineup on a scale from one to ten, and Chocophiliac Clay Gordon tried to untangle the complicated corporate web that is Artisan Confections (that is, the confederacy of Hershey-owned subsidiaries Scharffen Berger, Joseph Schmidt, and Dagoba) to figure out who's actually making this stuff. But I wanted to conduct an in-depth analysis myself. So I poured myself a glass of water and cut up some crusty white bread (good palate cleansers) and sat down in front of my laptop with my Starbuck's samples.
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Posted by Raphael, April 13, 2008 at 4:30 PM
April 12th's Saturday Night Live featured three clips of Ashton Kutcher dressed up as a giant chocolate bar with a killer instinct, cute mime clown face and all. Clip after the jump.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, April 9, 2008 at 6:30 PM
Photograph taken by J. Pollack
Just because you can't eat leavened foods during Passover doesn't mean you can't break out the cupcakes; flourless chocolate cupcakes, that is. Try Stef's Kosher-friendly recipe for flourless chocolate cupcakes with chocolate cream cheese frosting for a Moses-approved dessert.
Previously
Photo of the Day: Robot Cupcakes
Photo of the Day: Vampire Cupcakes
Photo of the Day: Meatloaf Cupcake
Photo of the Day: Sweet Cupcakes
Posted by Lucy Baker, April 4, 2008 at 12:30 PM
Brownies aren't merely my preferred dessert; they're one of my all-time favorite foods. Over the years I've learned to bake some pretty amazing varieties, from Susan Spungen's Saucepans to Nigella Lawson's Triple Chocolates. Just stir together some butter, sugar, flour, eggs, and chocolate, and what emerges from the oven is confectionery heaven, decadent and familiar. Nothing could be simpler.
Nothing, that is, except baking them from a box.
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Posted by Emily Stone, April 3, 2008 at 12:30 PM
This is a true story: when I was about five years old, I asked my mother how Moses and his friends had time to stop in the middle of the desert to dip their matzo in chocolate. Turns out I wasn't the only curious kid. This Passover season marks the 20th anniversary of Chuck Siegel's (the Charles of Charles Chocolates) matzo-dipping party. But the whole scene got started with apples—not dipped in honey, but in caramel. Chuck, then owner of Attivo Confections, was vacuum-sealing his candied Granny Smith apples with heavy-duty equipment. "The guy we bought the bags and the machines from was Jewish, and still is Jewish," Siegel said. "And he said, 'my daughter really wants to make some chocolate-covered matzo—can we come over and put some matzo through the enrobing line?'"
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Posted by Erin Zimmer, March 31, 2008 at 1:45 PM
Plague-themed Peeps, candy molds, and chocolates: they're perfect for Passover!
The ten Passover Plagues in Exodus didn't involve much sugar or butter. If only Moses delivered G-d's demands in candy form, then those gnats and ticks could have been chocolate, not infectious insects! With Passover only three weeks away, here's a few candy homages to the anniversary of Egyptian calamities. Mmm, who wants a sugar high from boils and murrain?
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Posted by Emily Stone, March 26, 2008 at 10:00 AM
I'm getting tired of people touting the health benefits of chocolate. I just saw a couple ladies about town ogling Dolfin's "dark chocolate with pink peppercorns from Brazil" bar. "It's dark chocolate," they said, "it's healthy." Uh, yeah, cacao is naturally high in flavanols, and most of the time dark chocolate is packed with more cacao and less sugar than milk chocolate. We all know that by now. But perhaps we have forgotten that pink peppercorns are mildly toxic—imports of the colorful little beads (not true peppercorns at all but the berries of a plant related to poison ivy) were suspended for a period of time in the 1980s by the FDA.
But just because something's bad for you doesn't mean you shouldn't eat it. I bought one of Dolfin's little 30-gram pink peppercorn bars for myself. It was good. It was, um, piquant. No adverse reactions. I'm sure there's not enough pink peppercorn in there to kill you. But I also know that there aren't enough flavanols to save you. It's just candy, people! So eat well, stop at the gym or the yoga studio from time to time, and then, by all means, treat yourself to a strangely seasoned chocolate bar on the way home. Just don't expect too much.
Emily Stone, a food writer and proprietor of Chocolate in Context, is a chocolate enthusiast, itinerant traveler, and a lover of literature who lives in Pittsburgh.
Posted by Robyn Lee, March 25, 2008 at 12:00 PM
What happens when a dark chocolate bunny gets it one with a white chocolate bunny? They lay eggs! And have little milk chocolate bunny babies! The way nature intended.
Watch the miracle of bunny-shaped chocolate life, after the jump.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, March 21, 2008 at 6:15 PM
Transform your marshmallow Peeps into classy (or classier) treats by coating them in salted caramel and dipping them in melted dark chocolate. Roopa has the recipe for these highbrow peeps at her blog, Raspberry Eggplant.
I'd say the only downside to coating the Peeps in caramel and chocolate is that they ultimately look more like like chocolate lumps than vaguely chick-shaped marshmallows, but the loss of form is worth the 500% increase in deliciousness.
Posted by Ed Levine, March 21, 2008 at 1:30 PM
When you walk into Tisserie you're immediately confronted by long, shiny cases of baked goods, sandwiches, and pizzas, an array of stuff we see in many places all over New York. The two classically trained Venezuelan brothers who own Tisserie, Ronald and Morris Harrar, obviously subscribe to the "give the people what they want" school of food retailing.
But I'm going to save you the time and the money involved in trying everything in these cases. You can skip most of the fruity, creamy, or flaky things you see, and you can certainly skip the pizzas, which include one made of smoked turkey and pineapple. Smoked turkey and pineapple! What were they thinking?
So what is worth the money and the calories at Tisserie?
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Posted by Robyn Lee, March 19, 2008 at 10:30 AM
Why had I not heard about the glorious marriage of muffin and goo-filled chocolate treat before reading Nicole Weston's recipe for Cadbury Creme Egg Muffins? Weston say that while you probably wouldn't want to serve these at any regular brunch (but...but maybe I do!), they're good for Easter and may prevent you from eating a bag of Cadbury Mini Creme Eggs all at once, "since you’ll have to eat through each muffin to get to them first." I like that idea; stagger your intake of eggs by wrapping each one in a muffin.
Posted by Robyn Lee, March 17, 2008 at 2:30 PM
If you have patience, dexterity, and the desire to have some classy chocolate egg-shaped treats for Easter, check out these directions for making golden chocolate Easter eggs from the Culinary Institute of America's baking and pastry art professor, Francisco Migoya. All you have to do is empty out some eggshells, fill the empty eggshells with melted chocolate, and paint the eggshells with edible gold paint. It's just a bit more involved than how you decorated eggs in elementary school. [via craftzine.com blog]
Previously:
Peep Inside a Chocolate Egg: The Must-Have Easter Candy
Jacques Torres's Chocolate Egg
Cadbury Royal Dark Mini Eggs
Posted by Emily Stone, March 13, 2008 at 10:15 AM
If you gave up something for Lent this year, chances are it was either carbon emissions or chocolate. And if you fall into the first category, I'd recommend that you celebrate the close of the Lenten season by supporting a business in the city that that put Mardi Gras on the map—New Orleans. Try Sucre on Magazine Street, the year-old business whose owners Tariq Hanna and Joel Dondis have been hailed by the New York Times as plugged-in post-Katrina entrepreneurs.
Their inspirations are mainly Parisian (their macarons are modeled on Ladurée's, and they pack gifts into pink paper purses à la Fauchon) mixed with sultry French Quarter signatures like the Meuniere bon bon (dark chocolate filled with a burnt-butter-and-almond white chocolate ganache).
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Posted by Robyn Lee, March 10, 2008 at 12:15 PM
Editor's note: This week, it's, like, omigawd, totally '80s for our daily In Videos segment. Big hair, breakdancing, and before-they-were-big celebrity commercial appearances to the max. So kick back your fat-laced high tops and take a chill pill. —The Serious Eats Team
How did Hershey and Pringles manage to peddle their addictive snacks to the young, impressionable youth of the '80s? Through the power of breakdancing. And not just any breakdancing, but the kind that can only be accomplished by an entire student body moving in perfect harmony to a beat brought forth by a crazed desire for junk food.
After the jump, check out these commercials and a bonus video of a tween Alfonso Ribeiro (aka Carlton Banks) teaching you how to breakdance.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, March 6, 2008 at 6:00 PM
Candyblog awards the Easter candy, Marshmallow Peeps inside a Milk Chocolate Egg, a 5 out of 10, or "Pleasant" on a scale of "Inedible" to "Superb." Guess what it's made of? Just guess!
So yes, this is where Peeps come from—within the thick concave walls of "passable" milk chocolate. Some of Candyblog's commenters pointed out that with some graham crackers and a source of heat, this candy could double as filling for s'mores. Granted, the Peep would die in the process, but it all ends up in the same place anyway.
Previously: DIY Peeps, WaPo Peeps Diorama Contest, Pimp Your Peeps, Ten Plagues of Peeps.
Posted by Emily Stone, March 5, 2008 at 11:00 AM
The staff at the Vancouver Four Seasons have been known stock VIP suites with chocolate-coated vanilla and smoked Hawaiian sea salt caramels and Earl Grey and blue cornflower bon bons from favorite local chocolatier Thomas Haas (the hotel's former pastry chef). Guests can also call down to the concierge to arrange an "Urban Bites" culinary tour of the Canadian city, which leads through the dim sum parlors of Chinatown and the local produce markets on Granville Island before making a final stop at Haas's headquarters in North Vancouver. Alternatively, industrious chocolate fiends can their own way around Vancouver, where the mild Pacific Coastal climate is incredibly inviting to chocolatiers.
A few places to consider:
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Posted by Robyn Lee, March 3, 2008 at 6:15 PM
Photographs taken by Rachel Ben
How well do you know your candy bar innards? Test your knowledge by taking the Candy Bar Identification Quiz. Whether this is a quiz you want to score high on is debatable.
Candy bar photographer Rachel Been has set up the blog Cross Sectioning to document "the innards of things." [via Slashfood]
Posted by Robyn Lee, February 28, 2008 at 11:30 AM
I love Cybele's semi-scathing in-depth review of Palmer's hollow chocolate flavored bunny. Yes, chocolate flavored—cocoa is the fourth ingredient. Cybele explains just how much of an effective role it plays in the nuances of flavor possessed by this bunny-shaped mass:
Sometimes I wonder if Palmer is doing the cocoa industry a service by buying beans that would otherwise be turned into compost or rot in the co-op storehouses. I don’t think I’d mind their products if they were sold as “biodegradable decorations” ... but sadly the appearance of a nutrition label seems to indicate they really do think people want to eat it.
"Biodegradable decorations" is my new favorite euphemism for "crappy chocolate."
Posted by Robyn Lee, February 27, 2008 at 10:45 AM
Japanese architect Oki Sato has teamed up with patissier Tsujiguchi Hironobu of Mont St. Clair and Le Chocolat de H to create what may be the only dessert to feature something you may find in your office supplies cabinet. Their new chocolate pencils come with an accompanying "pencil shaver" that allows the diner to shave chocolate onto their dessert. [via Cool Hunting]
Posted by Emily Stone, February 20, 2008 at 9:30 AM
Photograph courtesy of Peter Costantinidis
With about a dozen banquette seats sandwiched between flame-red walls, and with just as many hot chocolate flavors (American-style dark chocolate, Venezuelan chile spice, coconut curry, Chinese five-spice, passion fruit, raspberry, citrus, peanut butter, hazelnut, mint, mocha, and espresso), the new Christopher Elbow Artisanal Chocolate shop is open for business in San Francisco's Hayes Valley. Christopher Elbow flew in from his home base in Kansas City, Missouri, to open the doors just nine days before Valentine's Day, with a lineup featuring his signature Peanut Praline with Pop Rocks bon bon and a special-edition Absinthe Ganache candy, named for the restaurant across the street.
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Posted by Robyn Lee, February 19, 2008 at 12:00 PM
Cadbury's latest ad campaign for their Creme Eggs shows the eggs using creative methods to release their creamy innards because "Creme Eggs only want one thing: to let their goo out." I see this more as a collection of ideas for how to commit suicide if you're a Creme Egg, but maybe the eggs continue to live on even after they've been smashed and sliced and...um...maybe not.
Watch the candy carnage after the jump.
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Posted by Emily Koh, February 14, 2008 at 2:15 PM
Thank you notes get a "sweet" upgrade with Tokyo Super Sweets' Arigachoco. Based on a fusion of the Japanese word for "thank you" (arigato) and "chocolate," these chocolates (green tea-flavored, enrobed in a white chocolate coating) come with a QR code on the box. Scan the code with your cell phone and you'll receive a message of thanks that the sender picked for you (all ending cutely with "Arigachoco!"). Saves you from buying all that unnecessary stationery, eh? [via Trends in Japan]
Posted by Robyn Lee, February 14, 2008 at 12:15 PM
Have you ever wondered what chocolates do on Valentine's Day? Contrary to popular belief, they're not just inanimate objects incapable of showing true love—they can totally get their freak on.
Watch the chocolate mating ritual after the jump. Somewhat NSFW, more so if you have your sound turned up.
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Posted by Erin Zimmer, February 13, 2008 at 10:30 PM
When You Care Enough to Give the Very Worst
Candy can be a beautiful thing, but throw Valentine's Day into the equation and suddenly every candy company unloads the kitschiest, tackiest, most undelicious confection onto the shelves. Sometimes it's the thought that counts, but other times, it's just a waste of perfectly good sugar—and, potentially, a relationship killer. We went on a hunt to find the best of the worst so you could see how bad it really is out there.
Worst Disney Character On a Stick
Add this to the nauseating marshmallow lollipop genre, except ... wait. Serious Eats intern Emily Koh—who probably loves Disneyland and Thunder Mountain and Minnie deep down—wanted no part in the taste-test. And who can blame her? The confection had all the, ahem, subtle aroma of undiluted lemon-scented floor cleaner. Disney should really get a grip on brand image.
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Posted by Emily Stone, February 13, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Cosmic Chocolate's Carly Baumann knows how to groove with the best of them. Her lips—and her chocolates—are always sparkling, and her candymaking goal, in her own words, is to "create luscious bites of elation and share with you our feelings of desire, expectancy, and satisfaction." So, no, Baumann didn't just pour melted chocolate into heart-shape molds, pop them out, and tie them up with red ribbons this Valentine's Day. Instead, she developed the Cosmic Bliss Heart Collection, whose flavors—Espresso Cognac, Lemon Basil, Black Current Violet, "Gianduya," Peanut Butter Honey, Passion Fruit, Red Hot Cinnamon, Sea Salt Caramel, and Strawberry Champagne—anticipate the full range of libidinous urges. The entire nine-piece collection costs $20.
And in case you want to experiment elsewhere, here are some bursting heart alternatives:
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Posted by Raphael, February 12, 2008 at 6:45 PM
Word-nerds and chocolate lovers rejoice: Chocolate Scrabble has arrived. [via swissmiss and A Full Belly]
Posted by Ed Levine, February 12, 2008 at 7:00 AM
Growing up in New York our local boxed chocolate of choice was either Barton's or Barricini's. That was what my grandmother would have at her apartment in the Bronx. I don't know if either of them was any better than Whitman's or Russell Stover, but they were my grandmother's choice and she doted on me, so I loved those chocolates.
When I moved out to Los Angeles for my senior year of high school I was crushed to find no boxed candy I recognized. There was See's right near our house, but out of loyalty to my grandmother's choices, I never went in.
Fast forward almost 40 years later. A month ago I found myself searching for a reasonably priced chocolate to recommend to friends for Valentine's Day. I couldn't in good conscience recommend Whitman's or Russell Stover, because let's face it, they're both pretty awful. I don't think Barricini's even exists any more, and Barton's is not what it once was.
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The New York Times is reporting that several big chocolate companies in Europe are being investigated for price-gouging, just in time for Valentine's Day. That is the definition of cold-hearted corporate behavior.
Don't know what to get for that special someone this Valentine's Day? How about a chocolate fish to embody your limitless love? It comes accompanied by the witty sayings, "You're A Keeper" and "I'm Hooked On You." Get it?...yeah, okay. [via Candy Addict]
Posted by Emily Stone, February 6, 2008 at 11:00 AM
The first time I saw a Guittard's Nocturne 91% Cacao Extra Dark Chocolate Bar (which quietly crept onto the market last July) was at the New York Chocolate Show. Guittard's director of sales Mark Spini handed one to me. And, just as quickly, he snatched it away. "You can't eat this now," he said. You see, I was hanging around the Guittard booth with Andrew Shotts of Garrison Confections (Guittard's former pastry chef) and Amy Rosenfield of the Mon Aimee Chocolat boutique in Pittsburgh (which keeps both Guittard and Garrison products in stock). And we were drinking a bottle of Zinfandel. Mark explained that I couldn't possibly taste his super-dark, super-complex bar with a wine as heavy as a Zin. He told me to pop a milk chocolate in my mouth instead. The Zin was not for the Nocturne.
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Posted by Ed Levine, February 6, 2008 at 7:00 AM
Chocolate malt balls from Jacques Torres
Valentine's Day is fast approaching and you've got to deliver the goods. You cannot go wrong ordering from any chocolatier I mention below—each one on my list represents fair value when it comes to chocolate. Good chocolate is made with high-quality expensive ingredients by people with know-how and experience. When it comes to chocolate, you don't always get what you pay for, but with these particular makers that is indeed the case.
This isn't the first time I have tried to come to your aid chocolatewise. Holiday time in 2006 I tried to get people to give chocolate every day of the 12 days of Christmas by renaming the holiday Chocomas—alas, nobody embraced this idea.
The picks from my 2006 chocolate gift guide are still good to go. So are the inside-out peanut butter cups, ultimate nougat bars, nut clusters, and butter crunch from 2007's Serious Eats Sweets Gift Guide. And if your significant other is a brownie lover, let me remind you about Mari's. But after the jump I'll turn you on to my latest and greatest chocolate discoveries.
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Posted by The Serious Eats Team, February 4, 2008 at 5:00 PM
Valentine's Day is just around the corner, so with the next two Cook the Book selections we will concern ourselves with sweets appropriate for the occasion. The first of our cookbooks for exploration is Alice Medrich's Chocolate Holidays: Unforgettable Desserts for Every Season
. The book is geared toward people who love baking but might not have the time to devote to it, so each of its recipes has been chosen for brevity and ease of preparation.
The first of these will be along in a few minutes, but first, we'd like to let you know you can win a copy of this book. All you have to do is answer in the comments below: How do you indulge in chocolate? Hot cocoa? Chocolate cake? A rich and creamy pudding? Chocolate bars?
Winners will be chosen at random from among the commenters, and comments will be open until noon ET, Monday, February 11. The standard Serious Eats contest rules apply.
Posted by Gordon Mark, January 31, 2008 at 3:30 PM
Someone should make this life-size chocolate keyboard, which is, unfortunately, only a concept at this point. While it probably wouldn't work as a functional keyboard (the keys would either melt or get munched), it would be quite the geeky goodness. [via Gizmodo]
Posted by Robyn Lee, January 30, 2008 at 12:45 PM
As much as I love seeing giant balls of chocolate getting bathed in layers of more chocolate, it's the 80's soundtrack of this video that propels it into a higher level of awesomeness.
Turn your volume up and see what I mean after the jump.
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Posted by Emily Stone, January 30, 2008 at 10:15 AM
Since 1903, there's been more going on in Hershey, PA, than in any of the surrounding towns in Pennsylvania dairy country. In the early part of the twentieth century, chocolate baron Milton Hershey built a park, a zoo, and an amusement park, in addition to an orphanage and a hospital. In 1973, the elaborate Hershey's Chocolate World opened for official tours, offering a window into the chocolate-making process. In 2006, the company updated the Chocolate Tour Ride so that the scenes of dairy farming in the US and cacao harvesting abroad now look a more like something from this century and less
