Recently in Brands of Chocolate Category
Given the chocolatier's tendency to mix any old thing with chocolate, there's no lack of extreme chocolate products for us cacao lovers to experiment with. On this site, we've happily provided you with reviews and recipes for such things for years now.
But humans are endlessly inventive with chocolate, so the parade continues! Here are a few interesting items we haven't covered before. If they're not all new, they're definitely newish. Each has its charms, so start buying and dig right in!
I've found the rainbow of Japanese Kit Kat flavors to be a thing of awe and wonder ever since I first heard about Baked Corn, a popular flavor in the Hokkaido region of the Land of the Rising Sun. Who'd have thought that anyone would actually try combining corn and chocolate?
Well, I should know better: after all, there's such a thing as chocolate sauerkraut cake, which actually tastes kind of good. So why not Baked Corn Kit Kat bars?
You might think that all chocolate is vegan chocolate, but you'd be wrong.
Despite the fact that chocolate is made from the cacao bean, which is indisputably a fruit, chocolate almost invariably contains other ingredients... and some of those ingredients can't be considered truly vegan by a long shot.
Just like a fine wine, a fine chocolate engages not just your sense of taste, but also your sense of smell. Some chocolates might have more of an earthy palate, while others might evoke the scent of jasmine or tobacco. How well can you recognize the different aromas in different chocolates?
Chocolate aficionados argue that single origin chocolate is special in the same sense as a regional wine or coffee variety. Cacao beans grown in a particular area of the world make it special, sometimes even from a specific town or cacao plantation.
Despite the name, Endangered Species Chocolate isn't made from rare things like white tigers and spotted owls. While that would be extreme indeed (if somewhat gruesome and quite irresponsible), ESC is one of the good guys. They're a company that produces fine, environmentally-sensitive chocolates.
In this week's exciting episode, we'll provide a miniature portrait of a company that's as well known for its humanitarian and environmental conservation efforts as for its incredibly tasty, purely organic chocolate candies.
Since its debut at Chicago's Candy Expo in June 2006, bubble chocolate has become a favorite treat among American chocoholics. A star turn on The Today Show along the way certainly didn't hurt. A taste sensation in Europe since the 1940s, it's taken a while to jump the pond -- but rumor said it was worth the wait.
That being the case, we decided recently that it was about time for us to determine whether it is, in fact, extreme enough to become an X-Choc favorite. After extensive research, we decided that it is indeed; and in this article, we'll tell you why.
Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, special birthdays -- what occasion doesn't deserve beautiful chocolate desserts? And if you're a real chocolate connoisseur, not just any chocolate dessert will do: you demand the best, the most extravagant, the most lavish and richly presented chocolate desserts in existence!
Fortunately, you're not alone. There are others out there who crave gourmet chocolate desserts, and we've found just the place for you to find them: Vosges Haut Chocolate.
That's right: Hotel Hershey has created the Hershey chocolate spa, specifically designed for chocoholics. Not only is this beautiful hotel a luxurious, beautiful spot in is own right, now you can visit its spa and take full advantage of themed treatments.
Caramel, fudge, and cherry crème are hardly unusual chocolate flavors. In fact, you find them in every box of Christmas candies, right alongside other standbys like mint, coconut, and orange crème. If you're dealing with a really adventurous company, you might find something like chilies or cereal crunch hidden in your chocolate delight. But that's not the end of the story when it comes to chocolate flavors!
Fusion cuisine, the newest trend in cooking, means blending flavors that don't traditionally go together and, well, seeing what happens. In the world of chocolate, that means some pretty interesting ideas, ranging from pop rocks buried in chocolate truffles to olive and balsamic vinegar laced treats.
