Bernard Castelain Noir Cafe

Bernard Castelain's Noir Cafe has been sitting on my pantry shelf for a good year. I simply haven't had time to try it yet. Of course, it also belongs to my "collection of food," an odd assortment of foodstuffs that I've bought which, for some reason, I never got around to eating.

It's not that I didn't want to, but rather that I never matched up a moment of looking at it with a moment of wanting to eat it.

This is good chocolate. Really good chocolate. Michel-Cluizel-good chocolate.

It's deep, rich, has a slightly smoky, slightly astringent aftertaste. That's when the coffee flavor kicks in. It's a coffee that reminds me of the finest coffee I ever had. We were in the Provence, just starting a vacation. Arriving late in the evening, we ate late. Late for Americans at least, right on time for the French.

After a delicious dinner of fish, I ordered a coffee, and received an espresso-like cup of dreams. The coffee flavor in this chocolate is that good.

It also doesn't hurt that this chocolate reminds me of that evening in Provence, over a year ago, with the heat of August beating down on us, even after dark.

While the snow falls here in Stuttgart.

Rating:

1: Better than sex

2: Little bites of heaven

3: Share with your best friend

4: Will do in a pinch

5: Halloween candy

Where to buy: http://www.chocolat-castelain.com/index.php

Force Noir and Fleur de Sel Caramel

Fleur de Sel was disappointing. I love salt and I love caramel, but this just seemed a touch gritty from the salt and it wasn't one of the best caramels I'd eaten. It wasn't a bad taste, just not a great taste.

Force Noir was stunning. The chocolatier recommended it as a must-have in the collection, and it was a very good idea. Perfect ganache, perfect snap as I bit through the shell, and wonderful proof of a great chocolatier.

Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy
Where to buy: At the store on the Embarcadero, or online at http://www.recchiuti.com/

Cassis Strata and Star Anise with Pink Peppercorn

I love a Kir Royale, a cocktail made from champagne and cassis liqueur. Fabulous and just a little sweet. So chocolate and cassis ought to be pretty good, too, right? Yep. Very nice cassis jelly layered on top of a chocolate ganache. The nice part about this piece is that it doesn't have any annoying sugar crystals.

Star Anise with Pink Peppercorn sounds promising. A smooth ganache in which I can detect the anise (don't like it so much normally, but it's good here). The peppercorn I can't taste at all. Too bad, because I've come to love peppery dark chocolate.

All in all, mighty tasty.

Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy
Where to buy: At the store on the Embarcadero, or online at http://www.recchiuti.com/

Lavender Vanilla and Kona coffee

Continuing with my Recchiuti collection, I'm tasting the next two pieces in the photo from my last post.
Lavender Vanilla is the smaller one. It's not so good. It tastes a little like I'm eating perfume. Eh.
Kona Coffee is the big pyramid shaped chocolate. It's got a lovely gold leaf decoration as well. Better than the Lavender, but not so much coffee flavor. I wonder if I've passed the optimum serve by date.
I shared these candies willingly.

Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy
Where to buy: At the store on the Embarcadero, or online at http://www.recchiuti.com/

Hazelnut, yes, but Tarragon? Grapefruit?

More Recchiuti, today we are tasting a traditional European flavor, Piedmont Hazelnut, and an exotic, Tarragon Grapefruit. The Grapefruit is the leftmost chocolate in the picture, and the hazelnut is just above it.

From the Piedmont I expect a crunchy toasted nut and a smooth milk chocolate. Nut is perfectly toasted, nicely crunchy, and the milk chocolate is excellently smooth, with a real chocolate aftertaste. Perfect.

The Tarragon Grapefruit is another beast altogether, and I expect an interesting surprise. Wow. The tarragon comes over first, a real kick, then I detect the grapefruit in a secondary way. Not sweet or too fruity at all, nor is the grapefruit unpleasant. I challenge Dear Hubby to identify the flavors. First he notices the peel, but can't figure out, wondering if it's orange or lemon. He didn't detect the tarragon at all. He did wonder if it were pistachio. The tarragon starts the taste, but the grapefruit is what is left over at the end.

Reviewed: Recchiuti chocolates Piedmont Hazelnut and Tarragon Grapefruit

Personality: True and creative, very marvelous

How to enjoy: You can get chocolates similar to the hazelnut in many places, but the Tarragon Grapefruit is a rare treasure. Don't let a glass of red wine overwhelm this one.

Rating:

1: Better than sex

2: Little bites of heaven

3: Share with your best friend

4: Will do in a pinch

5: Halloween candy

Where to buy: At the store on the Embarcadero, or online at http://www.recchiuti.com/

Recchiuti chocolates

The next time you're in San Francisco, you must save Saturday morning for a visit to the Farmers' Market at the Ferry building. Friendly vendors, offering samples of their fine local product, often organic, line the sidewalks.
Inside the Ferry Building itself are a number of small shops, and one must-visit is Recchiuti.
These people have a selection of hand-made chocolates that rival the high quality European chocolatiers.
So far, I've tasted their Pearl Mint Tea and Rose Caramel confections. These were beyond good. Both were fresh and flavored true to their names.
The mint was spearmint with peppermint and the green tea flavor was distinct and very pleasant.
The rose caramel, a shell of white chocolate, with a nearly-flowing caramel center, was so delicately flavored that I could really believe I was eating the scent of the rose/geranium combination they mix with the caramel.
The only thing I found really missing from Recchiuti was the fact that they don't use liquers or liquors in their chocolates. Too bad, because this keeps them one notch lower than the equivalent European competition.

Reviewed: Recchiuti chocolates
Personality: True and creative
How to enjoy: Make a special trip to San Francisco for these babies. Grab a coffee and sit out on the dock and watch the ferries go by.
Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy
Where to buy: At the store on the Embarcadero, or online at http://www.recchiuti.com/

Dolce e Amaro Grappa and Limone

The Piedmont is one of those great regions of Italy, and its chocolates are fantastic.

While walking around a German town, Winnenden, we came upon an Italian gourmet shop. There I found chocolates from Dolce e Amaro, a Piedmont chocolatier.

These are truffles, one flavored with Grappa wine and one with Limoncello, both of these ingredients have a heavy alcohol content, around 18%.

The alcohol is what really moves these chocolates into the "Little bites of heaven" category. It truly enhances the flavor, bringing them out of the "just nice" category.

Reviewed: Saluzzesi Grappa and Limone
Personality: A sunny day in the Piedmont

How to enjoy: Choose one of these when you are in great need of spoiling yourself.

Rating:

1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy

Where to buy: Online at Dolce e Amaro

Hershey's Kisses

The best thing about these Hershey's Kisses is that they are still packaged in the foil wrappers. Long an American tradition, Hershey's Kisses simply wouldn't be kisses if they were stuck inside of individual plastic bags.

That said, it's Hershey's chocolate. They are trying really hard to add varieties, but I simply don't care for the general Hershey's flavor.

My husband likes to repeat the German joke (?) about taste: "My cat likes mice. I don't." My kid likes Hershey's Kisses. I don't.

Reviewed: Hershey's Kisses

Personality: Reliable flavor, not mousy at all

How to enjoy: Save your calories for better things

Rating:
1: Better than sex

2: Little bites of heaven

3: Share with your best friend

4: Will do in a pinch

5: Halloween candy

Where to buy: Ubiquitous in America, American Candy in Germany

Hachez Edel Mokka-Sahne

This is a lovely chocolate. After doing some company research, I discovered that Hachez is made by the same company that makes the Feodora Mocca's.
They do taste different, though both are good.
What I've found after a while is that the Mocca's lose a bit of flavor once opened. The Hachez didn't seem to lose much, but the bar also didn't last very long. I would assume it would lose it if I kept it around longer.

Reviewed: Hachez Edel Mokka-Sahne
Personality: Smooth and a nice coffee flavor
How to enjoy: Good plain eating chocolate. Stock up and eat as desired.
Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy

Where to buy: Available only in German grocery stores

Australian Homemade Daydreamers

Australian Daydreamers. Sounds wonderful, right? Well, they're not.

The company itself is a bit iffy. They have franchises, but apparently not much real web presence. The "Australian" part is apparently someone's grandmother or maybe some other relative, because it seems the company started in either The Netherlands or Belgium.

They also had a controversy at one point about the images they print on the chocolates, with the objections stemming from Australian aborigines themselves.

In any case, we bought some of the chocolates. I've tasted and tasted several different flavors, but they are simply bad. Not a good chocolate flavor and even worse fillings.

Reviewed: Australian Homemade Daydreamers

Personality: Flat and boring

How to enjoy: Skip it altogether. Maybe their ice cream is better.

Rating:

1: Better than sex

2: Little bites of heaven

3: Share with your best friend

4: Will do in a pinch

5: Halloween candy

Where to buy:

Don't bother, but they have some 70 franchise stores

Pear Chocolate Mousse Cake

Today Baecker Bauer had an irresistable cake, a Birnen Torte. It's a lovely layered creation, made primarily from chocolate mousse, pears, and sponge cake.

Here's how our neighborhood bakers put it together (looking from left to right in the picture):

1. There's a shortcrust on the bottom of the cake, basically to give the design some stability. Since most of the cake is made from mousse, and German sponge cake has very little flour, it can be a fragile construction.


2. Then comes a layer of sponge cake made with cocoa instead of flour. It's almost like eating air, it's so light and fluffy.


3. Pear slices are laid on top of the cocoa sponge. It's a good year for pears, every one is so juicy and delicious. Optionally they've sprinkled the cake with Williams Christ pear liquer.


4. A thick layer of mousse follows. This one has been made with Milka chocolate, whipped cream and egg whites, as opposed to a dark chocolate and only whipped cream.


5. On top of the first layer of mousse comes a white sponge, made with flour.


6. Another layer of mousse, then a slice of cocoa sponge, and topped off with a last generous layer of mousse.


7. Decorations are done with pieces of Milka, mousse rosettes and slices of pear.

This is a wonderful cake, with plenty of chocolate. A delightful treat for a fall day, even if I did crush the slice on my way home from the bakery. It was a bit difficult to prevent, balancing the cake on top of the nice rye sourdough we bought for the week's sandwiches.

Feodora Mocca's and Mocca's Orange

This may be a problem. It's not often that I find a chocolate that I cannot resist, but these Mocca's chocolate coffee beans from Feodora may well be one of those. Just take a look at that cup above. A cup of chocolate flavored with coffee. It's good chocolate. Really good chocolate, like when you find really good chocolate chips, and you can't stop eating out of the bag.
After you start really enjoying the chocolate, the coffee kicks in, taking the flavor up a notch. Wow.
The packaging is also special. Feodora is producing a limited edition metal box with the coffee flavored candies. It's about the size of a package of cigarettes, and pops open like a Marlboro cigarette box. Inside the metal box is a same-shaped cardbard box, which nicely keeps the chocolates fresh. Kinda irrelevant in my house.
The orange flavor adds a little interest, but it's not really necessary. The orange has both coffee and orange flavor.
Definitely a problem chocolate. Too good to resist. I bought a box for a friend who doesn't arrive in Germany until October 3. The Mocca's might not survive that long.


OH THE AGONY!!!! I was putting the finishing touches on this blog entry, when my husband casually picked up the metal box, poured ALL OF THE REST into his hand, and tossed them into his mouth. At once.
Is taking the last of the chocolate grounds for divorce in Germany?

Reviewed: Feodora Mocca's
Personality: Seductive
How to enjoy: Make up some invisible friends so you can buy Mocca's for them, but keep them all for yourself. Probably wouldn't hurt to be single, either.
Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy
Where to buy:
US: The German Deli and Belgian Chocolate online
Germany: Many larger groceries, like REAL.
UK: chocolatz

Tootsie Rolls

On vacation last August, my daughter and I went to Jeffersonville, Indiana, among other places, to renew some childhood memories. When you pass through Louisville, Kentucky, one not-to-be-missed place is Schimpff's Candy in Jeffersonville.

They make truffles, and sell nostalgic candy in their charming soda shop. While their chocolate is good, their real claim to fame is homemade Red Hots candy. In contrast to the more commonly known Red Hots from Ferrara Pan, these are fabulous hard candies. Schimpff's red hots also came long before Ferrara Pan's.

Back when Jeffersonville had a movie theater downtown, my mother would go to the Saturday
matinee for 5 cents, stopping by Schimpff's for a bag of red hots, which would last as long as the movies did. My personal experience, while, not as nostalgic, is still filled with memories of spicy red hots at Christmas, enjoying the memories as well as the flavors.

However, red hots aren't chocolate. Schimpff's also has truffles, which while tasty, didn't exactly last long enough to write areview here in this blog, so I'm left with the only chocolate-ly thing I brought back from Schimpff's, Tootsie Rolls. While not strictly chocolate, this cocoa-based caramel type candy is a bit of chocolate flavor on a budget.

Good, nostalgic, but not extraordinary. Still worth the trip down memory lane.
Reviewed: Tootsie Roll
Personality: Just like watching a Saturday matinee
How to enjoy: Get the ones in paper and unwrap each one slowly

Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend. I did! DH and I each ate one.
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy

Where to buy:
US: pretty much anywhere
Germany: http://www.american-food.com/

Chocolate Wars: Smarties versus M&Ms

Even after living in Germany for five years, I'd never bothered to try Smarties. M&Ms aren't really on my list of "must-eat" chocolates, but they're nice enough when I'm in the mood. So it took five years before I got in the mood, ok? The chocolate in Germany is that good.

When I was in the US recently, I noticed that my daughter grabbed quickly for a bag of Mini M&Ms. Right next to that I saw a bag of Dark M&Ms and decided to try them. Then, yesterday at the grocery store back here in Germany, I saw this cute hexagonal package of Smarties, I knew it was time to compare the candies.

The Results

M&M Minis
Smell: nothing special
Color: Classic bright M&M colors
Smoothness: smooth with the typically M&M crisp crunch.
Aftertaste: The expected extra-sweet M&Ms chocolate taste.

M&M Dark

Smell: nothing special

Color: Classic bright M&M colors

Smoothness: smooth chocolate with the typically M&M crisp crunch.

Aftertaste: Still the M&Ms chocolate taste, but much tastier than regular M&Ms.

Smarties

Smell: a little fruity

Color: Lighter colors than M&Ms, but made with vegetable colors. Nice to look at, but not as intense as M&M colors.

Smoothness: very smooth chocolate, and the coating is not as crunchy as M&Ms

Aftertaste: The Smarties have a fruity taste on the shell and a smoother milk chocolate than M&Ms

And the winner is: M&Ms Dark! The minis are addictive because of their size, and the Smarties are nicer to crunch, but the dark chocolate wins me over. One other thing I did prefer about the Smarties is that they didn't get hard and bumpy when you suck on them til the candy shell melts. I presume that the M&Ms bumps are just undissolved sugar, and since they also eventually dissolve, I feel safe in eating them.

Stainer Peperoncino Schotch Bonnet Con Rum

That's a mouthful, isn't it? "Stainer Peperoncino Schotch Bonnet Con Rum" There's a nice typo on the front cover, since I"ve only ever heard of Scotch Bonnet, not Schotch.

Andrea Stainer is an Italian chocolatier, and this is an awesome chocolate. Strong rum and strong hot pepper. Not make-you-sweat hot, but plenty hot for me.

Out of all the flavored chocolates I've tasted recently, I generally prefer the chocolates with pepper. There's something about the combination of dark chocolate and hot pepper that appeals to me, more than, say, chocolate and melon.

Located in Pontremoli, Stainer is another one of those great chocolatiers in Tuscany. When I do manage a visit to Tuscany, I'll have to plan time to visit several of these place, Stainer included.

Reviewed: Stainer Peperoncino Schotch Bonnet Con Rum
Personality: Not much to look at, but definitely worth getting to know

How to enjoy: With a glass of water. These flavors deserve individual attention

Rating:

1: Better than sex

2: Little bites of heaven

3: Share with your best friend

4: Will do in a pinch

5: Halloween candy

Where to buy:

Germany http://www.salonducacao.de/

USA: http://e-anticabottega.com/index.asp

UK: http://www.harrods.com/

Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate

After my surprise encounter with Halba Swiss chocolate yesterday, I decided to give Ghirardelli a chance to compete with the Swiss. Kinda ironic, since Ghirardelli is a US subsidiary of Swiss company Lindt.
The Milk Chocolate from Ghirardelli has a taste that is in-between Hershey's and Halba. I found it to have that unique and unpleasant "tingly" taste that Hershey's has, yet it also had a stronger chocolate taste than the Halba. My preference is for the Halba, but I can easily enjoy Ghirardelli any time.

Reviewed: Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate
Personality: Trustworthy, rather like a Scout
How to enjoy: Good milk chocolate, but a little too Hershey-ish for me
Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy

Where to buy:
Germany http://www.bestcoffee.de/newsletter.php
USA: most larger grocery stores, also online http://www.ghirardelli.com/
UK: http://www.cybercandy.co.uk/aaasmt/ (occasionally stock Ghirardelli)

Coop chocolates from Halba

My colleague Heike was recently in Switzerland on vacation. In addition to watching her 7 year old son climb a big piece of the Alps on a bicycle, she also found some chocolate to bring back to the office. Nice thing is, I sit right across from her, and got first choice of the several varieties of Swiss chocolate this afternoon.
I had the pleasure of tasting the Coop brand from Chocolats Halba. Smooth tasting, good chocolate flavor, and a great activity for a Tuesday afternoon. Certainly makes reading the 300 customer feedback comments I have to read this afternoon much easier.
The Cremant is a mildly dark chocolate, and very smooth. The White chocolate is also rich and a great pleasure. The other types I have yet to try are the Truffes (truffle filling) and the Milk with hazelnuts, but I fully expect them to be ever so yummy.

Reviewed: Coop mini chocolate bars
Personality: Classically Swiss chocolate, smooth and creamy, a real crowd-pleaser
How to enjoy: A great motivator to get your work done
Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend (and your colleagues)
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy

Where to buy:
Germany: Drive to Switzerland to visit the "House of Chocolate"

Dove Extra Dark Chocolate

My first love, growing up deep in the Midwest 30 years ago, floated in on the wings of a Dove. Surrounded by Hershey's milk chocolate, milk chocolate with almonds, Mr. Goodbar, and Hershey's Special Dark, I was overwhelmed when Dove chocolate came into the market in the 80's or 90's. I'd never tasted anything so creamy and delicious. OK, sure, we're just talking about my first chocolate-love, not people-love. This is a PG-rated site, fer cryin' out loud.

When I reached the US this summer, I needed a chocolate for my road trip. This Dove Extra Dark called out to me from Target's candy shelves. It was a disappointment until today. I ate a bit of the chocolate during my road trip, but found it not very good. It did at least travel well, in spite of the record-breaking temperatures throughout the South that week.

As I write this review, I'm giving it one more chance, and it's much better than it was during my trip. I can actually taste that famous Dove creaminess, and while the chocolate isn't really a good chocolate, like I know now, it does remind me of those days back in 1990 when I was so happy and in love with Dove.

Reviewed: Dove Extra Dark Chocolate 71% cacao
Personality: The Dove I once knew, but a little cold and unyielding
How to enjoy: If you must, then eat it alone in small bites

Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy

Where to buy:
Germany: you can get Dove in some places, I'm not sure about this bar
USA: any major store, grocery or department
UK and other places sold as Galaxy chocolate

The Cheesecake Factory White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

The Cheesecake factory was my favorite restaurant, at least until I tried Panera Bread. (Tip: Panera's nutty chocolate chip cookies are fabulous)
But The Cheesecake Factory is still a master at cheesecake. My last visit produced a slice of White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake that was so rich it lasted 4 meals. First I brought it home after eating dinner at the restaurant, and ate a few bites when I was feeling a little less full. Second, it made a big portion of the next day's lunch and dinner. Finally on the third day, I ate the last I could eat, and tossed a couple of bites. I was beyond satisfied, it was more like ecstasy.
This cheesecake is about displaying the best that white chocolate has to offer: pure
chocolate flavor with accents of cream cheese and raspberries. I can recommend it when you are looking for a delicate chocolate taste. When you need the big kick of the dark chocolates, go for a truffle cheesecake, or The Cheesecake Factory's Godiva cheesecake.

Reviewed: The Cheesecake Factory White Chocolate Raspberry cheesecake
Personality: A delicate queen of taste
How to enjoy: Enjoy in small doses, and focus on the flavor so you don't miss the beautiful white chocolate
Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy

Where to buy:
At The Cheesecake Factory, including mail order.

Goobers Milk Chocolate Peanuts

Ya gotta love America. Even when certain characteristics of a product are not, shall we say, optimum, there are often other characteristics that fit a market niche.
Take Nestle's Goobers, for example. Compared to Ritter Sport Golden Peanut or Lambertz Peanut Mountains, Goobers fall short in the taste category. The chocolate is too sweet, it has that harsh flavor of a not-very-good chocolate, and the peanuts are quite small, with even tiny broken bits being covered in chocolate.
But Goobers hits its niche well. They must have some sort of agreement with movie theaters to carry them at outrageous prices, so they sell well there, and they are very handy to toss into your mouth while watching a mega film epic like "Becoming Jane."
For active chocolate connoisseur-ing experience, buy the other guys. If you're in an American movie theater, and chocolate peanuts are calling you, enjoy some Goobers.

Reviewed: Goobers
Personality: stale popcorn
How to enjoy: enjoy them when you can't find anything better

Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy

Where to buy:
USA: Movie theaters in USA
Germany or anyplace else: Don't bother - not even worth the hunt

Ritter Sport Dunkle Vollmilch 40%

This is a tricky little guy. I popped a square into my mouth, expecting the smooth milk chocolate of Ritter Sport, but got a nice little kick. There are definite chocolate undertones to this bar, and I like it a lot.

In Germany, land of many delicious chocolates, there's a shortage of good chocolate chips. I've been known to import them from the US (shh! don't tell anyone) but when I'm in a pinch I'll chop up a good bar of chocolate. Until today, I preferred to use Milka dark. Now I'll use this, and hope that it stays around after this, its premier year.

Reviewed: Ritter Sport Dunkle Vollmilch 40%

Personality: Deceptive - looks like milk chocolate, tastes like dark

Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy

Magnum Ecuador Dark 62%

The first thing I did on my vacation was the dishes, after which I realized that my priorities were pretty screwed up. Who does dishes on vacation? Especially the first moments. I should be drinking champagne, like my favorite Kir Royal cocktail, a dab of cassis liqueur topped off with a nice champagne.

But I didn't. Instead I worked late and did the dishes. After that I committed to creating maximum happiness during the next 3 weeks. And I started with the principle of "food is love."

Magnum Ecuador Dark is definitely worth loving.

Fabulous vanilla ice cream dipped in the best chocolate coating I've tasted on an ice cream bar. It outshines Dove Bars or regular Magnums.

Reviewed: Magnum Ecuador Dark 62% Ice Cream bar
Personality: Hot and steamy
How to enjoy: enjoy on a hot summer's day, or on a vacation day BEFORE you do the dishes

Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy

Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate with Almonds

Ghirardelli makes good, solid chocolate. This bar is no exception, with a smooth sweet milk chocolate and nicely crunchy almonds.
There were easily 2 dozen almonds and large almond pieces, mostly whole almonds. Nice, even distribution.

Nice.
Even.
Good.
ZZZZZzzzzzzz.

Snark! Snurk! Oh! I'm still awake. Did I mention that Ghirardelli is owned by Swiss chocolatier Lindt & Sprüngli?

Reviewed: Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate with Almonds
Personality: Safety school. You still get the education, but the partys aren't as good
How to enjoy: Good comforting food

Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy

Where to buy:
Germany http://www.bestcoffee.de/newsletter.php
USA: most larger grocery stores, also online http://www.ghirardelli.com/
UK: http://www.cybercandy.co.uk/aaasmt/ (occasionally stock Ghirardelli)

Happy Peanuts

Happy chickens. Free range chickens, raised on a farm, roaming around, supposedly as happy as can be. Until they die, of course. This has always been an ironic image to me. Now there are happy peanuts.

Happy peanuts? What the Heck?

Sure enough, happy peanuts are made by Clickos. Apparently Clickos also makes multi-colored
Clickos, but these were completely brown. Remember brown M&Ms? I always wondered why the outside of brown M&Ms didn't taste like chocolate. Somehow I never managed to wonder why the red ones didn't taste like cherry, or the yellow ones like lemon.

Good bargain at PLUS supermarkets, compared to M&Ms. Good chocolate, nicely crunchy, fresh peanuts.

Reviewed: Clickos Happy Peanuts
Personality: Brown M&Ms
How to enjoy: perfect movie food

Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy

Where to buy:
Germany: PLUS supermarkets

Lambertz Peanut Mountains

Chocolate is of course common in Germany, and they cover all kinds of nuts with it. It's rare to find chocolate-covered peanuts, though, with the exception of M&Ms. Imagine my luck when I found 2 different types at a nearby PLUS store. They weren't even a special offer, so I'm hoping the next time I crave peanuts, they'll still be in stock.

These chocolate "Peanut Mountains" from Lambertz are great! More free-form than the American equivalent, they are also made with a better chocolate.

Lambertz itself is a company from Aachen, claiming a history back to 1688. One of its more recent claims to fame is that Lambertz's chief executive and chief socialite, Dr. Hermann Bühlbecker, attended Elton John's White Tie and Tiara Ball this year to support the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Dr. Bühlbecker is locally known as the "Keks-König" or "Cookie King." Photos
of Dr. Bühlbecker with miscellaneous celebrities, including Beckham, Richard Branson, Elle McPherson, Judy Dench, and many others. Plenty of pictures here.

They have a broad product line, and my husband especially loves their Domino-steine, a petit-fours type of cake. These particular candies are a good dark chocolate, with enough sweetness to offset the nutty flavor of the peanut, yet not giving up on a good chocolate flavor. "Mountains" may be a bit of an ambitious term, but they're delicious nonetheless.

Reviewed: Lambertz Erdnuss Berge
Personality: Noisy. They kept calling out to us until they were all gone.
How to enjoy: Go to the store, buy a bag, enjoy it. Don't try to keep them in the house, you'll just keep eating them.

Lambertz also has a factory outlet in Aachen. Check the webpage for more info.

Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy

Where to buy:
Germany: PLUS markets, and you can order some products online
USA: Look for grocery items with the labels "European Cookies" or "German Cookies"

Chocolate Wars: Gross, Xiocrolata, Ghirardelli

With so much dark chocolate floating around, it's time for a choolate war, this time with 3 different high percentage bars:

• Ghirardelli Dark 60%
• Xiocrolata 72%
• J.D. Gross Kul-Kul 78%

Like my last chocolate war, I'm judging based on smell, color, smoothness and taste. An excellent dark chocolate should have a rich taste, with a distinct aftertaste that is not bitter, and be quite smooth.

Here's how they stack up.

Smell
J.D. Gross and Ghirardelli come out on top, smelling distinctly like chocolate. The
Xiocrolata is just too mild to score highly.

Color
Gross is the clear winner here, with a rich dark color, and a nice sheen to match.

Smoothness
Ghirardelli edges out Xiocrolata edges by a hair.

Taste
This is tough. I can see where I would prefer either J.D. Gross or the Ghirardelli at
different times. It all depends on how much sweetness I'm in the mood for.
Ghirardelli is a little too sweet for my preference, but it's still quite good.

Winner:
J.D. Gross by a nose. Ultimately I prefer J.D. Gross' smell and taste over
the Ghirardelli.

Ghirardelli Dark 60%

I'm really piling on the dark chocolate this week! It doesn't melt quite as fast as milk chocolate, and it's my preferred intensity anyway.

This bar is quite pleasant, with a rich dark flavor. Nicely fruity, it has an ever-so-slight powdery feel on the tongue. The aftertaste is mild, and doesn't leave much of a memory. It is also a bit sweeter than most of my German darks.

Reviewed: Ghirardelli Dark 60%
Personality: Friendly and quite eat-able
How to enjoy: anywhere, anytime

Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy



Where to buy:
Germany: nowhere in Germany that I know of. I scored this bar from a buddy

arriving out of California
USA: Practically everywhere

xocriolata 72%

xocriolata 72% is a Swiss-made chocolate manufactured by the Chocolat Frey company, which also sells Swiss Delice. Xiocololate is branded specifically for PLUS supermarkets in Germany.

This 72% chocolate bar is smooth, with a slight bitter aftertaste. A good nibbling chocolate for a movie evening, but nothing special.

Reviewed: Xocriolata Supreme Chocolate 72%
Personality: your cheap cousin Lenny
How to enjoy: Try this one when you've had too many sweet flavors. This might improve the taste a bit

Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy

Where to buy:
Germany: PLUS Supermarkets
USA: Of all places, Frey Chocolate is sold at Target. Give it a try

J.D. Gross Kul-Kul Papua New Guinea

Back to Lidl for some more J.D. Gross chocolate, this time a 78% bar from a single plantation in New Guinea, Plantation Kul-Kul. I've developed a great opinion of Lidl chocolate. Even though I do prefer the fancier brands, Lidl is great for those everyday moments.

It's a great, rich chocolate, with a nice aftertaste, very much the way a very dark chocolate should taste. It's not quite as good as a Michel Cluizel dark, but it's a nice budget chocolate.

Check out a rough equivalent by Michel Cluizel here

Reviewed: J.D. Gross Kul-Jul Edel-Bitterschokolade Papua New Guinea
Personality: sophisticated on a cheeseburger budget
How to enjoy: cheap enough to enjoy every day, but a little intense to do it that often

Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy

Where to buy:
Aldi stores everywhere

Toblerone Milk: best with Zucchini

At work, I was in the mood for dessert, so I figured why not kill two birds with one stone, and try a piece of chocolate that I could later review. Looking around the candy case, the Toblerone bar raised its pointy little triangles at me and volunteered. I bought a nice 35 gram bar, not one of those legendary 1 pound monsters.

Not a bad little chocolate bar, even if it is rather sweet. The best way to get a bite of a Toblerone is to put your finger on the top of one triangle, and your thumb on top of another, and squeeze. One triangle will nicely break off, and you have a delicious bite of milk chocolate and honey nougat. The nougat reminds me of a Bit-O-Honey candy bar, but not quite as intense a flavor.

Just eating the Toblerone will leave lots of tiny nougat bits sticking to your teeth, so here are some alternative ways to enjoy your bar.

• Buy one each of the dark, white and milk versions, break them all to pieces, and nibble slowly, letting the nougat dissolve in your mouth


• Melt the bar with a couple of drops of cream, and use it for a dipping sauce. The honey flavor gives it a bit of a fudgy flavor, almost like a hot fudge sauce

My favorite things to dip into a Toblerone sauce:

• Leibniz cookies
• Graham crackers
• Apples
• Zucchini

Yes, zucchini. Don't knock it til you've tried it. The crisp juicy zucchini contrasts nicely with the otherwise overly sweet Tobler.

Reviewed: Toblerone milk
Personality: Like apricots in honey, a little too sweet
How to enjoy: enjoy with fresh raw zucchini

Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend, and see which veggies they prefer
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy

Where to buy:
Germany: grocery stores
UK and USA: Amazon and groceries

Breuninger Confiserie Cassis

Breuningerland is the only mall of any size around these parts. A department store chain as well as a mall company, they control tightly what gets sold in their mall. You can buy a Bree handbag at several different stores in the mall, for example, but at each store they are exactly the same price. Every store accepts the Breuninger credit card as well. And no other credit card - it's Breuninger, cash card, or cash.

The restaurants at the mall are also controlled by Breuninger, and my favorite place to have a cappucino and a piece of cake is the Breuninger Confiserie. My favorite piece is the chocolate truffle mousse cake. I bought one of those for my daughter's birthday cake this year.

Breuninger also sells teas, and at my last visit, I bought a lovely pekoe tea with bits of orange. With that, I bought a bar of hand-crafted chocolate, decorated wtih a layer of cassis-flavored chocolate.

This is one fine bar. The chocolate is not too sweet, which is good, because the cassis sugar is very sweet. But the cassis flavor is strong, which balances everything out. The chocolate afternote is strong and pleasant, and very smooth.

Reviewed: Breuninger Cassis Dark Chocolate
Personality: Smooth talking sweetheart
How to enjoy: Goes great with a cup of tea

Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy

Where to buy:
Germany: Only at Breuninger itself.

Schwermer Honigmelone

Schwermer Confiserie has been around since 1894, and has a long, respected tradition in Prussia. The company founders learned their trade at Berlin's famouse Cafe Kranzler. Now located near Munich, the factory and cafe is in the Allgäu in Bad Wörishofen.

When choosing the candy I would sample from their collection, I could not resist a flavor new to me: Honigmelone, or Honeydew melon.

Sounds intriguing, doesn't it? It's a dark chocolate, 50% minimum cocoa solids, melon pulp, and even a touch of alcohol and prosecco, an Italian wine.

The single long bar is 50 grams, plenty to share with another person or two.

This is a tasty chocolate, with a reasonable honeydew flavor, which is nicely complemented by the dark chocolate. In general, though, it's a little too sweet and the chocolate is a little too ordinary to be a great chocolate. Granted, honeydew isn't named "honey" for nothing, but it's still a little too much.

A nice trick: they've made a little mound of chocolate right in the middle of each piece, so you get a slightly larger proportion of chocolate to melon. Clever.

Reviewed: Schwermer Honigmelone
Personality: Smooth and a little different
How to enjoy: This is a great dessert chocolate, or good with afternoon tea

Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy

Where to buy:
Germany: grocery stores

Moser-Roth Almond Orange Dark Chocolate

This bar surprises from the moment you unwrap the bar from its high quality gold paper cover. A burst of orange scent comes out of the package, and you know you're in for a treat.

This bar, like other Moser Roth chocolate bars, is packaged in a cardboard box, and the chocolate is wrapped in the above-mentioned golden paper. But the bar also comes packed with a thin sheet of corrugated cardboard, which I suspect has more to do with making the chocolate look bigger than it has to do with preventing the bar from breaking.

Anyway, it does no harm to the taste.

This bar has tiny slivers of almond accompanying the deep dark chocolate with orange bits. Actually there are also tiny bits of apple and pineapple mixed in. My guess is the pineapple, apple and orange are blended together to make the "orange" bits.

All in all, very nice. The thinness of the bar means that you can break off a whole square and enjoy it without feeling stuffed too quickly. OK, maybe you'll eat two squares.

DH thinks it's a little on the sweet side, but I think the sweetness is perfect for this good solid quality of chocolate. But he really likes it, judging by his comment, "If you get a second piece, I get a second piece," after which he snatched the bar away from me. I suspect that by the time we've watched funny videos on TV, there won't be much left.

(A moment later) Oh, man-o-man, I'm in trouble now. DH has just figured out that he didn't get to try the last Moser-Roth bar I reviewed, the Macadamia Milk chocolate. Oopsie. (Hee-hee) Win some, lose some.

Reviewed: Moser Roth Edel Zartbitter Mandel Orange
Personality: a sophisticated workhorse, you can count on this chocolate to give you a good time
How to enjoy: enjoy this chocolate with a strong espresso or coffee

Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy

Where to buy:
Worldwide: Aldi

Sarotti Grand Chocolat Pekan-nuss

I love pecans. They are a real treasure of the nut world, similar to walnuts, but sweeter. I looked forward to this bar, because pecans are rare in Germany, with hazelnuts and almonds being the most used nuts instead.

The dark chocolate and the pecans did not work well together. Sarotti tried to pep
things up a bit by caramelizing the pecans, but it didn't help. I detected crunchiness, but no caramel flavor. The nuts were overwhelmed by the chocolate, which made it just a bar that was so-so.

All in all, I'm finding that Sarotti isn't a standout among budget chocolates.


Reviewed: Sarotti Grand Chocolat Pekan-nuss
Personality: solid and dull
How to enjoy: It's just ok, so eat it whenever

Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy

Where to buy:
Germany: grocery stores

White Bagging it with Ritter Sport Cappucino Bruch

Sometimes brown-bagging it just ain't enough, and only the white bag will do. Ritter Sport has a factory outlet, as I've mentioned before, and I do happen to live within a half-hour's drive of it. Nyaah, nyaah.

When I go, I check out the "bruch" chocolate. That's the chocolate that is either of second quality, or a test run, or has some other flaw. No rats, of course. How could you even think such a thing?

Once that chocolate comes off the line, the white gloved hands of the workers pack the second quality bars in little white bags, 4 bars to a bag. And they sell it. Cheap.

When you peek in the bag, you never know what you'll find, at least in the way the chocolate looks. This bag had one bar with a big lump. Oh my!
My ever intrepid husband dared to crack open the mysterious lump, and we found... chocolate. C'mon, what did you expect from German foodstuffs? Probably was nothing except a little burp at the end of the chocolate flow.

A yummy lump it was, too. The cappucino flavor is there, delicious and good coffee flavor.

Reviewed: Ritter Sport Cappucino
Personality: Just like your great-uncle Mike who seems to find everything that has "just fallen off the truck:" friendly, outgoing, but you wonder just a little bit how it all happened.
How to enjoy: This is guilt-free delight! Superior quality chocolate at bargain basement prices. Eat it anytime, anywhere.

Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of slightly bruised heaven
3: Share with your best friend
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy

Where to buy:
Germany: Only at the Ritter Sport factory

Cocoa Jelly Roll

Not only did I marry into a German family, but a German family of bakers. My MIL studied sales, with a focus in bakeries (Germans do things this way, you know), and worked in her family's bakery.

She met my FIL when he worked in their bakery to do his apprenticeship. Once a month on Saturday, he would cycle 40 kilometers from the baker in Fürth to his home for a visit. Then back to Fürth the next day.

After working a few years, it was determined that the flour dust was too dangerous for his lungs, so he switched to construction and spent the rest of his life doing tile and brickwork. Hard to imagine that as being less dusty, isn't it?

In any case, here's one of his favorite recipes: a jellyroll. The cocoa form uses cocoa for 1/3 of the flour requirement. Enjoy!

Bisquit Rolle (Jellyroll)
4 eggs
100 g sugar
1 pkg vanilla sugar
2 g sugar
75 g flour
50 g starch (cornstarch or potato starch)
pinch baking powder
250 g marmalade or confiture (strawberry, raspberry or apricot)
powdered sugar
whipped cream

Note: To make a cocoa roll, substitute cocoa for 1/3 of the flour.

Canned pineapple, chopped into small pieces
About a tablespoon Rum or cognac

Preheat oven to 220 degrees C.

1. Beat yolks with 3 tablespoons water until foamy.
2. Add 100 g sugar and vanilla sugar. Beat until creamy.
3. Mix whites with 25 g sugar until stiff. Fold into yolks.
4. Mix flour with baking powder and sift onto egg mixture.
5. Stir until just combined.
6. Spread into a rectangle onto a piece of parchment paper. Bake until done, can vary from 5 minutes until 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the dough.
7. Remove from oven and turn immediately onto a clean kitchen towel sprinkled with sugar.
8. Roll up immediately, towel and all. You can freeze it at this stage (with the towel) or fill and serve. Sometimes it will crack.
   Disaster Recovery: If it breaks into too many pieces, cut it into small pieces and mix with the filling. Spoon into small mounds onto a cookie sheet, glaze with chocolate, and you now have “Granatsplitter.”
9. Prepare filling by whipping the cream and chopping the pineapple.
10. Unroll the cake.
11. Sprinkle with pineapple juice mixed with some rum or cognac.
12. Spread a layer of marmalade on the cake
13. Spread a layer of whipped cream on the cake.
14. Sprinkle pineapple on the whipped cream.
15. Roll up.
16. Cap the ends with whipped cream. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top, or pipe whipped cream over the cake. Sift some cocoa onto the whipped cream as decoration as desired.

Berger Zartbitter Chili

After an intense day at work, I felt the need to go to The Box for a special treat. I've certainly enjoyed all of these experiments at Lidl and Aldi, but occasionally one requires a truly refined chocolate to make a refined statement.

Today I chose Berger's Zartbitter Chili bar. When compared to the Caffarel chili, it's ever so slightly hotter, but not disturbing. Still quite pleasant. In terms of chocolatyness, it's a pleasant dark chocolate with not too much sugar and very smooth.

An Austrian company, I haven't found Berger chocolate anywhere except Germany or Austria. Austrian companies tend to be rather home-focused, and there aren't many who venture outside of Austria, much less beyond Germany. But Berger would certainly face problems, because their name is so similar to Scharffen Berger, a big name in chocolate worldwide. There's no connection as far as I've discovered.

Oh well, I'll just enjoy it while I can get it.

Reviewed: Berger Zartbitter Chili
Personality: Hot and a little mean
How to enjoy: A great bar to eat when you want a little kick. This would taste good with an iced drink, like say, a margarita.

Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy

Where to buy:
Germany: Salon du Cacao

Aldi Choceur Milk Mice

Germans are brilliant! Not only do they make some of the worlds best chocolate, they've managed to redefine chocolate into a health food for kids.

Just like the clever move of defining beer as food, Germans have created Kinderschokolade, which contains not only good chocolate, but also a significant portion of milk. OK, maybe significant means "just large enough to call it Kinderschokolade" but still it's an idea that works.

Then they take this Kinderschokolade and package it in eye-grabbing white and blue wrappers. So you can eat these tasty treats, and trust that you're doing something good for yourself at the same time.
These are cute, too. Check out those little eyes and the adorable smile.

Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend, they'll love you for it
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy

Where to buy:
Germany and everywhere: Aldi

Moser-Roth Milk Macadamia

I've often wondered if chocolate could be made to taste like butter. Nougat chocolate comes very close, and so does ganache.

Well, Moser-Roth has come up with a new way to mimic the flavor. They've taken a nice, smooth milk chocolate, and added bits of macadamia. These bits are properly toasted, and have a nice rich macadamia flavor. Add to that the milk chocolate, and the combination is smooth, buttery, and very satisfying.

Storck, the Werther's and Toffifee company, doesn't exactly say this on the first page of its product information, but they manufacture this brand for Aldi. Moser-Roth was once its own company right here in Stuttgart, but was shut down for political reasons in 1942, and even though it reopened after the war, closed again in the '60's. Now it's just a brand name, with no discernable connection to the original company.

Reviewed: Moser-Roth Milk Macadamia
Personality: a smooth chap, with a taste of Hawaii
How to enjoy: good budget chocolate to be eaten any time

Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy

Where to buy:
worldwide at any Aldi store

Pralines de Maitre Paul Kir Royal

Ever tasted chocolate from the former East Germany? I just did. "East Products" are in at the moment. People are getting old enough to remember their childhoods more fondly than they really existed, thereby making them think things tasted better than they actually did.

Right after the East German border opened for day visits, I remember my mother-in-law telling us a story of the missing farmer. There was a farmer in East Germany who disappeared from his farm one day. They looked for him everywhere, but when night came, he did not show up.Very late in the night, he arrived home. His family gathered around him, happy that he'd returned, but wondering what had happened.

He had spent all day and most of the night crossing the border. Over in the West for just a couple of hours, it hardly seemed like it was worth the trouble. "I'd never had a banana," he said, "so I went to get some."

That was all. 13 hours, sitting in traffic, to buy some bananas.

Halloren Chocolate Factory is a company in the former East. In business for over 200 years, they made chocolates even during the time 1950 - 1990 when the company was confiscated by the government.

The company's website is worth looking at, and has some of the history of the company. Check out the chocolate room in the museum. http://www.halloren.de/

However, Pralines de Maitre Paul are luxury pralines without the luxury taste. The version I bought is called Kir Royal, but the flavor is too weak to identify either the champagne or the cassis berries. It nicely put together, and you can see the cassis and marzipan sections. We should be able to taste champagne, cassis, pistachios, almonds and chocolate, but it's mostly just sweet. Too bad - it coulda been great.

Reviewed: Pralines de Maitre Paul Kir Royal
Personality: Dull wanna-be
How to enjoy: don't bother

Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy

Nestle Snack bars

Nestle Snack bars are new products on the German market. Large waffles covered with a little bit of chocolate, it looks like you get a big bar compared to your average candy bar.

What's important to me is the taste. Both are good, but leave a little to be desired.

The dark chocolate version could use a little more coating thickness, yet the flavor of the chocolate is rich and you know you've eaten a little dark chocolate rather than just a waxy brown coating.

The coconut version really needs more coconut flavor. It left me wishing that I could go back to Atlanta, Georgia, find that antique show again, and eat that heavenly coconut cake that I once had years ago. But the white chocolate coating was delicious and enough to make this a treat anyway.

Reviewed: Nestle Snack
Personality: Light and Airy
How to enjoy: Like they said in their press release, it makes a great light dessert after lunch. That's exactly how we ate it.

Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend. I did! DH and I each ate one.
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy

Where to buy:
So far, only in Germany at the stores and snack shops.

Ritter Sport Loacker Napolitaner

Keebler elves are insidious beasties, always enticing me to eat more and more of their delicious fudge-covered wafers known as Fudge Sticks. Since coming to Europe, though, I've found similar cookies, except that they've been covered in chocolate instead of fudge.

Loacker is one of those cookie companies.Now Loacker has joined forces with Ritter Sport to go one step further. They've merged the Ritter milk chocolate with Loacker Napolitaner wafer cookies, but instead of just a coating of fudge, there's an thick layer of actual chocolate on top of the chocolate covered wafers. Now that's a good balance of chocolate and cookie!

Reviewed: Ritter Sport Loacker Napolitaner
Personality: nothing elfin about this
How to enjoy: Try this when you want to eat both chocolate and a cookie. It's a big burst of both. Keep the portion small, though, they're rather dense.

Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy