Chocolate News

In some circles, white chocolate has a reputation of being something other than chocolate. In defense of white chocolate’s chocolate nature, I present exhibit A – Askinosie’s Davao White Chocolate with Pistachios, a must-try for any chocolate enthusiast.

In the United States, white chocolate must be at least 20% cocoa butter. But that’s all. As a result, the first ingredient in most white chocolate isn’t chocolate, but sugar. In Askinosie Chocolate’s white chocolate, cocoa butter is the first ingredient. “We have a 34% cocoa butter content, which is one of the highest and is what makes the white chocolate actually ‘chocolate,’” says Lawren Askinosie, the company’s Director of Sales. The cocoa butters used in other white chocolate are also deodorized, a process that removes the natural flavor and aromas from the butter. Askinosie skips this step to preserve the full, rich flavor of the butter.

Askinosie’s Davao chocolate is the first Philippine chocolate the Untied States has seen in a long time. “We wanted to go to the Philippines because it was historic on the cocoa bean trail from the 1600′s, but they had not exported in 30 years so we took that as a challenge,” explains Lawren.

To make chocolate, raw cacao is fermented, dried, roasted and the cacao nibs are separated from their hulls. These nibs are then ground into cocoa liquor, which is composed of approximately 50% cocoa solids and 50% cocoa butter. Cocoa liquor, mixed with sugar, is the primary ingredient in dark chocolate.

If you want to make a white chocolate, however, you need to do something radically different – press the cocoa butter out of the liquor. “We were the first small batch chocolate makers in North America to make a white chocolate from scratch,” explains Lawren. “We press our own cocoa butter and that is the main ingredient in the bar.”

Pressing cocoa butter is long and difficult task. “Our white chocolate bars are some of our most labor intensive products because when pressing the cocoa butter, it can take several days to press enough for just one batch,” said Lawren. After pressing out the cocoa butter, Askinosie is left with press cake that is ground into cocoa powder.

The cocoa butter is put in an 85-year old German melanguer, combined with organic cane juice and goat’s milk powder, and mixed for several days. “We use goat’s milk as opposed to a cow’s milk,” says Lawren. “We did this primarily for flavor. We really thought it fit better with our white chocolate than cow’s milk, but also because of sensitivities to dairy.” After the chocolate has reached the right consistency, its poured into molds and salted pistachios, grown on a single farm in Santa Barbara, California, are sprinkled on top.

The bar snaps softly, unlike the crisp snap of a dark chocolate. Askinosie’s non-deodorized cocoa butter combined with the goat’s milk gives this chocolate a buttery and rich flavor, with a tanginess from the goat milk that keeps it from being too heavy. The bits of pistachio strewn on top extenuate the earth, nutty, wheat-y flavor, and have a beautiful color contrast with the white chocolate. Sunrise meets sunset.

Mark Bitterman :: Nov.08.2012 :: Flavored Chocolate Bars, Single Origin Chocolates :: No Comments »

[Below is a re-posting of David's recipe originally posted here in 2008.]

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Xocolatl de David’s Semi-Secret Recipe for the Best Salted Caramel Sauce

The first step is to make invert sugar to prevent the sugar in the caramel from spontaneously crystallizing.

Salted Caramel Invert Sugar
3 C Sugar
1.5 C Water
1/4 t Citic acid OR juice of 1/2 lemon
Put ingredients in a non reactive pot and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Caramel Sauce
2 C Sugar
1 oz Invert Sugar
1.25 C Cream, warm
1 oz Butter
Fleur de sel

Put invert sugar and sugar in a wide high sided non reactive pot on high heat. Every minute or so slowly mix in granulated sugar with some that is liquefied. Eventually you will have a paste. Warm Cream separately.
Continue to cook sugar until it begins to caramelize. Using a candy thermometer monitor the temperature of the cooking sugar. The classic caramel stage is around 330-350 degrees F. You can cook it longer for a less sweet more bitter sauce. Do not go above 390 F.

When your desired temperature is reached turn off the heat and slowly and very carefully add the warmed cream in small increments. When the cream is fully incorporated, turn the heat on high and heat the caramel to 230 F. This will go quite quickly. Turn off heat and add the butter. Stir until the butter has completely melted. Add your desired amount of Fleur de sel or other sea salt. Let cool.

It will store in the refrigerator for up to 4 months.

Mark Bitterman :: Nov.05.2012 :: Chocolate Happenings, Recipes :: No Comments »

At the Meadow we are mesmerized by anyone with the audacity and alchemical craft required to turn a humble cocoa bean into a noble chocolate bar, which is why the bulk of our chocolate collection focuses on the work of chocolate producers, rather than chocolatiers. And with good reason. Producing bean-to-bar chocolate gives the artisan the greatest ability to control the taste and texture of his or her chocolate. But there is also skill and craft in confectioneering – the art of combining chocolate made by others with new ingredients. Then through tempering, mixing, shaping and coating a brilliant chocolatier may produce something truly transformative.

Ellen Byrne and Christopher Carlson are such artists. “Everything we make is hand-produced in small quantities,” says Byrne and Carlson co-founder Ellen Byrne. “Each chocolate is hand-dipped, each chocolate bar is produced and decorated by hand. This is a method rooted in the elegant chocolate houses of Europe, and American seaside candy shops alike.”

Ellen founded the company along with confectioner Christopher Carlson in 1999 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Christopher makes Byrne and Carlson’s line of Pates des Fruits, caramels, and chocolates. Ellen, a French-trained chocolatier, creates the designs and hand-decorates the chocolate bars. In Ellen’s hands, the chocolate bar becomes a blank canvas for calligraphic designs inspired by art nouveau botanical motifs.

Because they aren’t wedded to any single method of chocolate production, Byrne & Carlson can take advantage of the many different styles of chocolate produced by bean-to-bar manufacturers. “The couvertures we use are incredibly diverse. We use many different cacao percentages, matching the chocolate with each recipe we are creating.” Byrne and Carlson uses couvertures made by many Meadow favorites, including Valrhona, Michel Cluizel, and El Rey. Their ingredients are sourced from around the world. Cocoa beans in their couvertures come from Central and South America, Madagascar, the Dominican Republic, and West Africa. Other ingredients include Australian glacé fruits, crystallized pansy flowers, Italian hazelnut paste, and mint from their own garden.

Buy Byrne and Carlson chocolate at The Meadow.

Mark Bitterman :: Sep.18.2012 :: Chocolate Maker Profile, Flavored Chocolate Bars :: No Comments »

Once again the salted caramel class with Xocolatl de David was a great hit.  Chocolatier David Briggs brought samples bourbon caramel as well, and bite-sized snacks of his famous Bourbon Raleigh Bar. We tasted unsalted caramel, “half” salted caramel, and fullly (to Dave’s taste) salted caramel before setting attendees free to salt on their own. We tasted Pangasinan Star fleur de sel, Bali Rama Pyramid Balinese sea salt, Amabito no Moshio savory Japanese salt, Halen Mon Gold oak smoked salt, and even a nibble of our popular new Fleur de Hell. And yes, then we made a few batches of delicious burnt caramel and drizzled it over chocolate ice cream.

Photograph at left courtesy of David Briggs. Yum.  Looking forward to the next class in the Portland shop, Friday, October 14!

Below is a re-posting of David’s recipe originally posted here in 2008.

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Xocolatl de David’s Semi-Secret Recipe for the Best Salted Caramel Sauce

The first step is to make invert sugar to prevent the sugar in the caramel from spontaneously crystallizing.

Salted Caramel Invert Sugar
3 C Sugar
1.5 C Water
1/4 t Citic acid OR juice of 1/2 lemon
Put ingredients in a non reactive pot and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Caramel Sauce
2 C Sugar
1 oz Invert Sugar
1.25 C Cream, warm
1 oz Butter
Fleur de sel

Put invert sugar and sugar in a wide high sided non reactive pot on high heat. Every minute or so slowly mix in granulated sugar with some that is liquefied. Eventually you will have a paste. Warm Cream separately.
Continue to cook sugar until it begins to caramelize. Using a candy thermometer monitor the temperature of the cooking sugar. The classic caramel stage is around 330-350 degrees F. You can cook it longer for a less sweet more bitter sauce. Do not go above 390 F.

When your desired temperature is reached turn off the heat and slowly and very carefully add the warmed cream in small increments. When the cream is fully incorporated, turn the heat on high and heat the caramel to 230 F. This will go quite quickly. Turn off heat and add the butter. Stir until the butter has completely melted. Add your desired amount of Fleur de sel or other sea salt. Let cool.

It will store in the refrigerator for up to 4 months.

Mark Bitterman :: Oct.08.2011 :: Chocolate Happenings :: 2 Comments »

At his family’s plantation in Madagascar, Bertil Åkesson of Åkesson’s chocolate grows cacao and pepper and turns them both into delightful chocolate. Three of his bars recently won awards at the Academy of Chocolate Awards in London. He faced some of the world’s greatest chocolatiers and came away with a hat trick. Congratulations to Bertil! Here are the descriptions for his winning bars.

Brazil 75%

Our Brazil 75% bar  is made with an astonishing forastero variety of cocoa called “parasinho” that grows in Brazil’s Mata Atlântica – the wild forest with the highest biodiversity on earth – where we purchased a 120-hectare plantation. This chocolate is very smooth and has very expressive notes that evoke wood, autumn scents, and the local pitanga fruit.

Bali 45% milk chocolate & fleur de sel

Our 45% milk chocolate bar is the first Balinese single-origin bar ever made in Europe. This chocolate holds a caramelized flavor resulting from the use of natural sugar produced from the juice of coconut blossoms, harvested by gently slicing the flower. Once collected, the nectar is kettle-boiled into a thick caramel and ground to a fine crystal. With a very low glycemic index, this sugar is a great and healthy match for our Balinese fleur de sel. The cocoa is produced by the Sukrama family on seven hectares in the Melaya area in the western part of the island.

Madagascar 75% Criollo cocoa

Our Madagascar 75% bar has a very expressive cocoa aroma with subtle fruity-sweet tartness and pleasant flavor notes that evoke citrus and red berries, the true taste of the very best cocoa beans from Madagascar. Our 2,300-hectare family estate in the Sambirano Valley in northwestern Madagascar has produced world-famous aromatic cocoa since 1920. Besides 300 tons per year of trinitario cocoa, a very limited production of criollo cocoa – two tons per year -is harvested separately

Åkesson’s produces several other bars, including one with voatsiperifery pepper, a wild pepper that grows on creeping vines up to 20 meters (that’s 65 feet!) up in the tree canopy. All of Åkesson’s chocolates are available online from the Meadow and in both of our shops.

Don’t forget to like The Meadow on Facebook to keep up with our latest events, products, and news!

Mark Bitterman :: May.04.2011 :: Dark Chocolate, Flavored Chocolate Bars, Milk Chocolate, News, Single Origin Chocolates :: No Comments »

Cacao from Madagascar has inspired some the great chocolate makers for years now. Most famous of all is the Sambirano River Valley, located on the northern tip of the island. Sambirano’s unique combination of tree genetics, climate, and terroir make for chocolate that is both warm and acidic, with lush cherry flavors that spend themselves like dark lucre in a fruit market of citrus.

Alan “Patric” McClure of Patric Chocolate, one of Missouri’s two bean-to-bar chocolate makers (what is it about Missouri and chocolate?), is a big fan of Madagascan cacao. He makes two different plain Madagascar bars and one with nibs, each one a distinct showcasing of this phenomenal bean. He and I exchanged some emails recently regarding his Patric 75% Sambirano bar, which he says was his “attempt to push the limits of the cacao in terms of balance.”

“I felt like the cacao I was using was so mild in terms of bitterness that if I was able to handle the roasting and conching just right, I’d end up with a concentrated, interesting, delicious and balanced chocolate.  Someone once called the bar the espresso of Madagascar chocolates, and I really like that.  I think it is just the right description for something so full of flavors and yet still so balanced.”

Alan also makes a 67% Sambirano bar, and I was curious how he thought it stood apart from the 75%. Aside from being a bit sweeter, and therefore more accessible,

“…there are also flavors in that bar that are quite clear—more so than in the 75%–even though there is a higher percentage of those flavor compounds in the 75%.  It seems contrary to reason, but what it shows is how sugar can actually have a positive impact on chocolate in terms of allowing certain flavors, specifically juicy berry-like flavors, to shine instead of simply adding sweetness or detracting from the chocolate.”

My brother – a gourmand if there ever was one, and a wine collector who snuffs around Los Angeles like a sort of oenophilic wild boar – considers the Patric 67% Sambirano the best chocolate bar on the market. His single-minded obsession with this one bar guarantees that we run out of stock periodically when he unexpectedly decides to replenish his supply. I had a similar obsession with Patric’s 100% Sambirano chocolate discs, which sold like wildfire from a jar in our store. That chocolate, alas, has been discontinued (send Alan a letter and beg him to put that back into production).

Patric also makes a 70% blend and a Dark Milk, for which he uses his Sambirano beans, some Rio Caribe, and two other origins that remain a trade secret. His view of blend versus single-origin chocolate bars refuses to take a side, as one would expect from a man who understands the whole process of turning those seeds of the brightly-colored cacao pod into the shiny dark slabs we’re all familiar with.

“I am not a proponent of single-origin bars over blended bars or the other way around. Theoretically, a single-origin bar can tell the consumer more about the terroir of the cacao in the chocolate, but often the post-harvest processing and chocolate making changes the flavor so dramatically that it is hard to argue that one is getting an extremely clear picture of the impact of the terroir. Additionally, even if one does, that doesn’t make the chocolate any good. It is a rare bean that can make a delicious chocolate by itself.”

The Meadow has a selection of Patric bars in our shops and online, available to ship nationwide.

Mark Bitterman :: Apr.15.2011 :: Dark Chocolate, Single Origin Chocolates :: 1 Comment »

Here’s a Valentine’s Day Chocolate Manhattan recipe that upholds all the ideals of the classic cocktail, but with a complex chocolaty twist. This is for anyone whose perfect Valentine’ Day involves wooing their loved one with a top-notch cocktail that harbors within it an irresistible threefold seduction.

As with any recipe, the quality of each ingredient makes all the difference.  Here we call for the fabulously herbaceous Vya Sweet Vermouth–the most luscious of readily available of sweet vermouths (Carpano Antica is a more pungently delicate alternative)–and Robert Lambert’s Dark Cherries soaked in Merlot–the best around.  Choosing the bitters for this cocktail is a tougher task.  Fee Brother’s Aztec Chocolate Bitters is a passable option, but Bittermens Xocolatl Mole Bitters is profound and stirring.  Bitter End Scrappy’s Chocolate Bitters is opulent and lush, Bitter End’s Mexican Mole Bitters is spicy and a bit wild.  This recipe calls for my own Chocolate Fleur de Sel along the rim to set a sizzle of saltiness against the lips.

Ingredients for one serving:
2 oz Bourbon or Rye (approximately one shot)
1 oz Vya Sweet Vermouth
3 dashes Chocolate Bitters
1 Robert Lambert Dark Cherry soaked in Merlot, plus a few drops of the cherry juice

Bitterman’s Chocolate Fleur de Sel for the rim

To prepare the glasses:
Chill each glass
Dip the rim in vermouth and coat with chocolate salt
Place one cherry in the bottom of each glass

To mix the drink:
Mix the bourbon, vermouth, bitters and cherry juice. Stir, then immediately pour and serve; be sure to breathe in deeply, savoring the chocolate-spice aroma before imbibing. Prepare for an outbreak of adoration.

Mark Bitterman :: Feb.14.2011 :: Recipes :: 2 Comments »

Just off the docks and onto the shelves, a new chocolate maker arrives from Kent, England.  Artisan du Chocolat is one of the new generation of adventurous bean-to-bar chocolate makers keeping everything fresh in the chocolate world.  It was their much talked about tobacco chocolate and the selection of other playful-serious infused chocolate bars that originally led me to them.  When I discovered they actually made their own chocolate, getting the entire line into our shops in Portland and New York became a whole lot more pressing.  We missed the holidays, but they’re here at last.

This is my first experience with the bar that really caught my eye.

Only the last lingering traces of flavor remain now, a burnt caramel with a touch of spicy ginger.  That was preceded by raisins and treacle, and indeed, as the maker, Gerard, suggested, perhaps a touch of “biscuit.” The first flavors that greeted me upon opening, regarding, snapping, sniffing, and sucking the chocolate bar were something: what, maybe cardamom and/or turmeric with a bit of allspice.  It is remarkably sweet.  The bar is imperfectly crafted, with a mouthfeel that is not entirely decisive, embracing neither the contemporary daring lightness or the old world brooding silkiness.   But I have not tasted Vietnamese chocolate before, and I’m dang happy to have experienced this new creation.  Artisan du Chocolat’s Vietnamese, 72% dark limited edition chocolate bar is made with Trinitario seedlings from neighboring Malaysia and grown in Ba Ria Vung Tau Province, East of the Mekong Delta.  Complex and distinctive, I couldn’t ask for more, sitting here in the sun, still puffing and warm from shoveling snow off the sidewalk of the Hudson street shop on a Thursday morning.

Mark Bitterman :: Jan.27.2011 :: Dark Chocolate, News, Single Origin Chocolates :: 1 Comment »

The makers of Taza Chocolate have called out to their loyal fans ask for support. (We sell some of their bars at The Meadow, so now’s a good time to try them if you haven’t already!)  Taza chocolate here>>

If you live in the Boston area, you saw how much water dropped suddenly from the sky last Saturday afternoon. Traffic ground to a halt as streets flooded out just minutes after the rain began.

Windsor Street River

Around 3pm, Taza’s Director of Manufacturing (i.e. Head Chocolate Making Guy), Mike Schechter, thought maybe he’d pop by our newly renovated, first floor chocolate factory for a quick look, just to be safe. He arrived to find Windsor St. more river than roadway. And once inside, he found water pouring unchecked into the factory via a breach in our building’s front exterior wall, and bubbling up from the drains in the floor. The new chocolate production facility, where we’d turned out our first batch of Mexicanos just last week, was already sitting in an unwelcome lake several inches deep, and the water was still coming. He grabbed his phone and started dialing, letting any Taza employee he could reach know that it might be a good idea for them to come by the factory, pronto.

Now, 72 hours later, we’re taking stock. A dedicated, non-stop weekend bail-out, mop-up, and salvage effort by many of our amazing Taza staffers, on their own time, has cleared the way for recovery and rebuilding to start. We’ve hacked out the bottom 16 inches of drywall on every wall in our entire facility, carted ruined office cubicles to the dumpsters, and relocated our laptops to apartments and cafes until we have a functional workspace. Our chocolate production capacity will be shut down for at least a week, and cash flow will be a big challenge as we find a way to finance the repair of the facility we just made a major investment in upgrading. The silver lining? Our stockpile of bars, Mexicanos, and other Taza goodies is still stored on the second floor of our building, and remains safe, dry, and delicious.

Retail Store

Taza has always been a scrappy crew of chocolate fanatics, and we’re determined to get back to the important business of making excellent chocolate as soon as possible. You have all shown us terrific support and love over our first 3 ½ years in business, and we ask for your support now – if you can, buy some Taza Chocolate (we also think you’d look great in a Taza t-shirt). Shop our online store, come out and see us at the farmers’ markets, or find us at your local retailer. With great customers like you, we’re going to keep on making the Taza Chocolate you love, come hell or high water.

Watch video from Channel 5 about Taza and the Somerville flash floods here>>

Buy their chocolate from The Meadow here>>

Mark Bitterman :: Jul.14.2010 :: News :: 2 Comments »

There are great chocolates and there are fun chocolates.  Both are successful when they recognize what they are after from the get-go, and d0n’t filly fally around trying to be something they’re not.  Kshocolat burst on the scene based almost entirely on the idea of making a package look beautiful and fun, and making the chocolate fun and, how shall we say it… “yummy.”  It is not great, not serious, not complex, not even actually all that much concerned with being chocolate at all.  At The Meadow we’ve sold Kshocolat since they burst on the scene in Scotland, importing it ourselves and hoping for the best when the giant cartons of product arrived–sometimes inexplicably at our home address.   Sadly, supply has always been a challenge, and over time we’ve had to give up even trying to get more and now our entire inventory is more or less gone (a few tubes of Strawberettes remain on the shelves, nothing more).  But now, it looks like we’ll have one of our “funnest” chocolates salvaged, and cross your fingers, perhaps on the shelves again in time for the holidays!

Press release: Following their recent entry into administration, certain assets and intellectual property of Kshocolât Ltd and Brand 1602 Chocolate Ltd have now been acquired by Bon Bon Buddies Ltd, Europe’s leading character licensed novelty confectionery and biscuit company.

The Kshocolât and Hot Choc brands encompass a range of premium boxed chocolates and confectionery, chocolate bars and drinking chocolate, with award-winning contemporary designs. These luxury products sell in a variety of UK premium retailers and enjoy a strong international presence in over 20 export markets.

Bon Bon Buddies will now invest in the brands to further develop the existing product range, build the brand profile and increase distribution. By maximising the marketing and market opportunities for Kshocolât and Hot Choc, Bon Bon Buddies plans to further enhance and complement its successful confectionery portfolio.

Chris Howarth, Managing Director of Bon Bon Buddies, said: “We are delighted to have completed this excellent acquisition against strong competition. The Kshocolât and Hot Choc brands will allow us to extend our market presence into the premium chocolate market in the UK and Europe with this exciting premium confectionery range”.

Bon Bon Buddies are currently holding in-depth discussions with Kshocolât’s existing supplier base and hope to re-launch the range at the earliest opportunity. However all future orders will only be made to customers within the Retail trade. For further information please view our Terms & Conditions

In readiness for the re-launch of the Kshocolât range, we are strongly encouraging existing Trade/Retail customers to contact Paul Stanton at Bon Bon Buddies, in order to obtain both the Account Application Form and Terms & Conditions.

Once these forms are returned to us, our Finance Department will then take up all relevant credit applications and references and process the applications accordingly. Once established, notifications will be sent indicating your Account Information and, if applicable, credit limit.

Bon Bon Buddies are enthusiastic to grow both the Kshocolât and Hot Choc brands within all markets and are excited to expand its already successful client base with Kshocolât’s previous customers.

In the first instance of for further information please contact Paul Stanton at paul.stanton@bonbonbuddies.com

We look forward to receiving your applications in the very near future and establishing successful trading relationships with you.

About Bon Bon Buddies

Bon Bon Buddies is a privately owned market leading business specializing in design, sourcing, manufacturing and marketing character and branded confectionery and biscuits.  Bon Bon Buddies head office is in South Wales, UK with additional sales, marketing and logistics offices in France, Benelux, Denmark and Poland.

Bon Bon Buddies license the intellectual rights for kids entertainment properties from the major global brand owners, working with their most popular character properties, including: Disney – Princess, Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse, Cars and Toy Story; Nickelodeon – Spongebob; Marvel – Spiderman and Ironman; Sanrio – Hello Kitty; Lucas Film – Star Wars; and, BBC – In the Night Garden and Dr Who.

Bon Bon Buddies were winners of the Licensing Industry Awards for ‘The best food or drink range’ in both 2008 and 2009.

Mark Bitterman :: Jun.11.2010 :: News :: 3 Comments »