We featured Bittersweet in our Chocolate Manufacturers – Guide for Chocoholics.

photo courtesy of Roxy Chocsmith

About Roxy Chocsmith

Roxy Chocsmith offers small batch, preservative free, high quality hand-made chocolate truffles to sweet tooths everywhere. 

About the products:

Deriving inspiration from desserts like cheescake, key lime pie, cookies ‘n cream, creme brulee – Roxy Chocsmith is a truly unique multi-layered chocolate experience.  They use fine white, dark, and milk chocolate in creating otheir sweet inspirations- because much like yourself, chocolate is many different things, but fabulous above all!

Their chocolate collection comprises many delicious flavors from salty, creamy to sweet or tangy. Here are some of our favorites:

Cookies’n cream Chocolate: Cookies- good, sweet cream-good.  Chopped bits of oreo cookie fleck the white chocolate center, which is then covered in a mixture of milk and semi-sweet and then rolled in crushed oreo cookies.  Chocolate with crunch.  It’s all good.

Chocolate Cheesecake: The  melding of chocolate with the inimitable zing of cheesecake. A semi sweet, creamy center with the slightest cheesecake tang, covered in graham cracker crumbs. It’s a bite sized dessert. Like eating a whole slice- but less than half the calories!

Orange Ginger Chocolate: Dark chocolate center infused with the perfect amount of orange, drenched in silky-smooth dark chocolate, and topped with a spicy slice of crystallized ginger.

The chocolate from Roxy Chocsmith makes the perfect gift for the chocoholic in your life or would be a perfect choice as a party favor. For more info on how to order, check out their website at RoxyChocsmith.com.

We featured Chocolate.com in our Chocolate Manufacturers – Guide for Chocoholics.  Looking for that unique or hard to find chocolate? Chocolate.com has what you are looking for.  From Sugar-Free, Kosher, Organic, or Fair Trade, to chocolate covered fruit and popcorn, Chocolate.com has it all!

Sweet Deceit Collection Sugar Free

A 15-pc. assortment of our Sugar-Free selections, including solids, truffles and nuts. Sweet Deceit is a blend of fine cacao beans, roasted with the same care and attention as our Choclatique cacao beans. We subtly sweeten Sweet Deceit chocolate with Maltitol. We encourage you to compare these Authentically American flavors with our Choclatique originals. You won’t believe they’re really sugar-free!

Price: $30.00

100 Percent Organic Chocolate Seeds

100% Organic Chocolate Seeds are cocoa beans covered in dark chocolate. Cocoa beans come from the seed pod of the chocolate tree. Yes, its the whole seed, and not a chocolate covered nib! You can really taste the origin of chocolate. 4oz bag by the Nahualli Trading Co.  The company started in Raleigh, NC and celebrated its second year in 2009. Raleigh, NC is located in the triangle a crossroad for fine organic heritage farming; plus, talented chefs who know their craft and can practice it for a knowledgeable community.

Price: $8.00

Truffles To Give 2 Tier Dark Chocolate And Mint

Share the experience of Coco-Zen with a special gift tin. Their large signature truffles are over 1oz each and come uniquely packaged in a 2-tier stainless steel tiffin (a traditional Indian “lunch box”), featuring Dark Chocolate Nirvana and Chocolate Mint Bliss. Give Coco-Zen to anyone, and nurture your chocolate karma. Remember…what goes around, comes around! All Fair Trade Certified™ chocolate.

Price: $35.00

Sea Salt Caramel Collection

Dark chocolate caramels topped with an eclectic selection of sea salts from around the world.

The harmony produced when chocolate, caramel, and salt get together.

9 piece collection by Lula’s Chocolates, the new artisan chocolate company on the Monterey Peninsula in California.

Price: $13.00

Champagne Chocolates

These chocolates, made with an award winning California sparkling wine and fine dark chocolate, are consider by many to be the finest “Champagne Truffles” made. Each chocolate is individually hand-made to order. 12 pieces by Chocolate Visions. Chocolate Visions creates and produces extraordinary fine chocolates that are unique both in flavor and appearance. Each piece is either hand-dipped or hand-molded to order.

Price: $20.00

For more chocolate variety and to find out more information about the above mention chocolates, check out Chocolate.com.

We featured Bittersweet in our Chocolate Manufacturers – Guide for Chocoholics.

About Bittersweet:

The company was founded in 2005 and then in 2007, they started to handcraft their own Bittersweet Origins chocolate bars. The founders were from AskJeeves who decided they wanted to do something completely different.

photo courtesy of Bittersweet Cafe

About the products:

These Bittersweet Origins chocolate bars are created in very small ‘micro-batches’ by the Bittersweet chocolatier, Seneca Klassen.

Seneca takes the 50-pound bags of cacao beans which come from Dominican Republic, Bali or Venezuela and takes the chocolate through the whole process from the bean to the bar – and there are a number of steps. It takes four days to create the chocolate bars. And because Seneca works in such small batches, every bar made at a different time – even from the same plantation, will taste different. Like fine wine. Each is a unique vintage. And the flavor is really amazing – a whole range of tastes from fruity to nutty to spicy to earthy.

Chocolate tasting is a lot of fun and a unique experience. The Bittersweet people are putting together Chocolate Clubs with regular tasting events so folks can develop their palates.

In my tasting experience – you snap the chocolate (the noise tells you how well the crystals lined up), you melt it slightly in your hand and smell it, you take a bite and chew it and then you take another taste and suck it. Quite a process – just like wine-tasting.

Bittersweet has focused on handcrafting their chocolate (both their bars and their wonderful chocolate drinks), and chocolate pastries and that same attention to detail is reflected in the look and ‘vibe’ at the actual stores. The furnishings at each of the three stores are different. In Danville the tables are old farm furniture from Hungary, the paintings on the walls were created by the artist-daughter of one of the founders, the benches are of wood from old barns – you get the idea. And all created by craftspeople, not a factory.

The cafes are comfortable hangouts. You can sample any of the chocolates you want. You can buy a cup of hot chocolate and read all afternoon.

photo courtesy of Bittersweet Cafe

And now, this month, Bittersweet is adding its own roasted coffee to its product line. The company will be roasting beans (again in small batches), and then serving that very fresh coffee in their stores the next day. Yet another micro-batched, bean-oriented product that comes from farms around the world.

Bittersweet likes to suggest that even in tough economic times you can have a ‘whole worldwide adventure in your mouth’ with their chocolates. It’s a whole panoply of different nuanced tastes that originate in Africa and South America.

It is fun that every batch is a little different. The beans all comes from sustainable and organic, pesticide-free farms where the company has a direct relationship with every grower.

And, right now, Seneca is in Hawaii planting thousands of cacao trees for his own plantation.

Location:

Bittersweet has three locations – Danville, Rockridge and Fillmore in San Francisco. For more info, please visit Bittersweetcafe.com or their blog. You can also find them on Twitter: @bittersweetcafe.

We featured Cafe Britt in our Chocolate Manufacturers – Guide for Chocoholics.

White Chocolate Covered Lime Jelly

Inspired by Florida’s favorite Key Lime Pie and world-famous citrus groves, these small, white orbs are big on refreshing, tropical flavor.

We’ve covered tangy lime-jelly chews in creamy white chocolate for a sweet treat that refreshes like a cool, ocean breeze. Packed in a colorful Miami-inspired bag, they’re as great for giving as they are for snacking.

Price $8.95 6oz bag

Dark Chocolate Covered Passion Fruit

Double passion for chocolate!

The rich-flavors and pleasant tropical aroma of Passion Fruit are contained within every bite of our smooth gourmet dark chocolate. An exotic delicatessen directly from Costa Rica’s unique rainforests, created by Cafe Britt, just for you the passionate chocolate lover.

Price $8.95 6oz bag

Dark Chocolate Covered Pineapple

Indulge with this tropical temptation!

The golden sun and wild scenery of Costa Rica has inspired Cafe Britt to create this exquisite combination of fresh golden pineapple jelly and smooth dark gourmet chocolate. The result is an exuberant flavor that celebrates nature’s best!

Price $8.95 6oz bag

Dark Chocolate Covered Guava

Experience an exotic treat that celebrates local tradition!

Sweet guava jelly, from fragrant guava fruits grown in the warmth climate and rich soils of nurturing Costa Rica are bathed in rich dark gourmet chocolate. Cafe Britt ‘Guayabitas’ rekindle an age-old traditional flavor in Costa Rican sweets to share with friends and family at home.

Price $8.95 6oz bag

Dark Chocolate Covered Orange Jelly

We couldn’t resist creating a delicious confection inspired by Florida’s most famous fruit.

This luxurious medley of dark chocolate and chewy orange jelly is pure poetry. Sweet and tangy, surprising and subtle, this is sure to be a fruit-and-chocolate-lover’s favorite. Packed in a colorful Miami-inspired bag, they’re as great for giving as they are for snacking.

Price $8.95 6oz bag

Dark Chocolate Covered Gourmet Macadamia Nuts

Enjoy this explosive flavor combination!

Cafe Britt’s premier macadamias, grown amid the tropical mists in Costa Rica’s volcanic soil, are delicately covered with the purest gourmet dark chocolate in small batches to attain perfection. Delight your guest with this unique sweet or indulge yourself, either way, you’ll assure contented smiles.

Price $8.95 5oz bag

Dark Chocolate covered Gourmet Cashew Nuts
Nuts & Chocolate, Oh my!

Nurtured in the warmth of Costa Rica’s tropical climate, our prime whole cashews are delicately bathed in creamy gourmet dark chocolate to attain perfection. These festive crescents will add a warm touch to your party and be perennial favorite with friends & family.

Price $8.95 5oz bag

White Chocolate Covered Gourmet Coffee Beans

Latte Coffee with a twist!

Cafe Britt 100 gourmet Costa Rican espresso coffee beans are carefully roasted and delicately dipped in cocoa butter white chocolate. Our coffee’s enticing aroma and the crunchy texture of our coffee beans complement the soft white-chocolate flavor for a soothing sensation that lingers in your palate.

Price $8.95 6oz bag

Dark Chocolate Covered Gourmet Coffee Beans

Share our passion for coffee!

Cafe Britt 100 gourmet Costa Rican espresso coffee beans are carefully roasted and delicately dipped in creamy dark chocolate. Our coffee’s enticing aroma and the crunchy texture of our coffee beans complement the velvety chocolate flavor for a cheering sensation that lights up your palate.

Price $8.95 6oz bag

Gourmet Gift Box Sampler

Enjoy 8 of Cafe Britt’s very best candy creations, all packed in this beautiful gift box. It includes an assorted combination of Cafe Britt’s most popular flavors. You can find chocolate-covered pineapple, guava or passion fruit; chocolate-covered macadamia or cashews, as well as crunchy whole gourmet nuts. Of course, you can’t miss our famous fresh roasted coffee beans, all covered in creamy white or dark gourmet chocolate. Simply irresistible!

Price $8.95, 7.6oz, approx. 1 oz. per pack

For more information about these gourmet chocolates, check out Cafe Britt.

Maple Bacon Doughnut Courtesy of Voodoo Doughnut

To many Americans, the idea of mixing dinner with breakfast, or mixing dessert with lunch, is stomach churning. America has traditional breakfast foods, such as, eggs, bacon, and pancakes. Lunch is generally served cold and comprised of sandwiches or other light fare. Dinner is meant to be heavy, satisfying, and hot. So, what happens when people rebel against our societal gastronomic norms? All kinds of yummy goodness.

Who can imagine mixing dessert with breakfast or dinner? Ever tried cheesecake eggs? Neither have I. How about spaghetti pancakes? Again, that’s a negative for me. Okay, so maybe not all rebellions are successful, wise, or… tasty. Some, however, certainly merit at least a sampling.

I shared dinner with a good friend recently, and as the meal drew to a close, she began scouring my kitchen in search of chocolate… delicious, creamy, irreplaceable chocolate. Unfortunately for her, all of the chocolate in my house is perfunctorily devoured upon discovery, and my unfortunate friend was left dreaming. She wasn’t dreaming about just any chocolate though. She is picky picky. She specifically craved… drum roll please… a bacon covered chocolate glazed doughnut. Bacon… covered… chocolate glazed …doughnut. Apparently, it’s what all the cool kids are eating these days. I looked at her aghast, still feeling bad that I had no plain milk chocolate morsels to offer, when she began sharing her recently acquired knowledge and taste for the slightly bizarre.

Apparently, most of us close-minded Americans have been stuck in a rut, eating our customary breakfast foods at breakfast, and dessert foods at dessert. Other, perhaps more enlightened individuals, however, have been embarking on culinary adventures in realms far away from breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. I was offering to drive her to Krispy Kreme doughnuts, while she was dreaming of bacon covered doughnuts. Perhaps, she may have discovered relatively uncharted territory that deserves further exploration.

While my friend was kindly educating me on various potential exquisite flavor combinations, the TV was busy slamming it in my face. Bizarre foods with Andrew Zimmern was highlighting a doughnut joint named, “Voodoo Dougnut” in Portland, Oregon. This bakery explores many flavor combinations, including one they have named the “Arnold Palmer”, a cake doughnut covered with lemon and tea powder. They also offer bacon topped, maple glaze covered doughnuts. Another website my friend showed me offers chocolate covered bacon in both milk and dark chocolate, as well as other flavorful extraordinary possibilities.

So, for all you adventurous types looking to embark on an exploratory voyage in desserts, think about it, look at the pictures, read the reviews, and perhaps… take a leap off that cliff… and just… taste it. Then, come back and let us know what you think! Enjoy your adventure…

It’s easy and very quick to put together and I make them with raw honey and not sugar.

Ingredients

500g butter
2 cups buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
6X250ml cake flour
1/4 cup baking powder
1 1/2 cups sugar(i use raw honey)
1/4 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups chopped dates
1 1/2 cups chopped roasted almonds
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon pd.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 180c.
Melt butter and allow to cool for 10 mins.
Add buttermilk and vanilla, followed by the dry ingredients.
Add dates and almonds.
Mix thoroughly.

I’m too lazy to roll into balls or bake it in a loaf pan and then slice it and dry it. I found an easier way… I drop spoonfuls into mini cupcake tins and they look so much cuter.

Bake for 20-30 mins.

Dry out in oven at 70 c for about 3-5 hrs keeping the oven door slightly ajar.

Enjoy!

We featured Chalmers Ganache in our Chocolate Manufacturers – Guide for Chocoholics.

About Chalmers Ganache:

Founded in January 2004, Chalmers is the product of a Friday night family tradition of ice cream and TV, a beloved ritual made sweeter with the delight of a homemade ganache-like chocolate. Seizing the moment in the marketplace for a high-quality chocolate with more versatility, richness and natural dark chocolate flavor, Chalmers was born. Recipe experimentation resulted in Chalmers Ganache – made without high-fructose corn syrup unlike most traditional sauces and spreads available.

About the products:

Chalmers Ganache products are crafted from the finest imported European cocoas and blended to a luxuriously thick, silky texture. It is an exquisite, affordable chocolate indulgence and can be used in a myriad of recipes – spoon, melt, spread, or dip. Original Luxe Dark, Ultra Mint, and new Mucho Mayan Spice, are available in 8.25 oz. jars – and a beautiful gift set.

photo courtesy of Chalmers Ganache

The stylish set includes three 8.25 oz. jars of Chalmers Ganache – one of each flavor: original Luxe Dark, Ultra Mint, and Mucho Mayan Spice, presented in a lush brown sueded gift box tied with Chalmers blue grosgrain ribbon. Suggested retail price for the set is around $30.

Additional epicurean products available online soon, will include industry-first “Patisserie Pack” presented in a pastry bag-like package for bakery/foodservice, drinking bowls and stylish logo “baby-Ts.”

The newest flavor, Mucho Mayan Spice, is a heady blend of cinnamon, chipotle chiles in Chalmers’ luscious dark chocolate ganache.

Location:

It’s a groovy little brand that’s making some waves in the fancy food world. They are available at select Whole Foods Market stores in GA, TN, SC, and NC, Naples Gourmet Grocer in Long Beach, Rice Epicurean in Houston, and other specialty food retailers as well as online at www.chalmersganache.com

photo courtesy of Swiss Maid Fudge

About Swiss Maid Fudge:

Swiss Maid Fudge of Wisconsin Dells, WI specializes in decadent handmade from scratch candy, just like Grandma used to make!  Swiss Maid Fudge Candy Store has delighted Midwesterners for over 45 years with its decadent and delicious confectionary treats and now their candy is available for everyone to enjoy coast to coast. Owner Jane Heller grew up in the candy business. 

About the products:

Their classic milk and dark chocolate fudge is to die for but there’s plenty of unusual fudge flavors that are just as inviting such as seasonal favorites – Creamy Dreamsicle, Smores, Cookie Dough, Butter Pecan, Creamy Strawberry and Amaretto.

photo courtesy of Swiss Maid Fudge

Each day the staff is hard at working creating these and dozens of other sweet creations including mouth watering chocolate bars, caramels, salt water taffy, chocolate dipped angel food cake and brittles…to name a few.  Each recipe is made the European way using copper kettles and cooking over open-fired cast iron stoves. All of their homemade candy is created fresh daily in their kitchen using the finest ingredients and hand mixed on special confectionary tables. Made without artificial preservatives, artisanal candy makers at Swiss Maid Fudge cook, creatively package, and ship your order for you fresh – right from their kitchen!

Location:

Since 1962 her family has been keeping the locals and tourists happy with a delicious variety of fudges and other amazing treats that are now available nationwide at www.swissmaidfudge.com.

We featured FLING Chocolate in our Chocolate Manufacturers – Guide for Chocoholics.

photo courtesy of FLINGchocolate.com

About FLING Chocolate

In January 2009, Mars Snackfood US introduced FLING™ Chocolate - a new chocolate line that is playfully flirtatious, alluring and unapologetic in its desire to tempt women to enjoy a “naughty but not that naughty™” treat.

With more than $7 billion in annual sales in the U.S., Mars North America includes food, snack and pet care segments, which are a symbol of excellence for quality brands. Headquartered in Hackettstown, New Jersey, Mars North America employs more than 15,000 associates in the U.S., with 72 facilities nationwide. Mars Snackfood US includes some of the world’s favorite brands such as, M&M’S® Brand, SNICKERS® Brand, DOVE® Chocolate Brand, MILKY WAY® Brand, 3 MUSKETEERS® Brand, and TWIX® Brand. Additional popular brands in the petcare and food segments for Mars North America include UNCLE BEN’S® Brand, PEDIGREE® Brand Food for Dogs, and WHISKAS® Brand Food for Cats.

FLING and Facts:

California women love indulging themselves, with chocolate as their primary indulgence. According to a survey of 500 California women, 85% have given into their chocolate indulgence in the past three months. Can chocolate be a replacement for men? Not yet, but California women confess that they enjoy chocolate as much as passionate kissing (77% enjoy chocolate, 75% enjoy passionate kissing). In 2009, satisfying your chocolate desire is a sure investment, as California women are committed to keeping their chocolate an affordable fling in their lives. Today, California women claim they are less likely to give up chocolate and splurging on clothes than other indulgent “flings” such as drinking gourmet coffee, having girls’ nights out and spa treatments.

“Every woman desires a moment of the day just for herself, to let inhibitions go and to indulge in what she fancies,” said Thomas Pinnau, Vice President of Indulgence, Mars Snackfood US. “FLING Chocolate is more than just a premium, light candy treat. It’s about embracing what we all love about chocolate while liberating ourselves from the guilt of indulging in what we desire.”

The brand uses the unconventional and liberating tagline “naughty but not that naughty” – a unique description for a daily indulgence that every woman longs for. Since March 2009, a tongue-in-cheek regional print, television and online advertising campaign has captured consumers’ imagination with innuendo-laden headlines and “naughty but not that naughty” commercials as well as a number of celebrity events.

“For FLING Chocolate, we are taking a limited market launch for unlimited learning. Our California launch is designed to deliver a successful brand and achieve our ultimate goal – to establish FLING Chocolate within the consumer’s chocolate repertoire,” said Pinnau. “This investment in product and marketing innovation will allow us to grow responsibly as we understand how to best engage the consumer in a meaningful way.”

photo courtesy of FLING Chocolate

About the products:

Each decadent stick contains a delicate truffle sitting on a subtle crisp layer of meringue enrobed in shimmering, velvety chocolate that looks as good as the women who long for it.  But at under 85 calories per stick, FLING offers chocolate liberation – freeing every woman from the guilt of indulging in chocolate pleasure.  The new line offers three distinct flavors: milk chocolate, dark chocolate and hazelnut, so there’s no need to be afraid to commit to just one. 

Location:

FLING Chocolate is only available at California-based grocery, drug, mass merchandise, convenience and specialty stores. The suggested retail price is $0.79 for a Single Pack of two sticks and $3.39 for a Multi-Pack Carton of ten individually wrapped sticks. Los Angeles residents will have the opportunity to enjoy a FLING through unique sampling initiatives in their city. 

Additionally, FLING Chocolate is currently available to chocolate lovers everywhere at flingchocolate.com. To become a fan, please visit FLING Chocolate on Facebook!

We featured Recchiuti Confections in our Chocolate Manufacturers – Guide for Chocoholics.

About Recchiuti Confections:

Consuming about 11 pounds of the stuff per person every year, America eats and drinks all manner of chocolate, from the mass-marketed all-American candy bars to the imported bonbons and truffles of Belgium and France. Using words like “seductive,” “sensual,” and “decadent,” Americans claim chocolate as their favorite flavor when it comes to desserts. All this, yet most people in the United States are only familiar with super-sweet “snacking” chocolate, and have very little exposure to premium, dark chocolate and its myriad varieties and complex flavor profiles. Enter Recchiuti Confections, an artisan company in San Francisco on a mission to introduce consumers to “real” chocolate and to share with people what it was meant to be. There’s no going back – one bite of these handcrafted morsels will change the way you think about chocolate forever.

Recchiuti Confections was created by Michael Recchiuti and his wife Jacky Recchiuti in 1997. Michael, a self-trained chocolatier, spent many years in the test kitchen experimenting with herbal and other infusions before finally brining his creations to the masses. He founded Recchiuti Confections with the idea that once you introduce truly exquisite chocolates to people, they will be won over instantly and forever. Then, as now, he achieved those exquisite chocolates by painstakingly selecting each ingredient – all natural – that would go into the final creation. Michael is constantly on the lookout for the freshest herbs and spices that make Recchiuti Confections a necessary indulgence and have made them an obsession to consumers nationwide.

About the products:

Everything at Recchiuti Confections is handmade in small batches using traditional European techniques.

Over time, other confections were added to the Recchiuti repertoire including dessert sauces that taste as good straight from the jar as they do over ice cream, over-sized gourmet chocolate bars, heavenly Fudge Brownies, chocolate-coated Key Lime Pears and a do-it-yourself S’mores Kit. Here are two of their most popular products:

Creativity Explored Box III (3.5 oz, 8 pieces) $21 **This is a gift that gives back!**
Recchiuti Confections released brand new collection of art-adorned chocolates. The third in the Creativity Explored series features the work of Vincent Jackson, Bay Area artist and long-time CE studio contributor. Pieces of Burnt Caramel chocolate serve as tiny canvases inspiring the artist to create something compelling, beautiful and delicious. 
 
Your purchase of the Creativity Explored series helps the organization continue its work. each sale goes to Creativity Explored, a nonprofit visual arts center where artists with developmental disabilities create, exhibit, and sell art.

Black Box (16 pieces; 8 ounces) $44
A chocolate assortment containing Tarragon Grapefruit, Burnt Caramel, Lavender Vanilla, Sur de Lago, Lemon Verbena, Spring Jasmine Tea, Pearl Mint Tea and Star Anise & Pink Peppercorn, Ginger Heart, Force Noir, Kona Coffee, Sesame Nougat, Rose Caramel, Candied Orange Peel, Bergamot Tea and Piedmont Hazelnut.
 
Awards:

In 2005 Michael’s book Chocolate Obsession (Stewart, Tabori & Chang), co-authored with renowned pastry expert Fran Gage, was released to wide acclaim; the book was a finalist at the 2006 James Beard Awards and won high honors for photography and design at the 2006 International Association of Culinary Professionals annual conference.

Recchiuti creations have received praise from hundreds of upscale consumer publications, critics and the food and wine industry in general. Currently, new chocolates and confections are being developed with Michael finding new ways to make the chocolate consuming public happy and…obsessed.

Locations:

In 2003, Recchiuti Confections opened its first retail store in San Francisco’s Ferry Building Marketplace; the renovated historic building has become a mecca for the artisan food community and a destination point for food lovers everywhere. Meanwhile, chocolate lovers across the U.S. are able to purchase online at www.recchiuti.com