Lindt Excellence 99% Cocoa/Cacao

I was tipped off that Cavistons in Glasthule had an 88% Dolfin (thanks to thegirlwhosafraidoffoxes) so while there I also picked up this 99% Lindt. The first taste of this chocolate made me gag … that has never happened before. But not to be put off I had some more :-)

Price: €2.39 for 50g bar
Look: probably the darkest matte chocolate color I have seen. Presented, as all Lindt bars are, in a strong cardboard box. But the chocolate is concealed within a further protective sealed wrapper. This ensures the delicate 50g bar is not lost in the 100g bar box. But it gives Lindt the opportunity to explain ‘to fully appreciate all its flavours, we recommend that you progressively develop your palate through our range of high cocoa content bars”. The squares of chocolate are small and delicate which reinforces the fact that it should be nibbled rather than noshed.
Smell: like my usual Lindt 70% but with only a tiny hint of sweetness
Snap: teeny tiny crisp snap from the teeny tiny squares
Taste: It is a savoury bar with a salty taste, only a hint of demerara sugar. It is an ‘acquired’ taste just like Guinness and after the first square I acquired the taste but this would be a ‘now and then’ bar for me.
Texture: very drying, sticky and pasty
Will I buy this again? Yes
Source: Cavistons, Glasthule

Cote D’Or Framboise

How lucky are the French?? They have great chocolate and can score a goal with a touch of the hand :-(

In a Parisian corner shop one can buy a pretty OK dark chocolate at a snip. This Cote D’Or 70% Framboise was €1.19! I am not sure we could get a Cadbury’s here for that price. Now I hear that they’ve reduced VAT on dark chocolate … French government are encouraging people to eat it such are its health benefits. I would mention this to Mr. Cowen but I feel he has more pressing issues to deal with.

Anyhow, I won’t be going back for another bar unfortunately. It was waxy, bland and tasted of nothing distinct … maybe like eating a candle with raspberry crisps. Ah well, you win some, you lose some! And I won with the Lindt purchase from the same corner shop.

Parlibel in Clonmel

On Sunday the ‘girls’ (NannyB, Mommie and HoneyB) went to the new Showgrounds Shopping Centre in Clonmel. There was M&S for NannyB, a fab kids clothes shop called NameIt where HoneyB got her ‘christmas dress’. And for me … a chocolate shop which stocks Parlibel exclusively.

The shop is sleek white, with the brown Parlibel logo and dashes of orange. Who forgot their camera??? Arghhh!! The owners offered copious samples and were very enthusiastic. I was expecting Leonidas type experience and certainly you can pack your own selection from an array of flavours. But owners tell me that Paribel is a few steps up from Leonidas and they are the only Irish importer. I spy a 4ft chocolate santa in the cabinet … apparently one will be raffled for charity before Christmas.

My favourite was the dark lemon truffle and this was not dark chocolate filled with some moussey lemony cream … this was dark lemon ganache. The truffles were big … big enough to share and coated in lots of chocolate. This is kinda the opposite to my favourite truffle which is small, delicate and coated in a thin layer of chocolate. But it’s good to share!

I am so disappointed that I have no photos which show off their visual appeal. Just wait until next time! There were really groovy ones (think white chocolate but spray painted with green dots) which went to my babysitter-bro.

Aine Chocolates

Did I mention that I bought 3 bars of Aine dark chocolate at the Chocolate Sundae? Anyway I did. I had already tasted the 70% bar so it was time to taste the flavours range. I am not too keen on the 70% but I think it would be a winner with lots of folk. Actually it would be a nice addition to a 70% tasting plate, offering it as the first sample.

Honeycomb

Lovely crispy random sizes of crunchiness. The presentation is a treat too, neatly wrapped bars with greaseproof lined foil as opposed to just foil. I tend to make a big mess when I get foil … I try to re-wrap the bar for later and it never goes back neatly. Maybe I should take the hint and eat the lot!

Lemon Zest

Yes indeed lemony, like grains of lemon sugar, but an aftertaste of honeycomb … and that would be because there is honeycomb in the bar. It adds a chewy feel against the crispness of the zest.

Butterscotch

This one suffered chocolate bloom :-( I’ve had Cluizel bars, truffles, Galaxy bars with the same thing. It’s unfortunate but bring on the see-thru wrappers!!

People say that it is ok to eat – I disagree – it’s rotten, the mouthfeel, the grainy texture, no melt away sensation, the flavour is definitely impaired.

People say you could cook with it – I disagree but no one refuses brownies – anyone for a blooming brownie :-o Maybe during the cooking process, the structure breaks down anyway so the bloom damage does not matter?

I do not know what type of bloom this was (am guessing sugar) but Wikipedia have suggested test that can help tell … must try them in future.

Chocolate Sundae

It was a cold wet miserable Sunday morning. Was I the only one daft enough to leave a cosy house to face the elements all for chocolate? Himself certainly thought so. But the Chocolate Fair happens once a year and by hook or by crook we were going.

HoneyB donned her wellies and was quietly excited about meeting the chocolatiers to get some tastes. By the time we got there the rain had eased and I was encouraged to see all the chocolatiers setting up, unperturbed by the weather. We got down to business straight away, relaxed by the Willie Wonka music playing the in background.

We got a tremendous reception at Wilde Irish Chocolate. Trish remembered us from last year and brought some chocolate bunny lollipops especially for HoneyB. Yahoo! We got a special ‘Wilde Rocky Road’ to taste … their secret: lots of delic milk chocolate, mini mallows and honeycomb. It is a chocoholics dream i.e. more chocolate than ‘other stuff’ :-)

Their truffle boxes were amazing, so colorful and inviting … now you can have a box of your favourite flavour. Maybe a box of Orange Truffles for Mum this Christmas??

I got my fix of Super bar (80% & cocoa nibs), and a jar of White Chocolate Hazelnut spread for the nefs. Well, as part of my research I had to open the jar for a tiny taste. I was expecting soft and spreadable, but it was pretty firm. Just like spreading butter straight from the fridge … how will that work out I wonder??

Next port of call was ChocONeill who do simple things with wonderful chocolate – why mess with a good thing, eh? I picked up a Peru single plantation for tasting later.

At this stage a patch of blue sky emerged – hallelujah! and an old school mate of mine arrived. Yes it was time for hot chocolate ala Louise Lennox: 3 types of chocolate, milk and cream – yum. Himself went for the marshmallows (aka flogs … do you remember flogs?) on top. Then it was time to decorate cupcakes … and yes we would all like a go … sweet messy stuff is not the preserve of kids ;-)

Although I was cold, HoneyB must not have been as she dived into a free tub of Ben and Jerrys ice-cream. We headed inside to see Benoit Lorge’s demo leaving the ice-cream behind … that was not a good idea and HoneyB exploded into tears. Himself quickly nipped back to get more and in the meantime the chocolatier came to her aid with a piece of Valrhona :-)

The demo was excellent and both boys were rightly impressed. TC … might you leave down your guitar and pick up the spatula?? HoneyB sat patiently or maybe somewhat confused thinking ‘hey this guy is making a mess and mommie not cross’.

I must mention Sarah Varela, face painter extraordinaire. HoneyB was too young for face painting by got her hands done-up like a tiger (just like in Peppa Pig, grghhh).

O’Conaill were there with an immense range of chocolate bars with everything sprinkled on them, molds from way back when, drinking chocolate kits and even some dipped fruit peel. The coffee beans on top of dark chocolate sounded like one for Himself.

Dinner was supplied by Mero Mero Sabores de Mexico in the form of Turkey Mole … spicy but hit the cold spot perfectly and for €5, good value.

Final port of call was Aine Chocolates where apparently their chocolate is made from beans (rather than couverture) … ‘takes a very long time’ I’m told. They buy the beans, roast them etc … ‘yes, it takes a very long time’. I was stunned … where were the trumpets to announce the bean to bar stall??

We bought 3 bars for €6 too but oh the pain when I got home and saw what was behind the Butterscotch wrapper. The bar was bloomed beyond belief (streaked white and crumbly). The Lemon Zest and Honeycomb was fine though – phew!

And now I realise the benefit of clear wrappers. I’ve bought Cluizel bloomed so I know it can happen … but with a clear wrapper you can see the state of the chocolate before you buy. Maybe I’ll start a campaign for ’see-thru’ wrapping. Actually Aine Chocolates had some clear wrappers … maybe they are moving over …

There were many stalls we didn’t visit as HoneyB started to get tired and my arms were at breaking point. There was the Truffle Fairy, Natasha’s Living Foods, Celtic Chocolates, Gallaghers, Chez Emily, Chocolate Garden of Ireland … as we left the fair, the sky was blue and the stalls busy.

Benoit Lorge’s Demo

I was wowed by this demo and now I know the sign of a real chocolatier: they can talk to a room full of chocoholics and temper at the same time! And kudos to the Temple Bar Cultural Trust for such a professional ticket design … I am keeping my ticket stub!

Benoit Lorge, originally from France now firmly installed in Kerry, had a bain marie on the go, huge marble slab, several 2.5kg bags of Valrhona chocolate, molds of all shapes and sizes and most importantly, a tilted mirror over the work area so everyone could see what was going on. Hmmm let me illustrate …

The demo was packed with loads of information presented in a easy-to-remember format. He ran thru cocoa bean types, the importance of tempering, cocoa origins all the while keeping bowls of chocolate stirred. He piped the molded sweets with a honey ganache and here’s the recipe. It will do approx 450 sweets ;-)

500ml cream

450g honey

500g Valrhona Jivara

500g Valrhona Carribe

Bring cream to the boil, stir in the honey, then pour over the chocolate.

Just like that :-) It tasted fabulous not least because of the excellent ingredients. Sur’ there was even a Valrhona sales rep present in case anyone need a few kgs.

The worktop after a very busy demo … I lost count of how many discs, truffles and bars he made. He made it look so easy and I know from messy experience that it isn’t. And there was no pretend tempering here … the finished truffles were shiny and crisp.

I thoroughly enjoyed this demo so much so that we went back today to watch again. HoneyB (after a good cry which was silenced by the chocolatier and some Valrhona!) sat watching too. She especially liked pouring all the chocolate onto the slab – I think it was the mess she liked.  She was probably thinking to herself ‘look, this guy making a mess and Mommie is not cross’ !

Lindt Creation 70% Coulis de Chocolat

Those Parisians have it easy. In a corner shop near our hotel Mama Shelter in Paris I picked up a few dark chocolate bars, one of which was this Lindt Creation 70% Coulis de Chocolat. For under €2 as well.

It is a decent filling bar, lots of crisp dark chocolate wrapped around a bitter truffle centre. The bar is presented in typical Lindt style, cardboard box, large easy to break squares. Quite yum. Even Himself liked it and he normally wrinkles his nose at 70% Lindt. I reckon it would be a good seller in Ireland too … please Mr Lindt, can we have some more please??

In the meantime, HoneyB is still refusing to accept the change in the hour so we are up at 6:20am these mornings. This is good for me in that I can get some photos in the daylight.

Janeymac I hope she wakes up early on Friday morning – that will give me lots of time to get into the city and set up for the truffle making class. Speaking of the class, I got some nice ribbons to glam up the chocolate boxes from Cara Craft Supplies. They helped pick out the colors cause I liked them all. Apparently electric blue is big this year … and will go very nicely with my brown chocolate boxes. Mind you maybe the boxes will be empty and bellies will be full :-0

Salon du Chocolat

So we are back from our whirlwind trip to Paris. Early flight on Sat morning got us to the Salon at 11:40am. It was not too busy and all the stalls were easily accessible. But by 2:00pm, it began to get a lot busier, we gave up at 3:30 and as we left we saw the crowds of people queuing outside, every now and then a group would be allowed in. Phew we were lucky to get there a little ahead. I would recommend going on a week day … at 10am.

It was a wonderful show full of all sorts of chocolatiers, the artistry of their creations were exquisite, all those chocolatiers under one roof was nearly too much … certainly too much for the wallet. We left feeling satisfied rather than stuffed full of chocolate. Most of the stalls were generous with information, some oozed pride wanting to show off their creations, others a little standoffish, others a little too sales oriented for my liking.

We bought lots of bars which will be tasted over the coming weeks. Here’s the more unusual creations we found.

What, veg at a chocolate show? Nah, just chocolate with a crisp candy coating:

Anyone for some chocolate salami … chocolate, nuts and biscuit:

You might think that 4 for €50 is expensive but look at the size of the rolls:

These chocolate masks look too precious to eat:

Slabs like I’ve never seen before. The sales people were equiped with hammers to tap a portion off, weight it and sell it:

There’s lots more to follow! But a big thanks to Himself for taking all the photos :-)

Cocoa Bean Bars

And all because the lady loves …

This selection of treat size 20g bars from Cocoa Bean are a delight. Himself got them in Chocolat, Ennis as a little pressie pour moi :-)

The bars inside are thin and so east to break off a little or a large square. The G&T is something else – it is my favourite of them all. Tasting the Lime and Black Pepper went something like this: yip, that’s nice, dark chocolate and lime is good. where is the pepper …. oh there it is … tiny grains of black pepper waiting to be munched. I love chocolate bars …

Chocolate Pizza

On my wanderings today I happened upon this Chocolate Pizza. When I say happened upon, I was directed from English Mum to Foodie Gift Hunter to Heal’s. I like the idea of a chocolate pizza … and I do believe my nephews feasted on something similar in Italy a few years ago. Pizza base, nutella, roasted hazelnuts, grated dark chocolate, mamma mia, excellente!

On my wanderings today I happened upon this Chocolate Pizza. When I say happened upon, I was directed from English Mum to Foodie Gift Hunter to Heal’s. I like the idea of a chocolate pizza … and I do believe my nephew had something similar in Italy a few years ago … maybe pizza base and nutella.