Chocolate: Haagen Dazs

A quickie and always a hit with me is Haagen Dazs. Just had some of the chocolate with dark chocolate coating. The ice cream is really creamy and the dark chocolate is perfect. I used to prefer the vanilla with milk chocolate and almonds. Yum! And I probably still do, but I haven't had any recently. To round off this short post, there's another favorite following the theme in an unlikely place: Costco. There vanilla bars with chocolate is rolled so thickly with almonds its nearly heavenly. No the ice cream and chocolate aren't perfect, but the almonds....mmmm.

Chocolate: Chocolate Visions Hearts Delight Bar

Chocolate Visions Hearts Delight Bar is a bittersweet bar with almonds, but the wrapper says "Blenheim Apricots, Applewood Smoked Almonds." I add that because I can't actually taste apricots, it's just that the bar tastes a little fruity and a little bit sweeter without making the chocolate taste sweeter. I don't know how they do that.

The almonds and the bittersweet are enough to make me really like this bar. I've already put one of their bars on my "love" list due to the wonderful nuts. And I'm really glad that there aren't any little apricot bits as I'm not that fond of fruit in my chocolate. I like the flavoring (remind me to talk about orange and chocolate) but not the actual fruit pieces.

I'm rambling now.

I like the bar. I am a little disappointed that I can't easily find their chocolate bars on their website though. Here's a little info about them.

Chocolate: Zotter Butter Caramel

Zotter Butter Caramel

Austrian, organic and fair, hand-scooped dark mountain milk chocolate filled with butter-caramel-cream (31%) cocoa (50%)

First, not what I expected at all. I was thinking of the traditional caramel filled chocolate. Instead there was a thin layer of caramel and a nutty center (sort of chewy and crunchy at the same time - but that might have to do with where I was keeping the bar before consumption).

Second, it's good. I would get it again. It is more like candy than solid chocolate, but I like it anyway.

There's a better description out there of the insides along with some other Zotter bar reviews.

Chocolate: Soda

I've been wanting this since I watched some show about favorite drinks on Food Network. I've finally gotten the ingredients together. No, it isn't like they were really difficult, but I haven't been motivated to leave the house for the last month. This relaxing stuff feels good.:D


The first recipe I have is from A Taste of Home and makes two servings.
6 tablespoons chocolate syrup
2 tablespoons whipped cream in a can
2-1/2 cups cold carbonated water
4 scoops ice cream of your choice
Additional whipped cream, optional
For each serving, place 3 tablespoons chocolate syrup in a 16-oz. glass. Stir in 1 tablespoon of whipped cream and 1-1/4 cups water until foamy. Add two scoops of ice cream. Top with additional whipped cream if desired.

This one is from Food.com and also makes two servings.
1/3 cup chocolate syrup
2 scoops vanilla ice cream
6 ounces cola or 6 ounces seltzer water
maraschino cherry
Pour chocolate syrup in the bottom of an 8-ounce milk shake glass. Smoosh in one scoop of ice cream. Slowly pour in soda water almost to top of glass. Perch another scoop of ice cream on top. Add a cherry and a colorful straw or two.

Lastly, there was a link to old fashioned shakes which wasn't formatted friendly so you'll have to go take a look.

In the end I put about 1/4 cup of Ghirardelli chocolate syrup into the bottom of a cup. Added a little seltzer water and mixed to make a more liquidy syrup. Put two scoops of Dreyer's vanilla ice cream on top. Poured the seltzer water on and then "chop mixed" the ice cream until nearly dissolved. It was very good!

The only caution I have was that the seltzer water is massively bubbly and I had to make small sodas to keep my tummy from feeling too full. :)

Chocolate: Chocolove 3

I indulged and bought not one, but two expensive chocolate bars. I didn't buy the most expensive which was about $5.50, but it certainly wasn't your $0.60 variety. Chocolove Toffee & Almonds in Milk Chocolate.

At 33% cocoa content, it was milk chocolate for sure. The amount of toffee and almonds were fine, not great because I'm a big almond in my chocolate fan. I think my dark chocolate bias was speaking to me as well, because the chocolate tasted very sweet. The chocolate was smooth and melty. Overall, a good milk bar. I don't scale my chocolate, but I'd say 6 or 7.

I think if I try another Chocolove, I'm going to have to go dark... maybe the orange.

Chocolate: Frogs

Honestly?

I'm too afraid to eat it! Yes, I got a coveted chocolate frog from Universal's Islands of Adventure: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Afraid the heat of Florida would melt my frog, it was carefully carried in cool places all the way back home. The pretty blue and gold pentagonal package was a bit dented and my surprisingly large chocolate frog was missing a toe, but it's here!

And I can't ruin it. :( What I can say is that the toe tasted good. I expected something similar to that Hershey after taste, but there was none. The first ingredient is sugar so it was very sweet. Sooo, that's all I can tell you with such a small taste.

I have pictures however on the night before the fourth, and having spent an hour sending photos to family members, I'm not thrilled about looking at my camera. Instead I'm putting up a picture of me in front of Honeydukes. Of course you can't see me ;)

If only I could eat that chocolate frog...

Chocolate: Hershey's Air Delight - Take 2

I tried it.

The only thing that was different was the texture - creamy. It's like you get the melty chocolate taste immediately without having to let it melt in your mouth.

But, other than that, nothing different. It still tastes like a Hershey bar. B says, "The air does nothing. Seems pointless." It reminded me of a 3 Musketeers.

Here's another review.
Which mentions another of Hershey's "pay for air" products. Since I wasn't impressed, I'm in no hurry.

Chocolate: Hershey's Air Delight?

What's this? A new chocolate from Hershey? Apparently they are making us pay for air. LOL! Actually it's only 3 grams less than a regular milk chocolate bar. I'm interested. I'm too busy at the moment to get one although I may in the next few days.

In the meantime, let me know if you get a lift from it.

Chocolate: Mother's Day

I had a very pleasant Mother's Day. Unfortunately, it is followed by a Monday, but I won't dwell on it now ;) I received roses, a handmade card, and... chocolate cheesecake.

B decided to indulge me by purchasing those four cheesecake on a tray dealies from our local warehouse store. Now, I've drooled over those tasty treats when we've gone shopping and unhappily turned away from them because they weren't necessary. Now I know they really weren't necessary. Don't get me wrong. In this case B hit the mark perfectly for me, but The Father's Table cheesecake didn't live up to the high expectations.

The four flavors were triple chocolate, turtle, Mississippi mud, and fudge brownie. All of the cheesecake was decent enough. Sweet, liked the chips, nuts, and caramel. What brought it all to a grinding halt was the graham cracker crust. It chewed like sand, gritty. The first slice I had I thought that maybe it was that flavor, but it wasn't. I took to scraping the cheesecake part off. And that's pretty bad.

Maybe the mistake was the whole Father's Table on Mother's Day thing.

The one I tried is on the top.

Chocolate: Randomness

I wouldn't mind trying one of these. Sounds very good. More about "The Wedding" later.

I'm ashamed to admit slipping into the horror that is cheap and readily available chocolate. I received a caramel filled Russell Stover chocolate bunny. While the caramel was tasty there was too much of it and I basically skinned the rabbit for consumption. B also purchased a large bag of peanut M&Ms, a stated weakness of mine. It's almost gone now.

Luckily there is no other chocolate available in the house, but that also means I'm lacking chocolate posts. Now is about the time I had some connections in the chocolate world. Mmmm, free samples ;)

Chocolate: Snickers, It was a Need

Chocolate: Spring

Here's some interesting finds:

Chocolate Salami recipe
Sounds delightful, might try it.

Peeps went all chocolate covered a while ago, but now there's Peepsters.
Another thing to check out.

Not a drinker, but this sounds...interesting.
Chocolate wine?

Oh, and this just bites, literally, when spring is here.Chocolate prices...

Chocolate: Recchiuti Dark Milk Chocolate 55%

Oxymoron, huh? Dark Milk? Well, it works. I love this bar, Recchiuti Dark Milk Chocolate 55%. Simple crisp break, smooth and the milk pulls the edge off the bitter. I do two things with my chocolate, chew and suck. LOL! I did both with this bar. The chew was great all the way down to the little melty bits. The suck was hard at first (my only 'dislike'), but it eventually molded to my mouth and slid down. It seems like it's right there hovering between dark and milk. My kind of bar.

The only review I've found wasn't as favorable as my review, but it's only fair to give you a link.

Chocolate: My Goodness Bar

My hubby spoils me. Seriously. If you didn't know already, I don't cook dinner. He does. Every night. I panic if he calls and says he's running late in coming home from work unless there are leftovers I can heat up. So when Valentine's Day rolls around I know I'm getting something good. I was not disappointed. He brought home Chocolate Visions My Goodness Bar.

61% Bittersweet chocolate, Honey Roasted Peanuts & Toasted
Coconut

Individually handmade and hand-wrapped. I tried to eat one square to savor it and describe it. I couldn't hold back. I LOVE nuts in my chocolate, and this is chock full. The flavors just roll through the ingredients. I get chocolate when I first place the piece on my tongue. Then to get through the peanuts I have to chew, then I get the sweet of the honey roasted which goes straight to a salty. The salt is momentary as the taste slides back to chocolate. Finally I taste the coconut. Love this bar :)

Someone else's review here.

Chocolate: Caramel Milky Way

Short and sweet.

Tried it. It was okay. The caramel was sweet. I'd be interested in tasting it with dark chocolate though. I know that still sounds wrong; it was hard to type. The caramel makes me think of the chocolates in boxes and it would be nice with that same quality dark.

Here's a review from The Candy Blog. Hmm, it sounds familiar ;)

PS Hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day. I know you expected some holiday themed chocolate to be featured today, but I just received said chocolate as my V-day gift moments ago. Posting on the greatness will be featured in the next two chocolate posts :)

Chocolate: Torani

The kiddos got an interesting Christmas present this season - Torani to add to their cocoa.

They received three different chocolate cocoas, two different types of marshmallows, and personalizable mugs to go with them. They have been enjoying all the combinations so far, but I couldn't let them enjoy their gift without getting a piece ;)

I mixed up some cocoa and used their Torani Hazelnut syrup. Unfortunately, I used the water based cocoa (Hey! It's what we had!) It tasted empty especially with the hazelnut flavor. I would recommend using only milk based cocoa with the syrups. They also received raspberry which would taste pretty good (I imagine) with a cocoa from a dark chocolate powder.

I've always wanted to try the flavored creamers, but since they're made for coffees I figured they might not taste and nice as I'd like. A short trip through Torani's site and they have several recipes geared toward hot cocoa. If you haven't already, I think it deserves a look see.

Chocolate: Guylian Belgian Milk Chocolate No Sugar Added

I received a bar of Guylian Belgian Milk Chocolate No Sugar Added in my Christmas stocking. The plethora of sweets available for the holidays have me doing the review for this nearly a month later. There was no rush, however. This bar did not WOW me in any way.

Part of this isn't the bar's fault. I have been liking my semi-sweet dark bars and chips more than milk for awhile now. So I found the bar very sweet. On the other hand the sweetness may have come from the sweetener (which has an ominous 'excessive consumption' warning). I found it made the bar have an empty taste. I don't know if it was just the sugar. As I sit here typing, I have absolutely no evidence in my mouth that chocolate was in there. I'm used to the pleasant linger of chocolate on my mouth and tongue. Not there. It was creamy and melty while consuming, but it doesn't make up for the lack of 'there-ness."

It is with a heavy heart that I will be sharing this bar with family ;)

Chocolate: Chocolate Truffle Pie/Tart

I was asked to bring the dessert to the Christmas Eve dinner with my parents. I'm always asked for chocolate and I'm happy to oblige. This year I scoured the Internet for fast and tasty. The recipe I found was for Chocolate Truffle Tart. However, the website listed pictures and a link for the recipe and the link didn't work. So I searched again, this time for pictures. I found a matching picture and the recipe, only it was listed as Chocolate Truffle Pie. Since it fits both I slashed the title :)

So here's the recipe:

Chocolate Truffle Pie

1 (8 or 9-inch) chocolate crumb crust (see recipe below)
2 cups (12-ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups heavy cream - divided use
1/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Fresh berries for garnish (optional)
Sweetened whipped cream for garnish (optional)

In microwave-safe bowl, combine chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of the heavy cream. Cook on high for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds until smooth. Cool to room temperature. Stir in sugar and vanilla. Set aside.

In small bowl, beat the remaining heavy cream until soft peaks form. Blend in the chocolate mixture on high speed 1/3 at a time, mixing well.

Spoon into prepared crust. Refrigerate several hours before serving. Garnish with fresh berries and whipped cream, if desired.

Serves 8 to 10.

Chocolate Crumb Crust
1 1/2 cups chocolate wafer crumbs
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Combine crumbs and melted butter; press evenly in a 9-inch pie plate.
Bake at 325°F (160°C) for about 6 minutes. Cool completely before using.
Makes 1 (9-inch) pie crust.

There are two pictures accompanying this post. The first is the picture from the recipe online. The second is what mine looked like. Although theirs looks better because my whipped cream looked awful, neither is the best. If I were making this again, the entire top of the pie/tart would be covered with raspberries.

Here's a little backstory: I used chocolate graham crackers to make the crust. I didn't use the pretty ruffled tart tin (well, I tried to and it didn't work out) and instead used the springform pan (removable bottom). I also wanted it to taste really good and spent the extra pennies on Ghirardelli chips. I think that made the difference.

So back to the raspberries. The chocolate tastes like dark chocolate in the pie and the raspberries were the perfect tartness to counter the dark. Strawberries will not work. So again, this time extra dollars, on out of season raspberries. But the result? D e l i c i o u s!

Chocolate: Chocolate Good

This was a nice tidbit :)

So were the Hershey's nuggets: Almond and Toffee & Almond. Virtual share?

Chocolate: Cake Balls 2

I posted about Cake Balls a little over a month ago. Then later had an addendum with video :) So guess what? I MADE THEM!

They taste as good as I thought. Little bites of sugary goodness. There are a few things we would add (my SIL made them with me) to the directions. Have a little heating pad or hot pot heater beneath the melted candy bits. Reheating was a giant pain. We didn't want to do the pops this time (SIL will try that next) so we were trying to find a way to coat them without making marks. There were plenty of examples, but we went with toothpicks. It was better to use a blunt toothpick end instead of pointed. We removed the toothpicks after they cooled and covered the hole either with a drop of melties or with decoration (see pic.) Lastly, we noticed a bubble of oil appeared at the top if we left the hole open. We were confused by this, but closing the hole seemed to do the trick.

Anyway, with SIL trying out pops (she's going for the reindeer), I'm going to try again with the recipe and see if I can make them even tastier.