Chocolate Blog

B.T. McElrath Prairie Dog Chocolate Bar

A while back I reviewed the B.T. McElrath Salty Dog Chocolate Bar and today I review it's cousin -- the Prairie Dog Chocolate Bar which my husband purchased for me at an amazing sandwich/chocolate shop in Chicago -- Hannah's Bretzel.

I enjoyed the Salty Dog, but found it a bit too salty -- the Prairie Dog, on the other hand had a bit less salt which made it much more irresistible.  The Prairie Dog is a combination of milk chocolate, butter toffee and toasted almonds with a sprinkling of salt.

The chocolate here is smooth and sweet -- a background for the crunchy toffee and almonds.  The salt brings it all together and completes the salty/sweet combination that is so delicious.

This bar was wonderful and I look forward to trying other chocolates and bars from B.T.McElrath in the future.

 

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Dove Chocolate Easter Candy

Dove Chocolate recently sent me some of their Easter candy to sample and review here on the Chocolate Blog.  I was sent chocolate eggs, peanut butter eggs and coconut cream eggs -- all are milk chocolate, and wrapped in foil.

The Milk Chocolate eggs are small and egg shaped.  They have a very smooth texture, and while sweet, they do have a nice chocolate flavor. 

The Peanut Butter eggs are oval, domed and flat on one side.  The chocolate shell is thick and once again, smooth in texture, although perhaps a bit waxy.  The peanut butter filling is firm and nutty.  Overall, I found it a bit sweet for my taste, but I tend to prefer dark chocolate.

The Coconut Cream eggs are similar to the Peanut Butter eggs in shape and appear to have the same chocolate shell.  They smell strongly of coconut but have a nice mellow, almost buttery flavor.  I liked these quite a bit despite their sweetness.  And as an aside -- my husband, who claims he doesn't like coconut -- had one, not knowing what flavor they were, and liked it quite a bit.  He attributed this to the smooth texture of the coconut cream center.

My 10 year old daughter liked all of these flavors, but her favorite is also the coconut cream -- definitely different and something I would recommend. 

I'm also happy to report that Dove told me these chocolates are all gluten free!  In fact, their representative mentioned that all the Dove Chocolates are gluten free (although I would recommend that you always check the nutrition and ingredient labels.)  So our gluten free household is very happy to be able to sample these Easter treats.

Gail Ambrosius Parisian Praline Collection

I was recently contacted by Gail Ambrosius Chocolatier in Madison, WI because she wanted to send me her latest truffle collection -- The Parisian Praline Collection.  I had been sent some of her truffles for review last year and thought they were wonderful, so I was happy to be sent this new collection for review.

The collection consists of four different truffles, all molded and with dark chocolate shells.  The flavors are inspired by the chocolate shops of Paris. I sampled three of the four flavors (I would have happily sampled the fourth, but it was not gluten free.)  All the chocolates were beautiful, well tempered, had a lovely thin chocolate shell and were very fresh.

Pecan -- This truffle contains pecan butter, candied toasted pecans, applewood-smoked sea salt and milk and dark chocolate.  This was my absolute favorite and I could eat these every day!  The pecans were fresh, very flavorful and nutty.  The salt was subtle and really brought out the flavor of the chocolate and the overall texture was crunchy and almost flaky.  This was not a sweet truffle, but rather beautifully balanced.

Pistachio Bomb -- A wonderful combination of sweet and spicy -- lime zest, white chocolate, chili verde salt and a whole toasted pistachio make up the filling here.  Fresh, tangy and with the perfect hint of heat.  This truffle was a close second for me.

Orange Almond -- A much more solid filling, this truffle consists of crushed candied almond, marzipan, chopped orange peel and spices.  The solid center is nutty, with a hint of orange and a background of warm spice.  A lovely addition to the collection.

The only flavor I did not sample was the Hazelnut, which has a center of hazelnut butter, crushed buckwheat crepes and milk chocolate.  I'm sure this one would have been a hit with me!

This collection is wonderful and all pieces I sampled were beautifully made and wonderfully fresh and flavorful.  You can read more about this collection at the Gail Ambrosius website.

Daily Gourmet Chocolate Offer

By a strange conicidence, Daily Gourmet has an offer up for New Tree Chocolate, which I just reviewed.  They saw my review and contacted me, and now I have a giveaway for you!

Leave a comment on my blog and sign up over at Daily Gourmet -- if you are one of the first five people to do so, I will send you a code for $5 off a set of 5 New Tree chocolate bars, including the Lavender bar I recently reviewed.

 

New Tree Lavender Tranquility Milk Chocolate Bar

New Tree recently sent me some chocolate bars to sample and review, and I'm happy to say that a couple of them were marked as gluten free.  The first of these is the Lavender Tranquility bar which is milk chocolate with natural lavender flavor and natural lime blossom extract. 

The bar is quite pretty, shiny, well-tempered and the perfect thickness.  Each square breaks off easily and is perfectly sized to eat in a single bite.  The milk chocolate melts quickly and is has a slight texture, not exactly gritty, but not perfectly smooth.  The mouthfeel is somewhat thick and slightly sticky.

The flavor here is surprising!  I have had lavender chocolate before and always found it overwhelmingly floral -- almost like soap.  Here the taste is more herbal, and while I have no idea what lime blossom extract is, I certainly think it must be what gives this bar it's bright, citrusy note.  The citrus cuts the floral taste of the lavender and makes this an especially pleasant bar.

You can find out more about New Tree at their website.

 

Julia Baker Confections

This week I was sent some Valentines Day Truffles to sample from Julia Baker Confections.  My daughter and I were recently diagnosed with Celiac Disease, which means we can't eat any wheat or gluten containing grains.  When I raised this concern, they were happy to verify that the chocolates they sent were safe for me and Julia even included a personal note confirming that these truffles are all wheat and gluten free.  A very nice touch which impressed me greatly.

 

I believe this Valentines Day selection corresponds to their 18-Piece Window Box, which appears to be available year round.  As you can see, the confections are of two styles.  The top layer contains beautifully decorated, hand-cut chocolates.  The filling in these is somewhat dense, with a creamy and satisfying bite, and the chocolate surrounding them is thin and shatters nicely, contrasting with the creamy interior.  I especially enjoyed the Passion Fruit confection, which had a lovely brightness.  The milk chocolate confection, which had a lovely caramel note, was also very good.  Other flavors included dark chocolate, raspberry and Irish Creme -- all quite delicious.

The bottom layer consisted of 9 truffles, 3 each of caramel, coconut and hazelnut.  The caramel had a liquid center which contrasted beautifully with the crunchy, nut covered chocolate shell.  The coconut was fresh and sweet, paired with its white chocolate coating and the hazelnut had a smooth, flowing center with a subtle hazelnut flavor.

These were a hit in my house and my daughter was thrilled that I let her sample them with me.  You can learn more about Julia Baker Confections by visiting their website.

In the press...

I was recently contacted by Woman's World Magazine and asked to recommend some chocolate for Valentine's Day.  I recommended Vosges' Exotic Candy Bar Library and they included me in the piece.  It hits checkout stands today, so I'm looking forward to having a look!

B.T. McElrath Salty Dog Chocolate Bar

I love a salty chocolate bar -- especially one that contains toffee pieces -- so when Pete spotted the Salty Dog Chocolate Bar from B.T. McElrath, he decided to bring one home for me.

The bar was beautifully tempered, shiny and smooth with lovely raised sections.  The chocolate is dark, containing no milk, and has a very firm bite.  It's melting point is a little higher than I like, making it feel just slightly waxy, but the flavor was well rounded with a hint of tropical fruit -- namely banana.  The toffee gives a bit of texture to the bar, but not much.  In fact, I felt there wasn't quite enough toffee.  There was, however, plenty of salt, which was liberally sprinkled on the back of the bar.  On most of the pieces, the overwhelming flavor was that of salt.

Overall this was a good bar.  I ate the entire thing over the course of a couple weeks, having only one section at a time (because it was so darn salty).  If there was a bit more toffee and a bit less salt, I think this would be an excellent chocolate bar.

It looks like B.T. McElrath also makes a Prairie Dog Bar which adds almonds and uses milk chocolate instead of dark -- I'd like to try that one as well as their truffles someday.  You can see more at their website.

Mast Brothers Chocolate

I have a Mast Brothers Chocolate bar to review soon, but I wanted to share this wonderful video with you before I forgot.

Vosges Exotic Holiday Candy Bars

If you are looking for a special holiday treat for yourself, or for someone special -- Vosges Holiday Candy Bars are the perfect thing.  Vosges sent me these delicious bars to sample and review here and I have to say that they are all delicious, but I do have my favorite.

Peppermint has always felt like Christmas to me, and this bar is no exception.  The chocolate is deep, dark and rich with no bitterness.  The peppermint pieces are bright and give a pleasant texture to the bar, contrasting with the creaminess of the chocolate.  I loved this bar, as did my 10 year old daughter.

The Gingerbread Toffee Bar is a 65% cacao chocolate with gingerbread spiced toffee pieces throughout.  The touch of ginger, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg give an added dimension to the buttery toffee which shatters beautifully with each bit.  A well balanced bar that has a real holiday feel.

The Marzipan Bar combines a lovely dark chocoalte with almond marzipan and amaretto.  The chocolate here is once again rich and smooth, and each square holds a pocket of creamy, but slightly textured amaretto infused marzipan.  The flavor is almondy without being overwhelming and it is certainly not boozy.  While I'm not a huge fan of marzipan, I was able to finish off this entire bar with no problem.

Last, but certainly not least, is the Bapchi's Caramel Toffee Bar -- a deep milk chocolate with sweet butter toffee, walnuts and pecans.  This bar was my absolute favorite and deserves a 10 out of 10!  The chocolate is amazingly smooth and rich, the toffee is buttery and salty and the nuts give the bar a rounded flavor and an added bit of texture.  The toffee shatters with each bite, releasing the caramel notes which enhance the chocolate.  This bar was not safe in my drawer -- I couldn't stop breaking off just one more square -- and all too soon it was gone.  I'll definitely be asking Santa for one of these in my stocking!

You can see all the Vosges Exotic Candy Bars at the Vosges website.  And as a reader of the Chocolate Blog, you can get 10% off your order!  Just use code "BLGF10" at checkout.  (Coupon good December 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010.)