Bon Bon Buddies Acquires Kshocolat
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
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Bon Bon Buddies Acquires Kshocolat
Pseudo-Review: John & Kira’s Chocolates
As much as I love John & Kira’s Chocolates I’m really surprised to find that I’ve never really reviewed anything they make. I’ve been a big fan of their fabulous drunken pumpkin figs they do for the holiday season, but up until a few months ago I’d really not had anything else they make outside of the New York Chocolate Show.
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Pseudo-Review: John & Kira’s Chocolates
The Ultimate Salted Caramel Recipe
Last night was the second of two salted caramel classes with David Briggs of Xocolatl de David. We tasted Flor de sal de Manzanillo fleur de sel, Bali Rama Pyramid Balinese sea salt, Rosemary Flake sea salt, and Iburi Jio Cherry smoked Japanese sea salt. Fantastic, and fun. At the previous class we tried a similar format, but tasted Pangasinan Star Philippine fleur de sel and Grigio di Cervia Italian sel gris, as well as the wild and unexplored crunchy wierdness that is Takesumi Bamboo, one of my favorite new salts. Below is a re-posting of David’s recipe originally posted here in 2008. + For the last month or so we have offered a class on the making of salted caramels at The Meadow. Our friend and master confectioner David Briggs of at Xocolatl de David led us through the various stages of caramelization and saltiness. Below is the Ultimate Salted Caramel Recipe as perfected by David Briggs of Xocolatl de David.
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The Ultimate Salted Caramel Recipe
Recipe ~ Easy to make Chocolate Pistachio Fudge
With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, I’ve been trying to think of a simple chocolate present I could make for my sweetie. Last year, it was Chocolate Covered Strawberries . This year I was looking again for something easy to make and in record time.
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Recipe ~ Easy to make Chocolate Pistachio Fudge
My Recipe on the new Strawberry iPhone App
It’s been a year since I began my blog and writing about all things chocolate. I can’t believe how fast a year has gone by. Some of my posts are chocolate recipes that I’ve prepared and then shared with you.
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My Recipe on the new Strawberry iPhone App
The Five Best Chocolate Blog Posts for 2009 on 8chocolate Blog
As 2010 begins, here’s one last look at the chocolatey goodness of 2009. Here’s a list of the top five blog posts most read on the 8chocolate blog. Enjoy! 1.
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The Five Best Chocolate Blog Posts for 2009 on 8chocolate Blog
8Q Interview ~ WILD SWEETS® BY DOMINIQUE & CINDY DUBY
WILD SWEETS® BY DOMINIQUE & CINDY DUBY are not only artisan chocolatiers but also notable master pastry chefs winning gold and silver medals in prestigious competitions. Never ending in their quest for the best, they are also award-winning authors and offer culinary training and consulting services worldwide as well as creative and marketing services in product development, food styling and photography
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8Q Interview ~ WILD SWEETS® BY DOMINIQUE & CINDY DUBY
Review ~ Sending Chocolates this Season? Think Sucre and the LA/SPCA
Not only does Sucre offer a special collection of chocolate to send for the holidays but they are also giving a portion of their holiday sales to the SPCA in Louisiana. Yep, they’re going to the dogs so when they offered to send me a sample of their chocolates to review, I was on board. They’ve shared with me a FREE shipping promo code to share with you too but more on that later. I must have been living under a rock because I hadn’t heard of Sucre before but they sure have garnered a lot of attention
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Review ~ Sending Chocolates this Season? Think Sucre and the LA/SPCA
Salt on Chocolate, Chocolate on Salt, Chocolate Fondue
Fruit and chocolate go well together, as anyone who has found themselves psychologically tethered to the chocolate fondue fountain at one of those random high-right institutional mixers we all seem to find ourselves attending, unexpectedly, at least once in a while. Chocolate fondue fountains exist but for the purpose of getting us to eat something fresh with our chocolate. Banana. Strawberry. Apple. Fig. Pineapple. Dip a chunk under the curtain of chocolate cascading from the lip of a multi-tiered chocolate fountain and something inside says: “Hey mister, I’m really happy right now! So don’t move. Not even to fetch a glass of faux champagne. Not even at the risk looking like a pig in front of ravishing women in diaphanous and clingy evening wear. Don’t move. Just eat. Try the papaya.” Sadly, some people don’t listen to their little voices, so setting up camp at the chocolate fondue area of the party makes for only the most fleeting of intercourse with others. While that may have its advantages, I can’t shake the feeling that there is something failed in a chocolate fountain that doesn’t break down every semblance of the social façades that propel us through parties on unending undulations of stiflingly pedestrian conversation and gushy niceness. What makes fruit taste better? Salt. What makes chocolate taste better? Salt. What makes fruit and chocolate taste better another? What makes chocolate fondue something you might actually eat on a regular basis? Stumped? A Himalayan Salt Block
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Salt on Chocolate, Chocolate on Salt, Chocolate Fondue
Recipe ~ REAL Decadent Chocolate Mousse
After friends recently returned home from France bragging about the chocolate mousse they had, and then my fav local French bistro, Bistrot Bistro , sent me their newsletter that included their chocolate mousse recipe, I figured it was a sign to share their recipe with all of you. I presumed chocolate mousse had lots of ingredients and was difficult to make – like working with a soufflé. I never knew chocolate mousse was only two ingredients, chocolate and eggs
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Recipe ~ REAL Decadent Chocolate Mousse
Chocolate and Salt Class with Michael Recchiuti and Mark Bitterman
Doing an event with Michael Recchiuti is a little like surfing on the back of a dolphin. Constant movement, sort of an ongoing momentum toward an unknown something or other, and a near constant rush. Though “dolphin” isn’t very Recchiuti like. There is nothing particularly aquatic about him. But I want to hold on to the surfing metaphor. Maybe surfing on the back of a beaver. A marmot? I was there to talk salt for a chocolate and salt class for 30 people at Recchiuti’s factory in San Francisco. While there, I took it upon myself to assume the role of in-house naturalist. Below are a handful of examples of my attempt to capture, with a cell phone camera, Michael Recchiuti in action. For my own purposes, I also tried to soak up as much information, technique, and ideas as possible. I’m still processing the experience, but this is sort of how it went: Me just off the plane from Portland, he just out from a marathon morning at the chocolate factory, we meet at Piccino , share a bitter salad and a pizza with mildly junipery speck, chat and share a bite of burnt caramel ice cream (made by Recchiuti) with two beautiful women at the table next to us (who introduce themselves the moment the ice cream arrive), then race off to buy glasses for the salt and chocolate class, scheduled for the following day.
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Chocolate and Salt Class with Michael Recchiuti and Mark Bitterman
All Candy Expo Day One Quick Notes
I’m not going to do real posts about the All Candy Expo until I get home and get some of my stuff sorted. I can’t even begin to figure out what to talk about at this point so I’ll just throw some of the neat bits. Coconut M&M’s in the Mars swag bag! Strawberried Peanut Butter M&M’s in the Mars swag bag! Snickers Fudge Bars in the press room! Chuao chocolate and beer tasting! Stone beer! Cranberry Raisinets! Talking to some of the people behind some cool products Dark Chocolate M&M’s Premiums Tasty chocolate from Liberty Orchards (details forthcoming) Conversation with Brightspot and Pure Origin (who i’m excited to learn more about) Flax SuperSnax (yum!) Hanging out and chatting with Cathy from CocoBon (locally sourced ingredients = win) Dark Chocolate With Espresso Toffee from Cary’s of Oregon Jitterbeans (they scare me) Fried chicken and waffles with my sister That isn’t near all and I’ve got some more places to look in on tomorrow.
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All Candy Expo Day One Quick Notes
Hershey’s Dumps Artisan Chocolate Factories Amidst 31% Profit Increase
The Hershey Company announced net sales of $1,377,380,000 for the fourth quarter of 2008, compared with $1,342,222,000 compared to 2007. Net income for the quarter was $82,155,000, compared with $54,343,000 for 2007. For the full year 2008, consolidated net sales were $5,132,768,000 compared with $4,946,716,000 in 2007, an increase of 3.8 percent. Net income was $311,405,000, compared with $214,154,000 in 2007, a 31%. Not shabby in this economy. It seems financial troubles find solace in chocolate.
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Hershey’s Dumps Artisan Chocolate Factories Amidst 31% Profit Increase
Xocolatl de Davíd Dinner at Park Kitchen
I really have nothing against chocolate. In its bar form, in fact, it is something I enjoy with all the savor and associations of great wine. In it’s bar form I probably eat half a pound a day, or maybe more when the stars are in alignment. But chocolate as a theme, as a concept, as a pattern, a fashion, a mode — no. Nay. I do not like it. My initial, invertebrate response when my personal friend and professional chocolate supplier David Briggs said he was making a chocolate dinner was to recoil into a dark crevice somewhere, staring through the briny depths of my eyes with octopus horror. Sucking cold brine through my gills, my brain is reduced to its bivalve origins. Chocolate, my dear friend, is a food.
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Xocolatl de Davíd Dinner at Park Kitchen
Amedei Chocolate Takes the “Golden Bean” Best Bean to Bar Award
After an examination by a committee of experts of the London Academy of Chocolate , Amedei (Tuscany, Italy) has won the Golden Bean award for “the best bean to bar chocolate in the world.” That has a nice ring to it. Once someone told me my Cassoulet de Castelnaudary was “the best cassoulet in the world,” my chest still gets puffy when I think of it (it is puffy now). I imagine Alessio and Cecilia Tessieri, the brother and sister founders of Amedei, were drowning in Champagne on the night of the announcement
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Amedei Chocolate Takes the “Golden Bean” Best Bean to Bar Award