Jade Chocolates Genmai

Genmai bar: 33% milk chocolate, roasted brown rice, roasted green tea, jasmine tea.

Ingredients: [redacted] Cacao (sugar, dry whole milk, cocoa butter, chocolate liquor, soy lecithin, natural vanilla flavor), [redacted] milk chocolate, roasted brown rice, roasted green tea, jasmine tea. [The "redacted" words are names of chocolate companies and were blacked out with marker - not sure if this had something to do with the bars being sold at the chocolate salon, or if they've changed the ingredients, but probably the former.]

My friend Sneha bought this bar at the SF Chocolate Salon (write up coming tomorrow, seriously) and was kind enough to share. I remember liking the offerings from Jade Chocolates, which included this bar, as well as their other bar, Dragon’s Breath, which also contains tea. The packaging for the bar was really beautiful handmade sustainable paper. The chocolate inside was a single bar, but each piece was different – they varied in height, and the pictures didn’t match up. It’s a unique look, as far as I know.

More importantly, the chocolate tasted pretty good. The milk chocolate was creamy, and not too sweet, and the green tea flavor (though maybe not the jasmine as much) was pretty prominent, without being in the way of the chocolate. I also enjoyed the crunchy bits of rice, which were small enough to be unobtrusive. I plan to try more from Jade Chocolates in the future. (6.5/10)

Chocolate demos: Saratoga Chocolates and Coco Delice

Ack! Being sick two different times within less than a week and half has caused me to neglect my chocolate blog. Since I’m still going through my (disorganized) SF chocolate salon notes, I wanted to post a write-up of two chocolate demonstrations that one of my minions attended at Bloomingdales on the Thursday preceding the chocolate salon. He writes:

I caught the end of the Saratoga Chocolates demonstration, at around 12:45. The founder/chocolatier Mary Loomas was in the process of making molded raspberry chocolates. Here’s what I learned:

- Loomas used the microwave often, to melt chocolate and heat cream. She mentioned that a traditional ganache recipe might involve pouring boiling cream over chopped chocolate pieces, but there are two pitfalls to doing this: the chocolate pieces might not all melt [this has happened to me before, grr! –Monster], or the chocolate might burn if the cream is too hot. That’s why it’s good to melt the chocolate, at least a little, before adding the cream.

- For the outer covering of the molded chocolate, she tempered the chocolate using a slab (was either marble or granite); she heated the chocolate to about 113 degrees, then poured half of it onto the slab and worked it around with a spatula and scraper to cool it. To temper the chocolate, she wanted to bring the temperature down to about 89 degrees by adding the cooled chocolate. She used an infrared thermometer (jealous).

- Saratoga Chocolates is based in Saratoga, California (near San Jose). Loomas uses local chocolate, Scharffen Berger and E. Guittard, in addition to other local products; the raspberry puree in the chocolates she was making came from fresh raspberries she purchased/froze when raspberries were in season, and the raspberry liquor came from Bonny Doon, a local vineyard.

- I tried several finished pieces. I especially enjoyed the black and tan, which had a good, stouty flavor, and the jasmine green tea, which had a strong tea flavor but was still chocolatey. My favorite was actually the fresh raspberry chocolate; even though it hadn’t set yet, the fresh raspberry stood out rather than the raspberry liquor.

The second presentation was by another local chocolatier, Dennis Kearney of Coco Delice, who was making a hand rolled merlot truffle. We got to try the finished product – the flavor of the alcohol was bold, but it was still satisfyingly chocolatey. Here are the highlights from his presentation:

- Kearney also used the microwave to melt chocolate, and did it in 30 second blocks, to make sure it didn’t overheat.

- For the truffles, he used invert sugar, which increases the shelf life of chocolate and keeps the moisture in. A home cook would substitute corn syrup in equal proportions. He also used unsalted dry butter that has a higher fat content.

- Coco Delice doesn’t keep ganache (especially when it contains liquor) in the fridge; Kearney advised keeping plastic wrap or parchment paper on top to prevent condensation.

- Kearney melted chocolate to dip the truffles in, but didn’t temper it, since he’d be rolling them in cocoa powder afterwards. Once he’d rolled the truffles (from the ganache), he put some melted chocolate on his gloved hands and rolled a few truffles at a time in them. After he finished rolling the last group, he re-rolled the first group (if they contain liquor, it’s good to let them sit a little longer). The second coat was really light, and he dropped the truffles in the cocoa powder while they were still shiny and wet so that it would stick. Other suggested coatings were nuts or coconut.

- He uses Scharffen Berger cocoa powder, and also recommends Green and Black. In addition to the flavor, he likes the color of the cocoa powder, too.

- Truffles can be made ahead of time and frozen, then put in the fridge 48 hours ahead of time, and then 24 hours before, kept at room temperature.

- Kearney worked as an environmental consultant and started baking as a creative outlet. He worked on both pastries and chocolate (starting with truffles), but realized he needed to make a choice between the two, and went with chocolate.

- Approximately half of his chocolates have liquor; he likes the dimension it adds.

- Kearney uses Callebaut chocolate; he tried Scharffen Berger when he started out, but the flavors were too strong, so he went with Callebaut, which is milder. They use El Rey a little too, but noticed that they’ve recently changed their recipe a bit – his chocolates have been coming out a little crumbly, not smooth, which probably indicates a decrease in the cocoa butter content. They also try to use organic ingredients and use packaging that’s recyclable.

- We also got to try a molded peanut butter chocolate. It was really good – the filling was smooth and creamy, and there was a nice saltiness to it.

Thanks, minion! Chocolate salon report to come!

(Near) death by chocolate

Even though my allergies tried to keep me away, I made it to the chocolate salon today – details to come. The problem with having so much chocolate in one place is that a person (me) might end up consuming much more then usual (one or two pieces from a chocolate bar), which, combined with being slightly ill, does not end up very well. Late in the afternoon, I almost felt like the people in these SNL “Death by Chocolate” clips posted over at Serious Eats.

(I’m just kidding, chocolate! I know you would never willingly hurt me.)

San Francisco International Chocolate Salon – April 13, 2008

The 2nd Annual San Francisco Chocolate Salon will be taking place on Sunday, April 13, at the Fort Mason Center in SF. I had a wonderful time attending last year, and so did a few other people – an estimated 2000 people attended, when the event took place over a weekend. This year, since the salon is only happening on Sunday (from 10 to 6), over 1000 people are expected to show up, desperate for chocolate. Some of the participants from last year are returning (Amano, Charles Chocolates, Poco Dolce), and others are new (Scharffen Berger, Christopher Elbow, Chuao Chocolatier).

Over 25 chocolate companies in one place, as well as presentations and demos? I’ll definitely be there, probably for most of the day. Be careful, though, the likelihood of going into a chocolate coma is high.

Amano Ocumare 70%

Ingredients: Cocoa beans, pure cane sugar, cocoa butter, whole Tahitian vanilla pods. Amano Artisan Chocolate is a small batch bean-to-bar chocolate maker based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Founder Art Pollard first became interested in making chocolate in 1996; Amano chocolate bars became available to the public in 2006. Although Amano isn’t fair trade certified, they cite that many farmers cannot afford to go through the process, and that they pay farmers and co-ops above fair trade price for beans. Amano does not disclose, however, whether or not they employ Oompa Loompas, and how they might be compensated.

According to Amano, the criollo beans from this bar come from the Ocumare Valley in Venezuela, where they have been grown since at least the early 1700s. It’s a flavorful bar, but very subtle, so it seems pretty mild (rather than bold). It begins with a really rich, chocolatey taste, a little woody. Small bits melting on the tongue taste like raspberries. It ends with a light, roasted, coffee bean-ish taste, but it’s not bitter really – it’s very well balanced. Definitely one of my favorite bars so far. (9.5/10)

Seeds of Change Chocolate

I was planning on writing about the Seeds of Change 61% La Dominicana bar I snagged at Green Festival last year, but it looks like the company removed it from their line up. Too bad – it was fudgy and with an orange flavor, like a richer chocolate orange. The ingredients were chocolate*, sugar*, cocoa butter*, milk fat, soy lecithin, and natural flavor* (* meaning organic), so I’m guessing the “natural flavor” was orange. I wonder why they didn’t specify.

Anyway, some of the other bars look interesting, but they all appear to contain bits of fruit or nuts, unlike that rich, chocolatey, orangey bar… I guess there’s the Narrangasett bar, which has chocolate with orange essence, candied pecans, cranberries, and cinnamon – sounds like a good combination.

Seeds of Change has been selling organic food since 1989, with a focus on sustainability – they contribute 1% of net revenues to advance organic farming and biodiversity. Their cacao beans are supplied by the National Confederation of Dominican Cocoa Growers, Inc., the largest confederation of organic cocoa growers in the Dominican Republic (accounting for 15% of growers in the country). Seeds of Change, along with Conservation International, an organization interested in sustainability, is working with farmers in the Dominican Republic and in Brazil to help them increase profits by using sustainable practices and improving product quality, among other goals. More info can be found on the site.

I’ll have to try one of the bars currently offered by Seeds of Change (and avoid slacking off on posting about them, in case they change their offerings again).