Great news! 8chocolate blog has made the Top 10 List for All-About-Chocolate blogs on the web.
Blogs.com is a service of Six Apart, a blogging company that creates blogging tools such as Movable Type and Vox. They create Top 10 lists for all kinds of categories but chocolate has to be the sweetest – well, next to candy blogs of course!
It’s an honour to be part of such a great group of chocolate bloggers. Thanks!
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I Love Chocolate. Simple statement, simple title of a delightful book recently sent to me from Tundra Books. I Love Chocolate is a children’s book written by Davide Cali and illustrated by Evelyn Daviddi. At the end of the review, you’ll learn how you can have the chance to win this book for your child.
The story is about a boy’s love of chocolate and he tells us just how much. He enjoys eating chocolate whether he’s happy or sad, bored or scared, any day of the week. Sound familiar? He questions the reader asking what type of chocolate eater you are - nibbler or monster muncher?
All around it’s a fun, humorous book full of excuses why you should eat chocolate. We sympathize with him when he realizes the hardest part about loving chocolate is eating too much. I know the feeling. I found myself following along his chocolate journey relating to his observations and love of chocolate. When you are reading this book with your child you must have chocolate nearby.
It would have been fun to include a scratch and sniff chocolate patch in one or two places to spark that sense of smell. What child wouldn’t want to read a book about chocolate SMELLING like chocolate?
The book is beautifully illustrated. The boy is brought to life on the pages and you immediately take a liking to him. The colours throughout only enhance the chocolate and there’s so much to discover on every page. There’s even a poster cleverly printed on the inside of the book cover to post on their wall.
The marketer in me tells me it’s a book that would do well in a chocolate shop as an accompaniment to a chocolate purchase or gift basket. Every time the book was read with their little one, they would be reminded that they must stop off at your chocolate shop again.
I’m giving away my copy of this delicious book, I Love Chocolate. To enter, leave a comment on this post why you love chocolate by Tuesday June 3rd. I’ll include those names for a random draw to be done next Wednesday June 4th. Good luck!
UPDATE: We have our winner. It’s ALLY in WA. Congratulations and thanks to all who entered!
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I have good news and bad news about my visit to Jean Philippe patisserie and chocolate shop at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas.
Lets get the bad news out of the way. I lost the chocolates I bought from Jean Philippe’s shop so I can’t provide a review. Not sure where they went but my best guess was I left them out in the 94F weather when we stopped to look at something on the Vegas strip. The person that found them would have had some very melted chocolate. I realized too late and wasn’t able to go back for more.
There is good news. I did take photos of the shop to share with you. The chocolate fountain at the front of the shop is what gets the most attention from us tourists.
It’s the largest chocolate fountain in the world at 27’ high. The milk, dark and white chocolate streams down resting momentarily on sheets of thick pieces of etched glass. At first you don’t believe its real, as the chocolate doesn’t appear to be moving.
As the chocolate winds itself through the maze, you can finally see the stream of chocolate lapping the bottom layers of the fountain and disappearing at the bottom where it will repeat the journey. There’s twenty one hundred pounds of chocolate flowing through the fountain. What I wouldn’t do to jump through that fountain alas it is encased behind glass so you can’t even dip your finger in the chocolate flow for a taste.
The shop is full of desserts and pastries and fruit and chocolate crepes are made fresh topped with whipped cream.
There are plenty of boxed chocolates to tempt you. Custom decorated cakes are suspended on clear shelves that twirl so you can view these pieces of art at every angle.
I’m hoping some of you have tried Jean Philippe chocolates and can weigh in with your reviews. If you are visiting Vegas anytime soon, check them out at the Bellagio hotel. To get to the shop, you walk through the Bellagio lobby with the ceiling of Chihuly glass, detour through the botanical gardens in the conservatory and stop when you see the chocolate fountain.
A mini tour that is free but a rich experience for your senses!
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Tomorrow I head off to Vegas with my beau to celebrate his birthday. There are so many travel deals out there right now that it was almost cheaper to leave town than stay in it.
I feel a little like the princess and the pea. This chocoholic will be sleeping in a room up above knowing that Jean-Philippe patisserie and chocolates are below me downstairs. They have a delicious video online that shows their chocolate fountain and inside the patisserie. I look forward to sharing my chocolate dreams with you when I return.
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Have a Break. Have a KitKat. Nestle continues to produce clever tactics for their messaging and branding of their Kit Kat chocolate bars, a bar first created in 1935.
If you feel you just have to have a break, now you can go have one at their website: TheFirstWorldWideWebsiteWhereNothingHappens. As you click through, the website loads and you will notice that as it loads, it lists lots of things most people need to do or are thinking about such as briefings, interact, presentation, garbage and traffic. It ends with ‘working like a machine’.
When it finishes loading, you come to a white homepage with little on it. There’s the brand message ‘Take a break’ and a VERY small KitKat logo. Note: there’s no navigation to lead you anywhere else and distract you.
At the bottom of the homepage is the reassuring fine print. If you detect something happening here it’s probably a bug and we’ll fix it. Please report any incident to report@thefirstworldwidewebsitewherenothinghappens.com. When confirmed you’ll be rewarded.
I do think they should have an option to choose an image of a broken Kit Kat bar. That way I can customize and choose HOW to enhance my break. But I guess that defeats the purpose. The way it’s designed now is for a pure moment of nothing. Ummmm.
Another way to take a KitKat break is to rest on one of their branded benches. The shape of the Kit Kat bar lends itself easily to a bench. As you can see the bench posted here is done completely to look like chocolate. I think I actually prefer the one that has half the wrapper torn off as seen on a fellow flickr’s site.
When the KitKat break slogan was first created in 1957, I imagine Nestle didn’t know just how busy and hectic our lives would become. I know I didn’t. All the things created to make life easier seems to make things only that much more hectic as we cram a great deal more into the same amount of time. Wherever you are today, take a break.
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Did you every wonder where Rosemary’s baby ended up? Look no further than Denman Island off the coast of Vancouver. Denman Island is one of the islands that make up the Gulf Islands located between Vancouver Island and BC’s West Coast. With a population of 1000 people, it’s a community where everyone knows each other and where chocolate is a local business called Denman Island Chocolate.
With a name like ‘Rosemary, Baby’ for a chocolate bar, you can’t help but be reminded of the movie, Rosemary’s Baby by Roman Polanski. (Well if you are old enough!) Funny to view the original trailer from the 1968 version and to experience what was at the time I’m sure a dramatic and scary trailer thriller.
Back to the bar! I absolutely love the taste of rosemary. Its savoury flavour brings out the best in meat and is delicious when baked in focaccia bread. So I was quite excited anticipating what this flavour combination would taste like.
The Rosemary, Baby chocolate bar is made with 70% chocolate and is infused with the essence of rosemary. You can smell the rosemary as soon as you unwrap the bar. The dark chocolate melted in my mouth and had a smooth rich taste then the rosemary kicked in. I found the rosemary flavour very overpowering and it actually tasted quite medicinal. It finished in my mouth with a bitterness that stopped me from continuing on and eating the rest. I think there’s just too much rosemary essence in it and I LOVE rosemary.
I’m very disappointed, as I’ve heard good things about this company’s chocolate. The chocolate is organic and fair trade. A visit to their website shows their chocolate comes in eight other flavours including Razzle Dazzle (raspberry), Zesty Orange and Gingerama. Interesting remark I see they have made on their Rosemary, Baby bar. “Tastes like a walk in the forest - not for everyone”. Well, I guess I’m one of those. I will have to try these other flavours.
They have gorgeous photos on their website but I can’t see any chocolate shots. Hopefully they will be posting beauty shots of their chocolate bars soon so you can drool over their chocolate and HAVE to order some. For now I’ll get my rosemary fix from my local bakery, Terra Breads.
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Paul Young began Paul A. Young Fine Chocolates in the UK in 2006. Since then he’s been creating award-winning luxurious chocolates from his prestigious Camden Passage location. Paul’s second boutique chocolaterie is in the heart of London’s financial centre in the historic Royal Exchange.
From his artisan bars to the house and signature collections, he uses only the finest of natural ingredients. Exquisite artisan chocolates are decorated in his presentation kitchen in full view of the customers.
The 8Q interview: 8 questions answered by successful chocolatiers
1. Were you formally trained to work in the art of chocolate making?
I’m a trained chef and was head pastry chef for Marco Pierre White for many years so my training and experience played a large part in my journey to becoming a chocolatier. There is also a large element that is self taught which I feel was the best way to generate my own style.
2. What was the moment that you knew you wanted to be a chocolatier or work mainly with chocolate?
About seven years ago while I was developing chocolates for Charbonnel et Walker and other businesses and the feedback was amazing as fresh, short shelf life chocolates were a very new style then.
3. How would you describe the product line your company offers?
Creative, daring, classical and pure. Totally handmade, nothing artificial, pure ingredients and no flavourings are used.
4. What is your best selling product and what is your personal favourite?
Sea salted caramels are still the best selling product and we all love them in the business although my favourite chocolate changes daily depending on my taste and what changes seasonally.
5. Up to now, what has been the greatest highlight of your chocolate career?
Winning Best New Chocolate Shop 2007 in the Academy of Chocolate awards, opening my second chocolaterie in the City and having my first chocolate book published – it’ll be released in October of this year.
6. What has been the most difficult challenge you have faced in your chocolate career?
Working non stop seven days a week for three years, and keeping the standard as high as possible while still creating new and exciting flavours.
7. If you weren’t working with chocolate, what would you be doing?
Working with animals or as my other love, a patissier.
8. What is next for you and for your company?
Expansion, to open another real chocolaterie so we can spread real chocolate to more people.
Paul Young
Paul A. Young Fine Chocolates
www.paulayoung.co.uk
twitter: paul_a_young
Read more 8Q Interviews from other successful chocolatiers.
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Chocolate that doesn’t have any calories? I know it sounds too good to be true. Well, it’s only half-true. There are ways to get that chocolate fix to tide you over until you can get some in your mouth. Or maybe you just need a taste without the calories to get you over the chocolate urge and stick to your diet.
Here are a few of the things that I found. I hope they help some of us chocoholics.
Le Whif is a chocolate inhaler that you take in by mouth. You taste a very small amount of fine chocolate powder. Because the amount is so miniscule, you take in less than one calorie and get your chocolate fix. It even comes in different chocolate flavours: mint chocolate, raspberry chocolate, mango chocolate, and plain chocolate.
Check them out at the All Candy Expo show in Chicago between May 19th and May 21st. Sorry it’s a show just for trade and not the public. That would be SO amazing to attend though. I wonder what it would be like to be around thousands of people on a sugar high. But I digress.
How about a spray to add chocolate flavour to your food? Award-winning chef, David Burke, makes Flavor Sprays including a Chocolate Fudge spray. No calories, you just spray it on your food. Might be a sneaky way to get your kids to eat their vegetables. Chocolate broccoli or cauliflower anyone?
I like this next product, Ganache for Lips. Gourmet chocolate lip balm! Who couldn’t resist licking their lips when this lip balm is on it? Kissing would even be more delicious!
The lip balm is made with real chocolate; award winning chocolate from Scharffen Berger! It comes in nine flavours including Chocolate Orange, Mocha Latte and Chocolate Mousse. Ok, I’m starting to salivate as I’m writing this.
And lastly, just for the record. Axe Dark Temptation body spray does not make you taste or smell like chocolate. The only connection to chocolate is that you will be as irresistible as chocolate. So there’s no chocolate to speak of but their commercial certainly has you thinking that you would taste and smell like chocolate if you use their spray.
All I can say is that teenage chocolate boy in the commercial creeps me out especially with his bug eyes. I would definitely be running the other way. View the video for yourself however a word of warning: the video may put you off your chocolate for a day. Now that would calorie reducing.
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New Hampshire has come up with a tasty way to spend a day or two through their beautiful state. How does a tour sampling the tastes of the state’s best chocolate and best martini’s sound? I think it sounds a perfect way to spend a few days.
The travel and tourism office of New Hampshire has posted great itineraries of some great foodie tours. They offer the standard wine and cheese and the farm market tours but a chocolate and martini tour sounds like a winning combination. They say ‘You’re going to love it here.’ Yes I think I may.
Imagine sampling the tastes of skilled chocolatiers interrupted only by the sipping of a few great martinis in the local drinking establishments. Am I in heaven? Sign me up! Here’s a few of the chocolate stops on the tour.
First up is Byrne & Carlson, fine artisans and makers of specialty chocolates. Check out the photos on their website. It’s a menagerie of artistic chocolate bars that include nuts, fruit and pansies. Yes, I said pansies as in flowers and they are included in these works of chocolate art.
Next stop they list is the Van Otis Chocolate Factory. They offer up award winning fudge and other chocolates. If you can’t decide on one type of fudge, you can make it simple with a Swiss fudge sampler. They must be good given they’ve been around since 1935.
Continuing on, you’ll arrive at Burdick Chocolates. They not only offer chocolate but if you have a few extra days, you can also attend their four-day chocolate making course.
The next stop they list is not a chocolate shop but a bakery. The Bellows House Bakery qualifies though with home baked chocolate goodies including soft chewy cookies, scrumptious brownies and their famous whoopie pies. What’s a whoopie pie? Not to be confused with a whoopie cushion, they say it’s two pieces of rich chocolate cake with creamy vanilla filling. No preservatives or artificial ingredients here!
The last stop on the shorter tour is Unbridled Chocolates where they offer Belgian chocolates including some of the aphrodisiac kind. Depending on your timeline there’s lots more chocolate shops to check out. The others listed on the itinerary include Ava Marie Handmade Chocolates, Granite State Candy Shoppe, Swan Chocolates (amazing looking truffles), Kellerhaus and Chutters with the world’s longest candy counter.
And don’t’ forget in between all these chocolate shop stops, you refuel with martinis. A recommended stop is at the Wentworth dining room for their Chocolate Raspberry Eclair martini – Stoli Razberi Vodka, Chambord and Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur. Pair it with their molten chocolate cake dessert made from Valhrona chocolate. Yes that would be heaven.
All this talk about chocolate and martinis is making me thirsty. Time for a martini. Remember to bring along that designated driver. Times like this I wish I lived on the East Coast. New Hampshire – I’m sure I’d love it there.
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The other day it was one of those days when a store package of brownie mix looked really good. There are many days when I want to eat homemade brownies but either I don’t have all the ingredients or don’t feel like baking that day.
I caved and bought The King’s Cupboard Double Chocolate Brownie Mix. In my defense, it wasn’t just any brownie mix. The ingredients WERE organic, they WERE double chocolate and I still had to add a few fresh ingredients.
All I had to do was add three eggs and one stick of butter. It’s that simple! Everything else is in the mix including the chocolate chips. That’s where the double chocolate comes in! It’s optional to add in walnuts, which I did, a ½ cup in all. Mixed it together in a blink of an eye and poured it into the 8×8 baking pan. Nothing to it and they were done in 30 minutes.
I guess the proof is in the pudding or in this case, in the brownies. These were really good being denser and chewy than fluffy and cake-like. They were a bit dry rather than moist but I think I should have checked them at 20 minutes and I’m sure the walnuts cut down on the moistness. The double chocolate made the brownies very chocolaty sprinkled with chocolate chip morsels throughout.
Given the speed that you can make these, they are good for those emergencies (yes, chocolate cravings can be emergencies) when you have to have a chocolate fix but you can’t get out to the store. It’s always good to have a package on hand for that unexpected company or girlfriend crisis.
They are certified organic and even kosher dairy certified. So no excuses for fresh baked brownies unless of course you can’t find them. I didn’t see a listing of stores that carry the King’s Cupboard products but you can contact them through their website. They also make chocolate cake mixes, frostings, puddings and dessert sauces but you can discover those for yourself.
Note to King’s Cupboard: Let me know if I missed the list of retailers carrying your products otherwise it would be wise to include a list on your site.
Update: King’s Cupboard has advised me that they don’t list the retailers that carry their products because some retailers don’t carry their complete line. They don’t want customers to be disappointed if they’ve visited the store and the item is not there.
While this is considerate of them, I think they may be missing an opportunity to introduce and sell more of their products. If customers are going into the store asking for a particular product, then the retailer will be encouraged to stock it in their store. A list of retailers could be listed on their site with a disclaimer that states they should check with either them or the retailer as they may not carry their full line. I believe this is a standard practice now.
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