Chocolove

Chocolove 

Most chocoholics have a go-to or staple chocolate bar, one they fall back on time and time again. Chocolove's Cherries & Almonds in Dark Chocolate is the on for me. It's the bar I buy when I can't make up my mind about what kind of chocolate I want. I crave this one after I've been inordinately adventurous, sampling more exotic flavors, and want some familiar comfort. The packaging is nice. It's eye-catching and simple. Some might say it's cutesy with the XOXOX symbol on each of the different colors of outer wrappers. I can't say that the packaging is all that fancy. In fact, it's a little bit understated, but the added love poem on the inside of each wrapper is a nice, classy touch.

I find it strange that this bar has become my go-to chocolate, because when I first tried Chocolove, I felt that all the flavors were too sweet. Then again, I sampled the Toffee in Milk Chocolate bar and a few others that are more naturally on the sweet side than any of the darker chocolates, but even the dark chocolates are on the verge of being too sweet. That's not necessarily a bad thing. It's the type of chocolate that appeals to the mainstream, but I'm sensitive to chocolate that's overly sugary. Fortunately, I gave the line of chocolates another try and discovered this highly addictive bar with its dark, chewy dried cherries and crunchy roasted almonds nestled in chocolate that's dark but not excessively so. Because it's only 55 percent cocoa, there's a good chance that both milk and dark chocolate lovers will appreciate this creation.  

It's always a pleasant surprise to discover a chocolate bar that isn't excessively thin. I like chocolate I can sink my teeth into, especially when there are added ingredients such as nuts, fruit or pretzel pieces. It's not so much that Chocolove chocolate is extraordinary; it's that the chocolate is consistently good. Anyone can tell that it's a very high quality chocolate, even though there's nothing overly intriguing about it, mostly because the flavors are straightforward, not complex. This isn't anything to complain about, really. It's great to have a confection that screams true, traditional chocolate when you taste it, and these bars are made with very good Belgian chocolate using classic European techniques.

Of the various bars I have tried, the flavors were all nicely balanced, but there was nothing unique about the combinations. It's hard to go wrong with traditional ingredients. As far as my preference, I keep coming back to the Cherries & Almonds in Dark Chocolate. On very rare occasions, I have ended up with one that contained rather rancid almonds, but I attribute this to improper storage on the part of the store where I purchased the bar, not to the company. I have had too many bars with fresh almonds to make me think it's a problem with the way the bars are made. It's more likely that the bars sit on the store shelves too long or are not rotated properly. The cherries are tart but not sour, so they don't detract from the pure cocoa taste of the chocolate. I'm the type who loves to explore different flavors and textures in my chocolates, so including both fruit and nuts is the perfect combination for me. 

The milk chocolate pretzel bar was a little bit on the sweet side to my taste. The Man thought it was good. He agreed that it was sweet, but he didn't think it was overly so. The pretzel pieces were quite long and made the bar difficult to score evenly. It's not a big problem, but it looked clumsy. I did like the crunch and the saltiness of the pretzels. The texture of the chocolate, while not chalky, wasn't entirely smooth. Overall, it was good but not outstanding. After sampling some excellent Valrhona milk chocolate, it's easy to be critical of other milk chocolates, but I appreciate a very smooth milk chocolate that's not extremely sweet. 


Some of the best things about Chocolove are the high standards of the company and the founder's dedication to social responsibility.

What is your go-to chocolate?

Timothy Moley, the founder of Chocolove

Hot Chocolate

Hot Chocolate

There's a definite nip in the air tonight. There's nothing like a mug of hot chocolate to warm you up and sooth you on a cold day.

From Allrecipes.com:

1 serving Hot Chocolate

Ingredients
1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
 3 tablespoons white sugar
 1/4 pinch salt
 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon boiling water
 3/4 cup and 2 tablespoons milk
 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons half-and-half or cream

Directions
Combine the cocoa, sugar and pinch of salt in a saucepan. Blend in the boiling water. Bring this mixture to an easy boil while you stir. Simmer and stir for about 2 minutes. Watch that it doesn't scorch. Stir in 3 1/2 cups of milk and heat until very hot, but do not boil! Remove from heat and add vanilla. Divide between 4 mugs. Add the cream to the mug of cocoa to cool it to drinking temperature. Serve with whipped cream and a cocoa dusting (optional).