UK-based Hotel Chocolat has opened its first US shop right here in Boston. If you’re thinking “Hang on, the English aren’t exactly known for fine chocolate”, you’re right. Hotel tries too hard and their product’s quality is mixed, but they have some solid ideas. More »
Yesterday in his NYT column, Mark Bittman covered the raw basics of tempering chocolate for dipping. There’s a video. It’s, um, yeah. If you’ve never tempered chocolate before you should probably look for better instructions. And if you have, you’re not missing anything.
Bespoke is a little chocolate shop in NYC that opened this past Spring. Its address is 6 Extra Place, shown above (insert joke about invisible store). Chocolatier Rachel Insler does all her production in the little shop and still finds space for some tasteful shelving and a nice sales counter. Rachel and her staff (there were three other people working when I went, including the register) have no tempering machine, but use a big melter and round truffle molds. Everyone was very friendly and open; when I first visited the chocolatier was describing her process to a pack of chocolate fiends. More »
If you’re vacationing on Hawaii (which I highly recommend), you might think you’re already having a hell of a good time. But there’s always room for chocolate, and the Original Hawaiian Chocolate factory is there to make life a little more complete. More »
If you’re looking for inspiration for the upcoming gift-giving season, look no further than McCormick . Their Flavor Forecast ™ trend report is out with the latest on what’s hot. This year’s flavor of choice? Red food coloring.
Seriously, someone got paid to write a report that included “Vanilla & Red Food Color” as an exciting flavor trend. More »
Lake Champlain recently added a fifth entry in their Five Star Bar line. This is the first new 5 Star in years, and presumably something they’ve been working intensively on (in Steve Almond’s Candyfreak there is discussion of a fifth bar). I had assumed that when the new Five Star came out it would be a brilliant fusion of confectionery innovation and widespread consumer appeal. Instead, it’s granola. More »
This is coolest thing L.A. Burdick has produced in the seven years since we crossed paths. The frappes themselves = not so good. And (if you think about the effort that went into this sign) it is a testament to how very slow it gets at chocolate shops in the summer.
Oh Hershey. What the hell is wrong with you? You strike a deal with Barry Callebaut so that you don’t have to bother making chocolate any more. You move your candy production to Mexico. You buy two small artisan companies, then shut down their factories and lay off their staff. You can’t keep a Sharffen berger company store open in NYC despite it being a well-respected brand…even after you bought it. And now you’re shutting down your online store. More »
So apparently Hershey released a limited edition dark chocolate Reese’s peanut butter cup when Dark Knight came out. I guess I was too busy watching Dark Knight to notice. Lucky for me, they’re making it a full time addition to the Reese’s lineup. More »
Valrhona has given their Grand Cru retail line (that’s single origin chocolate bars, for any rookies out there) a makeover. Personally I prefer oblong bars to squares, but otherwise this is a pretty sexy design. Valrhona’s retail bars have gotten kind of scattered in terms of marketing and packaging; it would be nice to see the whole line given a unified identity. It’s worth noting that these 70g bars appear to be replacing their 100g bars, with the same (or greater) price tag.
