Zazubean Organic Fair Trade Functional Chocolate

Zazubean’s design, amusing online photos, and funky niche market called to me all the way from British Columbia. Currently, six very different bars comprise their collection of functional chocolates. Both of the ones I sampled, the “Flirt” with raspberry, cherry, and acaí­, and the “Nutbar” with coconut, almonds, and camu camu were irresistible. The super rich, organic 70% chocolate was equally at home with fruits as it was with almonds and coconut, though it had a decidedly different texture. With the freeze dried raspberry bits it was snappier and crisper; whereas, with the nuts and coconut it was chewier. Both were eminently easy to scarf down.

Functional foods are also known as neutraceuticals or superfoods. According to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, “Canada has emerged as a leading world supplier in this growing market. The country boasts more than 300 companies – from small start-ups to multinational enterprises.” In the U.S., we are well aware of the plethora of enhanced foodstuffs, as they fill almost every aisle of the market. When it comes to chocolate, a natural for pairing with everything from fiber to probiotics, the potential nutritional benefits are an exciting development, but take second place to the taste, texture, and aroma of the final product; especially, since dark chocolate already contains over 300 phytochemicals.

For those who are wondering, acaí­ (pronounced ah-sigh-ee), is a berry-like fruit that grows on palm trees in the Brazilian Amazon. According to recent research, it has amazing disease-fighting antioxidant properties. “With a score of 6.58 on the oxygen radical absorption capacity (ORAC) test, acaí­ pulp has more antioxidant activity than blueberries, strawberries, and red wine combined,” says David Grotto, RD, LDN, author of 101 Foods That Could Save Your Life. Acaí­ is particularly high in anthocyanins, potent pigments that give it its deep purple color and battle cancer, heart disease, diabetes, inflammation, obesity, and other age-related illnesses.

Camu camu, a sour berry that grows from a bush in swampy and flooded areas of the Amazon, has the highest levels of vitamin C. Studies show camu camu to have strong anti-oxidant effects and contain minerals, amino acids, beta carotene, calcium, iron, niacin, phosphorus, riboflavin and thiamine.

Unfortunately for Americans, Zazubean’s products are only available in Canada. I hope that changes soon, as I would love to try their Cheeky bar with banana, salted toffee, and maca (another superfood).

Richart Infuzz Chocolates

Richart’s chocolates are known for their innovative and original confections, so it is no surprise that they came up with these amazing bonbons. Each is a little masterpiece of culinary engineering.

Working from the inside out, you have a micro thin sugar crust enclosing a small amount of liquid. (If you have had German brandy filled chocolates, you are familiar with the concept; though, here, it is translated into French, with all the nuanced subtlety that implies.) The liquid could be flavored with vanilla, roasted hazelnuts, rose and citrus, black and green tea, citrus and mint, seven spices, or Tahitian vanilla and mint. Next up is the filling (ganache, caramel, or coulis) sandwiched between two layers of a French micro-macaron. All of this is enrobed in 72% Venezuelan Criollo chocolate, one of my all time favorites. The whole far exceeds my description of its parts. In the same bite you have meltingly smooth chocolate, filling, crunchy light macaron, and that tiny shock of liquid.

There are seven flavors in the collection: Balsamic, Hazelnut, Raspberry, Tea, Orange, Five Spices, and Citrus and Rose. Richart has far more creative names for them, but I thought descriptive terms might be more useful.

The chocolates are small, about three quarters of an inch in diameter and about the same height. The top of each sports a distinctive colorful design that makes choosing easy, as the collection comes with a very artistic pamphlet describing the architecture and flavors of each confection.

These are as unusual, high end, and innovative as chocolate gets. The flavors are intense, the textures varied and captivating, and the plain white box with burgundy silk ribbon the epitome of understated elegance.

I recommend subscribing to their mailing list for occasional free shipping offers, and news.

Chocolate Naive

Whimsy goes a long way in my book, and Chocolate Naive has a healthy dose of it on every wrapper. Each micro story they print, like a semantic Magritte or Zen koan, is philosophical and endearing. Another fetching feature is the chocolatier’s signature and production date.

While the wrapper is a riff on lightness and innocence, their mostly dark 70 gram bars are deep and intriguing. The chocolate is poured to a very well tempered, glossy, thin, flat shape I always find enhances the experience, since it melts faster and delivers itself up almost instantly. I also like their lovely retro image of a man on a unicycle in chocolate bas relief.

The 43% Organic Milk illustrates how cows from Lithuania produce distinctly different milk from cows grazing elsewhere. There’s a freshness, along with a hint of grassy flavors that permeates this delicious darker milk bar. The finish is a bit sere, which complements the creamy texture enhanced by a 60 hour conche. I could eat it, if you’ll pardon the expression, until the cows come home.

Their 68% Ugandan bar with sea salt and vanilla, conched for 55 hours, also boasts a creamy texture, softening the slight acidic edge and bite of the salt.

A 71% Grenadan chocolate, conched for 59 hours, is a completely different experience. At first taste, it’s a bit dry, but that gets dominated by a rich, full cacao flavor, where no one note predominates.

63% Organic Orange and Cinnamon with Nibs has been conched 19 hours and uses the House Blend of Haitian and Ugandan beans. I might have thought the far shorter conche would make this a much more rustic bar, but the addition of crunchy nibs masked the slightly less creamy texture of the base. Hints of orange and cinnamon support an earthy chocolate flavor perfect with the nibs. Since they are scattered unevenly across the bar, you can break pieces off with them, or without them, getting two different chocolate experiences from one bar.

Chocolate Naive isn’t easy to find, but they have an active Facebook page and a website that should be up and running soon.

Nicobella Vegan Organic 70% Dark Chocolate Truffles

While Nicobella’s truffles are vegan, it is almost a disservice to say that. They are delicious chocolate bonbons. The fact that they aren’t made with cream or white sugar isn’t their claim to fame, it’s their unique flavor combinations and great texture. Sometimes, when reviewing a vegan alternative, I think what a shame only vegans may read this. I am not talking to you about these as “vegan truffles,” but truffles qua truffles. That’s where their cred lies. If only vegans liked them, they might be thought of as a substitute for the real thing. They are the real thing, just healthier.

Nicobella’s chocolate truffles come in a 2.2 ounce box with six pieces, each a different flavor: Blueberry Almond, Ginger Green Tea, Pumpkin Chai, Pure Cocoa Bliss, Sunflower Banana Butter, and Walnut Flaxseed. All are made with Theo’s organic and Fair Trade organic 70% dark chocolate, and have a very dense, rich, creamy ganache center enrobed in a thin layer of chocolate.

I liked each flavor in its own right, and also in relation to its neighbors. Ginger Green Tea was wonderfully well-balanced; and, while neither spice nor tea predominated, they were each discernible. Pumpkin Chai was also distinguished by its beautifully melding flavors. Walnut Flaxseed had a lovely crunch, and Blueberry Almond was saturated with fruit flavor. Pure Cocoa Bliss was ultra creamy and rich, and Sunflower Banana Butter had a slightly dry undertone from the seeds. All were housed in a user-friendly sliding sleeve box that was visually appealing and fun.

These luscious morsels come to you from Nichole Dandrea, a registered dietitian, yoga instructor, and devotee of wholesome foods. Her mission is to take the traditional chocolate truffle and use alternatives for the cream and sugar that are typically found in ganache fillings. By using raw agave nectar, cane sugar, and brown rice syrup as sweeteners, and coconut oil and cocoa butter to achieve a silky smooth texture, she has created a delicious vegan truffle.

Sugar Plum Chocolates

While the name Sugar Plum Chocolates sounds a bit retro, there is nothing old-fashioned about their truffles and bars. Purely Pomegranate is a perfect example. This 2.5 ounce vegan dark bar is made from Belgian chocolate and enhanced with little seeds that give it bursts of fruit flavor, surprising bits of texture, and an intriguing tang. The bars also come in banana and peach.

Sugar Plum offers 18 different truffles: Caramel, Irish Creme, Chai, White Russian, Coffee, Lemon Meringue, Strawberry, Rum, Black Raspberry, Tiramisu, Champagne, Chai, Pomegranate, Strawberry Cheesecake, Caramel Pecan, Cappuccino, Caramel, and Creme Brulee. I sampled the Pomegranate with its thick dark chocolate shell and pomegranate infused ganache. It had a hint of tanginess, not as much as the vegan bar, but enough to enhance the chocolate’s intensity.

The both items are packaged in a very clean, appealing design. The bar in a hard box with an inner sleeve and re-closable top. I wish other producers would use this, as it keeps the chocolate fresh and neat. The truffles came in a pebbly textured milk chocolate colored box with shiny plum calligraphy and a festive ribbon.

Askinosie Malted Milky Dark Chocolate Dripping Down My Wrist, Lick, Lick Bar

I will always want to know what Shawn Askinosie is concocting, as I appreciate the quality and whimsy of his wares. This latest offering, with a very long name: Malted Milky Dark Chocolate Dripping Down My Wrist, Lick, Lick, is part of the collaBARation series. Here, Askinosie Chocolate paired up with Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams in Columbus, Ohio.

The bar is wrapped in a semi-translucent sleeve that neatly keeps your chocolate shards from migrating to clothing, upholstery, or bedding. It sports Shawn’s familiar appealing design of alphabet adorned squares. The 60% Tanzanian chocolate has a slightly chewy texture, which goes well with the dry, malty finish. As I kept eating—it’s very user-friendly—I noticed more underlying creaminess. It is very different from everything else in the dark milk segment of the market: less sweet, tangier, and layered with malt.

Suddenly, I was curious about what exactly is malted milk. Consulting Wikipedia I found:

Malted milk is a mix of malted barley, wheat flour, and whole milk, which is evaporated until it forms a powder.

“London pharmacist James Horlick developed ideas for an improved, wheat and malt-based nutritional supplement for infants. Despairing of his opportunities in England, James joined his brother William, who had gone to Racine, Wisconsin, to work at a relative’s quarry. In 1873, James and William formed J & W Horlicks to manufacture their brand of infant food in nearby Chicago. Ten years later, they earned a patent for a new formula enhanced with dried milk. The company originally marketed its new product as “Diastoid”, but trademarked the name “malted milk” in 1887.

Despite its origins as a health food for infants and invalids, malted milk found unexpected markets. Explorers appreciated its lightweight, nonperishable, nourishing qualities, and took malted milk on treks worldwide. William Horlick became a patron of Antarctic exploration, and Admiral Richard E. Byrd named a mountain range in Antarctica after him. Back at home, people began drinking Horlick’s new beverage for enjoyment. James Horlick returned to England to import his American-made product back home and was eventually made a baronet. Malted milk became a standard offering at soda fountains, and found greater popularity when mixed with ice cream in a “malt”. “Malt shops” owe their very name to the Horlick brothers.”

Santa Barbara Chocolate Company

Santa Barbara Chocolate Company aims to please a wide swath of the chocolate loving population, and they have many ways to tempt you. Whether your tastes veer towards the traditional, more modern, or you want a great organic bar, there’s an app for that, though here, I mean something appetizing. There are even lovely confections for children, like the adorable milk chocolate covered bunnies I tried from their Spring holiday collection.

In addition to their truffles, bonbons, and special items, they created three organic bars in support of Friends of Bellona Wetlands. All are large, 3.5 ounce, and Rainforest Alliance certified. The 41% dark milk was ultra creamy, yet had enough cacao ballast to keep the chocolate flavor afloat. The same base, in a Mocha rendition, was dotted with tiny crunchy bits of organic Peruvian coffee. I loved the play of textures as the coffee met the smooth dark milk chocolate. 70% dark had notes of tobacco, lychee, and an earthy presence, carried along in a slightly creamy texture.

Their California Collection was an assortment of creams, nuts, dried fruit, brittles, and chews in milk and dark couverture. All were very fresh, and had a nostalgic feel. These traditional confections are classics for a reason.

A “Specials” line included a very appealing blue foil wrapped soft ganache enrobed in dark chocolate and coated in confectioners’ sugar. The look was reminiscent of a mini Bûche de Noël, with a crisply tempered shell, and silky interior. Pineapple chocolate was a very pretty painted white chocolate piece with more tropical fruitiness than I could have imagined. Adorable, flat turtles held a center of caramel ganache, and a pink, foil wrapped truffle was perfectly balanced, with its thin shell, alcohol enhanced ganache, and cocoa powder finish. Another ganache filled dark piece had a base of gingerbread crumbs giving it a wonderful combination of textures, spices, and novelty, while a milk chocolate ganache had bits of caramelized nuts embedded in its couverture. Each piece had its own personality, which made this a very interesting melange of flavors, textures, and visuals.

Another assortment of Specials included eight different ganaches, six of which were enrobed in dark chocolates. These hand crafted chocolates included a winsome painted fish and a lipstick red heart, both steeped in flavor.

Their truffle selection also had eight varieties, half milk and half dark. All were double dipped in chocolate and housed a creamy enter. Options included: Apple Pie, Strawberry Balsamic, Hot Cocoa, Cheesecake, Curacao, Bananas Foster, Seattle Espresso, and Maui Coconut.

Jason Vishnefske is the chocolatier and cofounder of the original Santa Barbara Chocolate Company which he and his partner, Matt Lansford, established in 1992. His zeal for chocolate, health, and organics informs every chocolate he creates. In addition, Santa Barbara Chocolate Company offers a Traveling Cacao Bar, an interactive chocolate tasting experience with edible displays showcasing all aspects of the bean.

A generous flat rate shipping charge of $5.99 is another incentive to check out their multifarious offerings.

Last but not least, I suggest you check out Jason’s friendly, fun, and educational video: “Raw chocolate cocoa pod tasting: Organic Dark Chocolate.” Here’s the link: http://youtu.be/SojN93OaEBg