White Chocolate - the NonChocolate

White chocolate is the red headed step child of the chocolate family. It's really not chocolate at all, (no cacao) but I still like it and I think we should keep an open mind. 

Can you believe I still have some Easter candy to review? I know, I know - time gets away from me! So much chocolate, so little time!

Lindt made a white chocolate Lindor truffle egg:

I can't say anything negative about this - sweet, delicious with that creamy truffle center.  Wow!

Neuhaus also did a white chocolate egg and this one is a solid "chocolate" egg:

 

This is also a great white chocolate egg - it's not as light and fluffy - not a truffle, but it's delicious.  It's hard to compare the two - both have great flavor, but are in such different consistencies I can't make a choice!

Now you all know I love Hershey's Kisses, but this white chocolate can't hold a candle to the Lindt or the Neuhaus - it has a waxier quality.  Nowhere near as good.  And the orange flavor is soooooo not my fav.  I could never eat another one of these again and be happy as a clam.

 

This is Lindt's Straccitella truffle egg:

It's the white chocolate truffle egg with some cocoa nibs on the outer layer.  The sad thing is, you can hardly taste the nibs at all.  Maybe if they were mixed all the way through?  I dunno - seems like they need more...something...maybe CHOCOLATE?

I found these at Harry and David:

They have a white chocolate outer layer, a dark chocolate layer and then the malt ball.  These didn't do anything for me.  The malt flavor seemed to offset everything else - kind of yucky.

These beauties are anything but yucky.  They are by one of favorite chocolatiers - Knipschildt.  And at $10.00 for five little eggs, they are not cheap.  But DAMN, they are delicious!

They are about the size of a robin's egg and are filled with a milk chocolate hazelnut paste that is amazing.  These are some of the best of the chocolates I had this Easter. 

These cuties are from L.A. Burdick and are the most adorable little white chocolate bunnies:

Each has an almond and a delicious chocolate and hazelnut truffle filling.  They also have a dark chocolate base:

L.A. Burdick makes the most gorgeous and delicious chocolates.  They also made this egg:

This delicious guy has our new friend white chocolate, then a layer of corn flakes (very crispy, very delicious!) and then a Gianduja filling (a sweet chocolate paste containing about 30% hazelnuts).    Not only is it totally cute, the combination of flavors and textures is wonderful.

So what did we learn?  White chocolate may not technically be chocolate, but it adds a lot to the family.  (Let's all join hands and sing "We are the World.")  It's mighty sweet, but it makes a great coating and has a lighter taste than milk chocolate.

Also - sometimes really great chocolate is completely worth the money.  There are artists who work in chocolate.

And finally, no chocolate is too cute to eat.

Have a great week - I'll be reporting from Candy Expo!!

Finally!! My post on Fritz Knipschildt! (I'm just going to call this Cocky Devil Fritz from here on out.) I've seem Fritz twice - once when he was manning a booth at the Chocolate Show in NYC and again when he spoke at Candy Expo. In NY he was slammed and wasn't very friendly. He wasn't mean or anything, just wasn't friendly. I figured it was because he was busy.

I first came across his awesome chocolates when I ordered some from Dean and Deluca - I reviewed his pumpkin truffles here - they were the best of the lot.

At Candy Expo I got to hear him speak. He told the story of his company, talked about the cool packaging and how he wanted to get it just right, using special handmade paper:

The boxes are cool - the quote here reads" An exquisite selection of the world's finest handmade chocolates, Knipschildt has traveled the world to hand pick the best ingredients. The flavor combinations are matches made in heaven."

http://www.knipschildt.com/flash.html

You can see a better picture of the boxes (and everything else) on their website. There are even some pictures of Fritz. You'll see what I mean - maybe Cocky Devil, maybe Pompous Jerk.

But in his talk he talked about the business of starting and running a chocolate business. He also told us how he got where he is today (Madonna eats his chocolate and he's been featured in a ton of magazines and TV shows, so he must be doing something right). This was what he attributed his success to:

willpower

following the passion without being unrealistic

not wanting to lose

never giving up

"breaking" rules

being your own business owner

being open minded

He wants to be the number one super premium chocolate company in the world and he wants to open Chocopologies across the US. (Chocopologies are cafe/retail stores where you can see the chocolates being made. I haven't been in one, but want to!!)

I say - "You go, Fritz, you cocky devil!" Hey cocky devils always have some big dream and the absolute confidence that they can get there. I really enjoyed his talk and he had some great moments of self-deprecating humor. I could be wrong - I'm a sucker for pompous jerks posing as cocky devils, but after hearing his talk, I liked him.

And after eating his chocolate, I liked him more!

Although it does scare me a bit that all his signature chocolates have been given female names (leans toward the pompous jerk side of the scale). And the descriptions - yikes! But let's look at these beauties:

That's the whole box, let's review a section today:

Jennifer is the pistachio truffle (the Knipschildt description - a bit nutty but really quite sweet) - this was so smooth and amazingly delicious.

Jeanett is the spiral topped one - it is a fresh mint ganache. (Knip Descrip - tongue spinning, fresh, new age chick - SCARY!) Now I don't love mint, but again, this was so smooth and creamy, it was very, very good. There was a slight hint of another ingredient I wasn't crazy about, but overall it was very good. Fritz uses so many complex flavors that I can't detect them all.

Antoinette is the heart - a rosewater ganache. (Knip Descrip. - French romantic with expensive habits.) While gorgeous in appearance, I was not crazy about this one - it's the rosewater. It reminded me of scented soap. Off with her head, I say.

Kelly is the red triangle - a strawberry/lemon-thyme ganache. (Knip Descrip. - a fruitful attempt at breaking convention - zzzzzz). I'm such a simple gal - I would have liked this better without the thyme. Just give me strawberry and chocolate!! I'm just no gourmand (not that that's really surprising any of you guys.)

Stacy is the playing card - white chocolate ganache with Scandinavian cardamon - holy Ace of Spades, Batman! (Knip Descrip. - Vegas girl with surprising diversity.) I had to do some research - cardamon is a spice in the ginger family. This wasn't bad at all - it was unique, interesting. If you like ginger, you would probably really enjoy this one.

And finally in this batch - Patricia - the long cone - red chili/tangerine ganache. (Knip Descrip. - tallest of them all with a hot temper, but fresh lifestyle.) I was surprised at how much I liked this one. The chocolate has sparkles of gold and the shape is so unique - I loved the look of it. And the mild chili flavor was balanced perfectly with the sweetness of the ganache. Fantastic!!

I may never know if Fritz is a cocky devil or a pompous jerk, and as long as I don't date him, I don't care! He gave a great fun talk and he makes some amazing chocolates!! I like a lot of the things he said and I was impressed with his attention to detail - in everything from the packaging and the fascinating ingredients to his plan for world domination.

There's motivation by chocolate for you!

The Pumpkin Truffle Debacle

I read my new copy of Money magazine today and there is a section asking financial experts where they are putting their money right now. Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist, Standard & Poor's Equity Research says, "...But if I did anything now, I'd be letting my emotions rule my investing decisions. I cope with the stress by eating chocolate." Yay, Sam!!!! See, dear readers, in times of stress and doubt - turn to chocolate!!

I have mentioned several times in this blog how much I love pumpkin. I really do. I love pumpkin so much that I consider canned pumpkin (not the pie mix, just the pumpkin), with a dash of pumpkin pie spice, and several tablespoons of Splenda, a delicious dessert. This is hardcore.

So I have REALLY been looking forward to today's blog. I have a spiced pumpkin truffle from Lake Champlain's fall collection, one from Godiva, and one from Knipschildt Chocolatier for Dean and Deluca.

Let's talk art first. Here are the respective packages:

I have to say I like them all, although all are very different. I love the color on the Lake Champlain box, I like the cute foil wrapped "pumpkins" of Godiva, and I love the description and the cool handmade paper looking box for the Knipschildt truffles (although the box has a closure method that looks great but is horrible in execution).

I'm excited, they all look really good, let's get them out of the boxes:

Everybody is still looking good - see the cute leave and little coil stem of the Godiva pumpkin?

Here they are all naked. The Lake Champlain truffle was the largest - also twice as big as the Knipschildt truffle. I still like them all - cute pumpkin seed on the Knipschildt, nice drizzle on Lake Champlain, cinnamon on Godiva.

Let's see what they look like on the inside:

I can really smell the pumpkin now! Although Lake Champlain doesn't look very pumpkiny. The color actually winds up reflecting the various tastes very well. Knipschildt tasted the most like pumpkin, only lightly spiced as the description on the box says. Godiva started off strong - I really liked more spice (cinnamon, nutmeg) with the pumpkin. But just as I was really enjoying it, I noticed a weird aftertaste, like sour milk. What the heck? I actually ate another one to make sure I wasn't crazy and sure enough - it was there again. What a disappointment!!

But wait, there's still Lake Champlain, the biggest truffle!! Yay! After some palate cleansing, I take a bite and the chocolate coating is definitely the best, and it is very light and fluffy, but wait....pumpkin? Where's the pumpkin? It's so subtle I can't taste the pumpkin. I check the box to make sure I got the right truffle, it says I did. I'm disappointed.

As far as pumpkin truffles go, my favorite was the Knipschildt truffle. But the truth is, I won't buy any of them again. I would buy Godiva if it didn't have that awful aftertaste or Knipschildt if it had a little more spice. Just goes to show you, you can't judge a pumpkin by it's patch!

But here's the good news! (I still have more Lake Champlain chocolate left!) and I discovered a new chocolatier: http://www.knipschildt.net/ And who can worry about the stock market when they are sampling pumpkin truffles?? Life is short! Have fun!