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Art

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  1. Art

    Hot Chocolate

    As Robert said, it all depends on the taste you like. I'd probably start off with 50% milk and 50% dark. For me, I usually use: 2 ounces dark chocolate (70%) 11 ounces whole milk 1 tablespoon cream The measurements aren't exact for the milk -- I just fill up a coffee mug with milk and then dump it into my pan. The standard mug size is 11oz. You really can't go wrong as there is no "right" or "wrong" recipe only what you like or don't like. -Art
  2. Art

    Chocolate Sauce

    This is just a variation of the basic hot chocolate recipe. The basic recipe for hot chocolate uses water not milk. When you make hot chocolate this way, the chocolate flavor stands out better and is not masked by the milk or cream. You can of course, adjust your milk / cream content to suit your personal taste and that would apply to this application as well. -Art
  3. Art

    Cocoa Butter

    Cocoa butter is often a bit hard to track down. It also isn't cheap. This is the reason why so many chocolate manufacturers add soy lecithin -- it allows you to make chocolate without having to add as much (if any) additional cocoa butter. Here are a couple of resources: Chef Shop has it in granules which are very handy to work with: http://chefshop.com/Itemdesc.asp?ic=4654&eq=4654baking&Tp= Albert Uster Imports ( http://www.auiswiss.com/ ) has cocoa butter as well. It is a bit hard to find in their store but in the end, it costs $46 for 5.5 lbs which works out to about $8.00/lb. Hope this helps, -Art
  4. Art

    Chewing gum

    Ok, I'm back from all my travels and hopefully, I can address this to some degree. Keep in mind, I have not made gum myself and only know what I do from trade books that I have. In short, you will need what is called gum base. I have a couple formulations for bubble gum base these are: Washed pontianak gum (44.5 parts) gutta katiana (41.6 parts) gutta S.O.H. (7.7 parts) Candelilla Wax (6.2 parts) or Washed Pontianak (jelutong) gum (44.5 pars) Yutta Katiana (41.6 parts) Yutta S.O.H. (7.7 parts) Candelilla Wax (6.2 parts) or Chicle Gum (20 parts) Washed Pontianak gum (27 parts) Yutta Katiana (43.9 parts) Candelilla Wax (1.1 parts) The gum base is broken into pieces and softened in a steam heated pan. The gum is then transferred into a heated mixing bowl with a Z style mixers and glucose is added as well icing sugar. Mixing is performed for 2-3 hours at a temp of 170 - 185 degrees F max. The gum is then turned into well dusted plates or trays and formed into loaves. These are cooled to 100 degrees F. then are formed by rolling, extrusion, etc. into their final shape. After forming, gum is typically allowed to mature in rooms maintained at 65 degrees F for eight hours before wrapping. This extends the shelf life. Unfortunately, I do not have any info as far as flavorings are concerned. I'd imagine it would be a powdered form and mixed in with the icing sugar. As far as playing around is concerned, I'd try Kool Aid (the kind in the small packets) since their flavorings are very powerful and you are adding sugar already anyway. Hope this helps, -Art
  5. Art

    Chewing gum

    I have a small handfull of chewing gum recipes. I would be happy to give it to you. Unfortunately, I am at the Fancy Food Show where we are exhibiting and then will be off to the San Francisco Chocolate Salon next weekend so I would not be able to give it to you until I get back on Tues. or Wed. of next week. If that is not too late for you, please drop me an e-mail maybe Wednesday the 18th or shortly thereafter and I would be happy to assist in any way I can. One thing to remember though, I only have recipes, I have never tried it..... (It would be fun to try though even though I rarely chew gum.) BTW: Does anyone know of any eGullet get togethers at the Fancy Food Show? It would be great to meet any fellow eGulleters that are attending.... -Art
  6. Yes, it can be done. Even so, I'd be a bit skeptical. The roasting is an important component to making things taste chocolaty. This is partly due to the flavor development that happens during roasting -- as happens when so many things are roasted. At the same time, there are quite a wide variety of chemicals that need to be broken down to remove various flavor notes that do not taste good. The fermentation of the beans at the farm / co-op / whatever helps to break these down and improves the flavor greatly from how the beans taste right off the tree. Fermentation does not remove all the harsh chemicals however and so the roasting is an important step to creating anything with a good flavor. Another issue that must be considered is that cocoa beans are collected and dried on the jungle floor -- or very close thereto. Because of this, they can carry nasty little bugs like e-coli and samonilla. I don't know if you remember, Cadbury's had to perform a major recall several years ago because of nasties being found in their finished chocolate. If it can happen to Cadbury's, it can happen to everybody. A few years ago, I was curious as to what was being done by the "raw food" types to eliminate e-coli and samonilla from their beans. I called a few and basically the response I got was: "We had some beans tested once and they came out clean." (Note, this isn't even having the beans tested lot-to-lot.) I anticipate that someone who is producing raw nibs will get a bunch of people sick in the not too distant future and it will give the chocolate industry a black eye. In short, I'd stay clear of raw cocoa powder or nibs even though I see no reason why cocoa powder could not be made from ground up raw nibs. -Art
  7. There are probably several things that are happening here. Baker's (baking) chocolate should be about 45% cocoa solids and 54% cocoa butter. This is on average the contents of the cocoa bean and that is essentially all that baking chocolate is. These better chocolates that you mention will typically add additional cocoa butter as well as sugar. I suspect that it is the sugar that is causing the problem simply because with a 70% chocolate, you are talking about 30% of the weight being sugar -- which could be a lot depending on your recipe. What I would do is reduce the amount of sugar you are adding. You may want to add additional good chocolate as well. This will help make up for the 30% you lose to sugar. In addition, most all of these chocolates have additional cocoa butter added. I'd guess and say about 10% of the weight is added cocoa butter. This can vary depending on manufacturer and which product. (Some add less and then they will add soy lecithin to help achieve the thinning affect of cocoa butter.) Because of this, you may want to reduce the fat in your recipe to accommodate. (Though it should simply make it more fudgy IMHO.) If you are using a regular semi-sweet, it is probably 50% cocoa solids and 50% sugar so the problem is more significant given this case. Since I don't know specifically which chocolate from these manufactuers you are using, I can't go into too much detail but this should give you an idea as to what is happening. I'd imagine you will probably have to give it a couple of tries but I'm sure you will get it in the end. -Art
  8. Well, yes. In great amounts vanilla is a "flavor" but in addition to that, it is a flavor enhancer. It all depends on how much vanilla is added. The same can be said for salt. If large amounts of salt are added, clearly something will taste salty. But when used in small almost imperceptible amounts, it will enhance a dish and bring out its flavors. Just as most of us here would not think of buying a prime piece of meat and throwing it on the grill and leaving off the salt, the same can be said for vanilla and many dishes. What we are seeing with the current FDA proposal is the idea of replacing a key constituent of chocolate that comes from the cocoa bean with something else that pretends to be chocolate. Vanilla and many other flavorings -- in general -- do not try to "be" chocolate while that is the sole purpose of the hydrogenated vegetable fats being discussed. At which point something when adulterated ceases to be "real" is partly a philosophical question. 1%, 5%, 10%, 20% 75% 95%? I believe that historically, when people have discussed chocolate people on both sides of the discussion knew what was being talked about. With the current proposal, the qualities, textures, and baking properties of chocolate will be all over the map and it will create confusion in the marketplace. Think for example, someone could market runny chocolate watered down with vegetable oil (for those "chocolate fountains") simply as dark chocolate. Clearly that would have different baking properties from what we all think about as dark chocolate. The manufacturers already have plenty of room to work with. They can say that their products are "chocolate flavored" or "flavored with chocolate" or some such as well as stamping their creation with a brand name such as is the case with "Butterfinger". When purchased at the store, we all know what we are getting. (When you buy a Butterfinger bar you know what you are getting / are in for). If this FDA proposal passes, when people talk about buying "chocolate", it could potentially be any number of different things. Clear labeling and information to the consumer is one of the most important things in the marketplace. It allows the consumer to make informed choices. Unfortunately, this proposal makes things less clear to the consumer rather than more. -Art
  9. As I recall, grapefruit was really good. I don't remember exactly which but some turned out to be really spectacular. The others were close enough that with a little work they could be made to be really good as well. (Though they were all wonderful in their own way.) Hadn't thought of passionfruit ..... -Art
  10. I went through a curd phase about ten years ago. I made: Lemon Curd Orange Curd Grapefruit Curd Tangarine Curd Pomello Curd Tangello Curd and a few others I'm sure I'm forgetting. Haven't made curd much since -- don't know why. Perhaps I ought to revisit it. I used basically the same recipe for all. I think it may have been from the Cake Bible through it may just as easily been from Fine Cooking. -Art
  11. For those of you who have been following the proposed changes to the "Standard of Identity" for chocolate and those who haven't heard about this yet, it is worth pointing out that the FDA has received an "enormous" number of responses so far. In fact, they have received far more than they have received on similar proposals. If you have not submitted comments to the FDA, you still have time! Because of the enormous amount of responses so far, the FDA has extended their comment period to June 25th. You can submit your comments via our website: http://www.amanochocolate.com/frankenchocolate/ where we also have a form letter to make it nice easy -- it won't take you more than 2 minutes, I promise. Just to recap for those who haven't heard, the FDA has a proposal before it that will allow chocolate manufacturers to be able to replace cocoa butter (the natural fat present in the cocoa bean and which gives chocolate its incredible mouth-feel) with vegetable and artificial oils and fats. Currently, they can already do this and that is why we have such things as Twix, Butterfinger, etc. They can call it whatever they want but .... what they can not currently do is call it chocolate. Up until this point, when something was labeled chocolate, it was just that -- chocolate. From a baking perspective, not all of the proposed fats will be one to one replacements for cocoa butter. They will have different melting properties, mouthfeel, etc. They will not bake, temper, the same way as real chocolate will. There will be significant variations between brands depending on whether the manufacturer used, hydrogenated palm kernel oil, shea butter, or so called "cocoa butter equivalent". A few years ago, my wife bought some chocolate from a store that they had labeled as "molding chocolate". Normally, a good cook, I don't know what happened in this case perhaps she simply wasn't paying attention. Anyway, she baked a cake with it and it was horrid. She had to throw it out. It was a palm kernel oil chocolate flavored coating that she had bought but it was mislabeled as "molding chocolate"..... If this passes, look for disasters like this to become far more common. The disappointing thing from my perspective is that the "enormous number of responses" that the FDA has received so far is -- as of not too long ago -- is about 250 public comments. I know we can do better than this. On the plus side, this is one of those rare opportunities to actually have your voice heard by the Government. So, please take 2 minutes to send your comments to the FDA. You will be glad you did. Thanks, -Art
  12. I think a wine cooler is an excellent place to keep your chocolate. However, as discussed by other members, humidity is an issue so it would depend on where you live. Here in Utah, however, it isn't much of an issue so wine coolers work very well. One thing to consider is that many refridgerators have a pan to catch the condensed humidity. It may be possible to run a tube from this pan to the outside to let any condensation drain. -Art
  13. Art

    Fine Chocolate

    I fully agree. Furthermore, it is difficult to clean the chocolate machines so that there would be NO trace of other varieties. The machines are simply too large and in some cases too complex to be able to remove every single trace of previous runs. We have it pretty good here since we designed our factory so that we can clean our machines very effectively between runs so when we say that something is made with a particular bean, there are no significant amounts of previous runs present. Other factories have it worse since they use pipes to move their chocolate about the factory and these pipes trap chocolate from previous runs even after they have been cleaned out. (Typically, this is done by shooting a plug through the line that pushes much of the remaining chocolate out -- but much still remains.) Factories that use "Universal Refiners" have an even worse problem because there are significant amounts of chocolate that do not drain from the refiner between runs. I'd guestimate on one 500kg machine that I've seen drained that there was approximately 100lbs left in the bottom and the sides -- if not more. (This is also one of the reasons why we don't use this kind of chocolate refiner.) The problem with regulations too is that they in essence create a "minimum" standard and rather than encouraging people to create their products to the highest standard possible, I believe that it encourages mediocrity. There is too strong a temptation to only meet the standard rather than go beyond the standard. I am aware of a chocolate company outside of the U.S. (who shall remain nameless) that includes as many cocoa bean husks as they can legally include. They technically still meet the standard but clearly they also feel that the standard allows them some leeway in their formulation. Truth in labeling is probably the best answer. I'm not convinced that it all needs to go on the actual product label in the Internet era. There simply are too many factors that come into play and too many interests that people may have or want clarification on. If all of these were addressed on a label, packaging for even the most basic product would be huge simply for want of printing space. However, with the virtually free ability to distribute information via the Internet, many of these interests / concerns / etc. may be addressed in as much depth as necessary and at minimal cost. -Art
  14. Art

    Fine Chocolate

    Thanks Sebastian. Greatly appreciated. I made the mistake of assuming that the web page would remain up. On a similar vein, I have been contacted by one publication that wanted to know if we believed that the government should pass regulations as to what "single origin" means in reference to chocolate. Personally, I am opposed to this -- the last thing we need is more regulation. On the other hand, it us up to us as an industry to be forthright with our customers as to what our product is (and is not). If we (as an industry) do not, new regulations will eventually be forthcoming whether we like it or not. -Art
  15. Art

    Fine Chocolate

    Robert : It should be noted that Scharffen Berger's Cuyagua is not a single origin bar. They sent out an e-mail on January 30th announcing the bar. If you clicked on the link for further info, they explained that it is a blend with beans from the same region where they obtained their beans for the special Venezuela bar a few years ago. (Sorry, I don't remember what it was called.) I just tried the link in my e-mail and the link is broken and does not work any more. (It says: The offer you have clicked has expired. Revisit our site to get the latest specials and updates. Thanks.) The original page interestingly had more information about the bar than the product page did then or now. I did a search of their website and can't find the page so apparently, it has been taken down. In either case, the now missing page said that it is a blend. Interestingly, there is an article in the East Bay Express (June 1, 2005) that said that their earlier Cuyagua was a blend as well. Hope things are working out well for you with ChocolateGuild. -Art
  16. I agree. I guess my rant is more centered against companies like Xocai that take regular chocolate and then throw in a bunch of medical terminology then sell it as a new cure-all. Of course, it is healthy but I doubt much more so than regular chocolate. I believe the research that chocolate / cocoa is incredibly healthy for us. As I mentioned, I believe that one of the reasons we crave chocolate is because of this. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if a good 70% chocolate has (I'm guessing) less sugar in it than many comparable fruits / vegetables -- once the water has been removed. I'd have to check to be sure but that would be my guess. (Sorry, I've never looked up the sugar content for dried carrots of tomatoes but they are both fairly sweet.) With Xocai being a local company, I get an unbelievable number of people who want me to buy or even sell their "healthy chocolate" for $100/lb that is essentially repackaged Callebaut. They don't seem to get it when I tell them I have a lifetime supply of chocolate at work. ;-) Xocai has a chocolate drink and also these 1oz blocks of chocolate with dried blueberries and acai berry mixed in. I've met a lot of people who tell me they buy $100 / month of Xocai as a heath supplement and they seem surprised when I tell them that it is the same chocolate as what many confections are made of. They could get the same health benefits from buying regular chocolate and fresh blueberries at the grocery store. (Hmmm... Wouldn't it be better -- fresh blueberries with perhaps a chocolate sauce over it...) There is research going on by many of the large chocolate companies who are trying to develop new forms of chocolate that is processed in such a way as the anti-oxidants are not harmed (much) during the process. I'm not entirely familiar with the process and it is hard separating out the truth from the marketing. I do expect though that we'll see some interesting developments in the not too distant future. I think in some ways, it is unfortunate that chocolate gets pigeon holed into being a "candy" or confection where in many ways, I believe it is an incredible "food" in of itself. I find it amazing that when Linnaeus named the cocoa tree "Theobroma Cacao" in his tomb on plant taxonomy, it has been translated by some as the "food of the gods" and looking over chocolate / cocoa's history and especially with the latest research coming out, it could be considered to be just that. And while I'm not a nutritionist, it would be interesting if chocolate ended up being the most perfect food wouldn't it ??? -Art
  17. A lot of the studies like this use cocoa where the beans have not been fermented to any great degree. Unfortunately, the fermentation process that usually takes place after harvest not only develops the chocolate flavor but it destroys many of the anti-oxidants that these studies rely upon. Luckily, there are still lots of anti-oxidants left just not as much as there was before. Cocoa beans naturally have a high percentage of tannins in them as a self protection mechanism used to keep animals from eating the cocoa beans. Cocao trees use the sweet white placenta that surrounds the beans as a way to attract animals. The animals break into the pods to eat this sweet flesh. The beans are loaded with tannins which are very astringent to keep the animals from eating the beans as well. Since the beans taste bad, the beans are dropped on the jungle floor by the animals. The farmers fermentat the cocoa beans after harvest destroying the astringent tannins that are naturally present in the beans making them palatable for us. When cocoa beans are not fermented or under fermented, the way to remove the astringency is to use a heavy roast. The high heat breaks up the tannins but it also breaks up the anti-oxidants -- so you are back where you were before. One thing that is worth mentioning are the companies that are marketing "Healthy Chocolate." (We have one here locally -- Xocai ) Most all of them simply buy their chocolate from someone else. Xocai for example uses Callebaut from what I've been able to discover. Of course, many confectioners do as well. So, is there something different from Callebaut from a health food company and Callebaut from a well known confectioner? Personally, I doubt it -- heavily. Of course, I am very pleased with all the health studies that are coming out about how good chocolate is for us. I suspect that one of the reasons why we as a people have had this fascination with chocolate since the 1500's and those from Central America even earlier is because our bodies were telling us how good it was for us. At the same time though, I think we need to be careful of those who are willing to peddle it as more than it really is. -Art Oh, and while I am ranting, I'll tell you what a Tahitian friend told me: "Noni is what we use to dye our tappa cloth but if the Americans want to buy and eat it, we'll be happy to sell it to them."
  18. There are two basic types of cinnamon. Ceylon or true cinnamon and Cassia which is not actually real cinnamon but comes from a related tree. The bark of the cassia tree is thicker and the flavor is hotter and less complex. Ceylon cinnamon is typically made from the inner bark of the real cinnamon tree. The bark is thinner, the flavor lighter with less heat, and more complex with perhaps some fruity and/or floral notes. Most of what is sold today as cinnamon is Cassia and not Ceylon. The classic "red hot" flavor is cassia and in particular that of cassia with Chinese origins. Yes, the flavor of cinnamon varies depending on origin just like wine -- or my favorite -- cocoa / chocolate. The typical flavor that we are used to from companies such as Schilling stems from cassia from Indonesia. Vietnamese cinnamon is particularly strong having about twice the amount of cinnamon oil in it as regular varieties. China as I mentioned earlier grows a cassia that has the classic "red-hot" flavor. Ceylon cinnamon is used in Scandinavian cooking as well as traditional Mexican cooking. Ceylon incidentally is the former name of Sri Lanka. Some manufacturers use a blend. CinnaBon from what I understand uses a blend for their cinnamon that they sell at a premium at their stores. This is also the reason why they are the only one with their "kind" of cinnamon that and it is a trademarked name so nobody else could "have it" even if they had the same blend. Here is a picture that I took of a Ceylon cinnamon tree that I found on one of my cocoa bean hunting travels. There is both natural and artificial cinnamon oils that you may purchase. When I was in high school, I'd use natural cinnamon oil to make cinnamon toothpicks which were all the rage back then. (I was known for having the hottest and so it made good for some good bargaining at school.) As a side note, while in Jr. High, our English teacher stepped out of class and so I handed out cinnamon toothpicks to everyone in the class. They were of course, against the rules and when the teacher came back the room reeked of cinnamon. Our teacher Mr. Faubus said: "I smell cinnamon ... who has cinnamon toothpicks?" He then called on this kid in the back row, and said : "Mark, go to the office for the rest of the period." Mark went and we all looked at each other with cinnamon toothpicks hanging out of our mouths.... Back to point: The artificial cinnamon oil is well ... artificial. I'd guess it is used for Potpourris and similar I've never looked into it particularly far since there is obviously something much better on the market. Hope this helps, -Art
  19. Ok, I just heard a really funny baking story from my wife and so I just have to pass it along. I am sure that there are lots of other similar stories so please feel free to share yours. This happened to a friend of my wife (relayed by a mutual friend). Apparently, what happened is this... Her son was an Eagle Scout and all the parents of the Eagle Scouts were supposed to bring a cake for a cake decorating competition. Well, when she baked the cake, it fell and she didn't have time to bake another layer. She looked around for a solution and came up with what I guess could be called a creative one ... She stuffed the hole with paper towels and frosted over it. She decorated it elegantly with frosting and topped it off with a bouquet of flowers. Well, the big night came and the father and son went off to the scouting event with the cake leaving the mother at home. They won. Since they had won, they were asked to share their cake with the rest of the scouts and their fathers. You can guess what happened. When they came home, both father and son refused to talk to her for a month ! To this day, when it is her birthday, people from the area bring her a buckets of frosting along with roles of paper towels and ask her to bake them a cake. I suspect, she will never live it down. Ok, what's your humorous story? (If it actually happened to you, you get bonus points but it should at least have happened to someone you know.) -Art
  20. It all depends on the type(s) of chocolate you will be tasting. For example, our Madagascar has paired nicely with a good Pinot Noir and our Ocumare with a champaign. Have you decided what types of chocolate you plan on sharing ? -Art
  21. It is well worth pointing out that IR thermometers are typically not calibrated very well. They can easily be off from 2-4 degrees F. This is especially the case for the IR thermometers that sell for say $60.00 or so. They do make accurate IR thermometers but they cost many hundreds of dollars. I spent about $130 or so for an IR thermometer that has a resolution of +-2 degrees F. I forget the brand (it is over at our chocolate factory) but, it has a fold out temperature probe and if you use that, you can get within one degree accuracy. While I am at it, I should mention that this is the case with most digital thermometers. The problem with digital thermometers is that the thermocouple needs to be calibrated to the digital circuitry that reads the temperature. With modern mass manufacturing, they simply don't have the time to individually calibrate each thermometer. You can get them but again you are talking $300+ or so so that everything can be calibrated or manufactured to the required tolerances. As Desiderio mentioned, you don't want to pop it into the refrigerator right away. In fact, that in itself can be a bit dangerous since unstable cocoa butter crystals can form at these lower temperatures. If you can get your room down to about 65 degrees F, that would be optimal. Hope this helps, -Art
  22. An easy way to remember, is that the cocoa percentages are simply the percentage of the bar that comes from the bean -- no matter what form. So, for example you had: 70% Cocoa Liquor 30% sugar = 70% Bar 60% Cocoa Liquor, 10% Cocoa Butter, 30% Sugar = 70% Bar 50% Cocoa Liquor, 20% Cocoa Butter, 30% Sugar = 70% Bar .... 10% Cocoa Liquor, 60% Cocoa Butter, 30% Sugar = 70% Bar You can also have: 60% Cocoa Liquor, 40% Cocoa Butter, NO Sugar = 100% Bar. As you can imagine (and as Robert mentioned), the lower percentages of liquor and higher percentages of cocoa butter, the more sweet it will appear. For those that aren't familiar, (though most on this forum probably are), cocoa butter is simply the fat that is naturally present in the bean. (Most beans are about 53% fat/cocao butter by weight.) A good level of comparison is the peanut oil that floats on the surface of home made peanut butter. Cocoa butter is basically the same for the cocoa bean -- except that it has a higher melting temperature making it a "fat" instead of an "oil". -Art
  23. Art

    Fine Chocolate

    I do. I have a single origin bar that I'm gearing up to work on. I still need to finish getting the packaging designed for it and it will take a few weeks to get it printed etc. so we are a little ways off. I also have a blended bar that I might be doing soon if I can get some satisfactory results from some test blends. I'm going to be doing quite a bit of traveling this summer looking for good beans. Should make for a real adventure and hopefully I can get some nice photography out of it too. -Art
  24. Art

    Fine Chocolate

    The order page is here. http://www.amanochocolate.com/retail/ I wish I could just send out "samples" to just about everybody especially fellow eGulleters but unfortunately, I can't for obvious reasons. Right now, I'm trying to get our mailing list software up and going so that we can send out a proper notice to the people who have requested to be on our mailing list. I'm still a bit hung-over from making chocolate until 4:00am this morning. It has been an incredible adventure to get to this point and yet the adventure is IMHO effectively just beginning. I'll try to share what I can as time goes on. -Art
  25. Art

    Fine Chocolate

    Robert : It was really good meeting you at the Fancy Food Show. (For those of you that weren't there, it could be best described as "too much food -- too little time.") Glad you liked the samples. I didn't have much with me for the show and so I had to stretch them to ensure I could have enough to last through the end. Good luck on your forthcoming TV interview. It should be fun. Christopher: Glad you liked the bars. I tried to do what I could while making the bars to bring out as much flavor as I possibly could and to do justice to the beans that the chocolate originated from. For example, the Madagascar bean is originally extremely fruity. Many -- if not most -- chocolate makers kill the bean trying to make chocolate that resembles chocolate from other beans. (Typically by over roasting and over conching.) I tried to develop multiple levels of flavor while keeping the inherent fruitiness of the original bean to exemplify the wide differences between beans of different origins. Thanks for your comment regarding the vanilla too. I highly value feedback on our chocolate. Well, it is 2:15am and I am up late making another batch of chocolate. Today has been a "series of unfortunate events" as the various machines have had a series of problems throughout the day causing them to make slow progress through the chocolate. One thing about making chocolate is that once you start, you pretty well to finish the batch -- no matter how late it goes. Tonight, it is getting pretty late. -Art
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