The Valentine’s 2011 Line-up

This year’s Valentine’s collection is a combination of Kerstin’s favorite bars and items from around the Shop, some amazing packaging and Rebecca Grant’s always inventive truffle flavors. And of course, there will be tastings for those of you who like a little wine with your chocolate.

Gift Boxes

Maybe a little variety is the way to your Valentine’s heart? We’ve created several options to fit the bill.

If the person in mind strikes you as Dark and Mysterious or Hot and Spicy we think one of our aptly named boxes may be the way to go. The Dark and Mysterious combines a tin of our Chocophilia Dark Drinking Chocolate with a Grand Noir 85% bar from Michel Cluizel, a bag of chocolate enrobed cacao beans and a silky red heart filled with two truffles from Rebecca’s Valentine’s selection. Feel free to indulge and thank us later.

The Hot and Spicy brings together chili treats from around the Shop to excite the palette (and warm all you frozen Edmontonians up!). This one includes a tin of our Chocophilia Spiced Drinking Chocolate, a Chocophilia ‘Hot Chocolate’ Bar, a bag of Chili Lime Cashews and two of Rebecca’s chili caramel truffles.

For those looking to go all out, we’ve put together a few other boxes that include Kusmi teas, Melt-a-ways, dark chocolate hearts, sumptuous chocolate reads and soft, smooth Zotter bars. Also be sure to check out our ‘Around the World’ Chocolate Tasting box below. Chocolate Lover’s boxes are still in the Shop as well and we’re always willing to help you customize if you you’re looking for something a little more particular for your Valentine.

Truffles, Bark and Chocophilia

Rebecca has spent the past few weeks coming up with truffle flavors that will win anyone over. Here’s what’s on the shelf: Huckleberry, Raspberry, Chili Caramel, Lavender and Passion Fruit. We also tracked down some incredible heart shaped boxes that hold about 17 confections – just enough to share in front of a warm fireplace.

Back by popular demand are milk and dark chocolate Bark Bouquets in some sweet and savory new flavors: Olive Oil, Sea Salt and Roasted Almond on 49% chocolate, Cinnamon milk chocolate with a dark chocolate mocha swirl and finally, Dark chocolate with raspberries and a raspberry white chocolate drizzle. It goes without saying that these flavors are a treat to eat, but the contrast of colors this year is making for some truly beautiful bouquets.

Roses are Red… that’s really as far as you need to go on Valentine’s Day, isn’t it? We’re re-releasing this white Chocophilia bar flavored with raspberries and saffron for a couple weeks, so be sure to get your fix. And be sure to keep an eye out for a new Chocophilia bar coming soon… Kerstin’s been busy in the kitchen testing out new flavors for another addition to the lineup that’s sure to win Edmonton over.

Chocolate Tastings

As usual we’ll be hosting wine and chocolate tasting evenings this Valentine’s weekend, and although Saturday the 12th is sold out, there are still spots left for Friday the 11th. You can find tickets here.

If you can’t make it to the Shop for a tasting, we’ve put together an ‘Around the World’ Chocolate Tasting box to help you create your own session at home. Flavor profiles from Venezuela, Ecuador, Madagascar and other spots are included in both milk and dark versions, and Kerstin’s tips for tasting chocolate are tucked in along side for an adventurous, flavorful evening at home.

Can’t make it into the Shop? Have no fear. Just head to our online Shop and check out our Valentine’s collection here.

‘Chocolat’ + Frozen Drinking Chocolate

This past Saturday evening on 104th was quite lovely – after a day full of Al Fresco festivities, a bunch of Edmontonians gathered outdoors at 10pm to watch Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp in ‘Chocolat’ . We had bars, creme fraiche and bacon brittle peanut butter truffles, and frozen dark drinking chocolate on hand to complement the title of the film.

We hope you made it out to the show, but if not, stop by the Shop to try our summer creations listed above – hickory smoked bacon, peanuts and chocolate are an amazing combo, while the creamy creme fraiche truffle has a hint of bright tartness that is perfect for increasingly warm days.

We are still working on our frozen drinking chocolate recipe to offer in the Shop, but here’s a recipe you can try at home:

Frozen Drinking Chocolate

Adapted from a recipe by Serendipity 3

Makes 1 Serving

1/2 ounce dark or milk chocolate (try your favourite bar, or the Valrhona Caraibe 64% is lovely here)

2 teaspoons of Kerstin’s Dark Drinking Chocolate

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar (reduce a little if you’re going to use milk chocolate)

1 1/2 cups whole milk

3 cups ice

Whipped cream for serving (optional)

Directions:

Chop the chocolate into small pieces. Place it in the top of a double boiler over simmering water, stirring until melted. Add the drinking chocolate mix and sugar. Stir until completely melted. Remove from heat and slowly add ½ cup of milk until smooth. Cool to room temperature.

In a blender, place the remaining cup of milk, the room-temperature chocolate mixture and the ice. Blend on high speed until smooth. Serve in your glass of choice with whipped cream if desired… and maybe a sprinkling of some Cocoa Nib Caviar.

Enjoy!

A Full Shop

It’s lovely and sunny out today, and we just received a bunch of new treats from France! We received a new order of Michel Cluizel’s bars, sardines and nougat mushrooms. Also, the beautiful criollo cacao pod ganaches pictured below, will be out in the store next week!

Also new, are Barnier caramels in a very fun lollipop form. We have lots of all five flavours: café, lemon, mint, salted butter and orange. They are all neatly waiting (along with the Cluizel ganaches) to head out into the Shop next week.

There are new tins of Violet and Anise Drops from Les Anis de Flavigny… these little flavoured mints are lovely to hide away in your purse, desk, backpack (or anywhere, really), but the tins alone are just too beautiful to pass up.

Liz and Rebecca have been working hard in the back all week getting Easter treats ready (look for a preview coming soon!). But to ease your wait, they also filled up the truffle case with crème brûlée, mocha, chili caramel, Fleur de Sel, passion fruit, and lavender truffles, as well as two new flavours – Irish Whisky (pictured below) and Lime. There are also lovely, fresh pieces of Lemon and Chili-Lime-Cashew bark right now too.

We are out of the Fleur de Sel bar in the Shop right now, but don’t forget Chocophilia bars are available at Sobey’s Urban Fresh on Jasper, at Planet Organic, and the Italian Centre (South and Downtown), just to name a few spots (check out this link for more locations selling Chocophilia).

And just as a note, Kerstin and Angie arrived back in Edmonton safe and sound last night, with treats and stories from Paris. Watch for posts coming soon!

More Valentine’s Day Necessities

In addition to the beautiful truffles in the post below, we also have The Valentine’s Chocolate Collection in the Shop. This year’s installment features an assortment of our sensuous Valentine’s truffle collection, lustrous Valrhona Pearls, and candied orange and lemon rind, hand dipped in dark chocolate.

There are lots of Bark Bouquets, filled with salted caramel, raspberry and pistachio ginger bark, and we’ve put out all our tins of Kusmi’s Sweet Love tea – an “exquisite spicy blend that stimulates the senses!”

Shop hours tomorrow (Saturday) are 10am – 4pm, so stop by and pick up these delectable goodies early!

New display case now houses truffles, bark and other treats.

Our new display case.

Our new display case.

We recently added a new bit of furniture to our store: a glass display case. It was custom made to hold our fresh confections as we increase production. It will contain all of our fresh truffles, as well as other fresh confections such as our peanut butter cups, coconut cups, dulche de leche cups and others. It will also contain chocolate dipped dried fruit, chocolate dipped candied ginger, and many flavors of chocolate bark. All of these products are sold by the gram, so after you chose which ones you would like, we will weigh them and then calculate the price.

To find out what types of truffles, fruit and bark are available, please call the store at 780-990-0011. We also hope to have this info available on this blog soon. Also, let us know what kinds of fresh chocolates you would like to see in our shop, and we will add them to our to-do list!

Fathers will get cigars, chili lime cocoa pods and sardines this year!

A perfect gift for Dad.

Father’s Day is coming up this Sunday, and The Cocoa Room is rolling out some new items for Dad. The first is a special filled chocolate: The Bourbon Cigar. It is a dark chocolate cigar made of our 65% Venezuelan chocolate filled with a special ganache: dark chocolate and Bourbon. A wonderful treat that will put a smile on Dad’s face. Click on the photo to see a larger image.

A cocoa pod shaped truffle with a chili lime flavored filling.

We have created a new filled chocolate in the shape of a red and gold cocoa pod. It is filled with a spicy lime and chili ganache, a new, wonderful combination that we are all now in love with.

A shocking idea: Chocolate Sardines

Finally, if Dad likes milk chocolate, may we suggest a novel type of chocolate: milk chocolate sardines! These gourmet milk chocolates are shaped like sardines, and will appeal to Dad, whether he is a fisherman or not. Michel Cluizel, one of France’s greatest chocolate makers, makes these whimsical treats.

Come visit The Cocoa Room this week and see all of these Father’s Day gifts and more!