Really excellent chocolate makes the perfect Christmas gift.
There’s more or less infinite variety, so you can find something for everyone,
it’s delicious, something people don’t typically buy for themselves,
and it’s a consumable, so they won’t have to carry it around for the rest of
their lives. It requires no storage, wrangling, organizing, maintenance, batteries, assembly, or
remembering to take it to a store and use it up.
So, over the course of the year I’ll pick up various other presents
for the people I love. A piece of art for so-and-so, a book that screams to
belong to what’s-his-name… In December, though, my research starts in earnest.
I look at best-of articles for the year, scour the lists from local directories
and chocolate shows, and peruse the selections of chocolatiers, both local and
in other parts of the country, trying to locate the perfect, most excellent,
enjoyable, preferably local, creative selection. Last year it was the inimitable Dude, Sweet Chocolate in downtown Fort Worth.
This year, after much deliberation, I settled on Kate Weiser, who has her flagship store in the swanky Trinity Groves shopping center in
Dallas. After all, who couldn’t use a little something beautiful under the tree
after this crazy year?
Kate Weiser makes what can only be described as art chocolate.
Her work is gorgeous, creative, and whimsical in a deeply satisfying way. I
have never had this much fun wrapping presents, you guys. Carl the drinking chocolate
snowman sits in a pot of hot milk, melting away and releasing gorgeous clouds
of hot chocolate mix from his tummy and marshmallows from his head, finally
furnishing drinking chocolate for 4-6 people. There have also been white
chocolate, peppermint, and chipotle versions of Carl in the past. She creates
beautiful, truffle-stuffed chocolate ornaments, decked with gold leaf and
saturated with the most beautiful blues and pinks and light greens you’ve ever
seen in a chocolate shop. Her truffles are incredibly distinctive, ranging from
the tame but solid orange butterscotch to the more outrageous dark chocolate
and Japanese lime or the daring mango habanero. And her candy bars (like the Passion Praline! Yummmmm...) make the
most beautiful stocking stuffers you’ll ever find.
It was a thoroughly magical Christmas. After Andrew and I madly worked through the last few edits for the Isaacs-Bryant Family Cookbook (my other big Christmas gift - thank you for all your help, my dear!), my mother
and I joined him and his delightful family for their celebration; we sang, we laughed, we drank lots of wine
and made delicious food and danced in crazed circles around the kitchen to
joyous Irish Christmas reels (that was mostly me and mom, tbh). Fortunately I wasn’t the only one with the
terrific idea of giving chocolate for Christmas – I received no fewer than five
different chocolate bars. The most interesting, though, was a Redstone’s bar
that I received from Andrew’s brother, Alex. Andrew had given him the terrific
advice of sticking to 70% or higher on the cacao content (a really good
guideline!), and, in a fit of inspiration,
one of the bars Alex picked up for me was laced with cinnamon and chili. I
guess I’ve got a reputation for gravitating towards the spicy stuff.
Here’s hoping your 2016 Christmas was every bit as
delightful and chocolatey as ours!
 |
| Photo Credit: Redstone Foods |
Percentage: 72%
Made By: Redstone's
Made In: Carrolton, TX
Purchased At/Price: Christmas gift!
Review: They’re not trying for too much subtlety here, but the result is excellent execution and a thoroughly enjoyable bar. There’s plenty of heat, with a clear, unmuddy balance between the cinnamon and chili flavors. The cocoa nibs are another success story here – in many bars they’re just simply too big, too hard, or otherwise obnoxious, but here they’re perfect. Toasty, dark, crunchy bits that don’t shatter your teeth or taste burnt, don’t disrupt the experience of the bar, and overall add a nice complement to the smoky, dark heat of the bar. The chocolate flavor isn’t the star of the show here, but it’s good and clean enough to provide a nice backdrop for everything else going on. This one could even be a little (prepare yourselves) sweeter and it would be a lovely contrast to the heat, and could definitely stand a few flakes of sea salt, but it’s still very well done as it is, though. Overall, this is an elegant practice in things being exactly enough – exactly enough heat, enough cinnamon, enough nibs, enough sweetness, enough brute chocolate flavor – to be thoroughly enjoyable. One important caveat - the cinnamon and chili flavors are both super strong, so if you're not a fan then I'd steer clear.
Review: They’re not trying for too much subtlety here, but the result is excellent execution and a thoroughly enjoyable bar. There’s plenty of heat, with a clear, unmuddy balance between the cinnamon and chili flavors. The cocoa nibs are another success story here – in many bars they’re just simply too big, too hard, or otherwise obnoxious, but here they’re perfect. Toasty, dark, crunchy bits that don’t shatter your teeth or taste burnt, don’t disrupt the experience of the bar, and overall add a nice complement to the smoky, dark heat of the bar. The chocolate flavor isn’t the star of the show here, but it’s good and clean enough to provide a nice backdrop for everything else going on. This one could even be a little (prepare yourselves) sweeter and it would be a lovely contrast to the heat, and could definitely stand a few flakes of sea salt, but it’s still very well done as it is, though. Overall, this is an elegant practice in things being exactly enough – exactly enough heat, enough cinnamon, enough nibs, enough sweetness, enough brute chocolate flavor – to be thoroughly enjoyable. One important caveat - the cinnamon and chili flavors are both super strong, so if you're not a fan then I'd steer clear.
Well done, Alex. Way to capture the Christmas spirit.
RECOMMEND
With love,
- K
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