XOXO Chocolates

Is there anything we like more than receiving a box of chocolate products in the mail?



No. There is not.



XOXO Chocolates is a small, independent Las Vegas chocolatier and bakery. They make fudge and various types of bark and biscotti and brownies and just a whole host of delicious things. So we sampled some of them, as we are wont to do.



The white chocolate fudge (upper lefthand corner) was salty and sweet, with an excellent texture, the kind of soft that melts in your mouth.

The espresso fudge (upper righthand corner) was excellent if you're a coffee fan. It had a strong coffee flavor, and bits of coffee bean throughout it, to add texture.

The biscotti (lower righthand corner) was not very chocolatey-tasting. It was plain biscotti with raisins, so really the only chocolate came from the white and dark chocolate drizzled on top.

The bark (lower lefthand corner) was a little milky for my tastes, but the almonds added nice texture, and the white chocolate drizzled on top made it look pretty. I tried only this one kind of bark, but I can see on the website that they have peppermint bark (which is my favorite type) and sugar-free almond bark (which seems useful), so I think you just need to pick your flavor wisely.

The winner from my perspective was definitely the espresso brownie (in the center, with the bow). The brownie was straight-up delightful, and its frosting was what carried the coffee flavor, so you could easily scrape off some or all of it if you don't love coffee.

The prices are also reasonable. I think a package of XOXO Chocolates would make an excellent gift for someone--it certainly made an excellent gift for me!

BOTTOM LINE: An up-and-coming dessert company that clearly loves chocolate as much as we do

Grand Hyatt New York chocolates

Last week Grand Hyatt New York launched their own artisanal chocolate line, and we were lucky enough to get invited to the launch party! Their executive pastry chef Gonzalo Jimenez is the chocolatier, and he's making all the chocolates by hand, in small batches, using his one tempering machine.

Here's the chef himself:

Let's get a close-up on that sculpture next to him. What is that thing?

Oh, of course, it's a sculpture made entirely of chocolate. This is actually Gonzalo Jimenez's thing, and he has even competed in chocolate sculpture competitions. We asked him if it was stressful to carry those things around. He emphatically said yes. We asked if he'd ever dropped one. He even more emphatically said yes. This is one reason why I am not a chocolate sculptor.

This was a lovely event and we got to meet many like-minded chocolate fans. The Hyatt kindly also had a table that served non-chocolate foods, like in case someone somehow got tired of eating the amazing chocolates. Here is what that area of the room looked like:

Please compare that view with this hubbub of action near the chocolate table:

Okay, enough with the people-watching. Let's look at the rest of the collection.

There was delicious bark and bars in dark, milk, and white chocolate, all of which are made out of Valrhona. But the star of the line is clearly the bon bons.

The bon bons come in five flavors: passion fruit, citrus, nutella and truffle, coffee, and dulce de leche. I probably ate two of each one. My favorite to eat was the nutella and truffle; I loved how the filling came oozing out. I don't know which flavor is the most pleasing to the eye, though.

For now the bars and bon bons are sold only at the Grand Hyatt New York's Market, since this is just a one-man operation. Incidentally, in looking up the link for the Market, I learned that it's open 24 hours a day.

BOTTOM LINE: When delicious, handcrafted bon bons are available 24 hours a day, you have no excuse not to eat them.

Trader Joe's 72%, chocolate covered espresso beans, and chocolate covered cherries

Trader Joe's: people have opinions.  But good news: I love opinions.  And ain't nobody gonna out-opinion me, no sir.

So here's my opinion: nice.

Trader Joe's makes a 72% bar.  It tastes like chocolate.  You know what chocolate is supposed to taste like?  Chocolate.  So let's just consider that a success.  It's sort of like a quality upgrade from the Food Emporium or CIBO Express bar, but it's a similar principle.  Nothing fancy but likely to win plenty of taste tests.

I also got my hands on dark chocolate-covered cherries, which I gave away (cherries are not my thing) and dark chocolate-covered espresso beans, which I should have given away, but instead devoured over two long nights at works, winding up shaking pretty noticeably for about a week straight.  Remember that I have only recently come to tolerate coffee and chocolate, so this was a pretty intense experience.  But I'll say this: I ate them all, and I wasn't complaining.

Bottom Line: There is a reason the lines are so long.  It's for the chocolate.  Right?

Raaka "Heartbreaker" Espresso 75% and Fine & Raw Truffles again

Another day, another trip to Treehaus.  As usual, I picked up a Fine & Raw truffle bar.  I eat so many of these that it could bankrupt a small country.  There are three types -- Almond Chunky, Truffle Chunky, and Cacao & Coconut.  Truffle Chunky is my favorite, as it's the richest and chocolatiest, followed by Cacao & Coconut -- a bit much on the coconut -- and Almond Chunky -- definitely too much almond.  But all three are really incredible.  They also happen to be vegan, but it's one of those things where you keep checking the ingredients, because it is so good it is hard to believe.

Okay, so I have a confession to make.  Leila, look away.  Guys, I don't hate coffee so much anymore.  I still don't love it.  I still prefer my chocolate without it.  But I can definitely tolerate it.  I also typically prefer my beans roasted rather than raw.  But somehow Raaka's espresso bar works.  I don't think I'd take it over a good, plain 75% bar, but a coffee lover should definitely check it out.

Bottom Line: Coffee lovers should go for the Raaka espresso bar, and every human should basically subsist off the Fine & Raw truffles.