Hot Chocolate...?

So we went camping and made hot chocolate out of melted-down Chocolove 70% bars.  Plus a small amount of almond milk or soy milk or something.  But mostly just melted chocolate bars:

WOW.  It was amazing.  I was very impressed by how dark it was.  It tasted less sweet than the bars themselves.  And it was thick.  And it was warm.  So perfect.

But we used about 8 bars, so we had some leftover.  By the time we were ready for bed, it was a delicious chocolate pudding!  We then put it in a pot, closed the lid, and went to sleep.

By the time we woke up, it was one of the greatest chocolate ice creams I'd ever had:

This is the reverse of Fresco, who makes hot chocolate by melting gelato.  We made ice cream by freezing hot chocolate.  I cannot possibly recommend it highly enough.

Bottom Line: Ok, right now, I want everyone to take all your chocolate bars, melt them down, throw in a touch of milk, and freeze it.  Do it.  You will not regret it.

Hu Kitchen 72%, Almond Butter + Puffed Quinoa, and Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding

Hu Kitchen is an interesting place -- it's a restaurant, but they also make their own chocolate bars.  The bars use coconut, and you can sort of tell, but the "Simple" 72% was still pretty good and chocolatey.  The Almond Butter + Puffed Quinoa bar was less appealing -- too heavy on the almond.

But the surprising star was the Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding.  I love pudding.  Especially from Puddin'.  But since going vegan, my options have been severely limited.  My previous two attempts did not go so well.  The vegan creme-freche or whatever it was they put on top was actually pretty good.  What interfered were the candied walnuts.  Look, I like candied walnuts.  Throw them on a salad.  Bam!  More delicious salad.  Because sugar.  But I am eating chocolate pudding, not salad.  Candied walnuts are not an upgrade from what I already have in my cup.  They are in the way.  So, when you order, I recommend asking them to hold the walnuts.

Bottom Line: Worthwhile in general, including for chocolate, and especially for the chia seed pudding.

SOY's Chocolate Tofu Pudding

SOY is a wonderful little restaurant on the Lower East Side.  It serves delicious Japanese home cooking, with a nice emphasis on tofu dishes -- though plenty of other options are available.

Unfortunately, the chocolate tofu pudding was not quite up to par.  Probably because the emphasis was on the tofu and not the chocolate.  I definitely recommend the restaurant, but look elsewhere for dessert.

Bottom Line: Just not chocolatey enough.

Zen Soymilk Chocolate Pudding

This stuff is not very good:

But I still ate it all.

Bottom Line: Sometimes the situation becomes dire. 

Baked Hazelnut Chocolate Pudding? at Cornelia Street Cafe

What the heck is this and why is it so unfairly delicious?????

Extraordinary Desserts, San Diego

So I came from San Francisco and New York, two of the world's greatest chocolate cities, to San Diego, a city not known for its chocolate at all.  My friend Nick took me to Extraordinary Desserts, saying that it was one of the best places in San Diego.  I wanted dessert, but I was not expecting much.

WOW.  Chocolate croissant bread pudding.  Who would've thought?  You guys.  It was incredible.  I can't even explain.  It was so good, I ordered a slice of the "Au Chocolat" flourless chocolate cake to-go:

Even eaten later, out of a to-go box, it was delicious.  Just look at that -- you can't go wrong.

Bottom Line: Do not underestimate the less famous chocolate cities!  There are gems everywhere!

Chocolate Bomb at Sugar Sweet Sunshine

Many people know of Sugar Sweet Sunshine as a cupcakery.  It has cupcakes, made with almond meal/flour/something.  I am assured by cupcake lovers that they are exceptional cupcakes.  But a chocolate lover gets distracted by the almond and craves something more chocolatey.  Don't worry; they've got you covered.  Just walk around the corner of the counter.

This disaster is one of my favorite chocolate desserts in the city, and certainly a must-go on the Lower East Side:

That's chocolate cake, chocolate pudding, and chocolate whipped cream, mashed together, scooped into a cup, and eaten as pudding with a spoon.

Bottom Line:  I gained 10 pounds just typing up this review, and all I wanted was the opportunity to gain 20 more with another cup of this stuff.

Puddin'

This is the best chocolate pudding I've ever had.  But I don't think that sufficiently does it justice.  It is, like, orders of magnitude better than any other pudding I have ever had.

Here is the story of my first cup of Puddin''s chocolate pudding:  A couple days earlier, I had been in Whole Foods.  I hate being in Whole Foods, and the only way that I can handle the stressful checkout process is to have some chocolate in my hand.  So I picked up this bar I had never tried before -- Noi Sirius 70%.  As soon as I tasted it, I texted Leila and Angel to let them know that I had just discovered the best damn 70% bar I'd ever tried.

Pure glory.

But back at Puddin' -- I show up there several days later, having heard good things.  I, of course, order chocolate pudding (and throw in some hot fudge because duh).  I take one bite, and my immediate reaction is, "This is the best damn chocolate pudding I've ever tried."  So I asked Clio, the founder and Head Puddin Maker, what kind of chocolate she used.  "Oh, you've probably never heard of it, just this little Icelandic brand.  Only one place in the city carries it."  "Try me." "Noi Sirius."  Of course.  She had tried the bar just before opening the store and basically had the same reaction I did.

Seriously, though, I don't think I can sufficiently emphasize how good this pudding is.  I go there regularly and never get tired of it.

Bottom Line: The best damn chocolate pudding you will ever try.