Category Archives: Chocolate

Presenting Auberge du Soleil’s Torte au Chocolat

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The magnificent, but pricey, Torte au Chocolat.

There are 11 layers in this showstopping cake made by the Michelin-starred Auberge du Soleil in the Napa Valley.

That’s layer upon layer of crisp hazelnut dacquoise, chocolate cremeux, pureed organic hazelnuts and dark chocolate ganache. It’s crunchy, nutty, densely rich and oh-so luxe tasting. The signature creation of renowned Pastry Chef Paul Lemieux, it comes packaged in a novel round gift box that splits open for easy removal of the cake.

How cool is this packaging?

This beauty, which can serve 6 to 8, can be yours — or that of a well-deserving friend or family member — for $57.50.

If that’s a little too rich for your pocketbook, you’ll be glad to know that the resort has added some more affordable items to its line of “Sweets from Soleil.” Recently, I had a chance to try samples of this glam cake and the newest sweet treats.

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Nutella Pound Cake; Need I Say More?

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Pound cake with a big swirl of lovely Nutella.

Nutella is like a cherished old friend.

You know the kind I mean.

The kind that you grew up all sweet on. Then, as you got older, maybe you lost touch, preoccupied instead by so many other nuts in your life.

But every time your paths would cross at the supermarket, it was like old times again. You found yourself smitten just like before by Nutella’s comforting yet indulgent nature.

If you haven’t seen your friend, Nutella, in awhile, this recipe surely will make you want to get reacquainted fast.

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Artisan Chocolates — From the Region Synonymous with Chocolate; And Food Gal Contest Winner

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Derry Church Artisan bon bons -- made in Hershey, PA.

It was almost destined that Eric Clayton grow up to be a chocolatier.

After all, he and his family are fifth-generation natives of Derry Church, PA — the historical name for modern-day Hershey, PA.

Yes, that Hershey’s.

Many of Clayton’s relatives worked for Milton Hershey at his original chocolate factory. Moreover, Clayton’s great-grandfather, a dairy farmer and stone mason, laid part of the foundation for that building and sold milk that went into making the milk chocolate.

So, it’s understandable that Clayton has a serious thing for chocolate. When he was 5, he would collect wrappers from every kind of candy bar he came across. As an adult, he worked as both a chef and a pastry chef. But all along, he knew he wanted to start his own chocolate factory one day.

Thus, Derry Church Artisan Chocolates was born. The chocolates are made by hand in small batches, using certified organic cream and butter from local Pennsylvania dairies, as well as Felchlin couvertures from Switzerland, considered among the best in the world.

I recently had a chance to try samples of some of the bon bons, which come in a wide variety of shapes and are named playfully for different cities around the world. A 10-piece box is $22.

The "Burlington'' bon bon.

I’ll use my patented scale of 1 to 10 lip-smackers, with 1 being the “Bleh, save your money” far end of the spectrum; 5 being the “I’m not sure I’d buy it, but if it was just there, I might nibble some” middle-of-the-road response; and 10 being the “My gawd, I could die now and never be happier, because this is the best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth” supreme ranking.

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Caramels with A Goaty Tang

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Soft, pillowy caramels made with goat milk and goat butter.

Gooey soft, sticky, sweet and with a unique chevre-like finish.

That’s the remarkable taste of Happy Goat Caramels, made in small batches by hand in San Francisco.

The candies are made with Grade A Kosher-certified goat’s milk and goat butter from small, free-range farms. For friends who are lactose-intolerant, these might be the perfect treats as goat’s milk is naturally sweeter but lower in lactose than cow’s milk. Goat’s milk also has more Vitamin A and Vitamin B than cow’s milk.

Happy Goat Caramels made in San Francisco.

I recently had a chance to try samples of the all-natural caramels ($6.99 for a package of 7; and $9.99 for a package of 14), which are available at Sur La Table and select Whole Foods stores.

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Hazelnut Heaven

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Crumbly scones with a swirl of hazelnut spread.

That’s exactly what these scones are.

Aren’t you just getting giddy looking at how thoroughly packed with crunchy hazelnuts they are?

One of my favorite baking books from 2008 was “Baked: New Frontiers in Baking” (Stewart, Tabori & Chang) by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, who own the Baked bakery in Brooklyn, NY. So I was thrilled to hear that the duo just brought out a sequel to that book. “Baked Explorations” (Stewart, Tabori & Chang), which offers 75 more recipes for irresistible homespun baked goods that are equally straightforward to make and yield exceptionally spot-on flavors.

The recipe for “Nutella Scones” caught my eye immediately after I received a review copy of the new book. Made with Nutella, toasted hazelnuts and cocoa powder, these beauties bake up as dark as a pan of brownies.

They look like they’d be too rich and heavy to enjoy for breakfast or brunch. But trust me, looks are deceiving. The crumb is actually quite light, crisp and crumbly. And the cocoa powder adds a hint of chocolate without hitting you over the head senseless with it.

Hazelnut spread with the consistency of natural peanut butter.In fact, I purposely played up the hazelnut factor by substituting hazelnut spread for the Nutella, since I happened to have a sample can of Love ‘n’ Bake’s Hazelnut Praline in my pantry. Like Nutella, it is made from roasted hazelnuts and sugar, but the one difference is there is no cocoa in it. Instead, it’s a pure nut spread with the thickness and consistency of natural peanut butter.

With any scone dough, be sure not to over-mix or else you’ll end up with leaden, tough baked goods. Never a good thing.

A generous amount of toasted, chopped hazelnuts gets stirred into the dough, before it is gently patted into a rectangle. A bit of Nutella or hazelnut praline paste is spread on top of the dough, before it is rolled up jelly roll-style. Then, you stand the roll of dough up on one end and gently flatten it down until you have a thick disk. Cut out wedges and bake.

When the scones come out of the oven, heat a little more Nutella or hazelnut praline paste in the microwave until the texture is more pourable, then drizzle over the top of each scone like glaze on cake.

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