Regular readers may notice a bit of a Madagascan theme to this week’s reviews, but the connection between this Dandelion chocolate, the Rózsavölgyi Csokoládé bar and the Åkesson’s With Black Pepper goes deeper than just country of origin. All three bars are actually made with cocoa beans from the same Åkesson-owned Ambolikapiky plantation.
Dandelion Chocolate are one of the new breed of bean to bar chocolate makers that have popped up in the US over the last few years. Founded by Cameron Ring and Todd Masonis in 2010 and based in the Mission district of San Francisco, they’ve quickly made a name for themselves as one of the best artisan chocolate makers in the world.
Unfortunately, their chocolate is quite difficult to get hold of here in the UK. While you can find it in Paul A Young’s London shops, it will set you back a hefty £9.50 a bar rather than the $8 it costs in the US. But is it worth the price? What makes this chocolate so special?
Well the packaging is a good place to start. It’s simple but stylish and follows the current trend for thick, wallpaper style paper printed with what looks like it could be stylised cocoa pod cross-sections. It may look hand-wrapped, but Dandelion actually have a rather cool machine to do it for them.
Underneath that wrapper, the moulding design is a little more old fashioned. The simple pillow-shaped squares are simple and they do the job, and importantly the chocolate has a great finish to it. That packaging has kept it in perfect condition on its journey half way around the world.
The colour is a deep, slightly reddish brown and the aroma is rich and fruity. Given the bean origin, it’s surprising that it’s so similar to the Rózsavölgyi bar. The flavour is subtly different though. The Dandelion chocolate has a smoother, more rounded flavour with more red fruit notes, with less of the harsh citrus edge. The tasting notes on the wrapper mention an ‘almond caramel finish’, but for me the fruitiness seemed to go on forever.
If you can find this bar, it’s well worth trying. Outside the US, that’s a little easier said than done though. Here in London, Paul a Young’s Soho shop has a range of Dandelion and other artisan bars if you don’t mind paying a bit of a premium. I’m of the opinion that we should all be paying a premium for quality chocolate like this anyway – if you’re prepared to pay £10 for a bottle of wine, you shouldn’t have a problem paying the same for great chocolate.
Everyone knows that chocolate is better than wine anyway.
I’ll be honest. One of the reasons why I’ve never reviewed any chocolate from Rózsavölgyi Csokoládé before is because Rózsavölgyi Csokoládé is really hard to say. And to type.
But I probably should be paying more attention to what they’re doing, as they’re actually a great Hungarian bean-to-bar chocolate company. Their chocolate features beautiful packaging and a minimum of quality ingredients. This bar, for instance, contains just organic cocoa beans, organic cane sugar and cocoa butter. Those organic cocoa beans come from the Åkesson estate in Madagascar, so you know you’re getting something a bit special. It’s the same estate as the beans from yesterday’s chocolate review Åkesson’s Black Pepper in fact.
I can’t stress how much I love the packaging here. It’s not just pretty, it’s well thought out. The only part of the wrapper unique to this bar is the printed band that goes around the outside. The thick paper with its gold-printed bird and flower design has no text and is simply help together with a single piece of decorative tape. It’s luxurious but simple – just as good chocolate should be.
The chocolate inside is equally beautiful, although as you can see mine has been through the wars a little bit. I don’t mind – I think it looks like some kind of antique jigsaw. And I was planning on breaking it anyway!
The colour is interesting – it’s quite pale for a 71% cocoa solids chocolate bar. You could easily mistake it for a dark milk chocolate, in fact. But it’s beautifully moulded and perfectly tempered, with a glossy finish and a satisfying snap when you break it.
The chocolate has all the Madagascan criollo flavour I love. It’s intense and zingy and immediately lifts the senses. It’s full of fruity, citrus notes, and even a touch of liquorice in there. I think there’s a little bit more cocoa butter and a bit less sugar than you’d normally find, and I’m quite happy with that, as the natural fruitiness of the chocolate is sweet enough.
I really enjoyed this chocolate and I’m looking forward to reviewing more from Rózsavölgyi Csokoládé. I just need to learn how to say it.
Bertil Åkesson is one of my favourite chocolate makers, but unfortunately his chocolate is a little difficult to get hold of here in the UK. I had to learn several secret handshakes and undergo a rather embarrassing initiation ceremony just to get my hands on this bar.
Despite not being readily available here, it’s a truly international chocolate. Åkesson’s has plantations in Madagascar and Brazil, the chocolate is made in France, the company is registered in Switzerland, and Bertil divides his own time between his plantations, New York and Vienna.
The Åkesson family also grow pepper on those plantations, so it’s perhaps no surprise that they’ve become famous for this combination of Madagascan chocolate and black pepper.
That pepper immediately makes itself known when you open the pack. The rich aroma of black pepper dominates the chocolate, so it’s fair to say that if you’re not a fan of pepper, you’re probably not going to like this.
You probably don’t need a review to tell you that though.
The aroma is something that’s reflected in the flavour, because while it’s not hot, the flavour of the black pepper comes through right from the start. There’s also quite a lot of texture from the coarsely ground pepper scattered throughout the chocolate too.
The Madagascan cocoa is fruity, but it’s much more well rounded than some. There’s a subtle sweetness to it along with a gentle hint of red fruit, but it’s less citrus than many Madagascan chocolates. I think that works well here, because with such strong pepper note, an intensely fruity chocolate might be a bit too much. As it is, the result is a delicious, warming chocolate with fruity edge.
I really like this bar and think it’s well worth seeking out, but make no mistake, the pepper isn’t subtle. But don’t be fooled into thinking it will overwhelm you with heat either. This is much more about flavour and texture than heat. It might not be for everyone, but it’s one of those chocolates you really should try if you can find it – it might just surprise you.
Here’s something a bit unusual, sent to me by Lee of Chocolatiers.
Madre Chocolate are a bean to bar chocolate maker, based in Honolulu, Hawaii. Madre use a combination of locally grown and imported cacao along with lots of locally grown and inspired flavours.
What makes this chocolate so unusual though isn’t the bean origin – it’s made from a relatively common Dominican Republic cacao – but rather what it’s flavoured with. It’s the first chocolate I’ve ever had that’s flavoured with cacao pulp.
Cacao pulp is the white, fleshy pulp that surrounds the beans in a fresh cocoa pod. When cocoa beans are harvested, the pods are broken open and the seeds & pulp are removed. Normally, the seeds are fermented inside this pulp, but it’s actually incredibly tasty – and the only part of the pod that’s naturally sweet. The beans themselves are bitter and astringent before fermentation.
Unless you visit a plantation, it’s unlikely you’ll ever get to try fresh cacao pulp. It’s used up in the fermentation of the beans, but you can sample it in this bar.
The flavour is sweet, tangy and wonderfully fruity. It’s counteracted by the slight bitterness of the nibs which also act as a great counterpoint to the slightly chewy texture of the small pulp pieces. In effect, what you have is a “fruit & nut” chocolate bar where the chocolate, fruit and nut all come from the cocoa pod.
It’s wonderful how well the flavours and textures work together so it surprises me that nobody has done this before. In fact, it has me wondering if it would be possible to make a dark chocolate that’s naturally sweetened with cacao pulp with no added sugar or vanilla. Now there’s a challenge.
While we’re waiting for someone to come up with that, I highly recommend giving the Madre Chocolate bar a go. If you love fruity flavours and a bit of crunch in your chocolate, then I think you’ll love it. At £6.35, it isn’t cheap, but it’s unique and delicious and something you really should try.
