Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Guittard Chocolate Review and a "Bittersweet" Giveaway!!

Finally, I'm back! My mom is in town. My students took their final exam last week. I had to do a lot of grading and a study session with my students. Now, I will be turning in final grades tomorrow, and then I can say that I am done...well, for now.

This summer I did not get a teaching job for the first time since I've been a grad student here, but I'm okay with that because I officially paid off my car, and I need to just focus on my qualifying paper/dissertation proposal. So, I will be working on the paper all summer and am looking forward to that. I'm glad that I won't have to grade, teach, or prepare lessons all summer. It will be a different experience for me, but I'm ready for it.
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Anyway, I received a special package in the mail! Want to know what's inside? Click here for more.

Think you know already?
Oh, you looked at the title of post and figured it out?
AHHHH!
Well, Guittard contacted me a few weeks ago and sent me some chocolates to review. When I walked up to my apartment door, I was greeted by a box from Guittard that was much bigger and heavier than I had expected.
So, I know you're itching to know what they sent me, right? Well, here we go and no collage photos today!:
Here is the roundup of everything. I can't believe how much they sent me!

1. One pound (500g) of Kokoleka Hawaiian 55% Cacao Semi-sweet Chocolate

2. One pound (500g) of Complexite 70% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate

3. One pound (500g) of Kokoleka Hawaiian 38% Cacao Milk Chocolate

4. 6 2-oz (56.7g) bars of chocolate (see below for more details)
Here is the Nocturne Dark Chocolate Bar, an extra dark bar with 91% cacao! It is described as a multi-bean blend with red fruit and nut notes encased by a solid, dark chocolate base.

Side note for the reviews mentioned below: As I stated already, my mom is in town visiting me, and she loves chocolate much more than I, so I asked her to taste some of the chocolate and to include her impressions on this post. I told her to allow the wafer to sit on the tongue for awhile, then to suck on the wafer slowly, and then try to saver the taste in order to gain a good judgment of how the chocolate tasted.

Although my mother and I are not fans of dark chocolate, we tasted these bars for this review.

Memoria's review: I licked one square of the bar and could not go any further because of the lack of sweetness. I think this bar would be a good addition to a baked good as opposed to just eating the chocolate as is. With the addition of sugars and other ingredients, it would be fantastic for dark-chocolate lovers.

Memoria's Mom: I have to agree with Memoria on the evaluation of this bar. It had no sweetness at all, but it was rich in true chocolate density. Therefore, I believe that it will add great flavor to any dish which calls for baking chocolate. Just be sure to add lots of sweetening, you know, stuff!
Here is the Quetzalcoatl Dark Chocolate Bar with adding spices at 72% cacao mass, which means there's no added cocoa butter.

Memoria's Review: This is a true dark chocolate bar with enough added sweetness to enjoy as is. I even liked this bar. I licked it first and instantly tasted the difference from the Nocturne bar. I promptly took a bite and was more than satisfied. It really does have a smooth, soothing taste.

Memoria's Mom: With this bar, I was pleasantly surprised and satisfied. It had a good balance of sweetness and tartness to make a positively superb chocolaty product. It was not a bitter as the Nocturne bar, but not as sweet as the wafers. I remember nodding my head in approval and thinking that my daughter could really make something scrumptious with this chocolate!
5. Cocoa Rouge Cocoa Powder: I will be posting a review about this product in the near future. This cocoa powder is described as "Unsweetened rare red Dutch-process cocoa powder for baking and hot chocolate". It can be substituted for unsweetened baking chocolate. I look forward to using this product!

6. Grand Cacao Drinking Chocolate: I will be posting a review about this product in the near future. It is described as "fine Dutched cocoa with ground chocolate for hot chocolate and baking." It can substituted for unsweetened, Dutch-process cocoa powder and an equal amount of sugar. How cool is that?!

and wait! There's more!
7. Bittersweet Chocolate Couverture Wafers (72% Cacao): See below!
8. Semisweet Chocolate Couverture Wafers (61% Cacao): I will be posting a review about this product in the near future.
9. Milk Chocolate Couverture Wafers (38% Cacao): See reviews below.
10. White Chocolate Couverture Wafers (31% Cacao): I will be posting a review about this product in the near future.

That's a whole lot of chocolate! I already have plans for the wafers, so stay tuned!

Milk Chocolate Couverture Wafers:
Memoria's Review: I tasted one and allowed the sweet, milky chocolate to luxuriate on my eager tongue. It was so good. I'm not a fan of eating chocolate on its own, but I think I could have eaten a few more wafers.

Memoria's Mom: Okay, the Chocolate Converture Wafers were sweet and flavorful. I could have eaten the entire bag (which I would have done had I time and world enough)! Anyway, unlike my daughter, I AM a fan of eating chocolate for its own sake, and I really felt each wafer was a delectable treat with a rich and creamy texture!
Some of you may know that I'm not a fan of bittersweet chocolate. In fact, whenever a recipe calls for the dark stuff, I substitute it with semi-sweet and rarely with milk chocolate. Therefore, since Guittard has been gracious enough to send me so much chocolate, I have decided to host a BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE GIVEAWAY!!! I know there are a lot of foodies out there who love dark chocolate, so this is for you.

One lucky winner will be getting the following:
1. One (1) box of Guittard Bittersweet Chocolate Wafers,
2. One (1) pound of Guittard Bittersweet Chocolate,
3. Two (2) Guittard Nocturne Bars, and
4. Two (2) Guittard Quetzalcoatl Dark Chocolate Bars!TO ENTER: All you need to do is tell me what you would love to do with this chocolate and/or go to their website and tell me what you would want to try. Giveaway open to residents of Canada, United States, and Mexico.
DEADLINE:
Tuesday, May 18th at midnight Central Time. Good luck!

41 comments:

  1. OMG - I think seeing that much chocolate in one post caused me to drool a bit! I looove chocolate. And I really love bittersweet chocolate! I definitely can't eat it on its own (you were very brave to lick it), but I think it gives baked goods an intense chocolate flavor. The first thing I think of when baking with chocolate is brownies, or flourless chocolate cake. They both let chocolate take center stage. I would be so thrilled if I won this giveaway! And congrats on getting all of that chocolate - I am beyond jealous!

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  2. And after checking out the website, I know I want to make this:
    http://guittard.com/RecipeView.asp?id=100517

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  3. I'm not a bittersweet chocolate fan either. Pero lo que es un paquete maravilloso para recibir.

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  4. I adore dark and bittersweet chocolates! I love that I can get a rich, dense chocolate flavor with just a tiny piece. This is a fantastic giveaway! I would definitely make a flourless chocolate torte and probably do some dipping. I've come across some fabulous, plump, dried pears and apricots that I want to dip in some delish chocolate. These fit the bill! :)

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  5. Hi,

    I like bittersweet chocolate. I could make brownie, chocolate cake, chocolate drink & even ice-cream with these chocolate.

    Cheers,
    Michelle

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  6. I use 60-80% Cacao chocolate to make truffles with. My husband isn't such a fan of dark chocolate, but he still eats the truffles. I love 60% cacao chocolate, but I'm a dark chocolate lover!

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  7. The perks of blogging! ;) Enjoy! You've put in so much effort into your blog, now reap the sweet rewards. You deserve it, Mem! Great pics ... oh, love the way you stacked them.

    PS: Hello Mem's mom!

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  8. Wow.. I wish someone will send me some stuff for review. But that doesn't happen much here.
    :)

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  9. Chocolate ice cream! With hot fudge! And pecans... covered in even more hot fudge!

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  10. How wonderful it must have been to receive all that chocolate - it must have felt like Christmas!

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  11. What would I make? You mean what wouldn't I make with these chocolates! I would love to try the two cocoa powders most of all. Goodness there is ice-cream, mousse, truffles, brownies, ohhhhhhh molten cakes. Listen I don't live in any of the above countries but I do have a US address that I use for my Internet shopping can I participate in this giveaway?

    Also thanks for the heads about about the non functional pic on my blog-it's been fixed:-)

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  12. Oh my! I've just arrived at choc heaven!

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  13. Oh...*whimpers* Seeing those bars of chocolate piled on top of each other is seriously bliss-inducing.

    I've been searching for Guittard chocolate in my area for the longest time because I have a whole SLEW of recipes I'm dying to try--one of which in particular is the famous NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookies which calls for bittersweet chocolate wafers in place of chips. Oh, and THIS:

    http://butteryum.blogspot.com/2009/11/death-by-chocolate-cake.html

    I will not be able to call myself a chocolate lover until I bake that cake for my birthday. I mean seriously, 5 different chocolate components made up of ganache, chocolate mousse, mocha mousse, cocoa meringue, and a brownie layer? I will die happy. <3

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  14. I would share it with my husband but other than that we would just plain enjoy the taste and the chocolate as we at it.
    We love chocolate. Brownies, candy, cakes etc

    msgb245 at gmail dot com

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  15. I have a recipe for Chocolate Cheesecake that I would LOVE to try this chocolate in! I LOVE LOVE LOVE chocolate!

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  16. I would also like to try this recipe for Molten Cakes from the Guittard website. I have seen recipes for Molten cakes before but never gotten around to trying them.

    http://guittard.com/RecipeView.asp?id=100517

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  17. Lucky you. We are huge dark chocolate fans and this has truffles written all over it. : )

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  18. I also want to try the Molten cake recipe. I have always wanted to try making molten cake and never seem to get around to it... with all that chocolate on hand I would give it a try for sure! http://guittard.com/RecipeView.asp?id=100517

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  19. Chocolate heaven! I love dark chocolate--it's my favorite. I would have to make cake and truffles with that beautiful chocolate. Oh, and it would be perfect for a "Chocolate Oblivion Truffle Torte" as well!

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  20. What a gorgeous package! I cannot buy any proper chocolate here and would love some baking chocolate. I would like to make a souffle but I would also like to take the class on Chocolate Petit Fours with Guittard.

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  21. I have been wanting to learn how to make homemade chocolate eclairs and I bet this chocolate would taste amazing as the finishing touch on those!! Yum! All of these chocolates look so good and I would love to try them ALL:)

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  22. Holy moly this is a lot of chocolate and I am so jealous! I like their wafers but they're $10 a box so I don't get them often. I can only imagine what you're going to do with all that chocolate. Plus the chocolate you won from my blog. crazy! and LUCKY!

    I don't know what I'd do with all that chocolate. Hmmm? Make brownies, ganache, triple chocolate cookies and CAKE. Everyone needs cake :-)

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  23. Oh Wow!! What a great giveaway. I would use the chocolate to make chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting that all of my friends love... And I would snack on some as well.

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  24. Holy cow my friend!! WOWOWOWOWOW! How in the world did you get so lucky?! It's like winning the lotto! :)

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  25. The chocolates were truly a wonderful surprise for Memoria! I am so glad I was here to observe her delight and to be able to try out these delicious chocolate treats with her--I cannot believe how generous Gittard was with the samples!

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  26. Ah, the Cloud Nine Brownies sounded to die for! Really, just the prospect of winning a giant box of Gittard chocolate...

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  27. Quero! Quero! Quero! (Is that right???)

    Somewhere in the vast piles of recipes yet-to-be-tried sitting at home, I believe there is a crème brulée with chocolate and chiles that I MUST try!

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  28. I LOVE dark chocolate, pero eso tu ya lo sabes. Me encantaría probar esta receta http://guittard.com/RecipeView.asp?id=100449

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  29. Chocolate truffles like these (http://curiousconfections.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=3662&g2_serialNumber=4)
    brownies,
    cakes
    Any other chocolate recipe I can get my hands on. I LOVE dark chocolate

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  30. I am an absolute fiend for chocolate so I would make brownies and chocolate mousse- two of my favorite things right now.

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  31. I would love to get my hands on some of that dark chocolate for all kinds of things~! I love making brownies with rich chocolate; Marscapone brownies to be exact!!

    Thanks for all your recipes - I have been making your cinnamon rolls ever since i came across them through TastyKitchen. They are my all time FAVORITE!!!

    Kellie C.

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  32. I would like to take a bath in it. Just kidding, but that does sound nice. Probably make cupcakes or use it in homemade ice cream. Love dark chocolate!

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  33. wowwie! wowwie! :) chocolate heaven! I'd for sure be making some chocolate mousse, chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate cake...

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  34. My oh my can you say jealous! Yikes! You must be having so much fun with all that chocolate. There are so many things I would love to make. A flourless chocolate cake, I have your birthday cake bookmarked for some amazing even that I could make, I love dark chocolate and I love baking. Heaven!

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  35. Gelato and cookies! I love the dark chocolate!

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  36. Lucky girl!! I bet your mom was happy she chose that weekend to come visit. :) I hope you both had a great time tasting all those fantastic looking chocolates, and I hope the grading went well!

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  37. yumm i would make
    some nice rich fudgee,
    and also ice cream
    with my new ice cream maker!
    :)

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  38. I would love to use these in baked goods (cookies most likely) as well as use them for dipping (macadamia nuts!)... these sound amazing!

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  39. Hola Profesora! Gracias para su comentario.
    My mom is having a blast with her blog! So she really appreciated it.

    I would love to make brownies! I've been trying so many recipes to replace box brownies and I think this chocolate could be just the ticket!

    ... and I would love to add them to my college page :)

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  40. I realized I forgot to leave my contact info in my comment above, oops!

    My comment is here: http://www.mangiodasola.com/2010/05/guittard-chocolate-review-and-giveaway.html?showComment=1274107028814#c3812124490159027116

    And my e-mail is: firefly_181@yahoo.ca

    :)

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  41. Rats, I'm too late! Guittard if you're reading Memoria's comments I don't like chocolate but would like to see if yours would be the one to change. Your chocolate is not easily accessible here. Plus I have a hazelnut chocolate cake that I have to bake for my sitter!
    ~ingrid

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