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Tag Archive: chocolate

December 28, 2011

Blog Bite: Jacques Torres Wicked Hot Chocolate Mix at Madame Chocolat Beverly Hills

Madame Chocolate Hasty Torres presenting her hot chocolate.

Renowned chocolatier Jacques Torres, aka Mr. Chocolate, makes one of the most amazing hot chocolate mixes I’ve ever had: Wicked Chocolate. The spiciness of ancho chili, allspice, cinnamon and chipotle chili peppers with that rich chocolate. The perfect mid-afternoon pick-me-up when mixed with steamed vanilla soy. Um. Yum!

When I was visiting New York years ago I had set foot into his Brooklyn store for the first time and instantly fell in love. With the chocolate chip cookies, the cookie mix (yes, cookie mix which makes these amazing cookies with huge chocolate chips) and the Wicked Chocolate mix.

Beverly Hills Wicked Chocolate stash.

Unfortunately, Jacques Torres isn’t on the West Coast so I had to restock by either ordering online and paying the $25 shipping or have my sister who lives in NY mail me a box.

But for the holidays, Mr. Chocolate is available in L.A.! His wife, chocolatress Hasty Torres, is selling some of his chocolates, chocolate boxes AND most importantly Wicked Chocolate mix at her store Madame Chocolat in Beverly Hills as well as at her pop-up store at the Americana and cart at the Grove. The Grove cart closes up shop tonight but you can always swing by her chocolate heaven on Canon Drive.

And if you’re dying for some hot chocolate on the spot, at the BH store Hasty has her own mix which she makes with steamed milk and serves with a chocolate spoon!

Yeah, at first I thought the addition of the spoon was just craziness — chocolate overload. (Yeah, I guess there is no such thing.) But Madame Chocolat’s hot cocoa was actually all creamy chocolate without the cloying sweetness. The chocolate spoon added just the right amount of sugar and even more chocolate. Win win!

Madame Chocolat’s mix and her husband’s go for $20 each. There are still tins available so snap ‘em up!

Hasty loaded me up with some of hers and her husband’s chocolates and a package each of both of their hot chocolate mixes while I visited her store. She literally is a sweet woman. I can’t wait to try making my own winter cocktails with these.

Heads-up: For Valentine’s Day look for Jacques’ chocolates to return to the store. You’ll be able to make a special package combining bon bons from each chocolatier.

Hit the jump for a video of Jacques Torres making hot chocolate.

Madame Chocolat
212 North Canon Drive
Beverly Hills, California 90210 (map)
(310) 247-9990

Categories: Blog Bites, Gift Ideas, Los Angeles, Shopping & Sales

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February 15, 2010

Getting a Buzz From BonBonBar’s Bourbon Bar

Bonbonbar's Bourbon Bar

When I first heard about BonBonBar’s bourbon bar, I just knew it was made especially for the likes of me, a sweet tooth with a penchant for booze. George T. Stagg 141-proof bourbon ganache with caramel and dark chocolate? Are you kidding me? So naturally I had to order it asap. Sure, it was $15 for a box of three small bars but I knew it would be worth it.

Strata of scrumptiousness.

The box was shipped priority mail from San Francisco and I was able to get my fix on in three days. Each bar was cellophane-wrapped and tucked into a small box within a box.

I tore into the first bar but took a tentative bite. Would I even be able to taste the bourbon? Would it meld well with the sweet of the dark chocolate? Sure enough, I was and they did. The taste of the bourbon was so potent that I almost felt like I could get a buzz on, the drunk kind, if I ate all three bars in one sitting.

The sweet whiskey taste complimented the bittersweet dark chocolate and the ubersweet gooey caramel and was offset by the large crystals of Maldon salt and the black pepper.

From BBQ and Bourbon:

Stagg is 141.8 proof bourbon and renowned and loved for perfectly balancing intensity and finesse.� It is made in small batches that are released to the public only twice a year.

It’s a pretty rich dessert, though, and I’d only recommend it to the hard-core sweet tooth..teeth?…out there. But definitely a fun, tasty gift idea for the booze hound who has everything, including a taste for the sweet. Get ‘em while you can since this is a limited-production treat.

Ingredients: Dark and milk chocolates, organic cream, sugar, butter, glucose, organic egg white, unbleached all-purpose flour, organic corn flour, bourbon, salt, organic black pepper.

Box of 3: $15

Box of 6: $30

Categories: Los Angeles, Sweets

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