CHOCOLATE SUFGANIYOT from Vosges Haut-chocolat: Chanukah

Chanukah (Hannukah, Hanukah) starts at sundown  tomorrow night, Thursday December 7, 2023 (not the date varies every year, as the holiday is celebrated on the lunar calendar. Chanukah is the Jewish Holiday of Lights that celebrates the rededication of the Temple after the Maccabees defeated the Syrian army in 165 BC and forced them out of Jerusalem. There was only enough oil for one day to rededicate the eternal flame, but the oil burned for eight days and nights. A miracle! So Hanukkah is celebrated for 8 days. Plenty of days and nights to make Hanukkah food such as Sufganiyot! 

Sufganiyot (singular: sufganiyah) is one of the special foods made during Hanukkah: deep fried donut balls stuffed with jelly or custard (for this blog that would be chocolate custard) and topped with sugar. Of course, you can also stuff them with dark chocolate! I didn't grow up with this tradition, but any food that's fried and stuffed is good in my book. Sufganiyot are really an Israeli tradition, but they've gained popularity in the U.S. 

There are many recipes for Sufganiyot. Go here for a yeasted Sufganiyot Dough recipe or here on Epicurious (remember to stuff with chocolate) or this recipe from Amanda Gold in the Chronicle.

I'm a huge fan of Katrina's Vosges Haut-chocolat blog, and she posted this fabulous recipe for Sufganiyot, chocolate filling, of course, in 2009. Be sure and visit her blog for insights. She, like I, thinks that Sufganiyot are a lot like Beignets. So you might want to check out this simple no frying, no yeast dough recipe I posted for Chocolate Beignets. Make them ahead and pop them in the oven when your guests get there.

Chocolate Sufganiyot from Vosges Haut-chocolat

Ingredients
3/4 cup warm water (about 100 degrees)
1 envelope active dry yeast (1 scant tablespoon)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1/4 cup sugar, plus 1/2 cup for coating
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs, separated
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature (in place of margarine in original recipe)
peanut oil, for frying plus more for bowl
1/4 cup Vosges Haut-Chocolat Candy Bar

Directions
In large metal bowl, stir together warm water and yeast. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add 3/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup sugar, and salt; mix until well combined. Add egg yolks and remaining 1 3/4 cups flour. Mix until combined, then knead dough in bowl until all flour is incorporated. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface; knead a few minutes until smooth. Knead in butter until incorporated.

Transfer dough to a well-oiled bowl; turn dough several times to coat entirely with oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

About 30 minutes before you’re ready to form doughnuts, remove dough from refrigerator to let come to room temperature. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough into an 11 inch square about 1/8 inch thick. Using a 2 inch cookie cutter (or a glass), cut out about 24 rounds, dipping cutter in flour as needed to prevent sticking. Re-roll scraps and cut out about 16 more rounds.

Line a baking sheet with a clean kitchen towel. In a small bowl, lightly beat egg whites. Brush edge of a dough round with egg white, then mount 1/2 teaspoon chocolate bar pieces in center, or both. Top with another round and press edges to seal. Repeat process with remaining rounds. Transfer to prepared baking sheet; let doughnuts rise until puffy, 20 to 30 minutes.

Heat a few inches of oil in a large (4-5 quart) heavy pot until it registers 360 degrees on a deep-fry thermometer or a scrap of dough sizzles upon contact. Working in batches of 4 to 5, carefully slip doughnuts into hot oil. Fry, turning once until golden brown about 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon, transfer doughnuts to paper towels to drain.

Place remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a medium bowl. While doughnuts are still hot, toss them in sugar, turning to coat. Serve immediately.

Champagne Truffles to Ring in the New Year

Ring in the New Year with Champagne Truffles. Several great Chocolate Companies make Champagne Truffles. I'm posting early--tomorrow is National Champagne Day--so you have a day or so to find these truffles! The following list is not definitive, but will get you started. Comment below about your favorites. Love to add to the list. Scroll down for an awesome video from Vosges Haute-Chocolate on the making of Champagne Truffles!

Recchiuti Chocolate Champagne Truffles
A version of a classic favorite. Dark chocolate truffle with Schramsberg Blanc de Noirs from Napa Valley and confectioner's sugar.

Seattle Chocolate Company Champagne Truffles. A bubbly truffle featuring a blended milk and dark chocolate center with natural popping candy and a bit of bite. Enrobed in dark chocolate.

Choclatique Bubbly Champagne Truffles. I love these. Have tried them several times. They're light and cream and bubbly!

Moonstruck Champagne Truffle. I love Moonstruck truffles, and these are quite unique. Ivory chocolate ganache, infused with a champagne reduction and enrobed in dark chocolate, then hand-dipped in ivory chocolate. 

Coco Delice Sonoma Brut Truffles. Dark chocolate ganache infused with Gloria Ferrar Sonoma Brut. Coated in a layer of dark chocolate and dusted with cocoa powder and confectioners sugar.

Teuscher Chocolate of Switzerland
House specialty, the famous Champagne Truffle, a blend of cream, butter and chocolate: champagne cream center surrounded by a dark chocolate ganache, covered in milk chocolate and dusted with confectioner’s sugar. Originally created by Adolf Teuscher, Sr. in 1947. Available also in an all dark version which I like even more!

Jacques Torres
Jacques' Taittinger Champagne Truffles are a combination of milk chocolate, fresh cream and Taittinger Brut La Francaise. I love the cork shape of these truffles.

Williams-Sonoma
La Maison du Chocolat selects and roasts its own cacao beans, and all of the chocolate is made from special house blends. Their collection of chocolate truffles are hand made at the La Maison du Chocolat workshop in Paris. Other truffles but includes Champagne truffles: dark chocolate truffles infused with Fine Champagne Cognac, covered with dark chocolate and dusted with cocoa powder.

Payard Truffles
Champagne Truffles

Neuhaus Champagne Truffles
Dark chocolate dusted with a frosting of powdered sugar with soft centers of champagne butter. Not for the superstitious. Neuhaus Champagne Truffles are sold in boxes of 13.

Godiva makes a champagne truffle, but I haven't had one in awhile. I remember it was beautiful and very smooth, but there was more chocolate taste than champagne. Still Godiva truffles are great.

Charbonnel & Walker Milk Chocolate Marc de Champagne Truffles.  Milk Chocolate with Marc de Champagne center.  Also try Charbonnel & Walker Chocolate Pink Champagne Truffles. Tangy & Sweet with a strawberry dusting and Marc de Champagne truffle center. Tangy & sweet.

Paul A. Young Champagne Truffles. Made with real Champagne.

Demarquette Champagne Truffles. These are made with vintage Dom Perignon Champagne. U.K. Brut Champagne (Dom Perignon) blended with our very own recipe of single estate and single origin cocoas from around the world and Cornish and Hampshire creams for the ultimate in pure taste. Each truffle is hand dipped in 71.1% couverture chocolate before being dusted with pure cocoa powder.

The-Chocolate Champagne Truffles. Toscano Black, Amedei and Armand de Brignac. Edible pure 24 carat gold and presented in a Swarovski adorned box. "The most luxurious chocolate experience in the world." Available at Harrod's. If you have to ask the price...well...

Vosges Krug Champagne Truffles. Watch this awesome video on making Champagne Truffles.



Making of Krug® Champagne Truffles from Vosges Haut-Chocolat® on Vimeo.

Chocolate Bacon Panini: BBC

International Bacon Day was September 5. Better late than never! Chocolate and Bacon go so well. It's the salty fatty thing of the bacon with the sweetness of the chocolate. What a great pairing!

I've posted several chocolate panini recipes over the years, but this recipe from Vosges is terrific and easy if you're hankering for a BBC: Butter Bacon Chocolate Sandwich! Butter, Bread, Bacon and Chocolate! All the food groups!

Mo’s Milk or Dark Bacon Bar Panini 
from Katrina Markoff's Peace and Love Blog (Vosges)
Yields One Sandwich

Equipment needed: Panini press or waffle iron

Ingredients
2 Italian country bread slices about 4-5 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick
2 tbsp Sea salted butter, French brand, Isigny Ste Mere, or make your own by mixing 1/2 tsp Maldon salt and 2 tbsp of a fabulous butter
Pinch Maldon salt
2 squares Vosges‘ Mo’s Milk or Dark Bacon Bar (dark is better!)
2 strips of crispy bacon (this is optional, but I think you should put it in)

Directions
Spread butter on all sides of the bread.
Place bacon bar squares on one piece of bread, followed by strips of bacon if you are using them and a sprinkle of salt.
Place other piece of buttered bread on top and press with Panini press until golden brown.

Tips:
Make sure your bread doesn’t have many gaping holes or your fillings may seep through and burn.
If you don’t have a Panini press substitute with a waffle iron.
Make sure the bread you use isn’t overly crusty or it may cut your mouth a bit when pressed. At the same time don’t choose a overly soft bread not a good quality sign either and it won’t have the rigidity. Try a crusty ciabatta or italian peasant bread.

Ricotta & Chocolate

As I've mentioned many times, I'm a big fan of chocolate and cheese. Katrina Markoff blogs at Peace Love & Chocolate at the Vosges website. Recently she posted a great and simple recipe for Ricotta & Chocolate. I tried it, and I must agree, it's just fabulous! Adaptations might be in the chocolate and olive oil used. Experiment.

Ricotta is a mild cheese that pairs well with dark chocolate. Unlike cottage cheese, ricotta has a rich, slightly sweet flavor and is used in both savory and sweet dishes. Katrina warns: You must use FRESH ricotta for this recipe! Actually everything should be fresh, including the chocolate. Chocolate does have a shelf-life.

Katrina suggests that this Ricotta be served as an hors d’oeuvre, but you'll find lots of other uses.

Fresh Ricotta Cheese with Olive Oil and Dark Chocolate

2 cups (or lbs.) Fresh Ricotta Cheese
3 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
A pinch Pink salt  or you can try some gray sea salt
A pinch White Pepper
1 1/2 ounces Dark Chocolate (65% dark, Venezuelan)

Place Ricotta in a dish. Stir in salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil. Chop dark chocolate into fine slivers and sprinkle atop. Serve with crackers.

One comment on the Peace, Love & Chocolate blog was to use this as a topping on Flourless Chocolate Cake. What a fabulous idea! Here are four recipes posted on DyingforChocolate.com for  Flourless Chocolate Cake.  HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE.

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If you love chocolate and cheese, you might also want to try Vosges' Rooster Truffle. It's a dark chocolate truffle combined with taleggio cheese with organic walnuts--part of the Collezione Italiano.

Mother's Day Chocolate & Roses: Vosges Le Chocolat en Rose

Mother's Day can be a lot like Valentine's Day with Roses, Chocolate and Champagne. Now Vosges, noted for its great chocolates and famous Mo's Bacon Bar, offers up Roses, Chocolate and Champagne in one delicious truffle, Le Chococolat en Rose. Perfect for Spring, perfect for Mother's Day.

Le Chocolat en Rose truffle is composed of Piper Heidsieck brut rose Champagne in 65% cacao dark chocolate, rolled in fragrant rose bud poudre. (powder). Specific ingredients: Dark Chocolate (cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, lecithin (soy)-an emulsifier, vanilla), organic cream, Champagne, sugar (powdered), rose blossoms, rose water.

I must admit I was skeptical. I'd already blogged about Champagne Truffles, but a champagne truffle rolled in rose bud powder? Surprisingly I found it enchanting. Certainly unique, with a long aftertaste, but in a good way. These truffles have a very concentrated flavor. They're very rich. Anyway, this was my initial reaction. However, the Chocolate en Rose Truffle box included directions on the best way to consume these truffles. Since I had overlooked them in my hurry to taste these unique truffles (with a limited shelf life as with most good chocolate truffles),  I felt I should at least give the instructions a try:

Remove a truffle carefully from the box, taking care to preserve the coveted rose bud-layered surface. Close your eyes, take three deep breaths and center your mind. Bring your nose to the facade of the truffle as you inhale. Do you sense the lush aromatics of the rose masking rich cacao? Take a small bite, let the texture of rose buds coat your tongue. A touch of pink Champagne appears, with notes of cherry and plum. Take another breath, allowing the scent to permeate your palate through the back of your throat. Let the quiet seduction of the rose guide your sensory experience.

A bit flowery, but it works. As I've said about chocolate tasting, it's all about the experience. Chocolate Tasting is a lot like wine tasting, only better---it's all about chocolate!


Each Vosges haut Chocolat box also contains a story, and I'm always a sucker for a good story. Le Chocolat en Rose Truffle story:

Throughout the Balkans, Peria and India, the rose is cherished for its delicate parfum. The mystique of the rose can be traced to one of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, built by the Chaldean King Nebuchadnezzar II around 600 BC.  He was reported to have constructed the gardens to please his sick wife, Amytis of Media, who longed for the botanicals and fragrant roses of her homeland Persia. Persians, Greeks and Romans used roses as currency, toting them as they traveled, and spawning the popularity of the rose throughout the Mediterranean. Roses enjoyed a second renaissance in the early 1800s, when Empress Josephine (wife of Napoleon I) endeavored to grow every known variety of rose in her garden. This seed led to France emerging as the current leading grower and exporter of roses. 


I have over 120 rose bushes in my garden, so, of course, I needed to taste Le Chocolat en Rose. I usually dry some of my roses, usually for the petals. Wonder if I can create a truffle like this? Probably not. I'll leave it to the experts--Vosges!

Want another rose experience for Mother's Day? Check out Laura's Best Recipes for Candied Roses for Mother's Day & Dark Chocolate Sorbet. They're both great recipes.

We've all seen Chocolate Roses for sale, and that's always an option, but you can also make your own Chocolate Roses. Here's a link to a Recipe and instructions with video from Elizabeth LaBau on About.com. But, if you plan to make these to give on Mother's Day, you better get started! As always, use the very best chocolate.

As for me, I'll just buy a box of Vosges' Le Chocolate en Rose Truffles. They're the perfect gift because they include my favorite things--Great Chocolate, Champagne and Roses!!

Chocolate Chip Bacon Pancakes: Pancake Week

My friend Louise over at Months of Edible Celebrations reminded me that this is National Pancake Week, not to be confused with National Pancake Day which was September 26. On Pancake day I posted a recipe for Chocolate Chip Pancakes. Last year during Pancake Week I posted links to Double Chocolate Pancakes, Viennese Chocolate Pancakes and others.

So since this is the beginning of Lent and Pancake Week, I thought I'd recommend Chocolate Chip Bacon Pancakes, unless, of course, you've given up chocolate for Lent as one of my friends always does. You can always bookmark this page.

Vosges has a great batter mix that's simple to use and that I think is really delicious. It's a riff on their Mo Bacon Bar that I really like. There are two ways you can make these. You can buy Vosges’s Bacon Chocolate Chip buttermilk pancake mix that is dotted with chunks of Mo’s Bacon Bar. Or, you buy the candy bar directly and chop it up and put it into your own pancake recipe.

Mo's Bacon Chocolate Chip Pancake Mix is one of the newest members of the bacon + chocolate Vosges family. It combines the Mo's Bacon Bar with fluffy flapjacks. The buttermilk pancakes are spotted with chunks of their Mo's Bacon Bar Candy Bar, that combines applewood smoked bacon and Alder sea salt with deep milk chocolate. The instructions give two methods for incorporating the bacon chocolate chunks: you can either sprinkle them on top of each pancake before flipping them in the pan, or layer them between the finished pancakes before serving. Layering the chunks between the pancakes worked best for me. And, here's a heads-up. The batter itself is excellent.

Want to make Chocolate Chip Bacon Pancakes on your own? First make some chocolate covered bacon and consider that your chocolate chips. Cook and cool your bacon, then crumble it. Use a good smoked bacon, not bacon from a package. Melt semi-sweet chocolate in a double boiler and mix the bacon in, spread it on a cookie sheet to cool then use it. Then use your favorite pancake recipe.

Or, you can use both chopped bacon and chocolate chips. The main difference between these two types is the mixing. The bacon should be mixed into the buttermilk batter and the chocolate chips should be dropped on top of the pancake while it is cooking on one side. Otherwise the chocolate might leak onto the grill. Very messy. Also the chocolate might burn if it is left on the heat. The worst that can happen to the bacon is that it will become more crisp, and that's great! Following the Mo's Bacon Pancake advise, you can always add the chocolate chips when you stack, but for this recipe, you can always include them right after you flip.

Buttermilk Pancakes with Bacon and Chocolate Chips

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp melted butter
1 tsp vanilla
about 1/2 cup smoked good quality bacon, cooked until crisp, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I like dark Ghirardelli or Guittard)

Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla. Pour wet ingredients into flour mixture along with the bacon and stir until combined but a bit lumpy to avoid over mixing.
Heat a lightly greased skillet over medium-high heat. When a drop of water sizzles on the surface, drop heaping spoonfuls of batter onto the skillet, making 3-inch pancakes. Cook until golden brown on each side, add chocolate chips after flipping the first and only time --or when stacking.

So you have lots of options:

1) Buy the delicious Mo's Bacon Chocolate Chip Pancake Mix
2) Make your own Pancakes and chop up a Mo's Bacon Bar and add it to the batter or the 1/2 cooked pancakes or when you stack.
3) Make your own chocolate covered bacon and add to batter or stacked pancakes
4) Make your own pancakes with cooked chopped bacon and add chocolate chips

Whatever you choose, you're going to have some great pancakes to celebrate Pancake Week.

New Bacon Caramel Toffee/Bacon Chocolate Martini

As you know Bacon and Chocolate go so well together, and I've had several posts with recipes and chocolate products that include bacon. Just the other day I posted for International Bacon Day. Well yesterday I got an email from Vosges about their new Bacon Caramel Toffee. Vosges is famous for their Mo's Bacon Bar, well now it partners with crunchy caramel toffee. The Applewood smoked bacon and Alder wood smoked salt are embedded in their original crispy/buttery toffee. They then add a layer of 41% cacao milk chocolate on the top and bottom.

They call it addicting. Haven't tried it yet but I know it will be.

By the way, Vosges makes a Dark Chocolate Mo's Bacon Bar that is even better than the milk chocolate one... in my opinion.

Want to drink your chocolate and bacon? The Capitol Club in Seattle serves a mean Chocolate Bacon Martini! They use Godiva chocolate and bacon infused vodka and add a candied bacon garnish for a sweet finish. They also start with maple cured bacon and then candy it. My three favorites in one drink!

Chocolate Pig

February is Chocolate Month. Not surprising then that the preferred gift on Valentine's Day is chocolate in all shapes, tastes and forms. This month has been filled with Blogs, Websites, Magazines and news devoted to chocolate. Today I received an email from Vosges Haut-Chocolat letting me know that decadent Vosges Haut-Chocolat can be in your hands in time for Valentine's Day. Lots of choices, but what caught my eye was their Flying Chocolate Pig. The Vosges chocolate pig is filled with applewood smoked backon, Alder wood smoked salt, and deep milk chocolate.

When my husband was wooing me, a quaint word wooing but apt for this story, I told him I'd marry him when Pigs Fly. I guess they're flying all around us, so I think I have to get him this Chocolate Flying Pig for Valentine's Day!