Best Chocolate at the Fancy Food Show 2014
The Richest Chocolates From the 2014 Winter Fancy Food Show
Tasting all of the chocolates on offer at the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco may be one of the best parts of the show. This year, chocolatiers took it up a notch to bring the most innovative flavors to consumers. Habanero, matcha, and spearmint aren't flavors you typically associate with the sweet treat, but they are seamlessly woven into these bars, truffles, and other chocolatey confections.
— Additional reporting by Nicole Perry
The John Kelly Dark Chocolate With Habanero and Jalapeño ($10 for two pieces) is unlike any spicy chocolate on the market. The intense fudge-like center is coated with a salty, snappy shell, while the slow capsaicin burn makes itself known moments later, without any peppery flavor.
Never heard of blond chocolate? You're about to in a big way, with the introduction of Valrhona Dulcey ($26 for one pound), a game-changing caramelized and lightly salted take on white chocolate. We can't wait to create the ultimate blondie by adding coins of Valrhona Dulcey to blondie batter.
This year, Lake Champlain Chocolates debuted its first bean-to-bar, single-origin chocolate, Blue Bandana 70% ($7), and it won a Good Food Award! Of Madagascar origin, the chocolate embodies the fruity and citrusy notes of the cacao from that region. Any chocolate-lover will instantly notice the care put into making this small-batch chocolate.
There might not be any actual popcorn in Chuao Pop Corn Pop ($6), but we're certainly not complaining. Bits of puffed grains, corn chips, and popping candy are tucked into Chuao's silky-smooth milk chocolate for a crunchy, mouth-tingling bite that magically simulates snacking at the movies.
Vosges Super Dark Matcha Green Tea and Spirulina ($8) packs two superfoods into a 72 percent dark chocolate bar. The bar has a grassy aftertaste (in a good way) from the matcha and spirulina and makes you think you're doing your body good.
Fran's may be better known for its trend-starting salted caramels, but it was its elegant mint chocolate tiles that won us over at the Winter Fancy Food Show. Rather than reinvent the wheel, Fran's Chocolates Mint Thins ($10) take classic after-dinner chocolates and perfect the formula.
Imagine combining buttery granola clusters and dark chocolate. That's what Clairesquares Caramelized Oat Bar ($8) does. Now imagine snapping a few squares into your morning yogurt . . . we're not judging.
We've been burned by our fair share of way-too-sweet raspberry chocolates, but Theo Raspberry 70% Dark Chocolate ($4) helped us fall back in love with the combo. Here, morsels of tart, crisp, freeze-dried raspberries mingle with Theo's just-bitter-enough dark chocolate for a bar that's far from cloying. Also worth noting: Theo Ginger 70% Dark Chocolate ($4), which subs spicy-sweet crystallized ginger for the raspberry bits.
When it comes to mint chocolate, peppermint tends to get all the love. Seely Ivory Mint Melts ($9) break from that trend by infusing dairy-rich white chocolate with both peppermint and spearmint oils for a complex yet easy-to-love nibble.