I don’t know what you were thinking from the title of this post, but I’m talking about caramel and salt.  Chocolate with caramel and salt, that is.  If ever there were a trend to take off unanimously, this would be on top of that list.  With macarons and designer cupcakes just below.

As you all know, I have my chocolate radar on 24/7, always on the lookout for new chocolate bars, whether in my local Coop or around the world.

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Since the last Chocolate Roundup turned out to be such a big success, you can rest assured – it will definitely be a regular feature on MyKugelhopf.  Considering that my chocolate drawer is always full of a new variety of bars, this shouldn’t be a problem.  It changes every few days, as bars get eaten and new ones make a temporary little home in their place.  Now that I have admitted to having not only a drawer devoted to chocolate bars, but also a chocolate bar wrapper collection, you’ll understand the frequency of the theme!

Last time there were bars from Switzerland, Austria, the United States and even Croatia.  If you missed that first roundup, you can check it out here.  This time Spain and Italy are featured, and I am thinking that there will always be a bar from Switzerland in the mix.  As a reminder, I am simply a (very) big fan of dark chocolate, and am always on the lookout for new brands and bars.  I loved all the comments from readers last time – chocolates you have tasted recently, all-time favorites, recommendations and other assorted ideas.  I’m looking forward to that again.  So without further ado, below is the next selection of bars I have tasted lately.  Enjoy!

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Coming back from Venice, I had a suitcase filled with nougat, biscotti and chocolate (unfortunately no gelato). Whenever I come back from France, it’s usually jams, Carambar, prunes from Agen and chocolate. From New York – bagels, soft brown sugar, Vermont maple syrup and chocolate. What does one bring back from Croatia? Well, if you want to get through customs without sweating, you probably won’t attempt to walk on by with dried hams or fresh truffles in your bag. Olive oil? I suppose you could risk the glass bottle breaking in your luggage (I did!) – not in your carry-on though, liquid’s a no no. Specialty shops in little villages throughout Istria had tons of products based on truffles and olive oil, pretty much everything imaginable made with one of the two.

So what did I bring back?  Chocolate.

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Everyone seems to be talking about spring lately.  The flowers are budding and it no longer gets dark at 4pm, that’s for sure.  However, I’m not so convinced that spring is really just around the corner.  People aren’t quite ready to walk outside without their scarf and hat on here in Zürich.  It’s been awfully cold, and this past weekend – I wasn’t exactly flower picking.  I was on snow-shoes, trailing down a mountain!

Whether spring will be upon us soon is up for discussion. But one thing is for sure: Easter is almost here.  It’s difficult to pass a bakery or chocolate shop without admiring its window overflowing with all sorts of chocolate eggs, milk and dark chocolate bunnies in all sorts of outfits, some even on motorcycles, others with funny hats and accessories – the bunnies are really diversifying here. Department stores have almost entire floors devoted to Easter, decorations and egg-related everything.  It’s really quite fun.  One of them has a cart of different colored chocolate eggs from Cailler: you grab a bag and make your own assortment.  Kind of like jelly bean dispensers.

As you’ll see in the photos below, it’s all about bunnies here.  Apparently in France, bunnies don’t take center stage though.  The stars there are hens and bells, as my French husband tells me.  I am curious what the traditions are around the world.  I am guessing chocolate is a common theme, but the molds are of different animals. Let us know what you have wherever you may be.

Here is a selection of Easter treats that I’ve seen around Zürich.  You’ll see below the chocolate creativity at Zürich’s Confiserie Honold, Truffe, Jelmoli, Coop and Vollenweider Chocolatier Confiseur.

Now for the real fun stuff!  I recently received a care package from across the Atlantic Ocean with plenty of fun Easter goodies.  The classic candies I remember eating as a child in New York – Cadbury eggs, marshmallow Peeps and assorted chocolates.  Are these the treats of your childhood too?  One thing I’m enjoying right now, which I definitely did not have as a child are Fritz Knipschildt’s white and dark chocolate “quail eggs” that even come in a egg carton.  Let the young ones enjoy their colorful paper wrapped sweets, this is a treat I recommend for the adults!

Wishing all those who celebrate, a happy and sweet Easter to come.  Don’t forget to tell us what you hope to have in your Easter basket this year!  :)

If you’ve spent some time on this site, you already know that I am quite a fan of chocolate. Dark chocolate especially, and I have at least one or two squares every day. (Ok, dark chocolate with the exception of my long time favorite Toblerone.)  I’ve shared with you where to find chocolate in New York City and where to find it in Paris; you’ve read about chocolate served in a cheese box, chocolate that’s blue, and even chocolate made with pop rocks.  And you’re sure to see a whole lot more in the future. I am always on the lookout for a bar to discover.  And it’s rare that I will come back from a trip without a few new wrappers in my bag.

So I was very excited to find this relatively new bar (introduced in 2008) in a local Coop supermarket here in Zürich.  It’s not a shocking flavor or something that’s never been done before.  It’s actually a rather common culinary trend right now.  It just hadn’t been done by Lindt: chocolate… and??  Salt. In fact, I often add the latter when I taste my few squares each day.  I take a piece of dark chocolate, whether it’s a pure origin bar or flavored with espresso, and I sprinkle it with a few grains of high quality Fleur de Sel (hand harvested from the salt marshes of Brittany, France) or Maldon salt (from England), depending on my mood.  Now Lindt has added 3% sea salt to its classic dark chocolate blend, giving us: Lindt Excellence, A la Pointe de Fleur de Sel (A Touch of Sea Salt).

That said, don’t expect to look at the chocolate and see large, noticeable crystals.  But take one bite, and you will taste them right away.  If you let the chocolate melt on your tongue, you can feel the tiny crystals as the chocolate melts away.  Or you’ll feel a few morsels afterwards in your teeth.  Lindt’s deliciously smooth 47% dark blend has a pleasant mouth feel, and the salt creates a very nice balance.  And you really do get a taste of salt in each and every bite.  In order to share accurate information, I ate the whole bar.  I even did this test with a second bar.  Again, solely for research purposes

While Lindt’s Summer Edition chocolates weren’t imported to the US when I reported on them in August 2008, this Fleur de Sel bar most certainly is.  I double checked with consumer relations in New Hampshire, and they let me know that it is available in Lindt retail stores as well as online.

If you like the taste of chocolate and salt, below are a few more bars to look out for: Vosges Haut Chocolat’s line, which always has a strong component of salt, my favorite of which is the Barcelona Bar (hickory smoked almonds, grey sea salt and 40% deep milk chocolate); Sal de Ibiza‘s 70% bar made with Flor de Sal; Paul de Bondt’s Fior di Sale bar; Theo’s 3400 Phinney Bread and Chocolate bar; and last but not least, my newest discovery and current favorite from Basel, Switzerland - Beschle’s Grand Cru Triniatrio au Fleur de Sel et Pistaches (65%).

Chocolate, summertime… well that means melted chocolate, sticky fingers and messy faces.  Or perhaps big cones of cool chocolate ice cream.  But it can also mean a creative time for chocolatiers to come up with new recipes for chocolate bars that play up summer ingredients and fresh fruits, and new combinations of flavors for the hot months.  It might be wise to avoid the 90 degree days to buy and taste these chocolates, but don’t wait too long, they might already be off the shelves.

Lindt introduced its Summer Edition chocolate bars, and you can’t miss them in Zürich’s supermarkets, out on display on fake beds of ice.  All the bars have two things in common – when you open the traditional packaging, you find 18 individual mini squares, rather than one big bar to break up yourself.  That’s one thing.  The other is that they’re all delectable and a welcome addition to the typical summer treats.  Furthermore, Lindt recommends that you eat them straight out of the fridge, avoiding those sticky fingers and messy faces.

I am a dark chocolate person, as will surely be repeated on this blog many a time.  I can do milk chocolate, especially if it comes in the form of Pralus’ Mélisse bar or the original Toblerone, which will always hold a place near and dear to my heart.  But as for white chocolate, I just don’t do it.  It’s technically not chocolate anyway, no cocoa liquor at all, only cocoa butter and other assorted fats.  That said, when I saw Strawberry-Rhubarb as one of Lindt’s summer flavors, I immediately grabbed it, adoring this combination in jams, tarts and just about anything at all.  But when I realized it was white chocolate, I had to struggle to keep it in my cart.  I did, and figured I might as well add another white chocolate bar while I was at it, so Stracciatella joined the mix.  Lindt makes an excellent creamy white chocolate, it has to be said.  Stracciatella had little bits of chocolate and crisped rice, while the Strawberry-Rhubarb squares had tiny strawberry crispies and according to the ingredient list, rhubarb powder.  I mostly enjoyed the texture, creamy on the outside and these little crispy surprises on the inside.  But I quickly put them aside to try another of the line, the Passion-Orange, these crispies being blood orange flavored and the powder passionfruit.  All in a dark chocolate shell.  Superb.  Easy to pop these little guys like whoppers, you have been warned.

Another chocolate company with a limited edition line of chocolate bars this summer is Dolfin, from Belgium.  I am already saddened at the thought that I won’t be able to buy their Douceurs de Verger (Sweetness from the Orchard) or Souvenirs d’Eté (Memories of Summer) whenever I please.   Both chocolates are made only in a mini version of 30g, while Dolfin’s well-known line of 19 bars is 70g.  

Four thin rectangles snap loudly when broken, just like a perfectly tempered chocolate should, these being 60% cocoa.  The first bar manages to bring images of a summer orchard, without leaving behind its flavors and aromas – bits of apple, peach and apricot went into these bars, along with vanilla and a surprise ingredient: rooibos tea.  Superbly subtle and perfectly blended, it was delicious.  As was the other bar, titled Apple Crumble.  You get an immediate punch of apple, dominated by cinnamon, and supporting stars: hazelnuts, cane sugar and vanilla rounding it all out.

These bars are sure to be eaten so fast, you’ll even be sad there’s no melted bits to lick off your fingers. Afterall, that’s part of the fun of eating chocolate in the summertime.