Stone Grindz: Peanut Butter Cup 55% Cacao

Apparently Stone Grindz had some eggnog holiday truffles this year. I've probably missed the window of opportunity for those, but today on the eve of Christmas Eve I bring you to you their Halloween Limited Release, Peanut Butter Cup, which is made with a 55% cacao chocolate. I have not in fact been sitting on this chocolate since Halloween; I did get it much later. Still, I realize that I almost put up this review of Halloween after Christmas--so perhaps an apology on tardiness is still in order.

Usually when I review Stone Grindz chocolate bars, they're just in the clear sleeves that they sell them in at the farmer's market. This one is in the full card box garb, which I normally don't get to admire. Stone Grindz may be so micro batch that they don't even have a store front, but that doesn't mean that their quality is any lower or that they only have a handmade, brown bag look. Clean white makes a base for colorful artwork evocative of the cocoa-growing countries, while gold highlights add class and luxury. The card box folds out to black and white photography of cocoa production and the scenic Arizona desert. I like it for the local element, tourists to Arizona can enjoy it for the same reason, and anyone who has this chocolate delivered to another locale can revel in the exoticness.

Inside, the chocolate bar sits in its familiar clear wrapper. I do appreciate that these are resealable: the inability to reseal is normally one of the disadvantages to most non-foil wrappers. The chocolate's face has the familiar alpacas all lined up in rows and columns. On the back, though, I found some unexpected sea salt chips--that would be the Maldon sea salt mentioned in the ingredients. Salt is, after all, a key element in Americans' perceptions of how peanut butter chocolate should taste, thanks to Reese's Cups.

One bite of this chocolate and I saw (or tasted) why I jumped at the opportunity to get this chocolate bar, even though I knew I was going to get to it far after its Halloween label. It's the same type of style as their Almond Butter and Black Lava Salt that I looked at this spring. That is, the peanut butter element is just mixed right in with the chocolate. Yet it tastes distinctively like peanut butter and semisweet chocolate, along with a dash of salt. The infusion is incredible.

Texture-wise, we have a similar situation as with the Almond Butter bar. It's primarily chocolate texture, but softer somehow in a way that your mind can't quite put its finger on. So that subtle difference plus the distinctive peanut butter flavor is what tricks your mind into thinking that you're just eating those two separate elements--except that you can see that they're blended together, and so you are awestruck by how your chocolate tastes like peanut butter. And it's a good, fresh peanut butter flavor, as well, since there are no filler ingredients or oils or anything like that in here. Because it's mixed in with the chocolate, the advantage is also that the peanut butter won't be too different from anyone's go-to peanut butter. For instance, I like the Trader Joe's peanut butter that's just peanuts and salt and can't stand Skippy--so if a chocolate has a peanut butter filling that's suspiciously like Skippy, I probably won't care for it. But if someone else tries a peanut butter filling with no added sugar or oil, they might not like it. That problem is bypassed here by not actually having a peanut butter filling.

The chocolate is a little sweeter on this one, a little less dark. So it's a little more casual perhaps. But still wonderful in its own right and not sweet in the standard sense. It's still quite elegant. Combined with the peanut butter element and that lovely salt, it's magic. That's what this bar is: pure magic. I can picture it pleasing a wide variety of palates. And the limited ingredients mean wider appeal, as well. So if the flavor ever shows up again or next time Stone Grindz decides to play with nut butter chocolate, I highly recommend giving it a try. 

Chiles & Chocolate Festival + Zak's Chocolate

The plan was just to make a quick appearance at the Desert Botanical Garden's Chiles and Chocolate Festival. I'd stick my head in and see what was there, maybe buy one or two things, and then go. Plans change.

When I first when to Chiles and Chocolate two years ago (I wasn't able to go last year), I remember it being quite packed. This year, I got there early on Friday, so the way was pretty clear. It was easier to get to each booth--too easy sometimes. I wasn't there to shop, even though the booths of honey and loose tea and wooden spoons (I love wood) and pasta sauce were just my types of things. They have plenty of salsa and spices and mole and tamales, too, if you want to keep more in theme. Xocolatl was back with their drinking chocolate and Wei of Chocolate with their flower-shaped chocolates. My favorites, of course, are Scottsdale companies Stone Grindz and Zak's Chocolate. I decided not to kid myself and just bought a plain bar from Stone Grindz instead of one of their chile chocolate bars (it may have been for the festival, but that really isn't my favorite zone). 

From Zak's Chocolate, I chose two truffles. Then I wandered outside, where I had my eye set on something I'd regretted skipping last time. That's right, the chocolate cotton candy. Spunlight Cotton Candy makes organic cotton candy and while I've since seen them at other festivals, I haven't seen the chocolate flavor again. I'll give another post to the cotton candy.

Now, remember, at this point, I was outside. According to my original plan, it was now time to go. But I'd been so quick and the day was so beautiful and there really weren't too many people in the small spaces, so I regretted leaving so soon. And I thought, well, am I just here for shopping, even though I was trying to restrain my shopping? The cooking demonstrations are weekends only, but there was going to be some dancing in the late morning. So I decided I might as well stick around for that.

Only problem was those two truffles. The chocolate bar would be fine in my purse as long as I kept it in the shade, but the truffles would barely make it home as it was. No way they'd stay around longer. (Zak's does, by the way, sell their little insulated bags at the festival, if you need some extra security.) So I thought, well, let me go to my quiet bench (the one on the path where hardly anyone walks) and take some pictures and take some notes and just review these chocolates right now. 

They were the Peanut Butter Cup and a Mango Chile truffle. I know, I said I'd been staying away from the chile chocolates, but I dared for this one. The Peanut Butter Cup was already melting against the top of the little bag. Perhaps Chiles and Chocolate should be held in December or January instead of November?

These were both dark chocolate. The filling of the peanut butter cup had almost more of a ganache texture than the usual peanut butter filling. The taste, too, reminded me more of mazapan (the crumbly cakes of Mexican peanut candy). The specific peanut taste and the creamy factor to the flavor gave it that effect. The dark chocolate base was sturdy. This chocolate just hit right. A gourmet approach to a peanut butter cup, certainly.

The Mango Chile truffle came looking quite beautiful with green swirls and red spots. This one was essentially one solid piece rather than having a separate inside. All extremely smooth. Though mango is one of the less common flavors to see paired with chocolate, a fresh mango flavor went perfectly with the coolness of the chocolate. The chile was just a slight teasing on the edges; I hardly even noticed it, honestly. Given my general lack of interest in chile chocolate, though, the lack of spice was a plus for me. This was simply a delicious, fruity truffle.

By this point, I still had some time to sit on my quiet bench. I often read at the garden, but I hadn't brought my book, so I just sat. Time for contemplation is good, too.

Then I made my way back over to the festival area to see the dancing. Maybe I'm a little spoiled because I see live performances fairly often these days, but I wonder if maybe the Friday group was not quite as good of a performance as the weekend groups. I almost went back on Sunday just to see. They did have a small space to work with, though, and it was still an enjoyable way to spend the time. The garden on a sunny day, a bit of shopping, and some dancing. I couldn't have Chiles and Chocolate be just a quick stop; I had make a whole morning out of it. That was the nicest way to do it.