Chocolat Moderne: Hazelnut Hysterie Bistro Bar

In addition to the very seasonal Pumpkin Pique-Nique Bistro Bar that Chocolat Moderne sent me last weekend, I was also fortunate enough to receive yet another Bistro Bar – the Hazelnut Hysterie.

Packaged similarly to the Pumpkin Pique-Nique, it also featured the same bar-style blocks with smooth, intense dark chocolate base. The chocolate itself has a subtle coffee taste, and perhaps a hint of a vanilla undertone.

The praline inside is sweet and creamy, features bits of well-roasted, flavorful hazelnuts. There are also some bits of candied hazelnuts scattered throughout, and while they balance well with the dark chocolate bar, they are just a little too big for my liking, though not so much so that I couldn’t appreciate the praline.

The praline was soft, which is how I prefer my pralines, though this resulted in a bit of the thick chocolate bar breaking away from the praline during bites. As with the Pumpkin Pique-Nique, I would also prefer a higher ratio of praline to bar coating, though I’m not sure that’s structurally possible in this bar format. It appears that Chocolat Moderne offers traditional molded chocolates; perhaps those would present the ratio I’m looking for. I’ll have to procure some and try them out.

Chocolat Moderne: Pumpkin Pique-Nique Bistro Bar

Ah, Thanksgiving. We all sit around and talk about what we are thankful for. I’d rather be different. First, here’s an entirely out-of-place picture of the view from my balcony.

The main reason for posting this picture here is to make you jealous of the fact that I see this all fall. Without even having to get dressed.

So back to chocolate. Seems like a good day to go on about something involving pumpkin. Yet I already posted my recipe for vegan pumpkin truffles.

Luckily, Chocolat Moderne sent me a very seasonal bistro bar in that package last weekend: The Pumpkin Pique-Nique.

The bar itself is made of an intense dark chocolate with hints of coffee and a bit of an earthy undertone, and just a bit of added sugar to blend the flavors. This particular chocolate is smooth and melts away very, very slowly, and the chocolate flavor lingers for an appreciable amount of time.

This dark chocolate certainly makes up the majority of the bar, and I could go for a higher filling to coating ratio, but that’s difficult in bar form.

The filling itself has thin bits of roasted pumpkin seeds, which are mostly noticeable via the crunch that they add to the texture. There is a clear sugar and pumpkin spice flavor, composed of what tastes like some nutmeg and cinnamon, though the spice flavor is relatively subtle. There are also little bits of candy mixed in, which are small enough to not overwhelm the praline while adding a bit of sugar. Texture-wise, the praline is just a bit dry, but is substantial enough to stand up to the crisp dark chocolate coating such that biting into the bar is very easy.

This would be a perfect after-Thanksgiving pumpkin-themed treat. But I already made a cake. And already finished most of this bar. Oh well.

Weekend Chocolate Delivery: Chocolat Moderne

For most folks, Saturdays are a nice day to relax after the work week. However, since one of my life passions, in addition to chocolate and baking, is coaching a youth sports program, a good portion of my Saturdays are usually devoted to coaching and managing the administrative side of the team.

And then baking. With chocolate. Obviously.

This Saturday, however, was 100% dedicated to the team I coach. We had a clinic with a coach who honed her athletes' skills so well that they won an Olympic gold medal in 1996, so the day involved a round-trip drive to Williamsburg, an 8-hour clinic, and almost two hours of private lessons with our athletes. It was an inspiring, but long, day. When I finally got home at nearly 10 pm, I found that the front desk had a package for me.

The folks at Chocolat Moderne apparently knew in advance that I’d need a little something extra after a long day. But what was inside?

EPIC BUBBLE WRAP PACKAGE. Alright, that will be fun to pop away at like a six-year-old, but surely there was some chocolate in here.

And was there ever. Two Chocolat Moderne bistro bars. One Hazelnut Hysterie, which is filled with crunchy hazelnut praline, and one Pumpkin Pique-Nique, which is filled with pumpkin-pie spiced praline and pumpkin seeds.

Just in time for Thanksgiving week. Awesome. Reviews of these two bars forthcoming shortly.

Back to the Chocolate Show!!!

I swear I have ADD. I'm in New York, then I spaz out and go to Kentucky, then I find a random motivational clip - I hope you guys can hang with my insanity.

I want to focus this entry on one of the chocolate companies at the Chocolate Show that truly impressed me - Chocolat Moderne. Not only did they have a serious sales person in their booth - she was great - she was moving their bars like there was no tomorrow. No haughtiness, just enthusiasm for a great product. She was approachable, made high-end chocolate accessible, and I'm betting moved a lot of product. But I wanted to buy more than the bars, so I spoke with Michael Schwarz.

He hooked me up with two fabulous items:

I want you to see their distinctive packaging first - it's coral and brown - very nice. One item was sea salt caramels (HOLY COW - these are amazingly delicious!):

Here's the description from their website:

In Salt Talks, the salted caramel meets three of America's favorite flavors: coffee, smoke and pecans! The ‘coffee’ flavor is our classic Madame ‘X’tasy caramel containing sea salt, Illy espresso and dark chocolate. The milk shell holds a salted caramel with an additional sprinkling inside the shell of coarse sea salt and chopped pecans. Finally, the white shell holds a salted caramel seasoned with sea salt smoked over Welsh Oak.

These will make your eyeballs roll back into your head. I'm not kidding! Men, you should buy these for the woman in your life! My least favorite was the coffee - but only because I don't like coffee. If you're a coffee drinker, you'll probably adore it. I have found that I really like caramels with a salty touch. If you've never tried the combo, these are a delicious, decadent place to start. Wow!!!

Michael also recommended an assortment. Look how gorgeous these guys are:

They look like they have a touch of gold dust on them. They are almost too beautiful to eat. Almost. These are going to be a little more challenging than the caramels. There are flavors like:

Madeleine Marron ~ silky truffle ~ chestnuts and dark Haitian rum in a sophisticated, smooth dark and milk ganache

Hazelnut Hystérie ~ crunchy praliné ~ pure, deeply roasted hazelnut paste with milk chocolate and caramelized sugar

La Dolce Grapefruit ~ soft caramel ~ our award-winning signature flavor, a perfect match of the tartness of fresh grapefruit and the sweet creaminess of caramel

Raspberry Rendez-vous ~ silky truffle ~ intense flavor with jazzy raspberry jam layered on dark ganache with raspberries

Mon Petit Kumquat ~ silky truffle ~ aromatic kumquat and earthy 66% Caribbean ganache

Caramel Caresse ~ soft caramel ~ luscious caramel with Poire Williams Pear and Eau de Vie

Snake Charmer ~ silky truffle ~ 72% Venezuelan ganache with exotic, sweet spices

Parlez Pistache ~ crunchy praliné ~ we've concentrated the essence of pure pistachio in a paste with white chocolate and crunchy rice crisps

Havana Heat ~ silky truffle ~ naturally fruity 64% Madagascan ganache with habanero pepper, our award-winning 'hot' chocolate

The Player ~ silky truffle ~ 72% Venezuelan ganache with smokey, peaty Single Malt Scotch

Rhapsody in Green ~ soft caramel ~ juicy green apples and Calvados, bracing flavors from the Normandy coast

Pumpkin Pique-Nique ~ crunchy praliné ~ toasted pumpkin seed praliné with pumpkin pie spices, milk chocolate, and caramelized sugar

I won't lie - some of these scare me (grapfruit? peaty Scotch?). But I am really intrigued and want to try them.

But here's the real story of Choclat Moderne. I stopped by their booth late in the game. I already had two bags of stuff. I had tried lots of samples. It was crazy crowded. I was close to being over it.

But these folks were nice and had enthusiasm. And gorgeous chocolates! I bought my assortments (which are not cheap - they are worth the price, but I spent a nice little chunk of change.) Michael was great - we talked about the blog and he was really nice. They were one of the few booths that could take credit cards (a smart move in my book). They gave outstanding customer service is a wildly chaotic environment.

I wandered around the show a bit more, watched some food demos and walked the couple of miles back to my hotel (hey, I just ate about 20 samples of chocolate - I needed to walk!). But now I was carrying all this stuff. And it was dark and rainy. I know - I'm stubborn that way. Taxis are for the weak.

I get back to my hotel and I am looking with great pride (and lust) at all my loot. And I notice I don't have my stuff from Chocolat Moderne! It's nowhere! It was almost $50 worth of chocolate! I started thinking - did I drop it at the show? Did I leave it in the demo theater? I was so mad at myself! I thought if I went back to the booth Michael might think I was a crazy person. But there were a lot of people around and we had a challenge getting the credit card machine to work. Surely I left it there! CRAP! (Remember, I was up at the crack of dawn to fly in, I had already walked to the show and back, it was dark and rainy, ARGH!)

What to do....get a cab and spend more money for what could be a wild goose chase? I mean maybe I did drop the chocolate somewhere or someone else picked it up. I would be so mad if I not only lost the chocolate, but threw more money away on cab fare. So, yes, the stubborn one walks all the way back to the show. (Now you might see how I can eat all this chocolate and not get fat - I am clearly insane. My mania burns a lot of calories.)

I go back in and head for the Chocolat Moderne booth. I see Michael and ask hopefully, "Do you remember me?" Michael says "Yes - I left you a message! You forgot your chocolates!"

Michael tried to find me at the show (which was impossible - the place was a mad house) and when he couldn't, he took the business card I had given him, called me and sent me an e-mail! How amazing and cool is that? I love Chocolat Moderne!!

If you saw how pompous some of these chocolatiers were, you would appreciate Michael even more.

And they gave me a discount code for you, dear readers!! If you want to order some of this amazing chocolate, input this promotional code on the order page: FRIENDF426. You'll get 15% off your order of $30 or more. Thank you, Michael!!!