Sugar Savvy

Back in March, over my spring break, I road-tripped to Chicago with my dear friends Katie, Chris, Rita, and Steve (who needs to get a blog or something. I’m not going to be creepy and link to his facebook page). Lemme tell ya, you’ve got to really love the people you’re road-tripping with, especially when you’ve decided to make a 17/18-hour drive in one day, and you’re driving a tiny little sedan that doesn’t comfortably fit 5.

Chicago was our destination because that’s where Katie is from, and her parents were kind enough to take us in for a week. And they were kind enough to buy me candy, including a delicious box of Frango mints (I repaid the favor by buying them some chocolates at Haven’s… except Katie forgot to bring them with her when she flew home for Cubs opening day, so I still owe them one).

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I am a huge fan of giving unique and unusual gifts. While flowers are always lovely, if sending or bringing a token for special occasions, thank you’s, get wells, I want to make an impression.  In lieu of flowers, I always opt for an Edible Arrangements display. The different edible offerings cost around the same as any flower arrangement I might choose. And, if there is one my way, I save shipping/delivery charges with a pick up. (Thanks to my mom for introducing me to Edible Arrangements!)

But Chocolate?  I head over to Schakolad Chocolate Factory. There are stores in 12 states, which is great!  I adore the shop in which I stop.  Personable and welcoming, I have yet to experience a visit in my 6 years of stopping in when one of the owners of this particular franchise, Craig & Sheree D’Egidio, has not been present and greeted me hello. What’s more? Even though my visits have been more infrequent since graduating and not being on that side of town too, too often, Craig D’Egidio still remembers small details from past visits, like the fact that I am in education, often ship my gifts, and I always get one (1) chocolate covered strawberry with every visit.

Looking to add some spice into your relationship, or let someone know you fancy him/her?  The Schako Paint is sure to send a message. (Not that I have bought it, or anything… ha!) Want to bring a box of chocolates to that birthday party?  Forget Whitman’s. Show up with Birthday Cake Box filled with Assorted Chocolates and the guest of honor will ooh and ahhh, knowing the box is edible as well! What better way to leave a professional impression than with an edible business promotion item? Holidays?  I have sent a chocolate Santa bag filled with truffles, and my brother-in-law a chocolate menorah with blue candy sticks for candles.  It wasn’t like anything I had seen before.

Check them out. Schakolad Chocolate Factory is definitely something worth seeing.

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Let me state right from the beginning that I am a big fan of ice-cream cake. To me, the only drawback to the typical ice-cream cake is that it is simply too big and too expensive to buy for an “anytime” dessert, and my birthday comes but once a year.

This being the case, when I heard that PhillySwirl was introducing an individually sized ice-cream cake, I was pretty excited to try it. I thought PhillySwirl’s new Ice Cream Cupcakes, which they describe as “half cake, half ice cream topped with swirled icing and sprinkles” were a terrific idea, my solution to “too much ice-cream cake, not enough birthday.” As it turns out, they are.

I sat down to sample these with my family, not giving them too much of a build-up, as I was interested in hearing their uninfluenced opinions. I put the tray of 6 chocolate and vanilla cupcakes on the table one night after dinner and sat back.

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Have you ever heard a new word only to hear it time and time again within the next few days? Unless it was gibberish or your attempt at creating a new word, most likely it’s not that the word came into being the moment you heard it. More so the word, or even thing, was suddenly added to your brain bank and, therefore, is more likely to be acknowledged when it catches one of your senses.  I can’t remember when I first heard it, but at some point within the past month, I heard the word “It’s-It,” but had no idea what it was.

I didn’t really think much of it, but the word was strange enough for me to remember. A day later, I was poking around on Yumsugar and saw it referenced during a photo tour of the food facilities at Google. I now knew it was an ice cream sandwich. Then a few days later on Chow, people were buzzing over it being spotted in Los Angeles grocery stores. I think fate was telling me I needed to possess it, and it was about time I went to the website and did a little reading.

The “It’s-It” is an ice cream sandwich created in 1928 by entrepreneur George Whitney, a San Franciscan native, who, one day, decided to take two oatmeal cookies, slap some vanilla ice cream in the middle, and drop his Frankendessert in dark chocolate. For more than four decades the “It’s-It” picked up its local cult following until finally being sold to the Shamieh Brothers in 1974 who took the product to wider pastures, adding flavors like mint, chocolate, and cappuccino. It is thanks to them you can now find the “It’s-It” in 15 other states, and why I was able to find one in my local Von’s, thanks to tips on Chow.

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First off, I love the size of this Dolfin bar. As someone who is frantically trying to eat as wide a variety of food as possible in the next two months, I really appreciate the 30g size as I can happily eat it in one go before moving onto the next treat in my pantry (okay, so everyone else would call my pantry a wardrobe, but there are more snacks than food in it at the moment so pantry is correct in my mind).

This Dolfin 60% Dark White Pepper and Cardamom bar had a crisp snap to it, indicating high quality cocoa butter and good tempering. Upon smelling the bar, I could discern hints of cardamom, but I’m not sure if I could have detected the white pepper had I not known it was there. I was expecting a bigger spice hit than I initially experienced, but the white pepper did gradually create a (very) slight burn in the back of the throat. As cardamom is a strong spice, I was also prepared for this flavor to dominate the chocolate, but instead it was nicely blended in with the pepper to create a general sense of spice that suited the percentage of the chocolate really well.

The chocolate is not chalky or bitter, and with the combination of spices, it is simultaneously sweet, spicy, cool and warming. The beans are from Guatemala, and the chocolate itself is made in Belgium, so I would rather not think about the food miles of this little treat. There was no crunchiness from the spice, although after noting this, I realized that the reason I often associate spicy chocolates with bits of crunch is that many such bars also have cacao nibs in them. In contrast, this is a very smooth bar, quite subtle to my taste, and therefore could be a good introduction for someone interested in moving into the realm of spiced chocolates.

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