Both adaptations of the book by Roald Dahl have their merits, of course, but personally, I prefer the current remake with Johnny Depp. I grew up with the Gene Wilder original from the 70’s and to be honest there was just always something about it that creeped me out. It was great fodder for the imagination (a chocolate and candy factory all to yourself? Yes, please!) but I’d only watch it when I had to (meaning when the only TV in the house was occupied by a sibling watching it).

Anyway, which interpretation do you prefer? The now-classic 1971 film starring Gene Wilder, or the more recent 2005 film starring Johnny Depp?

[images: amazon]

Post from: Chocolate Bytes

As always, See’s Candies has a nice selection of Mother’s Day gifts that any mom would be happy to receive!

Packaged in pretty pastel boxes or a standard classic white box, I can tell you there are few other things I’d rather get from my kids Sunday morning (of course, handmade cards are on that short list!).

For that reason I’ve got a $25 gift card to See’s Candies to give away to one lucky winner!

To Enter:

Leave a comment here telling me what your favorite See’s is — whether it’s a certain piece of chocolate, a chocolate bar, a lollipop, etc, there is no wrong answer!

….

~ Contest ends Thursday, April 30 at 5:00pm PDT. One winner will be randomly drawn and notified by email, and will have 24 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen.

~ Giveaway open to U.S. residents only.

~ One winner will win one $25 See’s gift card.

[image used with permission from See's Candies]

Post from: Chocolate Bytes

But now they’ve gone and done it with Peanut Butter Dove. I was sent a bag this week and I’m not ashamed to say that it doesn’t seem to be lasting very long. The Dove chocolate is as rich and smooth as it always is, and the creamy peanut butter center is absolutely perfect.

One of the complaints I have with other peanut butter-filled chocolates (even See’s) is that there isn’t enough salt in the peanut butter. Reese’s seems to be the only one who’s gotten it right over the years, but I’ve noticed that even they seem to be cutting back, and that distinctive little bite from the salt in the peanut butter isn’t as noticeable anymore.

It’s a weird thing to complain about — not enough salt in my chocolate — but without it the peanut butter usually tends to fade into the background, which is just sad.

However, this is not the case with the Dove Peanut Butter chocolates. The amount of salt in the peanut butter is perfect — in fact, when I tried the first one I looked at my husband and said “They got it right!” and he agreed.

Each 8.5oz bag contains individually wrapped little squares wrapped in foil with the trademark Promises inspirations printed on the inside. Though they’re technically not set to be released until May, I’ve already seen them on the shelves at my local WalMart and a grocery store for about $3 a bag.

Check back over the next few days — I’ve got a few bags to give away!

Post from: Chocolate Bytes

Choclatique Spring Assortment

However, I’ve now tried a chocolate that has changed that. Choclatique has created a spring assortment of molded chocolates that are as decadent as its name, and, if you’ll forgive the prose, as light and fresh as a spring morning.

The collection holds 15 pieces in a beautiful rainbow of colors from pink to yellow and lavender, and dusted with 24-karat gold. The collections contains Chocolate Caramel in Dark Chocolate; Amaretto Latte Ganache; Banana Crème; Cherry Crème; Chocolate Créme; Créme Anglaise; Grand Marnier Créme; Key Lime Créme; Mandarin Orange Caramel; Mint Chip; Passion Fruit Caramel; Peach Créme; Saigon Cinnamon Caramel; Wild Berry Créme; and Strawberry Créme.

I was sent a few pieces to try out, and my little collection included:

Créme Anglaise: Vanilla custard ganache in milk chocolate — absolutely delicious, very light vanilla flavor

Amaretto Latte Ganache: Amaretto and espresso ganache in dark chocolate — the most decadent of the bunch, very pleasant coffee aftertaste

Chocolate Créme: Old fashioned chocolate pudding in milk chocolate — very delicate milk chocolate flavor, perfect pudding texture

Mint Chip: Chocolate, mint and white chocolate ganache in dark chocolate — my favorite, lighter and more satisfying than other mint chocolate counterparts I’ve tried

Each piece was amazing with a thick, creamy ganache center and satisfying outer shell. I wanted more of each one after I tried it.

What I found interesting is the way the colors are added to the pieces. I was a little wary at first because I assumed they were mostly white chocolate, which I’m not crazy about. However, these aren’t hollow bon bons of colored white chocolate with filling, these are creamy ganache in a milk or dark chocolate shell with a very light colored white chocolate coating over top on some. This was a very happy discovery!

The set is $35.00 US and is available until May 30. I highly recommend checking the collection out for yourself — you won’t be disappointed.

…

Choclatique is a “super-premium” quality chocolate company founded in California in 2003 by Ed Engoron and Joan Vieweger. Their take on chocolate is pretty simple: To create the most beautiful, distinctive, luscious and authentically American chocolates in the world!

And Choclatique is “proudly American:” the premium cacao beans are roasted, processed and refined in Burlingame, California; they use Hawaiian-grown cacao beans in selected items; the proprietary all-natural flavors are made in Oxnard, California; the packaging is made and printed in Dallas, Texas; and the specialty molds and equipment is made in Buffalo, New York.

[image used with permission from choclatique]

Post from: Chocolate Bytes

Deluxe Chocolate Sauce

2 c of semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 c of butter/margarine
1 tb of instant coffee powder
1/8 ts salt
1 tb of vanilla extract
2 c of powdered sugar
1 c of light corn syrup
1 c of hot water

Measure first five ingredients into a saucepan. Heat and stir over medium heat until smooth, remove from heat. Beat in icing sugar, syrup and water until smooth. Pour into jar, store in refrigerator. Makes 4 cups.

[image: flickr]

Post from: Chocolate Bytes

This week is International Pancake Week, and to have a little fun I did some searching for chocolate pancake videos. The one above shows how to make Chocolate Chip Pancakes from scratch and gives you the complete ingredient list at the end.

When I make chocolate chip pancakes for my kids I usually like to use the Nestle mini chips. I find I get more coverage and they don’t tend to melt to the pan as much as standard chips do.

Check out these white chocolate blueberry pancakes, and this cute video of chocolate chip pancakes used to make sundaes!

Post from: Chocolate Bytes

Ferrero is generously offering up five of their 16-piece Valentine hearts with all three of their popular Ferrero flavors (Rocher, Rondnoir, and Garden)!

As always, be sure to check out the very sweet ShareSomethingSweet.com for some cute, free Valentine’s Day e-cards!

To Enter:

Leave a comment here telling me what your most romantic moment (ever!) has been (try and keep it PG! . That’s it!

~ Giveaway closes at 5:00pm PST tomorrow, Tuesday February 10. Winners will be randomly chosen and notified by email and will have 24 hours to respond with mailing information before a new winner is chosen.

~ Open to U.S. residents only.

~ One entry per household, multiple entries will all be discarded.

~ Five winners will each win one 16-piece Ferrero Valentine heart.

Post from: Chocolate Bytes

I’ve always wanted to make these but just haven’t gotten around to it. I’m not sure why since they couldn’t be easier, and the kids would have an absolute blast with them!

Reader Eileen sent me this link to a recipe for cake balls that I’ve printed out and set on my desk as a reminder. These will be great for a sweet snack for this weekend’s Super Bowl party, though I’d probably have to double or triple it because I have a feeling they’d be a big hit!

Chocolate Cake Balls

1 box cake mix
1 container frosting
1- 24 oz package of almond bark or confectioner’s coating
wax paper
colored candy melts, butterscotch or peanut butter chips (optional for drizzle)

Bake cake according to package directions in any size cake pan. Remove cake from oven and immediately dump into a large bowl. Use a fork to break up the cake into crumbs. Add the entire container of frosting to the bowl and combine it with the cake. Stir until completely combined.

Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Roll cake mixture into balls and place on cookie sheet. Place cookie sheet into refrigerator for 2 hours to allow balls to chill.

After balls have chilled, remove cookie sheet from the refrigerator and place on counter. In a medium bowl or 4 cup glass measuring cup, melt half of the package of almond bark chocolate. Follow melting directions on the back of the package. (Only use half the package to begin with as the mixture will begin to thicken as it cools.)

Stir the chocolate until smooth. Using a spoon add a cake ball to the melted chocolate and turn to coat. Remove with spoon and replace on chilled wax paper on cookie sheet. Repeat for all cake balls, adding and melting more chocolate when level gets low.

As an option you can drizzle melted chocolate chips or candy melts across the tops.

[image: flickr]

Post from: Chocolate Bytes

Q.bel chocolate candy bars are made without any artificial colors, flavors, preservatives, high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated oils (trans fat). Q.bel candy bars are available at Whole Foods Markets nationwide.

“We aspire to provide our customers with the best tasting chocolate candy bars on the planet,” said Bahram Shirazi, CEO of Q.bel Foods.

“We live by three simple beliefs: Be True, Be Honest, Be Good. At Q.bel we use only the truest of ingredients, treat all of our partners with the highest level of integrity and honesty and care deeply about what our company represents and how it interacts with the world we live in. We are dedicated to maintaining the integrity of our products and being a responsible member of our community.”

Q.bel offers six varieties of its chocolate candy bars:

• Dark Chocolate Wafer Rolls
• Milk Chocolate Wafer Rolls
• Milk Chocolate/Peanut Butter Wafer Rolls
• Crispy Rice Dark Chocolate Wafer Bars
• Crispy Rice Milk Chocolate Wafer Bars
• Milk Chocolate/Peanut Butter Wafer Bars

Q.bel’s Chocolate Wafer Bars are made from layers of unsweetened crisp wafers with delectable fillings or real peanut butter, enrobed with Belgian chocolate. The Chocolate Wafer Rolls are made from rolled wafers, lightly filled with chocolate crème or real peanut butter and enrobed with yummy chocolate.

Q.bel was born after Bahram Shirazi set out to create a chocolate candy bar for his children that wasn’t filled with chemicals and artificial ingredients. The company is named after Bahram’s wife, Isabel (the bel in Q.bel). Q is for the quality of food which she provides for her family!

…..

One very lucky Chocolate Bytes winner will receive one case of candy bars containing six boxes of all six flavors, for a total of about 135 candy bars! (Enter for a second chance to win at FoodieObsessed.com, too!)

To Enter:

Leave a comment here telling me which one of the six flavors listed above you’d like to try most. That’s it!

* Contest closes at 5:00pm PST on Thursday, January 29. Winner will be notified by email and will have 24 hours to respond with mailing information before a new winner is chosen.

* Open to U.S. residents only.

* One entry per household. Multiple entries will all be discarded.

* One winner will win one case of candy bars, for a total of about 135 bars.

* All current Bloggy Giveaways at Chocolate Bytes may be entered one time each. Good luck!

Post from: Chocolate Bytes

The balls are hand-rolled fresh and then hand-dipped in chocolate from a recipe passed down from grandma. The balls come with six to a bag tied with a pretty ribbon.

Two lucky winners will win one bag each!

To Enter:

Leave a comment here telling me what your favorite handmade treat is. That’s it!

* Contest closes at 5:00pm PST on Thursday, January 29. Winner will be notified by email and will have 24 hours to respond with mailing information before a new winner is chosen.

* Open to U.S. residents only.

* One entry per household. Multiple entries will all be discarded.

* Two winners will win one bag each.

* All current Bloggy Giveaways at Chocolate Bytes may be entered one time each. Good luck!

Post from: Chocolate Bytes