Summer Collection is Hot!

The playful creativity of the Summer Collection is not to be missed. There is a dessert in each piece. The Jasmine Petal Noyau over White Chocolate ganache has got to be one of the finest chocolates in the world. There is a restrained elegance that leaves you shouting for joy. "Noyau" is a naturally thickened gel that uses Jasmine Petals in combination with apple sauce to create a clean, full texture that carries the floral aromas. Then, the Ginger Rum piece goes a whole other direction with its bold sense of heat and the edgey-ness of dark rum to give a lingering memory to this confection. Both of these, of course, is enveloped in dark chocolate to prolong the flavor delivery experience. So that's a magnified pair of offerings found among a total of eight lovely pieces for the Summer Collection.

Anticipation

Anticipation has a lot of meaning for our Winter Collection. As we develop the fascinating flavors that will make up the collection, we are anticipating what our audience will experience. Will they find it varied and beautiful to look at? Will they find familiar favorites? Will they find enough new and unusual tastes to entice them to try yet another piece in the collection? Will they grow in their appreciation of fine chocolate and admiration for the sacred cocoa bean? Will they be so enthused about their discovery that they will want to share it with others? Will we hear their delight about how their gift was received? Will we be touched by the news that we made others happy through our life's work? These are the joys we anticipate as we present our Winter Collection you, dear audience!

Hooray SF Giants!

Love those Giants! We are so proud of such a bright, successful team. We sent dozens of people home from the market on Saturday with fabulous Go To Chocolate Apples so they could enjoy them while watching the Giants beat the Rangers in game three of the 2010 MLB World Series. We assume the apples were all eaten by the time Sunday's game came around. Now, about the apples, these plump jewels have dominated the Fall season for several years now. They take a lot of time to make and have always been a challenge to keep in stock along with the other intricate chocolates made by Go To Chocolate. But we persist in this labor of love because we love to see the excitement they generate and we love to eat them, too. They are available through December this year because the Fuji apples that are grown in Northern California are really getting good right about now. So let us know if you want one made without nuts or if there are any other special requests we can bring to you for pick up at either the College of San Mateo Farmers' Market or the Half Moon Bay Shoreline Station Farmers' Market. Go Giants!

Half Moon Bay Farmers' Market Opens Saturday

We're excited to have everyone visit us at our coastal outpost starting this Saturday, May 1, 2010. We will be dispensing our fine, fabulous chocolates from 9:00 am, sharp, until 1:00 pm, sharp, at the Coastside Half Moon Bay Farmers' Market. There may be a feeding frenzy and we don't mean the local sharks. We'll be sampling some favorite chocolates that you've been missing since we saw each other at the end of December. And many thanks to those loyal customers (and you know who you are) who drove over the hill to see us at our year 'round College of San Mateo spot. See you Saturday!

65% Ecuadorian Truffles with a Splash of Pomegranate

Yet another new confection was born this week. It is the result of noticing that the 65% Ecuadorian varietal chocolate chosen for this season's featured truffle is deep in flavor and somewhat astringent. The beautiful market pomegranates were speaking to me with their berry taste and astringency. These two were meant for each other.
Made by Guittard Chocolate Company, the Nacional variety of cocoa beans from Ecuador are converted to a dark chocolate characterized by an earthy, deep chocolate flavor, lots of aromatics and lots of antioxidants. So why not add more from the same taste profile found in the pomegranate. The result is a fruit forward chocolate with a lot of taste to occupy the senses and soothe the nerves.

The Masterful Winter Collection is Released

The image of the Old Master's fine paintings is an expression of the beautiful flavor of Go To Chocolate as expressed in this season's Winter Collection, just released. The inspiration, like the Old Masters works, is the appreciation of the beauty of ordinary things seen in an extraordinary light. First, the use of Organically grown California Almonds is combined with 61% dark chocolate to create this year's leading new piece, Almond Bark. What really makes this piece a standout is the process of twice roasting the almonds so that the flavor fully develops without yielding bitter off notes. The quality of the nuts is superb and the new crop is very fresh. They are the product of Francesca's Fresh Produce in the Central Valley. There are ten all new pieces, many created using local produce as inspired by the Farmers Market community of the Bay Area. By the way, our photographer, Barak Yedidia has captured the essence of Go To Chocolate in an all new, Old World light that will dazzle viewers of our home page.

"These Apples Are Beautiful"

I've been hearing this a lot. People exclaim about the visual impact of the Chocolate covered, almond encrusted caramel apples. There is something very Fall-ish about the colors and something very alluring about the visual textures. But the real fun begins when tasting them. This year we turned to our fellow Coastside Farmers' Market vendor, Rainbow Orchards http://www.rainboworchards.info/, for tasty, fresh and local fruit. We tested their Gala apples which were awesome but then discovered an obscure variety that works perfectly for this confection, the Jona Gold. We were immediately struck by the perfume-like aroma that leaps out with the first crunchy bite. They are not especially tart and they are almost like champagne on the pallet, crisp in taste and texture. The caramel, chocolate and almond layers blend beautifully to complete that exciting taste experience. And when people want to share, the fruit can be cut off the core in four, straight cuts and then sliced into wedges. This is just a suggestion because we also know that there are a lot of kid-type people who just want to eat the whole thing themselves and are determined to eat it off the stick. That works! I love these apples!