Mass marketed chocolate isn’t necessarily bad – in fact some of it is downright tasty. However, since it’s easily accessible, we’re far less inclined to put it on a towering pedestal in the same way that we might with costly yet typically higher quality artisan confections that have limited distribution.
Today, we have a guest review from Tanna Reynolds reviewing Mo’s Bacon Bar (remember, anyone can guest write for Candy Addict, drop us an email).
On my most recent visit to sample the candy man’s wares (trust me, chocolate is serious business to this shop owner/mad scientist), I found myself both intrigued and repulsed by the sight of a large chocolate bar whose wrapper, adorned with a huge bacon slice and a milk chocolate square, boasted of a most unusual blend of flavors. My search had ended, and $9.00 and some obligatory chocolate talk later, me and Mo’s Bacon Bar were headed for home.
I don’t know who started this whole “combine salt with chocolate or other candy” craze, but I wholeheartedly support it! I am not a salt freak by any means, but the judicious sprinkling of salt on caramels, in chocolate, or other candies is really yummy. That’s why I pounced on the Vosges Barcelona Bar when I saw it at Cost Plus World Market. (Cost Plus has a really great selection of sweets, in case you didn’t know).
Chicago-based Vosges makes chocolates flavored with an assortment of spices and exotic ingredients. Their Barcelona Bar is a dark milk chocolate (41 percent cacao) with hickory-smoked almonds and grey sea salt. Yowza! The salt is not overpowering–it tickles the roof of your mouth and alerts your taste buds to pay attention. The chocolate is smooth, but the main flavoring in this bar is the almonds. They don’t skimp on the almonds in this bar at all. Every bite is filled with the crunch of almonds.
I really enjoyed the bar, but since I am not completely in love with almonds in chocolate (I mean, I’ll eat it if it’s there, but if I had my druthers I’d have plain chocolate or chocolate with peanuts), I probably wouldn’t buy it again. The Vosges chocolate bars run about $7 each, so they are definitely a gourmet treat.
Another Vosges bar I tried recently is the Bobbi Brown Beauty Bar. Yes, that Bobbi Brown. I was scanning a wall of chocolates when I spotted the cosmetic maven’s logo on what appeared to be a chocolate bar. I looked more carefully at it, and the description indicated it was a dark milk chocolate bar with matcha green tea powder in it. Two of my favorite ingredients! This purchase was a no-brainer. I tell you, I could buy a case of this chocolate bar. The matcha flavor is actually quite subtle, but what it does is enhance the flavor of the chocolate. It’s milky but very flavorful, and I swear the addition of matcha helps the chocolate flavor linger. Good stuff, that! I would definitely buy this bar again. And again. And yet again.
Buy Vosges bars online:
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