South Dakota Chocolate #2

While up in Watertown, we happened to come across another local chocolatier making for two such shops in one South Dakato town.  This one is wonderfully named Sweet Memories and is downtown on East Kemp.  They don't currently have a website though the store owner, Randy H. Schliesman told me they are planning on creating one so you'll need to check out their Facebook page I've linked.  Randy is a new chocolatier but he is going through all the proper certifications to become European trained so their business has great prospects I think.  As with the other Watertown chocolatier, this store also offered us some samples we'll reveal in a later Saturday Sacrament.

You'll see a trend in what I was able to buy at Sweet Memories on my budget for stopping by chocolatiers we found: Treats on a stick.  The Milk Chocolate Acolyte worried you all would think this was all they made but I assured him that I'd tell you otherwise plus you'll learn about their fudge and truffles during the Sacrament.  I choose these four samples because they are unique, I had not seen their type of chocolate treat in any other shop I've visited and I know you all love variety, Sisters and Brothers.

I want to start with this white chocolate rose.  It came in a few colors but I really liked the red one and I hope my photo shows you the petals they've created.  I mean created because clearly this was layered on by hand.  It is heavy to hold and I really don't to bite into it but I know I must for you all.   This smells like white chocolate and dye and triggers a concern.  With white chocolate, almost any added flavor can easily become the most powerful essence in a candy or treat.  Dye frankly does not taste good to me.  I have to maneuver it around to bite off the top of one petal and keep it from cracking but I am glad I did because there is no dye flavor here, none, only creamy milk chocolate and I am very pleased by the taste.

Next up was a seasonal treat that I still think can give us a taste for their molded white chocolates in general.  This Easter egg on a stick will hopefully be of the same quality as the rose though clearly it is more mass produced that the previous treat.  It has a simple milk chocolate odor bite a bit of vanilla bite to it when I nibble off a section.  Less creamy and more buttery in flavor than the rose was.

Remember campfires and S'mores?  We've talked about "National S'mores Day" in the past and we'll mention that again in 2010.  This marshmallow on a stick is sort like a S'more but let's see how thick the chocolate on it actually is under the graham cracker crumbs.  The chocolate coating is just the right amount I think and the chocolate tastes a bit bitter meaning it is probably a darker variety.  The sugar of the marshmallow and it's chewiness work well with the chocolate graham crackers so while not a perfect copy of a S'more it's a fun variation.  Melt it a few seconds in the microwave to get a closer match or dunk it in hot chocolate.

Finally we have a baked good on a stick and covered in dark chocolate.  The brownie is very intense with a deep, bitter dark chocolate over it.  Definitely has a cocoa kick to it.  Instead of the super moist type of brownie that pulls apart like taffy I sometimes see, this is a more cakelike brownie which it would have to be for dunking in the chocolate coating.  Collectively this dark chocolate coating over the brownie is almost chocolate overload.  An interesting idea I might have to try and copy since I live two days drive from Watertown.   These last two treats you'll want to eat within a few days for maximum freshness even though each treat was individually wrapped in plastic.

If these unique treats sound interesting to you and you are in the eastern part of South Dakota then Sweet Memories is worth finding.  Hopefully they'll have a website soon, perhaps by the time we do a Saturday Sacrament in a few weeks or so.  These are just two pictures of the store front that I took.  I also could see their kitchen but the lady who helped me didn't want to be in a photo so I didn't take one of that area.

Sisters and Brothers, may you, too, take the time to slowly appreciate what the Divine and human ingenuity have offered you in chocolate.