A Fancier Holiday Treat in Chocolate

We've looked at chocolate cups, containers, and even spoons before here on The Chocolate Cult so today I wanted to look at two shapes of cups from Kane Candy where they make chocolate cups, chocolate and candy decorations, themed candy collections, and tubs of taffy.  They sent us samples of all five of the types of chocolate cups they make and sell but a two of these I want to look at for Valentine's Day and one I want to look at in the Spring, perhaps for Easter.  But let's focus on the winter holidays, shall we, Sisters and Brothers.

The thing about these chocolate cups is that you use them as both the container and an edible part of another treat or drink you are planning to serve.  If I'd had a lot of these, I could have waited on this review and done it in relationship to our Annual Holiday Party but since I had one box of each, I decided to have a small party instead with just a few closer friends on two separate occasions.

The first box I tried was of the Dark Chocolate Party Cups that come four to a box.  These are almost a quarter of a cup in size inside so you can get a fair amount into each.  As you can also see in the upper right and lower left corners, a good amount of dark chocolate and white chocolate curls are included for further decoration of your dessert.






I made a dark chocolate mousse to go with these.  I placed these in the refrigerator for about two hours so it could set and the mousse did not lose the airiness that makes it great.  I put these on a new plate, well, actually an older plate that your Chocolate Priestess got from her parents as they were clearing out their house.  I think it looks good like this.






Then I topped with some fat free whipped cream, and then added a mixture of the dark and white chocolate curls.  I think they look pretty, don't you?  When eating these we discovered that the sides come off cleanly when you bit them and the cup itself does not break easily nor melt so you can enjoy it at your leisure.  Taking this photo turned into a challenge but this version shows the differences in color between the mousse, cream, cups, and curls even if the rest if a bit dark.





The next box we tried were the Cordial and Tasting cups.  I invited our Chocolate Alcohol Acolytes over to sample some of the dessert wine I had from my birthday in the cups; only Elizabeth could make it this time but I've been told we have another alcohol related item on it's way to us for the holiday features so perhaps our other volunteer will be able to help then.  The box says to make sure  you don't put anything hot into them, obviously the chocolate would melt then, but the wine was chilled so that wasn't a problem.  




While I do drink alcohol, primarily wines, from time to time, as in a handful of times a year, I did receive a dessert wine (Essensia, a California Orange Muscat from Andrew Luady, 2009) that I wanted to try so I invited the lady who gave it to me over as well as our acolytes.  Only the gift giver and Elizabeth were able to come over so they, myself, and my hubby, tried some of of these out.  Elizabeth says The chocolate was a dark chocolate, smooth, crisp when broken apart.  I filled my cup multiple times (6).  The wine never tasted like the chocolate. The chocolate eventually hada  hint of the wine flavor when I finally ate it.

I then experimented and set one cup with the dessert wine aside for two hours to see if the chocolate would start to melt, absorb the alcohol, or both over time.  It did not start to melt though the inside was a lighter color. The orange flavor of the wine did soak just a bit into the dark chocolate.

I experimented more the following evening but letting one cup sit for four hours: the inside is lighter in color, the alcohol has a chocolatey flavor to it now, the chocolate of the cup is now a bit brittle, it breaks more easily and it has a slight orange flavor to it that tones down the bitterness.

Then one for 12 hours: this was more brittle and the chocolate was much less bitter while the wine itself had a strong cocoa and orange flavor but almost no alcohol taste or burn; is that last just a matter of being out of the bottle for so long?

And the final one sat for 20 hours just cause these were easy times for me to check on the process of wine and chocolate affecting each other. The chocolate by now was very soft and make no sound when I bit into it.  The wine's orange and the bitterness of the chocolate were well blended.

My overall advice is that if you want the wine to blend with the chocolate, set them up a few hours before guests arrive.  If you want two separate flavors and the cups are more for decoration or a final flavor, serve them quickly.

Kane Candy's chocolate cups are made of 60% dark chocolate with no added oils or fats or artificial flavors; high quality chocolate for you to use to make your meal or gathering a bit more festive.  I found them so easy to use as well as delicious.  I give this Sacramental status and look forward to revealing the other three boxes to you, Sisters and Brothers, in 2013.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Please contact me about a giveaway
crin@nobleworksinc.com, Tina