A Chocolate Goddess for the Fall Equinox

The fall equinox comes on September 23, a Tuesday this year, so I wanted to reveal this wonderful work of art that we were sent -- the Venus of Willendorf in dark chocolate from Sucré Bleu.  I tested this with my women's group because many people have seen this figurine as an empowering symbol plus we all like dark chocolate and everyone is very opinionated so I know they'd be honest with me. Because your Chocolate Priestess was a history student and professor for a while, let her geek out a bit about this.

Here's a photo of the 1908 find of the figurine (now often called the Woman of Willendorf by some scholars).  The mold that Sucré Bleu made resulted in a very realistic chocolate version of her, don't you think? The original statue isn't large only 4.25 inches or 10.8 cm tall.  It was discovered in Austria on the banks of the Danube River and is dated back at least 22,000 years ago during an ice age.  While archaeologists and scholars originally ascribe religious meaning to the figure the truth is that we may never know why she was made or what she was used since we do not know for certain which prehistoric people made her.  That they did when they would have been struggling to survive suggests that she was very important however.

We know what the Sucré Bleu dark chocolate version of this icon is for -- eating!  Not only is this solid dark chocolate but it has peanut butter chips and pretzels pieces in it as well.  If you are allergic to any of the ingredients that would normally be used to make dark chocolate, pretzels, or peanut butter you should steer clear obviously.  However the artist behind Sucré Bleu describes her work as "an absurdly delicious conversation piece" and you'll see that we did indeed talk about it when I tested it with three other women.

Everyone loved the looked of this Venus, one said this is the most beautiful chocolate that she'd ever seen. One of my testers pointed out she is only made in the half, not the full model of the figurine.  In this case that was good because it made it much easier to cut her up (cry) and share her out.  That posed a problem when another woman said It seems sad to destroy her, should we have some sort of ritual?  So we did.  We laid her down, we thanked her and Sucré Bleu for sharing her bounty with us, and we paused in silence for a few seconds.

Inside we found pretzel pieces and peanut butter chips.  From the outside we could only smell the dark chocolate but once you have her open you can smell salt, a hint of peanut, and grain. We noticed that the flat back wasn't completely flat but had lumps for the pieces of pretzels and chips inside.  One of the testers suggested that perhaps a layer of dark chocolate coated the top and side to make them smooth and shiny compared to the back.  The initial flavor upon taking a bite from this figure was sweet chocolate blending into a grainy saltiness, and a hint of creaminess before turning to a slightly bitter chocolate; no one in the foursome got peanut yet because it blended so well we didn't mind and figured the creaminess might be from the chips.  The flavor was best described as harmonious.  This was a pleasure to each of our mouths. The pretzels were crunchy, the chips creamy, and the chocolate smooth; everyone loved the texture.  In this case letting it melt in our mouths wasn't as enjoyable since it blended the flavors a bit too much.

For beauty and thoughtfulness as well as overall sensory pleasure, the Chocolate Venus of Willendorf earns our highest honor of Sacrament status. Sucré Bleu holds great promise as a chocolate company with an artistic soul and you all need to go check this out and order one.

Pages Consulted:

PBS
ASU
Art History Resources Online
Then Again