This post is brought to you by Ghirardelli Intense Dark™ Chocolate.
Soooo, do you guys remember when I shared this photo with you all this past Monday?
Umm, yeah. The day the mailman dropped (no, wait – hand delivered!) this package to my doorstep, he immediately became my new best friend. I mean, how could he not?
(FYI: If you want to be best friends, bring me chocolate. Lots of it.)
So how did I get so lucky to wind up with all of this fantastic PMS cure stuff? Well, I wound up being selected to participate in this campaign through the DailyBuzz Food Tastemaker Program, so I received 14 bars of dark chocolate:
- (2) Evening Dream 60% Cacao
- (2) Twilight Delight 72% Cacao
- (2) Cabernet Matinee
- (2) Sea Salt Soiree
- (2) Hazelnut Heaven
- (2) Toffee Interlude
- (2) Midnight Reverie 86% Cacao
YUM.
All this past week, Jay and I took turns sampling the various bars of chocolate just as they were; not added to a dessert, not baked with…just plain and simple dark chocolate. Needless to say, our after-dinner desserts were taken care of this week!
Most of the times, we just ate the chocolate without anything else. A couple of times we did try them with some other food, and we did pair a couple of them with a glass of wine.
I’m actually really hoping to try out the Cabernet Matinee with a glass of red wine sooner rather than later. Jay and I are mostly white wine drinkers, but I have a feeling that if it’s anything like the wine and chocolate pairing Jay and I did a couple years back, it would just be incredible.
That was such a fun day.
One of our favorites was the Sea Salt Soiree. I love when dark chocolate has a little added crunch to it, and the almonds delivered just that. Plus, you can basically pair any chocolate with sea salt and it’s incredible, right?
I was actually drinking a glass of white wine when I tried this one, and call me crazy, but it actually wasn’t a bad pairing?! I know dark chocolate is supposed to pair best with red wine, but I apparently don’t have that keen sense of good wine pairings. I just like to drink the stuff.
Another favorite of mine was the Hazelnut Heaven.
I don’t know what it is, but any sort of chocolate with hazelnuts always reminds me of Christmas. It’s funny because, as much baking as we do over the holidays, I don’t think there is one thing that anyone in my family ever makes that even has hazelnuts in it.
Then again, maybe it’s because hazelnut sounds almost like chestnut, which makes me think of them roastINGGGGG on an open fiiiiiiireee. (<—that’s me singing)
Then againnnnn, maybe I’m just rambling, so let’s move on.
There were a few bars that Jay and I were not total fans of, which we really weren’t surprised by…
These three bars were just a bit too dark for our liking and sort of gave us a few of these squinched face moments.
I’ve never been a huge fan of just plain chocolate bars (I know, call me crazy, right?). I’m thinking that these may end up being good to bake with – just finely chop them up and add them into a cookie recipe or something. Nowwwww we’re talkin’!
Out of all seven flavors of dark chocolate that we tried though, we most definitely ended up with a clear winner…
The Toffee Interlude…mixed with toffee bits AND caramelized almonds?! Sign. Me. UP.
Want to know something funny? Just writing about this one got me so excited that I had to go grab another square of it.
What can I say? The stuff is GOOD.
Thank you SO very much to my friends at DailyBuzz Food for offering me a major chocolate fix this past week. It was much needed and very much appreciated!
Question for the Afternoon:
Are you a fan of dark chocolate? What would have (or is) your favorite?
Olivia @ Liv Lives Life says
Isn’t that funny…the three bars that you didn’t like are my favorites! Haha! I’d love to try the Cabernet Matinee, though…that sounds so good!
P.S. I don’t think any of us can blame you for rambling. You are talking about chocolate, after all! :-)
Michelle@Peachy Palate says
I love really dark chocolate, it’s my fav! What a cool thing to be a part of, not exactly a hardship having to taste them all! Yum!
Cait says
oh man the 86% is my fav!
Amanda @ Let Me Be What's Underneath says
Oh girl–you just made me want some chocolate in the worst way!! :)
Hannah @ CleanEatingVeggieGirl says
I used to HATE dark chocolate..like we’re talking major loathe. But then I started eating healthy and my tastebuds have truly changed. I might actually prefer the dark stuff over milk chocolate..now that is something I never thought I’d say.
Marielle says
I’m an all-inclusive chocolate lover. But my favorite is dark chocolate and red wine..,yum! Enjoy all the chocolate lucky girl!
Claire @ Keeping Up With Claire says
I looooove the sea salt soiree. The other night I melted a couple of squares with some almond milk and peanut butter and ate it with a banana-so, so good. Dark chocolate is definitely my favorite, but Reese’s win in my book every time.
Julie H. of Spinach and Sprinkles says
we.can’t.be.friends……. seriously, all that chocolate is making me too jealous to even be nice ;)
Sea salt- mmmmmm! My mouth is watering. I like the super dark stuff so that I only eat a square of it!! AND ——> Cabernet Matinee! That must be heaven!
Michelle @ Eat Move Balance says
I’ll gladly take any of the dark chocolate off your hands! :) I LOVE dark chocolate. The darker the better! It cracked me up about the squinched faces. lol. That’s what my husband does, too.
Sam @ Better With Sprinkles says
I’m a fan of chocolate, period. :-)
That toffee one looks amazing! I’ve got a dark chocolate coconut camino bar I’m working my way through right now, and it’s definitely making me happy.
My absolute fav is dark chocolate and salt caramel. I got it in a Godiva truffle last March and I’m still thinking about it. So good.
Deb says
LOVE dark chocolate – LOVE Ghirardheli – Dark Chocolate Caramel & Sea Salt – DIVINE!!!
Erica @ For the Sake of Cake says
These bars look so good! I’d especially like to try the Hazelnut Heaven! I like dark chocolate, but I think I like milk chocolate more!
Linz @ Itz Linz says
i love chocolate! i just came back from ghirardelli square in san francisco! the pumpkin spice caramel chocolate is so good!! i love fruit flavors, too!
Lindsey says
Love dark chocolate! Sea salt is always yummy :)
Beks says
I actually adore dark chocolate. The darker, the better. I like to let the little squares melt in my mouth. But it’s fantastic for baking, too.
Katie @ Talk Less, Say More says
I LOVE dark chocolate and while 70%+ might be a bit much for me, I do really like the darker varieties. YUM! And I don’t think my family really does much with hazelnuts either. Maybe this year I need to change that? :)
Julianna @ Julianna Bananna says
i love their sea salt soiree!
Renee says
If my mailman delivered chocolate to my door, I would fall in love with him!
I think the 3 you didn’t like would be my favorites. I don’t like toffee at all, it has an odd taste to me. I bet the sea salt kind are amazing, sweet and salty are always great together.
Natalie @ Free Range Human says
I do love dark chocolate! I think I would have to go with the toffee.
Kim@hungryhealthygirl says
Yum…it all looks good! I’m not a big fan of dark chocolate either, but I try to choose because I know it’s healthier. ;)
Taylor says
I am in love with the Sea Salt Soirée one! I recommend having it with a couple more almonds on the side….might seem like almond overload but I promise you, the added ‘crunch’ makes it extra delicious! Also – try the squares after they’ve chilled in the freezer for about 10 minutes :) pure heaven!
Trisha says
Mmmm, LOVE dark chocolate!! That Toffee Interlude looks amaaaazing!
Khushboo says
Looove dark choc, especially with sea salt! The weird thing is that I love choc bars yet find choc-based desserts a bit too intense…I’m more vanilla :)
Gina @ Health, Love, and Chocolate says
I think I might die and go to heaven if I was sent that much dark chocolate. ;-)
Ashlee @ A Step in the Right Direction says
I am with you I am not a big fan of chocolate bars. I like to have something in with it, such as toffee and almonds.
The sea salt one looks yummy too. I like sweet and salty together.
Dee says
Oh my, am I jealous of that spread! I almost always have a bag of ghiradelli 60% cacao chips at home! Love that stuff for baking and snacking! I like it with raisins, dried cranberries, and whole natural almonds (my trail mix of choice!) yum!
Danielle@cleanfoodcreativefitness says
How awesome! I love dark chocolate! It took a while of getting used to but I finally think I love it way more than milk chocolate! That toffee bar looks so great!
Shannon says
I LOVE dark chocolate- it’s most definitely my favorite kind to eat and bake with. There’s not a specific flavor of dark chocolate that I like. Plain dark chocolate is what I like the best- no add ins for me.
Bek @ Crave says
I do enjoy dark chocolate but I’m the same with you in that I probably wouldn’t like the dark, dark stuff.
Lea @ Greens and Coffee Beans says
I lovelovelove dark chocolate! I’m the weirdo that eats 100% cacao chocolate. I like it DARK!
Amanda says
I do love dark chocolate. Sea Salt Soiree and Toffee Interlude are 2 of my favorite chocolate bars EVER. Usually my fiance and I just hit up the chocolate aisle at Whole Foods though, and see what’s on sale. It’s a fun way to try new things!
Bonnie says
Toffee Interlude is my FAVORITE!!! You have good taste ;)
Kerry Smith says
Oh, this chocolate looks very appetizing. I think. that chocolate is loved by everyone without exception because it is very tasty and perfectly relieves stress. By the way, if you are thinking about a gift idea for some of your friends or relatives, you can pay attention to fairtrade chocolate box. This gift option has a very cool natural chocolate filling with different flavors. Everyone will love this gift for sure.