Roasted Strawberries Drizzled With Chocolate Balsamic – Recipe

May is National Strawberry Month, which fits in perfectly with Mother’s Day and the start of summer.  Enjoy the sweet fruits of summer with this fabulous recipe, which includes a savory chocolate balsamic to drizzle on top.

Fire Up Cinco de Mayo With Spicy Chocolate

Cinco de Mayo doesn’t have to be all about chips and beer.  Let’s spice it up a little and bring on the chocolate!

National Truffles Day Is Here

May 2 is National Truffles Day.  How will you be celebrating?  I heard about some special chocolates made by a pastry chef who worked at The French Laundry and with some of Europe’s finest chocolatiers.   These chocolates are limited in selection and are only sent out in special invitation-only allocations four times a year.  Sign me up!

Essential Chocolate Desserts – Review

So we’re heading home from the Long Beach Grand Prix and decide to find a place to get some chocolate goodies. Essential Chocolate Desserts is on the way home so we stop in for a visit.  Walking in you get embraced by truffles and handmade goodies that make your eyes pop.  Our choices (as shown in the photo above):

Ding Dong – Must have!  Tastes like the real thing, but doesn’t leave a weird, waxy taste in your mouth.  Cake is thick and the filling is dense and creamy.  Great chocolate shell.  Not overly sweet, it balances the flavors nicely.

Mini flourless cake – No thanks.  Lacked flavor and the texture was more like a muffin.

Cake truffle – We took more of these home, as you see from the photo above.  Awesome flavor and texture.  About the size of a golf ball, they take a few bites to enjoy and are worth every one.  I am not a cake fan, but these are more like frosting/cake balls covered in chocolate.  The cake is barely noticeable.  German chocolate was our favorite.

Another tasty treat we took home was a chocolate macaroon.  Again, I am not a big fan, but wanted to try it.  Glad we did because it was fabulous and had the consistency of a fudgy brownie.  Great flavor, too.

If you are ever in the neighborhood of Essential Chocolate Desserts, I highly recommend stopping in for some goodies.  In the market for premium chocolate?  Check out the selection at Drexelius Chocolates and have some delivered today.

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Let’s review more chocolate.  Be the first to know what’s up with all things chocolate.  Follow me @drexchocolates, subscribe to my feed or sign up for chocolate blog updates. ❤ forever.  And tell a friend because sharing is caring!

Save Money With Free Shipping At Drexelius Chocolates

When I started Drexelius Chocolates I wanted to make it easy for fellow chocolate lovers to get fantastic, high quality chocolate at a great price.  But what about shipping?  Like you, I love free shipping so I decided to offer it, too!

Take advantage of the Free Shipping on orders over $25 today and enjoy some of the best chocolate on the planet.

Free Shipping guidelines:

• No codes to enter or remember
• No hoops to jump through about which products apply
• US orders only
• Orders must be over $25
• Year round – No date exclusions
• Warm weather packing incl (more savings for you!)

Shipping is quick and convenient so order chocolate today so you can start saving for more chocolate tomorrow.  Ha ha!

Do you know other chocolate lovers interested in saving money?  Make sure they know about Drexelius Chocolates and help them save money, too.

Enjoy great chocolate and save 🙂

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Super shipping savings! Be the first to know what’s up with all things chocolate.  Follow me @drexchocolates, subscribe to my feed or sign up for chocolate blog updates. ❤ forever.  And tell a friend because sharing is caring!

Make Mother’s Day Hassle Free With Great Chocolate Gifts

Mother’s Day is the day Mom should get to kick up her heels and relax, soaking in the love and care from those around her.  So make sure to give gifts that don’t require tons of prep, hard work or extra fluff to enjoy.  Here are my recommendations, which can be savored right out of the box:

Tisano Chocolate Tea is a 100% natural and 100% delicious chocolate tea ready for her enjoyment.  Treat her today!

Nunu Chocolates Hokey Pokey will give Mom a taste of honeycomb covered in chocolate.  This Brooklyn chocolatier is taking Paris by storm.  Beat the crowds and order Nunu now.

Or you can order a chocolate gift set that will let Mom know you care.  Gifts sets like Divine Dark and Spicy Sweet are designed with chocolate lovers in mind.  Order Mom a yummy chocolate gift set today and we’ll make sure it is on its way!

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Chocolate lovers unite!  Be the first to know what’s up with all things chocolate.  Follow me @drexchocolates, subscribe to my feed or sign up for chocolate blog updates. ❤ forever.  And tell a friend because sharing is caring!

Baked Pears with Melted Chocolate – Recipe

Juicy, ripe pears baked to perfection, stuffed with a healthy, spicy oat mix.  Top it off with melted chocolate and you have a delicious, simple dessert or quick nutritious meal.  Dig in and enjoy!

Baked Pears with Melted Chocolate
Yield : makes 4 servings
Total time:  40  minutes, including prep

Ingredients

• 2 ripe Bosc pears
• 3 T room temp butter, divided
• 4 t pastry flour
• 2T dark brown sugar, packed
• 1/3 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 t ground cinnamon
• 3 ounces chocolate, melted

Directions
1)  Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Put rack in center of oven.

2)  Cut pears in half lengthwise (from top to bottom).  Using a melon baller or small spoon, scoop out the core.

3)  Melt 1T of butter.  Brush cut side of pear with butter and place cut-side up on a glass baking dish.

3)  In a small bowl, mix flour, sugar, oats, cinnamon and remaining butter until well combined.  Divide between pear halves, filling each of the holes.

4)  Bake for 20 minutes.  Reduce temp to 350 degrees and continue cooking until pears are nice and tender, which will be another 10-15 minutes.

5)  Remove from oven.  Plate one pear and drizzle/pour chocolate sauce on top.  Serve warm.  Careful, they are hot!

This recipe gives an elegant finish to a meal without a lot of fuss.  You really can make this great recipe anytime and enjoy the wonderful flavors as a meal or snack.  In fact, I ate two servings while writing this post!  Check out the great selection of chocolate at Drexelius Chocolates and make this recipe shine.

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Another delicious chocolate recipe. Be the first to know what’s up with all things chocolate.  Follow me @drexchocolates, subscribe to my feed or sign up for chocolate blog updates. ❤ forever.  And tell a friend because sharing is caring!

How to Select Great Chocolate

How to Select Great Chocolate
I thought I knew chocolate, but then I got a chocolate education.  Here are a few tips on how to select a premium chocolate bar:

Small List of Quality Ingredients
Any good product starts with quality ingredients.  Good chocolate bars will a maximum of six things:

Cocoa liquor or cocoa mass — the actual “chocolate” from the cocoa bean

Cocoa butter — the other part of the cocoa bean, which lends creaminess to the bar

Sugar

Natural Vanilla

Soya lecithin — this is a natural emulsifier

Milk or milk powder — if you are looking for a milk chocolate

Some chocolate producers are leaving out vanilla, soya lecithin and/or cocoa butter because they say it interferes with the true flavor in the chocolate.  This is not to say that all chocolate bars with the list of items above will all be “premium.”   Over-processed cocoa removes the delicate flavors and many health benefits from the cocoa bean.

Ingredients To Avoid When Selecting Good Chocolate:

Dutch (processed, Alkalized) cocoa

Palm kernel oil or any other processed fat

Vanillin – an artificial flavoring

Tantalize your taste buds with our current chocolate selection at Drexelius Chocolates and start enjoying the good stuff today!

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Be a label reader. Be the first to know what’s up with all things chocolate.  Follow me @drexchocolates, subscribe to my feed or sign up for chocolate blog updates. ❤ forever.  And tell a friend because sharing is caring!

Simple Ideas To Go Green On Earth Day 2011

Earth Day 2011 – Celebrate our planet.

Here are some simple ideas to help you go green in celebration of Earth Day.  Take a look at how you (or your business) can reduce your carbon footprint in easy ways and help the environment this Earth Day.  Need some simple ideas to get you started?  Here are a few:

• Junk Mail — reducing junk mail helps you and the planet
• Phone books — stop the clutter and stop getting them delivered
• Your Car — get your oil changed to help your car work better
• Your Home — turn off unused lights, equipment and appliances
• Travel — flying nonstop keeps your stress low and reduces waste
• Office — print less or double-sided when possible

Drexelius Chocolates is thrilled to be continuing in the CarbonFree® partnership with Carbonfund.org, a non-profit carbon offset provider.  This company helps improve our carbon footprint for the things we can’t reduce while making a world of difference.  Plus, check out the nifty certificate.  Carbonfund.org has plenty of great energy-saving ideas on their site at the  Save Energy page


Recycle.  Reduce.  Reuse.  Rejoice!
The chocolate makers at Drexelius Chocolates are very passionate about their chocolate, their farmers and the world.  A healthy environment yields quality ingredients to produce better products.

Taste something special at Drexelius Chocolates, help the environment and save money, too.  Remember:  Free shipping for US orders over $25.  Order chocolate today!

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Go green with chocolate. Be the first to know what’s up with all things chocolate.  Follow me @drexchocolates, subscribe to my feed or sign up for chocolate blog updates. ❤ forever.  And tell a friend because sharing is caring!

Original Beans Piura Porcelana – Review

Along with the recent new packaging design and a new lower price, Original Beans also brought out a new chocolate bar – Piura Porcelana.  The packaging splash is bright pink for Piura.

In 2007, Original Beans discovered a “forgotten” white cacao, or “Porcelana,” in the foothills of the Andes in Peru.  Porcelana criollo cacao is ultra-rare and was previously thought only to be found in Venezuela and Mexico and is appreciated for its exceptionally vibrant, fruity flavors.

Nearly extinct, Original Beans’ collaboration with the regional farmer cooperative has brought this variety back into production.  The replanting program allows local farmers to make the transition from rice to cacao and higher cacao prices for this prized bean guarantee farmers a good future.

Let’s taste this 2011 Piura Porcelana bar from Original Beans:

• This new bar is a 75% dark chocolate and comes out of the package showing off a smooth, deep leather brown color and a glossy sheen.  The aroma that hits my nose is sweet, almost creamy, with a hint of nuts and reminds me of marshmallows – light, fluffy.  The bar has a crisp snap, a super smooth mouthfeel like the Beni bar and melts cleanly.  The bar does not taste sweet.  It is light and fruity, with a mellow citrus note and it floats on your tongue.  Not bold or jarring.  Long finish.

Original Beans continues their efforts to preserve the bean’s native habitats and prevent further deforestation.  For every bar you buy they will plant a tree in the region of the bean’s origin, which you can learn about using the lot number on your bar via their site.  They have recyclable packaging, offset their fossil fuel use and use renewable energy in the production of their chocolate.

A green chocolate company makes dark chocolate with rare white cacao.  Buy the Piura Porcelana chocolate bar and all the Original Beans chocolate for your favorite chocolate lover at Drexelius Chocolates now.  Make your taste buds dance with joy!

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Green “white” chocolate. Be the first to know what’s up with all things chocolate.  Follow me @drexchocolates, subscribe to my feed or sign up for chocolate blog updates. ❤ forever.  And tell a friend because sharing is caring!