ZOMG, Candy!

Is it spring yet? I’m not used to living with snow on the ground for 3 months straight!

Chow’s got 10 hot chocolate recipes to take away the chill and satisfy your sweet tooth. They look tasty!

My boyfriend shared this YouTube video about a German man who makes playable records out of chocolate. Let it be known that he sent me the scoop before Serious Eats wrote about it; it just took a while to make it through my posting queue for publication.

This trompe l’oeil chocolate salami doesn’t look all that appetizing to me (I’m too scared of pure animal fat to enjoy sausage/salami), but the recipe sounds great: ginger snaps, dried fruit, and lots of chocolate!

Scientists at the University of Birmingham have recently created a chocolate bar made of 60% water, yet (supposedly) tastes, smells, and feels just like the real thing.

Chocolate’s melting point, right around body temperature, is part of its appeal, as it feels good on the tongue. According the Telegraph, University of Birmingham researchers replaced chocolate’s fat particles with water. The water particles bind the cocoa butter together, which enables the chocolate to still melt at just below body temperature.

I’ll believe that it tastes and feels the same when I get to try it myself. Still, it sounds promising and interesting!

Remember those awfully marketed but okay tasting Fling bars from Mars? I think they’ve been repurposed - and repackaged - as “new” 3 Musketeers Truffle Crisp bars. Here’s the new bar’s website and the press release announcing them.

Below is the Fling version of the bars. I guess Mars dropped the sparkly chocolate angle. I also find it interesting that they chose to give them the 3 Musketeers brand to boost sales, presumably because they’ve already established the brand as a lower calorie and lower fat alternative candy bar. Isn’t marketing fascinating?

Finally, the new bar’s tagline, “Rich enough to share, but you really won’t want to” is so much better than the Fling’s, “Your boyfriend doesn’t need to know.”

I got the chance to interview Chuck Siegel, president and founder of Charles Chocolates, via his PR firm. “Transcript” below.

1) What is your favorite mass-produced, decidedly non-gourmet, checkout aisle/vending machine-style candy bar?

Chuck Siegel: I love a frozen Snickers bars on a really hot summer day.

2) What is the most unusual chocolate you’ve ever tasted?

CS: I was at a chocolate conference a few years ago where one of the passed hors d’oeuvres was small chocolate covered squids.

3) What flavor combinations have you played with that just didn’t work?

CS: How much time do you have?  In the name of experimentation, I have tried hundreds of combinations that will (rightly so) never see the light of day.

4) How does you feel about the closing of the Emeryville factory? Do you hope to recreate it, or elements of it, in the new flagship?

CS: Very sad on one level - Our 4 1/2 years in Emeryville have been fantastic, and we have developed a wonderful local following here.  We are indeed planning on recreating the unique open kitchen experience that we have in Emeryville in San Francisco.  I can’t say more right now, but our newsletter will have more information as soon as it can be made public.

5) Any advice for aspiring chocolate entrepreneurs?

CS: Practice, practice, practice.  Seriously, you need to make sure you have mastered the craft to the point where you chocolates can stand side-by-side with the best that are out there.  Beyond that, make sure to feed as many people that you don’t already know, and who will give you very honest feedback, to make sure that you are making something that people will go crazy for - there is nothing easier than getting people to buy exceptional confections.

Chocolate-covered squid? I don’t we’ll be seeing those in the candy aisle anytime soon.

Thanks, Mr. Siegel, for taking the time to answer my questions! And thanks for making delicious confections!

The “World Chocolate Wonderland” theme park recently opened in Beijing. The UK’s Daily Telegraph has a slideshow gallery of the amazing things in that park, including a gorgeous yellow robe that looks like embroidered silk but is actually chocolate. It’s mind-boggling!

The Chinese characters for chocolate are “qiao ke li”, which (as best I can represent) is pronounced “chiao keuh li”. To me, that sounds enough like chocolate to think that it came from the English word, and some other internet postings seem to agree. Anyone know for sure? If it is an import, that could help explain the chocolate conundrum that Slate’s Daniel Gross faced in China.

From my friend Steve, a list of 20 prettily packaged chocolates. I don’t quite get why some of these merit a special mention (not that I think they’re ugly, but I wonder what makes them prettier than the rest of what’s out there), but I do love the Swiss Army Knife chocolates - if they really look that good in person, that is!

David Lebovitz makes me drool into my keyboard yet again, with this recipe (complete with delectable pictures) for salted butter caramels.

Gosh, it must be nice to live in a world where leftover crème fraîche is a problem.

The folks at Chocri wanted me to let y’all know that they’ve officially launched in the U.S. They aren’t exactly cheap, but their bars are tasty! Check out my reviews here, here, and here.