{"id":25374,"date":"2021-10-16T16:33:38","date_gmt":"2021-10-16T23:33:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/?p=25374"},"modified":"2025-05-24T15:54:26","modified_gmt":"2025-05-24T22:54:26","slug":"sugar-spice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/outsidechocolate\/sugar-spice\/","title":{"rendered":"Sugar & spice"},"content":{"rendered":"

The entries in the\u00a02021 Top Spicy Chocolate Awards<\/a>, sponsored by\u00a0TasteTV, ran the gamut from subtle to painful, and also from sublime to suboptimal. While I wasn\u2019t a judge this year, Cacaopod was, so I got to sample entries; and I am going to save you some pain by only telling you about the ones I rated 3 stars or more.<\/p>\n

There were no SFBA entries that made my cutoff this time, so I will just cover entries that did, in roughly descending order.<\/p>\n

Who\u2019s giving us their heart?<\/h2>\n
\"Wellington
Simply mysterious<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

New competitor,\u00a0Wellington Chocolates LLC,<\/strong> Seattle, WA, submitted a heart shaped chocolate in a simple black box closed with a white paper strap. No label, not even their name. We were able to figure it out before we had to judge, but a little bit of a heads up is a good idea if you want credit for your creations.<\/p>\n

I always feel a little trepidation when judging spicy chocolate; and with no clue as to what might be inside, I was more apprehensive than usual. We cut the chocolate in half. The dark chocolate shell contained a speckled white ganache. We figured the speckles would be the spicy part, and the scent from the white ganache gave us a good idea what it would taste like.<\/p>\n

We guessed right:\u00a0Immediately we tasted passion fruit. The heat came at the end and was very mild; we guessed\u00a0cayenne, but who knows?\u00a0It was a good piece: good quality chocolate, smooth ganache, and strong passion fruit flavor.<\/p>\n

In spite of its modesty, Wellington\u2019s\u00a0Passion Fruit Truffle dominated the awards, winning Gold for Best Ingredient Combinations, Best Flavored Chocolates, and Top Spicy Chocolate; Silver for Best Milk Chocolate (hmm, the one chocolate I didn\u2019t see in there) and Best Flavored Chocolate; and Bronze for Best Taste, Best Texture, and Most Unique. It rated 4.5 stars.<\/p>\n

Wellington doesn\u2019t have an online store \u2014 they specialize in custom chocolates for special events \u2014 but their chocolates are available at a few specialty shops, and maybe by contacting them directly. More information is available on their website.<\/p>\n

Excellent sweet to heat transition<\/h2>\n
\"Echo
Echo\u2019s warm Raspberry Jalape\u00f1o<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Repeat competitor,\u00a0Echo Chocolate,<\/strong> Stafford, VA, who first impressed us in the 2020 Caramels competition with a buttery salted caramel in dark chocolate, submitted their Raspberry Jalape\u00f1o bonbon. It was a shiny dark dome with gold swishes. The ingredients listed 68% dark chocolate with raspberry, cream, butter, glucose, and jalape\u00f1o.<\/p>\n

It smelled like a good dark chocolate with berry overtones, and the first taste was strongly raspberry. The ganache dissolved quickly, and the heat built as the chocolate melted. It had a nice balance of warm-not-hot jalape\u00f1o and good chocolate. The initial pronounced raspberry taste disappeared in the heat to end a spicy flavored dark chocolate. It was a well made bonbon with an interesting flavor trip.<\/p>\n

The Raspberry Jalape\u00f1o won Gold for Best Flavored Chocolate; Silver for Best Ingredient Combinations, Best Texture, Best Dark Chocolate, and Top Spicy Chocolate; and Bronze for Best Taste and Most Unique. It rated 4 stars.<\/p>\n

You can buy Echo\u2019s bonbons, bars, caramels, and other treats online.<\/p>\n

Less sweet chocolate<\/h2>\n

Veteran competitor,\u00a0Panache Chocolatier<\/a>,<\/strong>\u00a0Leawood, KS, submitted a bar and 2 of their big bonbons to the competition, and surprised us by doing less sweet chocolates than their usual. (Yea!)<\/p>\n

\"Sweet
Panache\u2019s Sweet Spiced Nut Bar was loaded with nuts<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Sweet Spiced Nut Bar was great: A dark chocolate bar with chopped spiced pecans mixed in and topping the bar. It was a\u00a0hard crunchy bar\u00a0that smelled of toasted nut and spices. The first taste was good dark chocolate, then the nuts and spices, ending with heat on top.\u00a0I don\u2019t know what was in the spice blend; it was described as Spanish picoso, but even after Googling it I don\u2019t know what\u2019s in it. At any rate, I really enjoyed this bar.<\/p>\n

Seems like the judges did too: The Sweet Spiced Nut Bar received Gold for Best Taste, Best Texture, and Top Spicy Chocolate; Silver for Most Unique and Best Dark Chocolate; Bronze for Best Ingredient Combinations and Best Flavored Chocolate. It rated 4.5 stars.<\/p>\n

\"Panache
Panache\u2019s sugar dusted Pineapple Jalape\u00f1o Truffle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Panache\u2019s other 2 entries were just as good. The Pineapple Jalape\u00f1o Truffle used ruby chocolate for the pineapple-lime-jalape\u00f1o infused ganache inside a dark chocolate shell dusted with pineapple lime spiced sugar. \u00a0The grayish brown ganache had a strong \u2014\u00a0almost boozy \u2014 pineapple smell; and the piece tasted initially of that strong pineapple with a little berry (maybe from the chocolate?), then lime. The heat took a while to appear, but then it got plenty hot.<\/p>\n

The Pineapple Jalape\u00f1o Truffle won Gold for Best Ingredient Combinations and Best Flavored Chocolate; Bronze for Most Unique and Top Spicy Chocolate; and an Honorable Mention for Best Taste. It rated 4 stars.<\/p>\n

\"Panache
Panache\u2019s Coconut Spiced Truffle was like a good cup of hot tea<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Panache\u2019s Coconut Spiced Truffle \u00a0was a big round bonbon with a dash of coconut and spice mix on top. It had a thin dark chocolate shell surrounding a smooth ganache, with the surprise texture twist of a little grit from decoration on top. The ganache was flavored with coconut, almond, cinnamon, clove, orange peel, and red chilies.<\/p>\n

Even though coconut and almond were listed first, the piece was more about the other ingredients. It smelled of spices and orange, and tasted a little like Constant Comment tea, before the heat kicked in. I found it delicious.<\/p>\n

The Coconut Spiced Truffle received Bronze for Best Ingredient Combinations, Best Taste, Best Dark Chocolate, and Top Spicy Chocolate; and Honorable Mentions for Most Unique and Best Flavored Chocolate. It rated 3.5 stars.<\/p>\n

Panache Chocolatier\u2019s website is still under construction, so you have to call or visit them in person if you want to order something.<\/p>\n

\"Holm
Mexican hot chocolate in toffee form<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hot toffee<\/h2>\n

Veteran competitor,\u00a0Holm Made Toffee Co.<\/a>,<\/strong> OR, submitted 2 of their flavored\u00a0Oregon Hazelnut Toffees; and both were very good. I usually like Holm Made\u2019s 2-sided toffees: One side chocolate, the other side toffee, and both sides liberally covered in hazelnuts.<\/p>\n

I especially liked the Mexican Hot Chocolate. Like all Holm Made toffees, it was a good crunchy toffee, loaded with nuts. It was a very mild spicy toffee: cinnamon was the dominant flavor with some baby heat at the end from cayenne powder. It was a touch too sweet for me, but a good toffee riff on its theme.<\/p>\n

Holm\u2019s Mexican Hot Chocolate Toffee won Silver for Best Taste, Best Milk Chocolate, and Top Spicy Chocolate;\u00a0Bronze for Best Ingredient Combinations and Best Texture; and Honorable Mentions for Most Unique and Best Flavored Chocolate. It rated 4 stars.<\/p>\n

\"Holm
Holm Spicy Red Pepper Toffee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Their other entry, the Spicy Red Pepper Toffee went to the other end of the heat spectrum. It started out like their regular crunchy toffee, but then the heat started and built to hot hot hot! The very strong heat came from the visible whole red pepper flakes. Of the entries I liked this year, this was the hottest.<\/p>\n

Holm\u2019s Spicy Red Pepper Toffee won Silver for Best Texture and Best Milk Chocolate; Bronze for Best Taste; and Honorable Mentions for Best Ingredient Combinations,\u00a0Best Flavored Chocolate, and Top Spicy Chocolate. It rated 3.5 stars.<\/p>\n

You can order toffees and other hazelnut treats from the Holm Made website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Final note<\/h2>\n

This was a very uneven competition, with a lot of entries not making my 3 stars or higher cutoff for reviewing them. I tend to like spicy and savory chocolate, so I was disappointed that I didn\u2019t like more of the entries. Looking over my notes, some recurring reasons for low scores from me were lower quality chocolate, unpleasant textures, and unbalanced flavors \u2014 personal-dare strength heat is not a treat.<\/p>\n

And please no more sriracha chocolate. I just think it tastes nasty.<\/p>\n

However, I was not an actual judge, so my opinions didn\u2019t affect the official ratings. You can see the full list of winners on the 2021 spicy chocolate awards<\/a> page.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chocolate to warm your heart<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":27217,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,13,169],"tags":[1251,1161,1021,1253,1252],"class_list":["post-25374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-chocolate","category-outsidechocolate","category-reviews","tag-echo-chocolate","tag-holm-made-toffee-co","tag-panache-chocolatier","tag-spicy-chocolate","tag-wellington-chocolates-llc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25374"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45930,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25374\/revisions\/45930"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}