{"id":37899,"date":"2023-05-14T13:09:52","date_gmt":"2023-05-14T20:09:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/?p=37899"},"modified":"2023-05-14T13:26:59","modified_gmt":"2023-05-14T20:26:59","slug":"treat-yourself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/local-chocolate\/treat-yourself\/","title":{"rendered":"Treat yourself"},"content":{"rendered":"

This past winter was colder than usual so Cacaopod and I got into drinking hot chocolate on our walks around Oakland. One place we liked to get drinks was The Chocolate Dragon<\/a><\/strong> in Rockridge. They have a nice variety of hot chocolate drinks plus a growing assortment of artisan chocolate \u2014 mostly bars \u2014 for sale.<\/p>\n

It was there that I saw a small selection of bars by Deux Cranes Chocolates and Confections<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0who are chocolatiers\/confectioners in Los Gatos, so I got some to try. They were so good I decided to order more flavors from Deux Cranes directly.<\/p>\n

The offer a range of flavored bars in dark, milk, and white chocolate plus caramels, bonbons, cookies, and other treats. I found some of their other offerings intriguing \u2014 like a miso and Japanese pepper caramel \u2014 but I kept my focus on their bars this time.<\/p>\n

On their website they state that \u201cDeux Cranes strives to celebrate the flavors and aesthetics in Japanese and French culinary traditions.\u201d So they use\u00a0Valrhona chocolate (great French couverture chocolate) and Japanese ingredients like matcha, miso, and yuzu.<\/p>\n

\"Deux
Deux Cranes package<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The bars were a little pricy but I was so intrigued by the flavor combinations \u2014 and the photos were so pretty \u2014 I decided in the name of research to spring for them. I picked a mix of their regular and seasonal limited edition bars, which in this case were their early spring offerings.<\/p>\n

What I got was a package of pretty boxes carefully secured with Deux Crane\u2019s own wrapping paper and a thank you card hand addressed to me.\u00a0Even though it was not a gift it felt like one. What a treat! And the wrapping paper was a full-size sheet of tissue paper that I can reuse for gift giving myself.<\/p>\n

This review starts with the 3 bars I got at The Chocolate Dragon and proceeds in the order of tasting Cacaopod and I did with help from a few friends.<\/p>\n

Cr\u00e8me Br\u00fbl\u00e9e Chocolate<\/h3>\n
\"Creme
Deux Cranes\u2019 Cr\u00e8me Br\u00fbl\u00e9e bar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This flavor might be having a moment now what with Charlotte Truffles\u2019<\/strong> bar<\/a> and the Bon Sucre\u00e9<\/strong> bonbon<\/a> we just discovered at the last Salon. Compared with those 2 experiences \u2014 which mimic the dessert experience in addition to capturing the flavors \u2014 this bar was a quieter experience.<\/p>\n

The bar was pretty with its broken cubes mold and attractive champagne color. It had a nice aroma of burnt caramel and cocoa butter.<\/p>\n

It was a smooth milky tasting white chocolate interrupted by tiny crunchy caramelized bits. It wasn\u2019t too sweet. It landed more on the cream side than br\u00fbl\u00e9e but it had nice butterscotch notes.<\/p>\n

This was the first of many mild tempered bars from Deux Cranes which matched my expectations of French\/Japanese inspired chocolate.<\/p>\n

Matcha Chocolate with Caramelized Sesame<\/h3>\n
\"back
Back of Matcha Chocolate with Caramelized Sesame\u00a0bar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The dark green\u00a0Matcha Chocolate with Caramelized Sesame\u00a0bar was a more vivid experience. It was another white chocolate bar but this time green from matcha tea. The caramelized white sesame\u00a0seeds were visible on the back of the bar.<\/p>\n

It had a distinct matcha aroma and a softer break than the cr\u00e8me br\u00fbl\u00e9e bar.\u00a0It had an immediate matcha taste. The matcha was strong bordering on bitter but the toasted sesame seeds and caramelization countered the bitterness. I liked this solution: Assertively matcha but tempered.<\/p>\n

Sansho Japanese Peppercorn Chocolate<\/h3>\n
\"Sansho
Sansho Japanese Peppercorn Chocolate package<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The third bar we got at The Chocolate Dragon was the limited edition Sansho Japanese Peppercorn Chocolate bar. It was a single origin dark chocolate from the Dominican Republic flavored with sansho peppercorns, vanilla, feuilletine, and sea salt.<\/p>\n

Sansho pepper is that condiment you see at some Japanese restaurants with the green top and label<\/a>. Usually sprinkled on chicken or seafood it was interesting to see it as a chocolate flavoring.<\/p>\n

The bar was made with a cute bubble mold. It had a nice chocolate aroma and a hard break. It tasted slightly bitter and smoky, then citrusy.\u00a0It had a small crunch combined with small hits of salt; and a\u00a0little heat at the end that faded quickly.<\/p>\n

It was my fav of the three \u2014 I loved it. And it matched well with a cup of Earl Grey tea.<\/p>\n

Strawberry and Dark Chocolate<\/h3>\n
\"Strawberry
Strawberry and Dark Chocolate bar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The vegan Strawberry and Dark Chocolate bar was very eye-catching with Valrhona Strawberry Chocolate flowing over 70% dark chocolate molded with the broken cubes pattern.<\/p>\n

It was a good example of another Japanese tradition: the aesthetic philosophy of wabi sabi which is all about the beauty of imperfection.<\/p>\n

All Deux Crane bars are handmade and the hand is visible in the molding of the bars \u2014 the slightly irregular edges of the back of the bars show the chocolate was poured by hand and not tided up square and perfect. This bar is much bolder in its embrace of wabi sabi with the irregular application of bright pink layered over the dark chocolate.<\/p>\n

The bar had a good strawberry\/chocolate aroma and strong snap.\u00a0It had an immediate strawberry flavor then chocolate. The\u00a0strawberry was intense; the chocolate was mild not bitter. It had a smooth texture. This is an excellent bar.<\/p>\n

Passion Fruit Chocolate<\/h3>\n
\"Passion
Passion Fruit Chocolate bar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The vegan Passion Fruit Chocolate bar was an eye opener. It is TART \u2014 like an upscale riff on Sour Patch Kids. I was unprepared for how tart this bar is. I realized that most passion fruit chocolate I\u2019ve had added other flavors like mango or guava to moderate the tartness.<\/p>\n

The bar was an attractive yellow-ish cream color and molded with their cute bubble mold. It smelled like passion fruit but with a savory undertone which I discovered came from the cacao nibs that also gave the bar its speckled appearance.<\/p>\n

The chocolate was smooth and the cacao nibs added a soft crunch to the intense passion fruit taste. According to the Deux Cranes site they add nibs to mimic the crunchy texture of passion fruit seeds. I think they also helped temper the\u00a0super tart passion fruit chocolate a bit.<\/p>\n

After the initial shock the tartness did seem to moderate a little but maybe my mouth was just going numb 😜<\/p>\n

Sakura Cherry Dark Chocolate<\/h3>\n
\"Sakura
Sakura Cherry Dark Chocolate bar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Limited Edition Sakura Cherry Dark Chocolate bar looked like a pale pink version of the Strawberry and Dark Chocolate bar. Maybe not as dramatic looking but just as pretty, it had a medium hard snap and the flavored white chocolate had a grainy texture from the inclusions \u2014 sakura leaf powder, sakura blossom powder, and sakura sugar.<\/p>\n

The first taste was a light cherry flavor which was replaced by the stronger dark chocolate as it melted. The dark chocolate was a balanced chocolatey chocolate and not bitter.<\/p>\n

When I tried the bar again a few weeks later the cherry flavor had changed to almost a sweet cinnamon candy taste. It\u2019s interesting how some flavored chocolates change over time. The chocolate hadn\u2019t gone bad and I kept it wrapped up so it wasn\u2019t affected by other flavors floating around, it just had aged. It was still tasty.<\/p>\n

Milk Chocolate with Ginger, Sesame, and Buckwheat<\/h3>\n
\"Milk
Milk Chocolate with Ginger, Sesame, and Buckwheat package<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I was excited about the single origin Milk Chocolate with Ginger, Sesame, and Buckwheat bar because while I saw a lot of chocolate with buckwheat inclusions in Europe; I\u2019ve only seen it once stateside<\/a>. When I\u2019ve had it I liked it \u2014 it tasted kinda like hazelnut chocolate to me.<\/p>\n

This bar had that distinct nutty-and-a-little-sour flavor (like buckwheat pancakes) in a good not too sweet milk chocolate. It had little bits of chewy crystalized ginger and white sesame seeds. I didn\u2019t really taste sesame in the bar \u2014 it was all about the\u00a0pronounced buckwheat flavor then ginger in a fudgy single origin chocolate from Madagascar. I liked it.<\/p>\n

And let\u2019s pause for a moment to appreciate Deux Cranes\u2019 bar packaging. The cardboard boxes are sturdy carriers protecting the bars from breakage. They come in an array of subdued colors that pair nicely with the chocolate visible in the parallelogram shaped cutout on the front. The logo and text are printed in metallic gold ink adding a luxury touch to the understated refined design.<\/p>\n

Matcha Strawberry Chocolate<\/h3>\n
\"Matcha
Matcha Strawberry Chocolate bar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another visually wow bar like the Strawberry and Dark Chocolate bar but this time substituting matcha infused white chocolate for the dark was the Matcha Strawberry Chocolate bar. This bright green and pink bar would make a good gift for any Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority sisters<\/a> you know.<\/p>\n

The bar had a good strawberry aroma and a medium break. It tasted initially of only\u00a0strawberry, the mild matcha was almost an aftertaste. We liked the combination \u2014 the strawberry was a bright slightly tart taste that the earthy matcha toned down a bit.<\/p>\n

\"Socola
Socola Strawberry Matcha White Chocolate bar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the same time we were tasting this bar, Socola Chocolatier<\/strong> came out with a Strawberry Matcha White Chocolate bar<\/a>. So we did a comparison test with a couple of friends.<\/p>\n

The main difference between the bars is that Deux Cranes used Valrhona Strawberry Chocolate which has freeze dried strawberry powder for the flavor while Socola used slices of freeze dried strawberry berry slices on top with more strawberry bits mixed in the matcha infused white chocolate bar.<\/p>\n

Everybody liked both \u2014 it was really a tossup \u2014 however there were a couple of differences besides the visuals. Socola\u2019s big freeze dried strawberry berry slices and strawberry bits gave a more pronounced strawberry taste than Deux Cranes. And while the matcha experience was the same (a mild second flavor) and neither bar was too sweet, the Socola bar had more of a creamy white chocolate taste. The\u00a0Deux Cranes bar had a good matcha taste and fruitiness \u2014 it\u2019s a simpler more subtle bar.<\/span><\/p>\n

Matcha Chocolate with Yuzu<\/h3>\n
\"Matcha
Matcha Chocolate with Yuzu bar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Matcha Chocolate with Yuzu bar was another broken layered looking bar, this time with white chocolates infused with yuzu and matcha.<\/p>\n

The bar had an enticing citrus aroma and a medium break. The\u00a0strong yuzu flavor had a\u00a0little bitterness but it mostly tasted to me\u00a0like lemon sherbet.<\/p>\n

Despite being dark green the matcha chocolate was not very matcha tasting. It was more of an undertone under the intense initial citrus flavor. It gave a\u00a0small grain to the creamy white chocolate.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know if this was a different matcha than the other bars or a different white chocolate or what, but this bar was less matcha tasting and more creamy white chocolate tasting to me.<\/p>\n

Dark Chocolate and Caramelized Salted Hazelnuts<\/h3>\n
\"Back
Back of package for Dark Chocolate and Caramelized Salted Hazelnuts<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Dark Chocolate and Caramelized Salted Hazelnuts bar didn\u2019t have chopped hazelnuts scattered over the back or mixed in the bar as I expected. Instead there were tiny bits of caramelized nuts throughout the strong 70% dark chocolate couverture which gave a small caramelized crunch to the smooth chocolate.<\/p>\n

It was a savory nutty chocolate with a lightly hazelnut taste. Even though \u201cSalted\u201d is in the name, it was not a salty chocolate. I think the salt is there to heighten the other flavors but I think it needed\u00a0more and bigger nuts to give it a more distinct hazelnut flavor.<\/p>\n

As with the other Deux Cranes regular bars, the back of the package included flavor notes \u2014 in this case \u201cRoasted Nuts, Caramel, Earthy\u201d which were accurate. It did have a more general roasted nut flavor instead of hazelnut, the caramelization gave the bar some caramel notes, and the nuts gave the not very sweet chocolate a savory\/earthy taste.<\/p>\n

Even though I wanted more of a hazelnut experience, I liked the bar \u2014 it was a good non-bitter 70% that was more on the savory side with an interesting little crunch.<\/p>\n

Dark Chocolate with Miso Almonds<\/h3>\n
\"Dark
Dark Chocolate with Miso Almonds package<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The vegan\u00a0Dark Chocolate with Miso Almonds bar was a similar experience to the\u00a0Dark Chocolate and Caramelized Salted Hazelnuts bar with tiny bits of nuts instead of chopped or slivered almonds as I had assumed.<\/p>\n

While both were 70% dark chocolate, I don\u2019t know if they used the same couverture \u2014 it wasn\u2019t specified on the packages \u2014but the chocolates tasted different. This one was more bitter with a fermented taste like it was made with a single origin chocolate while the hazelnut one was more savory\/fudgy tasting.<\/p>\n

This bar was also saltier than the hazelnut bar which I attribute to the miso that was roasted with the almonds. The bar had a mild miso flavor but more interesting to me was that the almond bits had the\u00a0mealy texture I associate with miso paste which was kinda cool.<\/p>\n

Konbi X DC: H\u014djicha Caramel Chocolate<\/h3>\n
\"Konbi
Konbi X DC: H\u014djicha Caramel Chocolate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The last bar we tried was the H\u014djicha Caramel Chocolate which Deux Cranes developed with Konbi, a sandwich shop in LA that specialized in Japanese style sandwiches. Not a sandwich themed bar, instead this bar was inspired by Konbi\u2019s h\u014djicha latte made with roasted green tea from Kettl<\/a> \u2014 a Japanese tea importer.<\/p>\n

They used milk chocolate as a base which was a good choice for evoking a latte experience. The bar had a strong snap for a milk chocolate.<\/p>\n

A strong caramel flavor came through immediately, then I noticed the grainy ground tea texture. Finally a creamy flavor appeared along with the caramel. I didn\u2019t taste any roasted or green tea but maybe h\u014djicha is a subtle flavor.<\/p>\n

This is not a very sweet milk chocolate even with the strong caramel flavor. I really like this bar \u2014 both the creamy caramel flavor and the grainy mouthfeel. Recommended.<\/p>\n

Sadly Konbi closed in early 2023<\/a> but at least their h\u014djicha latte lives on in this bar.<\/p>\n

Gifts<\/h2>\n

If you like Japanese and French aesthetics and flavors, check out Deux Cranes. Their visual branding from the logo to packaging has a Japanese vibe and the careful presentation of the bars I received reminded me of shopping in Japan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They have a unique take on flavors, adding more savory ingredients than other chocolatiers including unique Japanese ingredients I haven\u2019t seen in chocolate before. And most of the bars are subtly flavored in the manner of Japanese and French chocolate.<\/p>\n

These bars are definitely giftable \u2014 and there\u2019s no reason the recipient can\u2019t be yourself.<\/p>\n

You can buy Deux Cranes chocolates and confections at their store in Los Gatos, online, or at select stores nationwide. Check their website<\/a> for locations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Visually appealing and tasty bars make good gifts for everybody \u2014 why not for yourself?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":37925,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,169,131],"tags":[636,1538,254,660,1489,17,1526,1463,515,390,1547,584,1138,629,1537,1525,624,776,719],"class_list":["post-37899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-chocolate","category-reviews","category-south-bay-chocolate","tag-almond","tag-buckwheat","tag-cacao-nibs","tag-caramel","tag-cherry-blossom","tag-chocolatier","tag-creme-brulee","tag-deux-cranes-chocolates-and-confections","tag-ginger","tag-hazelnut","tag-hojicha","tag-matcha-green-tea","tag-miso","tag-passion-fruit","tag-sakura","tag-sansho-peppercorn","tag-sesame","tag-strawberry","tag-yuzu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37899","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=37899"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37899\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38520,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37899\/revisions\/38520"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}