For the love of chocolate

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I am pretty sure that everyday for at least the past decade, I have consumed chocolate in at least one form or another.

I have no regrets about this. I make no apologies.

Chocolate is a food group in my mind and I'm okay with that.

Since I live and breath chocolate, it seemed only appropriate that I search out the origin of my very favorite chocolate bars.

This love affair began this past spring while on a road trip through Vermont. One thing you must know about me, is that I love food. I don't just love food, I love really good food. Forget fast food and highly processed, boxed food, those don't really qualify as food. I love food made with fresh produce and unique flavors. This leads me to seek out good food, especially chocolate, wherever I travel.

Before our trip I had researched all the local attractions to visit and a quaint chocolate factory on the shores of Lake Champlain popped up in TripAdvisor. As you can imagine, I have never been one to pass up any opportunity to sample chocolate and so after walking along the lake, we stopped by.

Lake Champlain Chocolates has a small factory with a small store attached. The store has a wall of windows that allows visitors to view the process of their chocolate art. We watched as a woman hand painted chocolate into Christmas molds, while two other women placed cherries into what looked like would eventually be cherry cordials. It felt like something that would be going on in your grandma's kitchen. I perused the little store and scoffed at the price of their chocolates. I thought to myself that surely no chocolate could be worth this price. I was wrong, my friends. I. Was. Wrong. I bit into a sample of their dark chocolate bar and my life has not been the same since.

Though deeply smitten, my wallet couldn't handle purchasing a whole lot of this nectar from the gods, but after we had returned home both I and my husband were regretting not taking out a small loan to buy more. Out of desperation, I scoured their website and found that our local Whole Foods sold a limited variety of their chocolate bars.  I couldn't get there fast enough and now have a handful of bars in my pantry.

It's clear I have my priorities straight.

You may be wondering what makes this chocolate so special. I had the same question too and so I dug a little deeper to find out why exactly Lake Champlain Chocolate (LCC) is so very good.

It all starts with the cacao bean. These grow as the seed of the cacao pod. They are a bright yellow/orange color when they are ripe. The trees love the heat and grow in countries close to the equator in both South America and Africa, but in order to become the treat we are used to consuming, the cacao beans must go through an extensive process.

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First the beans, the size of an olive and white color,  must be removed from the fruit by hand and exposed to light. This changes their color to a purplish color. They are then fermented by either being put in piles or boxes and then covered by banana leaves. They are left to sit for 2-9 days and this begins to develop the chocolate flavor we all know.

The fermented beans then need to be dried. The beans are laid out on boards or mats in the sun and rake continually for even drying. One the beans are dry, they are graded and packaged to sell on the international market.

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To make chocolate out of those dried beans is quite an extensive procedure. The beans are washed and then the meat of the bean, the nib, is removed from the shell in a process called winnowing. After the beans are winnowed, they are ground into cocoa mass, also called cocoa liquor. This is solid at room temperature and when high pressure is applied separates in cocoa butter (the fat) and cocoa powder. 

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If simply making chocolate is your desire, skip the high pressure process and simply combine the cocoa liquor with more cocoa butter and sugar for dark chocolate or cocoa butter, sugar and milk powder for milk chocolate.  White chocolate uses only the cocoa butter, sugar and milk powder.

Next the chocolate goes through a process called conching. This is a process of rolling, kneading, heating and aeration. This step is vital to the final texture and taste of the chocolate.

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Finally, the chocolate is tempered before it is send away to the chocolatier to be made into delicious desserts. During the tempering process, the chocolate is slowing brought to a certain temperature and reaches its stable form. It gives the chocolate its shine and snap.

LCC is both a chocolatier and a direct source chocolate maker, meaning they buy chocolate that has already gone through the process listed above, as well as, produce chocolate themselves. Ninety-five percent of the chocolate LCC sells is fair-trade. The cacao used in their Blue Bandana line of chocolate is directly sourced from Guatemala and Madagascar. The chocolate is then made in their facilities.

Image courtesy of www.lakechamplainchocolates.com

In addition to the quality chocolate LCC uses in their processes, they also source their additional ingredients locally. Fresh Vermont cream, butter, honey and maple syrup help make their chocolates so unique.

Before tasting LCC chocolates I had never really thought about the source of the chocolate I eat to feed my addiction. Their chocolate is a source of proof, however, that fresh, quality ingredients make for a better product. I have since noted that most of my favorite food products are made with similar standards. I like to look for locally sourced products if I can afford them. I not only enjoy their superior quality, but also enjoy supporting smaller companies.

If you so desire, I highly recommend trying out some chocolates from LCC, but beware, once you start you may not be able to stop and this addiction isn't cheap. I have already sent loved ones my chocolate wish list.

"All About Chocolate." Lake Champlain Chocolates. 2103. Web. 24 September 2015.