Pastrylove: Alliance Patisserie

Posted on by valeriebeck

Pastrylove: Alliance Patisserie

Macarons at Alliance Patisserie
Macaron love at Alliance Patisserie

The first time I had French pastries in France was as a 19-year-old Harvard College senior studying abroad in Paris.

Paris love, age 19
Paris love, age 19

That trip put me on a mission to spread fine chocolate and pastry, led to my founding of the original Chocolate Tours in Chicago and beyond, and – after closing the chocolate tours earlier this year – still continues to inspire me as I speak and consult about chocolate.

Pastry peek at Alliance Patisserie
Pastry peek at Alliance Patisserie

Chef Peter Rios has opened a little bit of Paris in Chicago, with his new Alliance Patisserie. Pastry followers worldwide may know Chef Peter as the owner of Alliance Bakery, also in Chicago, known for innovative specialty cakes and more, or may know him through one of his many incarnations as pastry chef superstar.

alliance patisserie
Scenes at Alliance Patisserie…

courtyard

moody matcha and chocolate passionfruit macarons

cafe

choc hazelnut kronut and hot choc

pastry case

Chef Peter told me it has always been his dream to open a shop focusing on French pastry, ever since he graduated from Kendall College and later studied with pastry giants such as the great Pierre Herme in Paris.

His dream came true, and Alliance Patisserie now helps the dreams of others come true, whether by sharing some of the best macarons or classic French pastries outside of Paris, or by serving as the romantic site of a marriage proposal, which I was thrilled and honored to facilitate for a lovely couple after a chocolate tasting I led for them in the shop!

We tucked the ring into the pastry case...
I arranged with the groom to tuck the ring into the pastry case…
...she said yes!
…she said yes!

Chocolate and pastry are all about love.

v day treats

Your friend in chocolate,

Valerie

Valerie Beck

Chocolate Expert, Sweet Speaker, Chocolate Consultant

www.valeriebeckchocolateuplift.com

Instagram @chocolateuplift

“Uplift Through Chocolate!”

Chocolate and Fruit: Nemzer Chocolate

Posted on by valeriebeck

Chocolate and Fruit: Nemzer Chocolate

Feeling tropical: chocolate and pineapple
Feeling tropical: chocolate and pineapple bar by Nemzer Chocolate

Think about this any time you need a lift: chocolate comes from fruit!

Chocolate is of course made from cocoa beans (cacao), which are the seeds of the fruit of the cacao tree. The seeds are harvested, dried, fermented, roasted, ground, and fashioned into chocolate.

Organic Ecuadorian cacao
Organic Ecuadorian cacao

Why is cacao so loaded with health benefits, that it’s considered a superfood? Because it’s plant-based. It comes from fruit. It can reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, it’s a metabolism booster and anti-inflammatory, and it’s filled with valuable vitamins and minerals.

So how delightful to discover a new brand from California, Nemzer Chocolate, which incorporates freeze dried fruit into dark chocolate. Since chocolate comes from fruit, these chocolate bars are basically a fruit salad!

Chocolate and banana bar
Chocolate and banana bar in action
Chocolate and raspberry
Chocolate and raspberry

Founder Roman Nemzer bases his chocolate on a French recipe, and the flavors are nicely balanced, with a mild and chocolatey 65% cacao.

French flair, freeze dried fruit, California cool. That’s a fruit salad!

Your friend in chocolate,

Valerie

Valerie Beck

Chocolate Expert, Speaker, Consultant

www.valeriebeckchocolateuplift.com

chocolateuplift@gmail.com

“Uplift Through Chocolate!”

Chocolate Scouting at Dose Market

Posted on by valeriebeck

Chocolate Scouting at Dose Market

Let there be balloons: festive Dose Market at the Chicago Cultural Center
Let there be balloons: festive Dose Market at the Chicago Cultural Center

Picture chocolate, pastry, fashion, jewelry, and more, under one roof.

Picture that roof over my favorite building in Chicago, the Chicago Cultural Center (which was the main branch of the Chicago Public Library when I was a little girl).

That was the scene for the April edition of Dose Market, a dynamic marketplace that showcases chefs, designers, and makers of all stripes. The market was co-sponsored in April 2015 by the Lake FX conference for artists and entrepreneurs, which added an extra touch of excitement.

At Dose Market: salted chocolate cranberry orange toffee by Terry's Toffee, a longtime favorite
At Dose Market: salted chocolate cranberry orange toffee by Terry’s Toffee, a longtime favorite

Add the fact that among the makers showcased were longtime chocolate friends, and soon-to-be-made chocolate friends, and of course I attended. I attended, I chocolate scouted, and I enjoyed.

What exactly is chocolate scouting? That’s my term for exploring the world and finding delicious chocolate and pastry. It’s something I’ve always done: on any trip to a new city, even as a child, I always wanted to find the best chocolate. That hasn’t changed, and I chocolate scout where I live and where I travel, for business and for pleasure.

Dose Market at the Chicago Cultural Center featured some exquisite and creative chocolate and pastry offerings from old friends…

Rare Bird Preserves, including chocolate blueberry
Rare Bird Preserves, including chocolate blueberry, owned by dear Elizabeth Madden, a French Pastry School grad
With dear Terry of Terry's Toffee
With dear Terry Opalek of Terry’s Toffee

And from new friends…

Deeply impressive chocolate raspberry tart and macarons by newcomer Verzenay Patisserie, a delightful husband-and-wife team
Deeply impressive chocolate raspberry tart and macarons by newcomer Verzenay Patisserie, owned by delightful husband-and-wife team Aqeel and Arshiya Farheen. Arshiya is the chef, and she graduated from Ferrandi culinary school in Paris.
Gingerbread cookies year round from Dough Dough Bird
Gingerbread cookies year round from delicious Dough Dough Bird, owned by new friend Julie Goding, a French Pastry School grad
Intriguing mole bread by Zapps Grains, with cacao and chipotle
Intriguing low-glycemic mole bread with cacao and chipotle by Zapp’s Dancing Grains, 

I look forward to chocolate scouting at the next Dose Market!

Sweet home Chicago
Sweet home Chicago

Your friend in chocolate,

Valerie

Valerie Beck

Chocolate Expert, Speaker, Consultant

www.valeriebeckchocolateuplift.com

Join my Instagram party

“Uplift Through Chocolate!”

What is a Bonbon? Batch PDX

Posted on by valeriebeck

What is a Bonbon? Batch PDX

Package of paradise
Package of paradise

Chocolatier/owner Jeremy Karp of Batch PDX is basically a chocolate magician.

Pure ingredients, precise technique, and classic yet creative flavor combinations, make these bonbons from Portland, Oregon, some of the most exquisite I’ve tasted in quite some time. Everyone who sampled from my batch of Batch PDX fell into rapture and reverence.

The Nutty Crunchy PDX, with hazelnut and feuilletine
Portland to Chicago: unwrapping a bounty of bonbons, including the hazelnut, almond, and feuilletine Nutty Crunchy PDX

What exactly is a bonbon? A bonbon is a candy, usually covered in chocolate.

And what is a truffle? It’s a ganache center covered in chocolate. What is ganache? Ganache is chocolate mixed with cream, and other ingredients may be added, such as raspberry, Champagne, or whatever the chocolatier chooses in order to tell the desired story or explore the desired path. So a truffle is chocolate covered chocolate, you ask? Basically, yes, and hooray!

Sometimes bonbon is used as the general term, and a truffle is a specific iteration.

The Vietnamese Ice Coffee: chocolate ganache, with coffee and milk, in a dark chocolate cup.
The Vietnamese Ice Coffee: chocolate ganache, with coffee and milk, in a dark chocolate cup.

And how did the truffle get its name? Chocolate truffles are named after mushroom truffles, a fungi delicacy that comes out of the earth, covered in dirt. The original chocolate truffles were rolled in cocoa powder, as some still are, which was seen as resembling the dirt that covered mushroom truffles.

Nature and art dance, and amazing creations like Jeremy’s flavorful and balanced Batch PDX bonbons are the result. These are truly lovely chocolates.

The Yuzu Gimlet: a citrusy cocktail of a bonbon
The Yuzu Gimlet: a citrusy cocktail of a bonbon, dancing here with cocoa beans

By the way, why is Portland nicknamed PDX? That’s the airport code!

Spicy Passion: passion fruit and local peppers enrobed in white chocolate - sweet with heat
Spicy Passion: a Batch PDX bonbon of passion fruit and local peppers, enrobed in white chocolate – sweet with heat

Here’s to uplift through chocolate!

Your friend in chocolate,

Valerie

Valerie Beck

Chocolate Expert, Speaker, Consultant

www.valeriebeckchocolateuplift.com

The Choc of the New: Cao Single Origin Bars

Posted on by valeriebeck

The Choc of the New: Cao Single Origin Bars

Single origin, bean to bar, pure
Loved opening this shipment of single origin, bean to bar, pure deliciousness from Cao Chocolates

Sampling new artisan chocolate bars is always a joy, and I’m excited to tell you about the new bean-to-bar single origin chocolate bars by longtime favorite Cao Chocolates of Miami, owned by chocolatier, chocolate maker, and dear friend Ricardo Cao Trillos.

As a chocolate consultant, I’m honored to help Ricardo with his new chocolate bar project, because the chocolate is delicious, organic, and fair trade.

With Ricardo Cao Trillos at his magic Miami chocolate shop
With Ricardo Cao Trillos at his magic Miami chocolate shop
Truffles by Cao Chocolates
Cao Chocolates makes terrific truffles onsite…
grilled chocolate croissant
…grilled chocolate croissants that are worth a flight to Miami…
Delicious Domincan
… and now single origin chocolate bars too, like this delicious Domincan that I brought home from my most recent Miami adventure.

The bars are pure, with only 2 ingredients: cacao and sugar. That makes me happy! As with other food, if you can’t pronounce an ingredient, why would you eat it? Part of what makes the new bars from Cao Chocolates unique in the bean-to-bar world is their texture, which has more of a stone-ground quality. This ties the bars to the ancient heritage of stone grinding cacao, and adds an intriguing sensation.

Venezuelan cocoa beans in the kitchen at Cao
Fair trade Venezuelan cocoa beans in the kitchen at Cao

Of course, flavor is king, and Cao’s bars deliver robust flavor. By using only 2 ingredients, and premium, organic, fair trade, sustainable cacao from South America and the Caribbean, instead of bulk cocoa beans from West Africa (which suffer from a host of supply chain abominations, from pesticides and crop disease to child slave labor), the chocolate maker can draw out various flavors of the cacao.

Differences in type of cocoa bean, terroir, fermentation, and grinding result in differences in flavor in the finished chocolate bar. Just as a wine maker can create different wines by using different grapes, barrels, time frames, or procedures, artisan chocolate makers apply their art to cocoa beans, working with nature to create unique and exciting flavors not known on commercial chocolate shelves.

Each of the new Cao bars has a different and enticing flavor profile. My favorite is the Peru Criollo 78%. It’s surprisingly mild for a bar with such high cocoa content, and gives you the brightness of the Criollo cocoa bean, plus a gentle fruitiness.

Chocolate for breakfast? Of course!
Chocolate for breakfast? Of course!
Cao Peru bar
Cao Peru bar

Try them for yourself and be among the first; the bars aren’t yet in stores outside of Miami, but distribution is in the works, and in the meantime there’s the Internet plus my stash – contact me at chocolateuplift@gmail.com or shop online – and keep eating real chocolate!

Your friend in chocolate,

Valerie

Valerie Beck

Chocolate Expert, Speaker, Consultant

http://www.valeriebeckchocolateuplift.com

P.S.: Miami!
P.S.: Miami!

Chocolate and Cherry Blossoms

Posted on by valeriebeck

Chocolate and Cherry Blossoms

Washington, DC, is particularly sweet in spring, when cherry blossoms bloom, and chocolate innovation springs forth, as I re-discover every year on my springtime trip to our US capital.

snickers cake at the partisan
Housemade “snickers” cake at The Partisan
Cherry blossoms in Stanton Park
Cherry blossoms in Stanton Park

DC’s cherry blossom trees were originally a gift from Japan, facilitated by author and traveler Eliza Scidmore, who fell in love with the sweet blossoms in Japan and enlisted the wife of President Taft to help coordinate the trees with Japan in 1910 and 1912.

Today, the city blooms beautifully in spring not only at the “usual” sites such as the Tidal Basin with its spectacular views of the monuments, but also in special and strollable corners of the city such as Stanton Park, and restaurant-rich Dupont Circle.

Dupont Circle
Dupont Circle
Firehook Bakery, Dupont Circle
Firehook Bakery, Dupont Circle

As for chocolate, we chocolate lovers know it is a gift as well. Chocolate comes from cacao, which is the seed of the fruit of the cocoa tree. The Aztecs believed cacao was the fruit of the gods. At beloved Co Co Sala chocolate lounge and boutique, the chocolate is heavenly indeed.

Co Co Sala roasted peanut chocolate bar
Co Co Sala roasted peanut chocolate bar with chocolate pearls
White chocolate "Valrhona Blonde Perles" at Co Co Sala
White chocolate “Valrhona Blonde Perles” at Co Co Sala

Chocolate blends nature and art, and it’s perhaps that juxtaposition of natural forms and artistic vision that has drawn me to the Alexander Calder mobile at the National Gallery of Art in DC, ever since I first experienced it on a DC visit at age 8 and wanted to bring it home with me. The glorious 76-foot work wouldn’t quite fit on the airplane, and I’ve visited it on my trips to DC ever since.

Saying hello to my old friend, the Calder sculpture at the National Gallery
Saying hello to my old friend, the Calder at the National Gallery

Back to our regularly scheduled chocolate, it’s always a treat to see another longtime friend in DC, Jane Morris of J Chocolatier, who creates unique and flavorful artisan chocolate bars, such as my new favorite from her, the fig/walnut/pepper chocolate bar, which she sells from her adorable weekends-only perch atop a charming boutique on Barracks Row.

The fig/walnut/pepper bar by J Chocolatier
The fig/walnut/pepper bar by J Chocolatier

In addition to visiting old friends, I always love making new ones, and was thrilled by DC’s newest doughnut shop, District Doughnut, where the goods are pastry-inspired, fresh, light, not too sweet, and absolutely delicious and delightful.

Light-as-air doughnuts at District Doughnut
Light-as-air doughnuts at District Doughnut
With owner Greg of District Doughnut
With owner Greg Menna of District Doughnut

Here’s to sweet travel!

Your friend in chocolate

Valerie

Valerie Beck

Chocolate Expert, Speaker, and Consultant

Visit www.valeriebeckchocolateuplift.com to book a speaking engagement or for more info.

chocolateuplift@gmail.com

Sweet Talk

Posted on by valeriebeck
Alliance Patisserie
Alliance Patisserie

~ New: click for the video of my interview on tastytrade web tv, about chocolate health benefits and the business of Valentine’s Day, and see some of the pastries we’ll sample today at the below tasting! ~

Come hear about the history and health benefits of chocolate, while sampling fine chocolate and pastry this Valentine’s Day:

I’m hosting a seated chocolate tasting open to the public at 12:45 pm on Valentine’s Day, Saturday 2/14, at new Alliance Patisserie, 615 N. State Street, Chicago, and a few spots remain!

$40/person, http://www.chicagochocolatetours.com/buy.

Chocolate is love!

Valerie Beck, Chocolate Expert

chocolateuplift@gmail.com

How Did Valentine’s Day Get So Chocolatey?

Posted on by valeriebeck

How Did Valentine’s Day Get So Chocolatey?

by Valerie Beck, chocolate expert

chocolate love at Toni Patisserie, Chicago
Chocolate love at Toni Patisserie, Chicago.

Valentine’s Day is the holiday of love, whether romantic, platonic, or spiritual. But where did it come from, and how did chocolate (thankfully!) become associated with it?

The holiday began as an ancient Roman fertility festival, was Christianized with St. Valentine who according to legend married star-crossed lovers in secret against the wishes of Roman emperor Claudius II, became a day to celebrate romance during the rise of courtly love during the 14th century, and has since spread throughout the world, in various permutations. On Valentine’s Day in Japan for example, women give chocolate to men!

Chocolate has long been associated with love, from Mayan times onward, because of its mood elevating properties. Is chocolate an aphrodisiac? Scientists disagree, but throughout history people have embraced this idea.

For instance, Aztec emperor Montezuma drank golden goblets of chocolate before visiting his harem. Famed ladies’ man Casanova wrote that chocolate was more effective in the seductive arts than Champagne. Note though that these two historical chocolate lovers enjoyed their chocolate themselves, and didn’t share it with the women in their lives! This may have been a mistake, because today researchers have found that chocolate affects men and women differently, due to different brain chemistry, which may explain why women report craving chocolate more than men do.

On that note, a recent poll showed that 50% of women surveyed said that they prefer chocolate to, ahem, something else.

One of my new Chocolate Uplift Sweet & Chic gift sets, in "think pink!" Contact me to order: chocolateuplift@gmail.com.
One of my new Chocolate Uplift Sweet & Chic gift sets, the “think pink,” with bean-to-bar chocolate, and an ikat scarf and pouch. Contact me to order: chocolateuplift@gmail.com.

In contemporary times, the week of Valentine’s Day is a big season for chocolate purchases. Let’s face it: chocolate is love!

Your friend in chocolate,

Valerie

Want more chocolate insights, plus a chocolate tasting? Book me as your group’s “sweet speaker!” Click here for speaking engagement topics, fees, testimonials, and videos, or contact me at chocolateuplift@gmail.com.

Instagram, twitter, and Facebook: @chocolateuplift

Sweet & Chic

Posted on by valeriebeck

Sweet & Chic 

spring green Sweet & Chic gift set
spring green gift set. click here for more!

Chocolate + a scarf, tote, or cosmetics pouch = sweet & chic!

My new Sweet & Chic gift sets are now available for purchase online anytime for anyone, or at my speaking engagements to add value for attendees and provide a delicious and memorable takeaway.

I’m seeking additional chocolate makers and accessories crafters to be featured. Bean-to-bar or fair trade preferred!

Click here for info on my speaking engagements, or contact me at chocolateuplift@gmail.com with questions or if you’re interested in having your chocolate or accessories featured.

think pink gift set
think pink gift set. click here for more!

Onward and upward!

Your friend in chocolate (and style),

Valerie

“ABCs of Sweet Success”

Posted on by valeriebeck

Fun news:

I’m excited to speak to the Batavia Women in Business group, outside of Chicago, on the “ABCs of Sweet Success,” and excited about the corresponding article in The Chicago Tribune about my speaking engagements and rebranding to Chocolate Uplift!

sweet speaker
Sweet speaker. Click for a larger version, or for the corresponding article.

Click here for info on booking me for a Chocolate Wellness talk or business talk, or contact me at chocolateuplift@gmail.com.

All my speaking engagements come with chocolate!

Cheers!

Valerie