I wrote about Black Dinah Chocolatiers a few months ago, describing some of their luscious chocolates. Now Kate & Steve have a new collection out, their 2008 Farm Market Collection. As they say at Black Dinah, "This is what Maine tastes like... with chocolate. Each truffle in this collection features an ingredient grown on a local Hancock or Knox County farm, right here in Maine." And I wholeheartedly agree, some of the best farms in the area are providing the ingredients for these elegant and delicious chocolates. Each box comes with eight of ten, rotating, seasonal varieties; so you can be surprised with new flavors all year long.Just to mention one farm providing ingredients for the chocolates are Eliot Coleman, author and organic farming expert; and his wife, Barbara Damrosch, TV show host, author, and horticultural consultant; who own Four Seasons Farm. This is known as being one of the best experimental organic farms in the country. I have a friend, Lydia, an award winning mixologist; who is currently taking some time off from the professional mixology and competition circuit. She is living and working on the Four Seasons Farm right now, fulfilling a different dream. For all I know she may have picked the herb, Chocolate Mint, that is the star of one of the best chocolates in this collection.
More on Black Dinah Chocolatiers after the jump...
Here are the chocolates I tried:
Blueberry Black Pepper- made with: Blueberries from Stoneset Farm, spicy Indian black pepper, dark chocolate. Dark chocolate with blueberries and just a hint of black pepper. Who would think that blueberries and black pepper would go so well together?
DownEast Sea Breeze- made with: Cranberries from Pat and Mike's garden, cranberry vodka, milk chocolate, topped with a dried cranberry. Tied for second runner up in my favorites. Just think of a Sea Breeze Cocktail, then add chocolate. It's tangy and not too sweet; and very grown-up.
Maine Mint- made with: Chocolate Mint from Four Seasons Farm, bittersweet chocolate. Tied for second runner up in my favorites. The unmistakable flavor of fresh, rich, herbal, Chocolate Mint leaves comes through; balanced by the bittersweet chocolate. It's like I just walked out to my garden and picked some sprigs of dew covered chocolate mint. It's the best chocolate/mint confection I have ever had.
Northern Apple- made with: Local apple varieties from on-island and Blue Hill Peninsula, milk chocolate, topped with a cumin glazed pecan. My favorite of this collection, absolutely amazing. The apples, with a strong breeze of apple blossoms, just wash over your tongue, then just a light dash of cumin and pecan comes wafting along to further entice you. The intensity of the apples, that harbinger of Fall, is unbelievable; then wrapped in the apple blossom notes of Spring. I don't know how they capture so much of their essence. The genius of the cumin glazed pecan topping the chocolate takes it up to a whole new level. WOW!
Rhubarb- made with: Rhubarb stalks from Carding Brook Farm, a touch of cloves, milk chocolate. My runner up for favorite in the collection. Nicely tart and fruity with a dash of spice from the barely noticeable touch of cloves. It's elegant and grown up, but fun too.
Strawberry Balsamic- made with: Strawberries from Lazy C farm, oak-aged balsamic vinegar, dark chocolate, black pepper. Dark chocolate with a whisper of strawberry, and the complexity of aged balsamic vinegar.
Tree to Caramel- made with: BDC's own Maine Maple-syrup caramel, bittersweet
chocolate, apple, smoked Maine sea salt. Rich, handmade caramel with the slightest touch of maple syrup. Topped with a few crystals of Maine sea salt. The only thing that could make this better would be to roll the whole thing in Maine sea salt. My tongue curls just thinking about it.
Wild Raspberry- made with: Raspberries from Carding Brook farm, bittersweet chocolate. Bittersweet chocolate perfumed with a note of wild raspberry. Simply elegant.
After eating all the chocolates, all I could think of was myself as a trembling Oliver Twist, asking in a whispered and quivering voice, "Please Sir, can I have some more?"
I wonder what the other two chocolates in the collection, that I haven't tried, are like?
New England Pie Pumpkin- made with: Local pumpkin varieties from Blue Hill Peninsula,
BDC's maple caramel, warm spices, milk chocolate.
Chevre & Nib- made with: Chevre & Nib- fresh chevre from Sunset Acres, bittersweet chocolate, cocoa
nibs.
