ditched for acadia national park: askinosie davao white chocolate bar + pistachios

I wanted to tell you about the joys and wonders of a really well-made white chocolate bar. Never mind that I have long hated white chocolate, with the aversion stemming back to some sordid tale involving a young girl, saddened to find that a white chocolate Easter bunny does not taste the same as a milk chocolate one.

Periodically since that sad day I have tried once again to venture into the realms of white chocolate. After all, stark white chocolate makes for fun photography. However, I deeply regret to report that I am not over my white chocolate crisis; by purchasing a high-end craft chocolate variety, I have in fact only augmented it. Enter the Askinosie Davao White Chocolate Bar + Pistachios.

I am not qualified to review this chocolate. If you like white chocolate and pistachios, I’m certain that you will love this. My boyfriend loves this bar. How he can enjoy something that is too sweet for even me is incredibly mystifying, but that’s the way it goes, I guess. In the more comfortable realms of darker chocolate, I have been exceedingly pleased with Askinosie offerings, including the San Jose del Tambo and Soconusco bars. White chocolate just isn’t my thing: an aroma of this bar leads me to think of old cheese curds, and rotting fish. I keep coming back to it again and again, not making it past the smell test, turned off by what I’m sure you, gentle reader, many find innocently delicious.

So if white chocolate is your thing, don’t listen to anything except “I’m certain that you will love this.” At $10.50 per bar, I would at least hope so.

Moving on to something we can all agree on: autumn is a beautiful time of year. Exit Askinosie Davao White Chocolate Bar + Pistachios. Enter Acadia National Park.

I am remiss for not mentioning Acadia National Park to you sooner. Located a little over an hour from Bangor, the park provides hiking opportunities mixed with the chance to observe wealthy vacationers getting rugged in their unscuffed hiking boots and well-fitted EMS and Mountain Hardware outfits. Vacation homes of the rich dot Mount Desert Island, the island containing the bulk of Acadia National Park. In an area of Maine known for some of the poorer counties in all of the country, Acadia shines as a beacon of what Maine is capable of.

Scenic beauty, hospitality, and lots of fresh ocean air.

I try to avoid visiting Acadia in the summer, when it is overrun with seasonal residents and visitors fresh off of cruise boats. In the off seasons, though, Acadia is in my opinion, much more on. The perfect place for a day hike, or foliage admiration, or a last chance to sport shorts for the season – all of which we took advantage of during this past Monday’s holiday.

Getting around in the park is simple, albeit a bit pricey during the enforced fee season. Visitors can drive through the park in personal vehicles, or can hop on and off of circulating fee-free park buses. There is a carriage road system, consisting of forty-five miles of broken-stone roads and rustic bridges, financed back in the day by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. On these non-motorized roads, bicyclists and hikers can mingle with horseback and carriage riders (none of which I have tried my hand, or feet, or horse, at yet).

Hiking trails, both short and long, abound across the island.

We hiked the Precipice Trail, which was a quick, fun trek labeled by the park as a “non-technical climbing route” where “people have died.” So I suppose we climbed the Precipice Trail, actually. It wasn’t as bad as they made it sound, and it featured plenty of climbing with installed metal ladders and handrails. I say it featured lots of fun.

I can see how the trail can become instantly dangerous in wet weather, with narrow rock ledges and exposed open areas providing the catalyst for injury, or, I suppose, death. So, hike this non-technical climbing route in dry conditions, and you will be aces.

And when the sun sets, as it is wont to do insanely early here in Maine, treat yourself to a lobster roll and onion rings, just like all the summertime tourists would do. It is one of the most delicious treats I have enjoyed while here on the East Coast. Enter the Lobster Roll from Lunts Gateway Lobster Pound: more appreciated in Maine than white chocolate.

Lunts Gateway Lobster Pound

1133 Bar Harbor Rd
Trenton, ME 04605

Open in 2011 until October 24th

Acadia National Park

PO Box 177
Bar Harbor, ME 04609

207.288.3338

Open year round. Entrance fees charged for use from May 1st through October 31st.

Askinosie Chocolate

514 E. Commercial St
Springfield, MO 65803

417.862.9900

 

b.t. mcelrath’s oldies but goodies

I have previously shown great love for B.T. McElrath Chocolatier, my hometown heroic purveyor of chocolatey goodness. Did you know their factory is located mere blocks from where I used to live? It’s fate, I have decided. Fate that I am destined to enjoy these amazing B.T. creations for years to come. I have no problem accepting this responsibility.

And while I’ve enjoyed the B.T. bars that I’ve mowed down on, I haven’t been privileged enough to sample from their truffle selection (until now). Having given my mom some tasty-looking B.T. truffles for Mother’s Day, I was very happy to present her with them…. but embarrassingly jealous that I didn’t get to try any. Is it okay to be jealous of a gift given selflessly to your mom? My moral compass says no.

Still, ever the wonderful woman that she is, took upon herself the great burden of visiting B.T. McElrath’s factory in Minneapolis for their 7th Annual Chocolate Sale, held near the end of May. I figured that someone should enjoy the seasonal close-outs, overruns, and items created especially for the sale, even if that someone wasn’t me. But wait!! It was.

For I recently received a package containing a somewhat strangely-colored Passion Fruit & Tangerine Bar, as well as two lovely boxes of truffles.

The first box, which had sadly bloomed and made for less-than-stellar photos, contained five stellar Caramelized Coconut Pavé. Each pavé contained creamy coconutty goodness, with a smattering of caramel, all enclosed in a lovely shell of 70% dark chocolate. A dash of coconut across the top of each truffle sets the tone for what is to be enjoyed once bitten into. The outer chocolate shell is rather thick, but the coconut filling shines through – and as the chocolate melts on the palate, I am left to admire the filling’s coconut texture.

I am by no means a truffle connoisseur (although perhaps I am now motivated to become one), but I found this to be delightful. I enjoyed it even more when it had been refrigerated for some time, as the thick chocolate shell became snappingly good, giving way to the still creamy interior.

The second, and woefully beautiful truffle [it has been known to cause ennui when no truffles remain], known as the B.T. Berry Poinsettia, did not come in its own box, leaving me with few clues to decipher its mélange of delightful layers. Phew, this paragraph is getting a bit heavy on the French words. C’est lourd, ce paragraphe.

Searching the interwebs, I was lucky enough to find what these cute gems are made of. From The Nibble, you and I now know that the inside features red raspberry and black current purées combined with white chocolate ganache, while the outer layers feature both white and dark chocolate. Newsflash: I just learned that the word is poinsettia, not pointsettia. I almost had to turn in my third-grade spelling champion mentality, there.

And wow, these truffles deliver. I wouldn’t have known what they were made of if I hadn’t looked them up, but they are so smooth and buttery, and full of flavor. Perhaps if I drank more Kir Royales (back to the French theme, eh?) I would better recognize the cassis-flavored ganache.

The dark chocolate layer on the bottom of the truffle persists a wee bit longer than the other components, but I would expect that, due to the higher proportion of cocoa butter in the white chocolate shell and ganache. Know what else I learned from The Nibble? White chocolate is normally “deodorized” t0 remove its undesirable, strong taste. Eew. No wonder white chocolate normally creeps me out.

I will admit that B.T. McElrath does a great job, in all of their products, of incorporating white and dark chocolate in tandem, and making the end products taste great.

While these oldies are probably not around for purchase any longer, B.T. McElrath is currently stocking some wonderful seasonal truffles (or so says my lovely mum). We’re talking Peanut Butter Pavé, Chai-Spiced Honey Truffles, Blood Orange Blossoms, and Strawberry Balsamic Caramels. They sound good, don’t they?

B.T. McElrath Chocolatier

2010 E. Hennepin Ave., #78
Minneapolis, MN 55413

I found a great taste tester in my boyfriend, who sampled two of the ten total truffles when we opened the boxes up last weekend. Unfortunately, the eight of the other ten truffles have now vanished mysteriously into my stomach. Sorry dear!