Love is Free Edmonton

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Looking for a unique and interactive way to celebrate Valentine’s Day with your loved one? Check out Love is Free Edmonton.

There will be wine, an interactive cooking lesson with chef Sebastian Lisz, live music and dancing. And of course, we will be there with the essential Valentine’s Day indulgence – chocolate. Once your evening of wine, food and ‘groovin’ is complete, you will be whisked away via complimentary limo service.

Tickets for either February 12th, 13th or 14th are $195 per couple, but until February 5th, you can get the early bird price of $175.

You can purchase tickets and check out specifics here. Hope to see you there!

The Multi-purpose Valrhona Pearl

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The shiny Valrhona Pearl is deceiving – the lustrous 55% chocolate exterior hints at a smooth, flavourful (though small) confection. But after trying one, you find a hidden surprise – a crunchy cereal centre that adds a unique and delightful texture.

Of course these little treats are beautiful to snack on (in moderation, of course), but they are also a fun and unexpected addition to everything from your morning bowl of cereal, to a scoop of ice cream, or your favourite cookie.

I recently added a couple packages of Pearls to a batch of chocolate chip cookies, and they were just the thing to add some contrast to this classic, soft cookie. You can swap the following recipe out with your own favourite cookie dough, but here is mine just in case.

Soft and Chewy “Valrhona Pearl” Cookies

*makes about 3 dozen

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 teaspoon coarse salt (or Fleur de Sel, etc., if you’ve got some handy)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract (or vanilla paste)

2 large eggs

2 cups Valrhona Pearls (I used two of the cones pictured above, ~12 oz)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk together flour and baking soda; set aside. Put butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Reduce speed to low. Add salt, vanilla, and eggs; mix until well blended (about 1 minute). Stir in Valrhona Pearls.

2. Drop heaping tablespoons of dough onto parchment lined baking sheets, spacing cookies 2 inches apart. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges turn golden but centres are still soft (about 10 – 12 minutes). Let cool on sheets on wire racks for 2 minutes, the transfer cookies to racks, and test one out! To store, let cookies cool completely, then transfer to and airtight container, with parchment between each layer. These cookies keep for up to one week at room temperature.

*This recipe was adapted from Martha Stewart’s “Holiday Cookies” magazine, 2005 edition.

Results from the 2009 Name That Origin contest.

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Congratulations to Erin D. of Edmonton for winning the 2009 Name That Origin contest. She won the $400 chocolate shopping spree! Thanks to all the competitors and to our two celebrity observers, Jennifer C-K and Scott McKeen.

It was an intense and enjoyable experience for all. A very good report on our event was written by Sharon on her blog, Only Here for the Food. Read this posting for all the details of the event!

Since there was such a positive response from all who participated in this contest, we are going have to plan another contest in 2010. Keep a lookout!

We took this video of the full final stage of the competition, so if you would like to see what it was like, please watch the video below!

2009 Open house and chocolate tasting finals + giving back

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Tuesday Dec 22nd will be our annual Christmas Open House at Kerstin’s Chocolates. Come down to the shop between 3pm and 7pm and enjoy a warming cup of hot drinking chocolate with or without extra “cheer”. There might also be some samples of some of our upcoming products to taste. Then at 7pm, stay on to see the final showdown in our “Name That Origin” competition. The winners of the first phase of the contest along with the randomly chosen wildcard entrants will battle to see who can outlast everyone else in a chocolate taste-off. As noted, the winner will receive a $400 gift certificate to use at the shop. No pressure at all! We will have two celebrity officials observing the competition: Edmonton Journal columnist Scott McKeen and the Edible Prairie’s Jennifer Cockrall King. Come one come all and celebrate with us!

One more thing: We want to give back to the developing world a little this year (since that is where cocoa comes from) so we will be sending 20% of sales of Chocophilia Products on Dec 22nd to one of our favorite local charities, Change for Children. Find out more about them on their website.

Holiday hours for Dec 2009

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Here are our special hours for the end of 2009:

-Regular hours until Saturday, Dec 19th.

-Monday, Dec 21st: Specially open from 11am to 5pm

-Tues, Dec 22nd: Open 11am to 7pm (plus, Chocolate Tasting Finals at 7pm)

-Wed, Dec 23rd: Regular hours, 11am to 5pm.

-Thurs, Dec 24th: Short hours: 11am to 3pm.

-Friday, Dec 25th: Closed

-Saturday, Dec 26th: Regular Hours: 11am to 5pm.CLOSED!

-Sun, Mon: Closed.

-Tuesday, Dec 29th: Extended Hours: 11am to 7pm.

-Wed, Dec 30th- Jan 14th, 2010: Closed

A contest: Name That Origin!

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Name that Origin, the contest!

Update (Dec 22nd, 2009): The finals are tonight at 7pm! If you are competing, you will have been notified by e-mail. Everyone is welcome to attend!

Update (Dec 17th, 2009): We have 12 winners of the first round so far, so make sure to enter before the 22nd!

After the big response to our city-wide Easter Egg Hunt this spring, we decided to create another fun event that you can participate in. This one will be a challenging task that will push your knowledge of chocolate to the limit. Do you know your cacao? Are you ready to prove it? Like with fine wine, each cacao growing region in the world produces beans with a distinctive flavor. With practice, almost anybody can learn to tell the difference between chocolates made from beans from different countries. We want to find the people with the greatest palates in the city. We call this contest the “Name That Origin” game. It will run from Dec 3rd to Dec 22nd. The rules are simple, and there is no fee to play! Here is how you do it:

a) Come in to Kerstin’s Chocolates (10139 112th St.), and fill out an entry form. You will then be given 4 small pieces of chocolate to taste.
b) You will have to figure out the country of origin of the cacao used in each of the chocolates (all chocolates will have a single country of origin for the cacao.) and write you answers on the entry form.
c)If you don’t name the correct countries of origin you will receive a 20% discount card and will be entered in the wildcard draw to compete in the Chocolate Tasting Challenge.
d) If you do get them all correct, you will instantly win one container of our Chocophilia drinking chocolate (Spicy or Dark, an $18.95 value). You will also be invited to a special a Chocolate Tasting Challenge event on Dec 22nd. At this event, there will an extreme chocolate identification challenge for all the winners of the first tasting and the wildcard entries. The person who prevails at this event will win a $400 gift certificate from Kerstin’s Chocolates and the title of “The Top Taster”.

Some finer points to note:

1) We will choose the 4 chocolates that you will taste from a larger pool of chocolates.

2) Each entrant will get different chocolates in a different order.

3) Each entrant will be told which of the answers were right and which was wrong.

4) Each entrant can participant once and only once in the contest!

Christmas Line-up 2009

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Santa gets revealed!
A lot of people have been asking what our seasonal line-up will be this month. Here is what we will be offering in our store starting on Dec 1st. If you would like to put in a request for a large order, please
call us or e-mail us before Dec 5th, as we cannot guarantee availability after that date.

We will be bringing backour selection of molded chocolate Santas using the finest Valrhona milk or dark
chocolate. 

Will you be needing any truffles? Here are some of our seasonal specials that will be
available through Xmas:
   
-Tiramasu You.
    -It’s a bit Nibby out there!
    -To Rum With Love
    -A Nod To Eggnog
and more!

Gift Box!
We also have gift baskets of many sizes and arrangements and  custom baskets are also available. You can build your own in the store.

We will also bring back our Christmas Chocolate Trio in either milk or
dark chocolate bark.  Three delicious, Christmas inspired barks packaged beautifully in a box that won a design award!  Also returning are our Christmas Towers, a 4 tiered box filled with
truffles, melt-aways, spiced nuts and dipped fruit. Perfect for holiday parties and gift-giving. 

Coming back soon to the Store:
Domori

caramelsIt’s been a long wait, but we have finally found a new supplier of Domori chocolate!  Famous for their prized “Porcelana” bar (thought to be the best bar in the world) and other gorgeous chocolate.  We also have their amazing chocolate and hazelnut spread and a white chocolate bar with licorice!
A new shipment of Zotter bars are also arriving shortly.  These truffle based bars from Austria combine great fair trade chocolate with imaginative ingredients such as “Black Beer”, “Sour Cherry and Sesame” and “Walnut and Cheese”!

Finally, we have some incredible salted caramels from France, seen here!

Halloween!

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It’s Haloween and we have a few yummy things in the shop for the occassion: a cinnamon milk chocolate bark with candy corn(!) and some very special little truffles: coca cola gianduja with pop rocks! (yup, the ones that pop in your mouth…) Fun.

September Newsletter is here.

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Dear Fans of Chocolate,

 September is upon us and Kerstin’s Chocolates is open again
for
business!  Thank you for your patience by holding out for the
month of August while we were closed. We hope that we can share with
you many new and exciting chocolate experiences this fall. 

Name Change

Yes,  we have really changed the name of our shop from “The
Cocoa
Room by Kerstin’s Chocolates”,   to “Kerstin’s
Chocolates”. Although “The Cocoa Room” was catchy and fun, we
realized that having different names for different aspects of the
business was confusing. We are in the process of changing the signs
inside and outside of the shop to reflect the new name and make our
location easier to find. We thank you for your patience during the
transition! 
     

New Products coming soon…

Due to the hot weather at the end of August and beginning of September,
the shop is not fully stocked Madecasse yet, but we are excited
about the new products coming at the end of the month.  Here’s
a preview:

    Medecasse
    Single
origin bars from Madagascar.  We are really excited to have
this
chocolate available at the shop because it is one of only 2 bars in the
shop(the other is Claudio Corallo) that is made in the country of from
where the beans are grown.  The cool thing about this is that Theo Jane Goodalmore
profits stay in Madagascar where the people need
it.   The
chocolate is organic, directly traded and absolutely delicious! To find
out more, see: www.madecasse.com

  Theo
Chocolates
A
relatively new company out of Seattle that makes fair trade and organic
chocolate.  Theo create uniquely flavored chocolates like Curry and Coconut or Bread and Chocolate.  We will also have available their single origin bars and a very nice milk chocolate
bar.  Check out www.theochocolate.com

   
Finally: a new shimpment of Pralus will be arriving shortly, including
the extremely popular 100% bars and the outrageously good chocolate
covered cocoa beans.

To keep abreast in realtime of all of these arrivals, current truffle
flavors and more, follow us on Twitter or
connect on Facebook.

New chocolate tasting workshops and chocolate making classes 

      We will have
Chocolate Tasting workshops on Sept 24th (3 tix left), and Oct 6th. We will also have chocolate making classes classes
and tastings on Oct 1st and Oct 22nd. To get tickets for these and other events, click here.

 New Shop Hours

      We’ve decided to open
the shop at 11am rather than 10 am on weekdays because there were few
customers.  We are also going to be closing at 5pm on Fridays instead
of 7pm. These new hours will go into effect on Thursday, September 10th. Please check back in November for our extended Christmas hours.

Have a great September,

Kerstin and the Team

Father’s Day at Kerstin’s Chocolates: Bacon, Truffles and more.

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What do Dad’s love more than great chocolate? Great bacon! So we decided to make the ultimate treat for
Dad: chocolate covered bacon!

We partnered with a local organic farm called Sunshine Organic Farm, located in Warburg, near Leduc, to create an Albertan treat that will be unforgettable. The Horvath family have been raising organic Berkshire pork for many years, and we are proud to use their delicious bacon in our Father’s Day special.

We cook the bacon to make it crispy, and then dip it in single origin dark chocolate or milk chocolate and finally sprinkle it with cocoa nibs. The result is a wonderful crunchy, salty contrast between bacon and chocolate.

This special feature will only be available in limited quantities at The Cocoa Room from Wednesday June 17th until Saturday June 20th. There will also be free samples available on Saturday, June 20th at the Sunshine Organic Farm booth at the Downtown farmer’s market (near the corner of 104th St. and 102nd Ave.)

What else do we have, you may ask?
If chocolate covered bacon is not for you, then why not try our “triple”, sure to score points with Dad. Three of Dad’s favorite beverages inspired us to create these unique confections:

1) The Mojito: White chocolate with a rum, lime and mint infused ganache.
2) The Irish Coffee: Milk chocolate and an Irish whiskey ganache
3) The Brandy Alexander: Dark Chocolate with brandy and creme de cacao ganache.

These confections come packaged in a beautiful 9-truffle box that dad will love ($25.00). We will also have non-alcoholic truffles available just in case!

Summer chocolate making classes & tasting workshops (for kids too!)

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We still have some openings in our upcoming chocolate making classes (June 25th and July 2nd) and tasting workshops (July 8th, 17th and 25th, a Saturday). We are also offering a new type of class this summer: Chocolate Making for Kids. Any child of ages 7 to 12 years old can come in to our kitchen on July 22nd or 23rd from 2-4pm and learn how to make chocolate (tickets are $40). The students get to keep everything they make, which should keep them motivated! These tickets will go fast, so buy your tickets securely on our web site.

New retail partner in Medicine Hat: Zuchini Blossom

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Do you live in Medicine Hat? Do you know anyone who lives there? Spread the word that our Chocophilia bars are now available at the Zuchini Blossom Cafe. Please support this retailer and our other retail partners as well.

As always, if you would like to send us a suggestion of a retail store in Canada that would be a good fit for our chocolates, please contact us.

Indulgence a big success.

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Thanks to everyone who came out to see us at Indulgence 2009. We had a lot of fun at the event, and we hope that you did too. We create a new recipe for the event, and we were surprised by the response! We called it our “Cassis Chocolate Cup with Praline Crunch” and it was made with ingredients from two local producers: local Honey from Lola Canola Honey and local black currants from Mo Na Foods. Check out the diagram!

Diagram of our desert!

Diagram of our desert!

We hope to post some photos of the event soon.

Mother’s Day 2009 at Kerstin’s Chocolates

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Mother’s Day is this Sunday so don’t forget to stop by the Cocoa Room to get your Mom what she loves most:  Chocolate!   We have chocolate to please all Moms and their various
tastes:

1.  For Practical Moms

Chocolate Bouquet.
What could be better than a
bouquet of chocolate?

Our bouquet barks are the perfect gift for Moms who hate to see anything go to waste!  Our collection of large pieces of bark looks like a flower bouquet, but it’s extremely edible. How practical!  Here are the 3 delectable flavors included in each bouquet ($21.95):

  • Vanilla Tutti Frutti – white chocolate with diced mixed fruit flavored with pure vanilla beans.
  • Praline Crunch – pure Venezuelan milk chocolate with caramalized nut pieces.
  • Spicy Rose – dark Venezuelan chocolate perfumed with rose and sprinkled with strawberry pieces and pink peppercorns.

2.  For Indulgent Moms

For Moms who like to treat themselves, we are offering 5 creamy and decadent truffles in a very pretty box tied with a bow ($12.00).
 This set includes:

  • 1 Champagne Truffle – dark ganache with essence of champagne.
  • 1 Lavender Truffle – dark ganache infused with lavender flours and enrobed in our 65% dark Venezuelan chocolate.
  • 1 Kirsch Truffle – dark cherry ganache with kirsch and brandied cherries.
  • 1 Honey Crunch Truffle – milk chocolate
    ganache flavored with wild flower honey and topped with sponge toffee crunch
  • 1 Cassis Truffle – black currant ganache enrobed in creamy white chocolate from Switzerland.

3.  For Health-Conscious Moms
For Moms who like to moderate their indulgences, we’ve packaged our delicious dipped fruit in a beautiful looking box. Each box contains 5 plump dried pears and 5 apricots from California which we dip in pure Venezuelan Chocolate ($18.50).

Finally, you could opt for one of our Chocolate Lover’s Gift Boxes in either Milk, Dark or Dark and Milk, which includes some of our fine handmade chocolate as well as a selection of world-class chocolate from great chocolate makers from around the world ($50, $75 or $100).