I love chocolate, and I have developed a taste for gourmet, hand crafted dark chocolate. It is one of those little affordable luxuries that makes life so much sweeter, and never fails to add a little sunshine to a rainy day. In order to fully appreciate those little, delicious treats, I set out to learn more about chocolate. I reached out to Rebecca Snyder, Co-founder at gourmet, bean-to-bar brand Lumineux Chocolate and asked her to share some of the things you need to know about chocolate:
I suggest that you take small bites. Try to avoid chewing the chocolate, but instead let it melt on your tongue. Then swirl it around so it fills your mouth, for a full experience of the different notes. The cocoa content (that’s the percentage stated on the package), the bean characteristics and the roasting all affect the flavor and the character of the chocolate, and makes chocolate tasting very similar to wine tasting.
Always keep the chocolate in a cool, dry place, out of direct sunlight. Chocolate does not handle temperature changes well, and going from hot to cold, and vice versa, and you risk a white, dull-looking buildup on the surface. Never store chocolate in the freezer, as the drastic temperature change will ruin the texture. If you don’t have a cool place to store your chocolate, an option is to keep the chocolate in the fridge during the warm summer months. Though remember to take it out from the fridge well in advance before eating it.
I like pairing chocolate with cheese, and I have found the Orange & Cardamom to work really well with both hard cheese and soft cheese such as fresh goat cheese. The cheese adds a creaminess to the chocolate, that you can’t find otherwise, without adding milk to the chocolate.
Lumineux is a small-batch, bean-to-bar, chocolate brand, based in Greenville SC. The founders, Ben and Rebecca Snyder, both have extensive experience from the restaurant industry. Ben is a pastry chef and a baker, and Becca is a cake decorator and a baker, and the common love for chocolate led to the launch of Lumineux.
Lumineux was started to showcase cocoa beans not widely used in the United States. High quality cocoa beans are imperative for making good chocolate, and we carefully select the best, most flavorful, but often underestimated, cocoa beans from all over Asia and Africa. Lumineux only works with farms and cooperatives with fair, sustainable practices in place, contributing to the economic development of the local communities.
Lumineux is a small-batch, bean-to-bar, chocolate brand, based in Greenville SC. The founders, Ben and Rebecca Snyder, both have extensive experience from the restaurant industry. Ben is a pastry chef and a baker, and Becca is a cake decorator and a baker, and the common love for chocolate led to the launch of Lumineux.
Mitzie Mee – Sanne: I got this recipe from Ben & Becca from Lumineux Chocolate, and I’m telling you, this recipe is the only cookie recipe you will ever need. …
Lumineux is a small-batch, bean-to-bar, gourmet chocolate brand, based in Greenville SC. The founders, Ben and Becca Snyder, both have extensive experience from the restaurant industry. Ben is a pastry …
I love chocolate, and I have developed a taste for gourmet, hand crafted dark chocolate. It is one of those little affordable luxuries that makes life so much sweeter, and …
Making good chocolate is a time-consuming process. It takes weeks from the beans are sorted until the tablets are wrapped and ready to ship, and each step in the process …
