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Incredible Chocolate News |
March 2015 |
| What’s New? | Bargain Basement |
| Easter | Newsletter |
| Incr‘Edible’ Chocolate Deal… | Recipe Corner |
| Customer Service |
We now have Sibo from Costa Rica! Jerry and Joanne vacationed in Costa Rica a few years back and Jerry asked Joanne a day or two before the trip to source some great Costa Rican chocolate. They visited George and Julio of Sibo at their workshop and event space, situated beautifully on a hill looking over a valley, and amazingly they were looking for someone to distribute their chocolate in the U.S. Premium beans lovingly treated from the plant to pick, ferment, dry, roast, grind, conch and so on and voila you have the most delicious chocolate, attractively packed in boxes made partly from cacao shells. For now we offer four Sibo bars; 70%, milk (45%) coffee/toffee, 70% with ginger and an 82% that will knock your socks off, and we hope to expand our offerings soon!
Valrhona just introduced their new Illanka 63% cacao dark chocolate, made with single origin cacao from Peru, and we're happy to offer it at Chocosphere in both 1Kg repacks and factory 3Kg bags! This premium chocolate which comes in "Les Feves" discs for use by the home chef and professional chef alike, is made from rare white Gran Blanco beans. Valrhona describes this chocolate as having "...exceptional creaminess with a strong tang and complex notes of sun ripened blackberries, blueberries and black grapes" along with hints of roasted peanuts (as a description of flavor only -- there are no peanuts in the chocolate's ingredients list). Illanka is a very versatile chocolate, which Valrhona recommends for most applications aside from coating.
We also added De Ruijter milk and dark sprinkles from Holland. The dutch enjoy chocolate sprinkles on buttered toast for breakfast. Try it, you may like it! Or, sprinkle on your favorite ice cream or coffee drink.
It's almost Easter at Chocosphere, and we're ready to help with your chocolate treats made by top class chocolatiers. The Valrhona egg is a long-standing Chocosphere tradition that we're delighted to continue, along with Alma’s bunnies, frogs, hedgehogs hopping around the warehouse just waiting to be corralled for you. A new offering this year is the Chocolopolis Coconut Passion Fruit Egg which looks just like an egg inside if you slice it, with the coconut "egg white" and a yellow passion fruit "yolk." The adorable CafeTasse eggs come in a small version of the egg carton you're well familiar with. We don’t have much left, and Easter will be here before you know it, so you might want to order today.
We're now offering a Limited Time Shipping Special on All Amedei and Domori Products (except chef-style bulk wafers and blocs) for Newsletter friends. If your order only contains qualified Amedei and Domori products, and you place the order online, you will get free shipping as described below. If your order contains a mix of qualified and non-qualified products, the shipping charge is computed based on the value of the non-qualified products only.
Shipping will be either by ground or Priority Mail and will be selected by Chocosphere. Choose local pick up if all the products on your order are qualified and shipping will be free. You must give us a shipping address that can be delivered by the U.S. Postal Service within the United States. To get the advantage of free shipping, select local pick up as the shipping option. In the comments section write, "free shipping on Amedei and Domori qualified products." Order must be placed online to qualify. If your order contains non-qualified products, select the shipping option that you need, you will be charged the entire shipping amount online at the time you place the order and we will refund $10.00 manually very shortly after shipping your order.
Of course we are happy to help over the phone, but we do appreciate it when you place your order on line. It helps us to give the most prompt and accurate service. If you don’t feel comfortable giving your credit card number over the internet, just click the box for ‘please call’ and we will call you. But when you need help, we are here for you. There is generally someone answering the phones between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. PST, Monday through Friday.
There are five of us answering phones at Chocosphere, where we speak fluent Chocospherian. We try hard to answer all calls personally during normal business hours, but occasionally one slips over to voice mail. If you call and end up in voice mail, please leave a message. We will do our very best to call back promptly.
We each have varying levels of experience. It is our goal to happily serve you the very best chocolate!!
Finally, and very importantly, our web site lists our service committments as to when we ship an order based on when the order is placed. However, we certainly understand there are circumstances where you may want us to process an order faster, when you need your chocolate "now"! If you need to have us ship your order out faster than our listed service commitment, please place your order online letting us know of your need in the "Comments" section, and then please call us (503-692-3323 x 0 for Customer Service) to let us know. We can't guarantee early shipping, but we always try hard to provide chocolate happiness to our valued customers.
There are quite a few items on the Bargain Basement right now, so it is a great time to do some shopping for yourself.
Please remember that the Bargain Basement contains products that may be past the best-by date, so it is a great place to treat yourself at a great price, but it may not be appropriate to give a gift from the Bargain basement.
If you want the best deal of all, try the $100.00 Grab bag for $39.95. One customer said that he would keep the secret to himself or we would be flooded with orders and there wouldn’t be anything left for him.
If you want us to send a copy as an email every time there is a new issue or to tell you about special offers, please create an account at chocosphere.com and check the newsletter box.
Chocolate Hazelnut Butter Cookies
Ingredients:
1¼ cups whole wheat flour
¼ cup dutched cocoa powder
1½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
⅔ cup butter
½ cup hazelnut butter (or peanut butter)
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
½ tsp La Vencedora Vanilla
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sift flour with cocoa powder, soda and salt. Cream butter with hazelnut butter and gradually add brown sugar. Mix until light. Add egg and vanilla. Continue to mix for at least 3 minutes. Blend in sifted dry ingredients gradually until no dried ingredients are visible. Shape ½ the dough into 1 inch balls. Place on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Press dough balls down with a fork to flatten them. You can add Scharffen Berger 62% cookie chunks or one of our Guttard cookie chip offerings to the balance of the dough if you would like some variety, by turning some of these into Chocolate-Chocolate Hazelnut Butter Cookies.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Makes about 40 cookies.
Topics:
If you have a topic you would like us to cover in the newsletter, please drop us a line: customer‑service@chocosphere.com and we will be happy to include it in a future edition.
Contact us at 877-992-4626 and press 0 for Customer Service
Fax 877-912-4626
Local Portland, Oregon Area calls, or if you get your long distance calling for free:
503-692-3323
Fax 503-692-1494