The Chocospherian – November 2019

The Chocospherian
Incredible Chocolate News	November 19^th, 2019

Written By: Joanne Kryszek, Chocosphere Co-Founder and Chocolate Goddess, and the Chocosphere Team

Chocolate Stuff	Holiday Gift Giving & Corporate Gifts
Incr‘Edible’ Chocolate Deals…	Customer Service
Recipe Corner	Newsletter
What's New?	Topics

Incr‘Edible’ Chocolate Deals

Now: Until November 28 at the stroke of midnight PST for orders of $25 or more in merchandise we are offering 10% off chocolate bars from the following brands. Domori, Guido Gobino, Cacao Prieto, Cavalier, Creo, Dagoba, Jouvay, Marana, Nina, Pura Delizia, Scharffen Berger, Shattel, Sibo, Slitti, Spencer and Taza. This is the way to get lots of little presents for stocking stuffers, under the tree gifts, party favors and so much more. You can use these bars for "gelt" as well, after all, cacao was used as money in the Americas during ancient times. Orders must be placed on line at www.chocosphere.com (phone and e-mail orders do not qualify) and completed on the website (meaning the site has given your Order ID number) by midnight on the 28th of November 2019. Enter the discount code "DreamDeal" in the appropriate spot below the list of purchased products in the shopping cart display to get the deal. The discounted price will show up in your cart after applying the discount code.

Black Friday: Get 10% off your entire order over $50.00 or more in merchandise on Black Friday and through the weekend (November 29th through December 1st 2019). Chocolate clubs, gift certificates, the Ecole Chocolate "Understanding Chocolate Flavor" package, and shipping charges do not qualify for the discount. The order must be placed online at www.chocosphere.com (phone and e-mail orders do not qualify) and completed on the web site by Sunday, December 1st at midnight PST. Use this discount code to get the deal: "BlackFriday19".

Important note: If the web site tells you that one of these coupon codes is not valid, it could be because you did not meet the minimum merchandise value requirement for that coupon code.

For any order you place, you can also take advantage of "If it fits, It ships" for $10.95 if your shipment qualifies and you accept the packing guidelines.

Look below for another sneaky special you should take advantage of.

Holiday Gift Giving & Corporate Gifts

We are already putting together lots of holiday baskets. Don't wait until the last minute to get yours ordered.

Chocolate Stuff that's great for the holidays!!

Here are a few of my favorites that will work for a gift or they'll just make you feel better when the music that starts around Halloween and lasts till January gets to be too much.

The Slitti Assorted Chocolate Praline Gift Box doesn't just look good. It is absolutely scrumptious.

I am just nuts for the Cote d'Or chocolate bars with whole nuts. They are all great but the almond bars are irresistible.

Cafe-Tasse Lait Caramel Salt Minis are the perfect size just before bed. And they won't keep you awake, as long as you don't eat too many.

The Ritual 100% bar's intense and delicious flavor will help bring joy on your holiday morning.

Though not chocolate, Les Comtes de Provence Fruiit Spread from France is so good that it deserves a special deal here. It is not just any jam or preserve because it's 64% fruit. Those Frenchies know good food! Once you try these spreads, you won't be happy with anything else. And since I can't decide which ones I like best, buy 4 different types and I'll throw in a 5th one at no extra charge. Just state, "Viva la France!" in the "Comments" section at Checkout and we'll take care of the 5th one. This offer is valid while supplies last, for orders placed online at www.chocosphere.com (phone and e-mail orders do not qualify) and completed on the web site by midnight PST on November 28, 2019.

What's New

There are so many new items that you might want to use this link to peruse all the delicious chocolates that our makers are coming up with.

But here are three new brands to get excited about:

Sol Cacao: made by three brothers who grew up in the Caribbean Islands and now live in South Bronx, New York. They use just two simple ingredients; cacao and cane sugar, with no dairy, nut or soy ingredients.

MIA (Made in Africa): Every item that carries the MIA name is entirely crafted by communities in Africa with locally sourced ingredients.

Atypic: All the way from Australia using cacao from the South Pacific.

Recipe Corner

Taza Chocolate Brownies (from a Taza Chocolate recipe card we've had for a while, also online at Kitchenreport.net).

Ingredients

Butter (for the pan)

Flour for the Pan

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

6 oz. (2 bars or the equivalent couverture drops) 80% stone ground chocolate

3/4 cup flour

1/2 t. salt

4 eggs

1 1/2 cup sugar

1 t. vanilla extract (such as our La Vencedora water-processed Mexican liquid vanilla)

2/3 cup walnuts coarsely chopped

To Prepare:

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 by 13 inch baking pan and dust with flour, tapping out the excess.

In the top of a double boiler, melt the butter and the chocolate. Set aside to cool.

Sift together the flour and salt. With an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar until thick and lemon-colored. Beat in the vanilla.

Fold the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture until thoroughly blended. Fold in the flour mixture, followed by the walnuts.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake about 25 minutes or until the center is just set; do not over-bake.

Let the brownies cool in the pan for 30 minutes. Make 6 lengthwise cuts and 3 horizontal cuts to form 18 bars.

Customer Service

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 give the most prompt and accurate service. And when you need help, we are here for you. There is generally someone answering the phones between 8:30am and 4:30pm Pacific Time, Monday through Friday, with the exception of commonly observed holidays.

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. If by chance you don't hear back from us in a reasonable time, please call again during our normal business hours.

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 commitments 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 your order shipped faster than our listed service commitment, please place your order online letting us know of your need in the “Comments” section, and then 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.

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.

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.

Fax 503-692-1494