Blog

Limited Release: Hot Sauce Infused Belize 68% Dark Many of you have asked for something hot, and on Friday, May 4, I'm releasing it. Produced in collaboration with Madison, WI’s 537 Co. hot sauce, t…

New Guide to Enjoying Fruit-Forward Dark Chocolate If you’re reading my newsletter, there’s a good chance you already know that plain dark chocolate can have fruit flavors, naturally. If this comes…

Naturally fruity dark chocolates can taste very different from the more straightforward “chocolatey” dark chocolates most of us are used to--so different that it’s tempting to think of them as a diffe…

Yes, plain dark chocolate--without added flavorings and ingredients--can taste fruity. If this fact comes as news to you, I’m thrilled to be the messenger, because this kind of chocolate is some of th…

Wm. Chocolate in the Press From a mention in USA Today to a profile in Madison's Isthmus, it was an exciting news month around here. Give these pieces a read if you haven't--the authors scouted lots…

NEW GUIDE TO ENJOYING 100% DARK CHOCOLATELast fall I released an unsweetened 100% dark chocolate bar, and since then many of you have asked what to do with it. And you know what, with quality 100…

Let's get some basics out of the way: 100% dark chocolate is unique in the chocolate world because, by definition, it's unsweetened. Sometimes it's made with nothing but cacao beans, and sometimes…

NEW PODCAST INTERVIEW ON THE CORNER TABLEEarlier this month I was a guest on The Corner Table, a food podcast hosted by Lindsay Christians of Madison's Cap Times newspaper. Our conversation delve…

I've recently received several questions about nutrition data in general, and sugar content in particular. Brief information about these topics is now on my FAQs page, and I want to offer answers here…

You'll recall from Part 1 that my India Anamalai 74% bar began as a project to replace a particularly wonderful origin that I had no prospects of restocking: Venezuela Guasare. Eight months after star…

You've reached the final chapter of the story behind my India Anamalai 74% bar. To recap, in Part 1 I was running out of one of my all-time favorite cacao origins, Venezuela Guasare, so I set out to f…

I set the stage in Part 1: when my supply of Guasare cacao ran out, I needed a new origin that offered an equally complex, dynamic flavor profile of its own. Part 2 is all about the process of finding…

My first Making the Bar post told the story of the Honduras Wampusirpi 100% bar--an unplanned bar that came together quickly, almost as if fate were behind it. The story of my latest bar, made with ca…

I'm releasing my first 100% bar today, made with nothing but cacao from Wampusirpi in Honduras, and I've decided to let you in on how it all came together. The point isn't to provide chocolate-making…

In Part 1 I told the story of how a chance purchase and a good friend set me on a quest to make my first 100% bar. Much of the work that goes into a new product is rather dry--there are barcodes, and…

This is the last of three blog posts telling the story of my Honduras Wampusirpi 100% bar, from inspiration (Part 1) to creation (Part 2) to final touches (Part 3).By the end of Part 2 the recipe was…

It shouldn't come as a surprise that I tend to accumulate extra chocolate in my line of work. To put that chocolate to good use, I've developed some go-to chocolate-forward recipes that I use in my ow…

It's becoming common to hear craft chocolate makers talk about aging their chocolate to improve flavor. But does it really work? In my experience the answer is, it depends. Here's why.First we have to…

Believe it or not, nutrition was what first pulled me into making chocolate. To some of you, that may sound crazy--after all, chocolate has a reputation for being a fatty, sugary, guilty pleasure. On…

Last time, I shared some thoughts about how the craft chocolate industry is giving us chocolate with flavors that are not only delicious but also interesting, naturally. The best way to find the flavo…