- Past Chocolate of the Month chocolates are no longer for sale individually. Please e-mail if you have a bulk order (50 or more pieces) request -
As I write this on the last day of 2011, most of the LL crew has decamped to Kaua'i, Hawaii for a bit of a vacation. Jacob and I (Lagusta) go every year to visit part of Jacob's family, who live here, and my right-hand chocolatier pal Maresa and her sweetheart are soon to join us.
Over the years, I've fallen hard for this chunk of rock in the middle of the vast ocean. I love the beach and I love the mountains, but most of all, I love the beautiful ingredients that grow here. The farmer's markets explode with fruit and vegetables so juicy it makes me forget all about the snow and sleet back home.
The vanilla we use at the shop in New Paltz is the most local vanilla you can get in Upstate New York, it's from a tiny 1-acre vanilla farm on Maui where the way-beyond organic farmer hand-pollinates each vanilla orchid. We make our own vanilla extract with these beautiful beans by steeping them in our local Tuthilltown Spirits Baby Bourbon Whiskey.
This fresh New Year's chocolate plays homage to both my beloved homes, and to the winter we'll be returning to all too soon.
Welcome to January's chocolate: a snowy white smooth Hawaiian macadamia nut cream infused with Maui vanilla and fresh chamomile flowers, then drenched in pure semisweet chocolate. [Note: I still have mac nuts I brought home, so we're still making fresh batches of this until we run out!]
On frigid winter days we need soothing chocolates, and this is just that. It's like curling up with a fresh hot mug of chamomile tea, and remembering the way the orchids smell on islands so far, far away.
Ingredients: Organic and fair trade dark chocolate (cocoa paste, cocoa butter, non bone-char brown sugar, soy lecithin, vanilla), organic coconut milk, organic chamomile flowers, macadamia nuts, organic vanilla, Hawaiian alaea sea salt.
