Sorry that it’s been a while since my last post! This round of Eating the Chocolate Alphabet has been more difficult than the other ones. 😢 Yes, I’m struggling to find alcohol-related chocolates; but, honestly, I’ve had this bar since mid-January {well, to be honest, I bought 2 bars that day for photographic purposes & ended up eating one, so I had to buy a backup “prop” late last month!}
What I didn’t realize when starting this round of the Alphabet was a little thing called timing. While I tend to get great natural lighting for photos in the morning & early afternoon, tasting alcoholic chocolates that early makes me loopy and not very productive for the rest of the day. 😲 I really need to figure out a better system and stop rationalizing that it’s “5 o’clock somewhere” in the world! 🤷♀️
Anyway, back to the chocolate!
When I announced my new theme on Instagram, one of the first people to reply was Diana Malouf from Ococoa telling me that she makes a caramel bar with Bärenjäger (honey liqueur). Well, no arm twisting needed…I had found my “B” bar!
The 6-rectangle bar made with milk chocolate, white chocolate, cream, sugar, honey liqueur, butter and salt sports a cute honeycomb transfer pattern on the back. Each crisp rectangular shell is generously filled with a creamy/smooth, sweet & lightly boozy caramel filling that reminds me of dulce de leche or cajeta. 😋
During yesterday’s photo shoot, I ended up eating ALL 6 RECTANGLES! 🐷My advice when ordering this bar is to get AT LEAST two of them!
Looking online, I see that Bärenjäger translates to “Bear Hunter” in German. According to the manufacturer’s website, the beehive-to-bottle recipe dates back to 18th Century Germany and was formulated to lure bears out of their dwellings by hunters (who also ended up consuming this drinkable honey).
Diana showed me the bottle of honey liqueur at her shop (though I didn’t taste it since I was driving),
But, now I realize that what I found at BevMo was a different formulation: Honey & Bourbon
Don’t you just love the little beehive bottle topper!
In case you’re curious, the Honey & Bourbon has a warming, but short lived “burn” and a vibrant honey aroma. Now I need to try the Honey Liqueur version…for research purposes, of course! {hey Diana, I’m coming over}
Ococoa is best known for their nut butter cup collection + other seasonal confections, one of which is their Smokey Scotch Truffles, just in time for Fathers’ Day. If your Dad (or you) enjoys a peaty Scotch, those truffles are a MUST HAVE! Visit their website for more information & let them know that Trish from Eating the Chocolate Alphabet sent you! ❤️
Wow, the alcohol-related chocolate research sounds like a winner! I don’t know if it will be difficult to find the different alcohols as you go down the alphabet list, but it sure sounds interesting to me (and I love reading about the country and history of the alcohol).
I’ve never heard of honey liqueur, but I would definitely like a small taste of it –and it sounds like it pairs well with chocolate. How did you like the milk chocolate and the white chocolate? Was it hard to distinguish that flavor from the honey liqueur caramel? Just thinking about it transports me to a summer’s garden, filled with flowers and honeybees, and lots of sunshine. So nice!
My guess is that the milk & white chocolates were combined to make the outer “shell” while the cream, sugar & butter were used with the liqueur to make the caramel filling. Yes, the two tasted different, but also complemented each other. I almost wanted to spoon out the filling to taste it separately, but I tried my best with my tongue ;-p Next time you are in town, we will have a Barenjager tasting!!