Chocolate Review

Valentine's Day.

The thought of it quickly brings images to mind of pink hearts and red roses. The sound of classic love songs radiates through every gift shop and restaurant owners celebrate customer bookings.
Yes, Feb. 14 is an exciting day for sweethearts.

That is, unless you forgot.

What?

You forgot!

If this is you, don't worry (OK, maybe you should worry a little bit). You most likely have something in common with the millions of others who will rush to the nearest grocery store on the 13th day of this month. After wandering the store for 45 minutes, that stuffed blue cow, tied around a box of lime green jelly beans and packaged in a dented pink box doesn't look so bad.

Perhaps you just need some help. Professional and local.

In an effort to solve this dilemma (as well as try some good chocolate) I have visited several local businesses that make their own chocolate goodies. They all have one thing in common: good chocolate. I mean, really good chocolate. Check them out.

Don't settle on the strangled stuffed animal.

Burst's
www.burstschocolates.com

Address: 353 Southwest Madison Ave. Corvallis, OR 97333.
Contact: (541)-753-2864
Hours: Monday-Saturday 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Price: half pound boxes are $12.00 and one pound boxes are $24.00. Truffles are $2.00.


Burst's Candy in downtown Corvallis is ready for Valentine's Day with a broad assortment of special chocolate treats. Against the far wall sits a variety of red and pink heart shaped boxes, awaiting sweet somethings to fill their empty nests.

This shop is apparently ready to provide chocolate for a lot of people. The entire wall displays boxes from floor to ceiling.

In the short time I've been here, a handful of customers have dropped in to grab an afternoon snack. Many are regulars and know what they've come for.

I, on the other hand, must stand a few minutes in awe of the amount of chocolate surrounding me.

Burst's has had time to learn its craft. It's been open in Corvallis since 1938 when Charlie and Rhea Burst first practiced their skills. Luckily the chocolate isn't that old. New candies are constantly being fixed up and displayed as fresh beauties.

Burst's offers a huge array of sweet stuff: dark chocolate, milk chocolate, sugar free and specialty candy galore.

Seasonal sweets made especially for Valentine's Day include peanut butter or velvet hearts in dark and milk chocolate. Lollipop style hearts on sticks al

so come in many different shapes and sizes.

I finally decide on a truffle and Velvet heart. While the truffle was good, I'm not truly moved until I bite into the velvet heart. This chocolate is a treasure not to be wasted. I savor every bite and think I've learned something too.

I think this is why Burst's has so many regulars.

Try: The Velvet Hearts. You can't go wrong with

these babies. If I were stuck on a deserted island and left with just one of these delicacies, it would be a good day, a very good day. The darker the better.


The Peddler's Boot and Chocolate Boutique
www.thepeddlersboot.com

Address: 320 6th Ave. SW. Albany, OR 97321
Contact: (541) 924-8866‎
Hours: Thursday from 4-6 p.m., Friday and Saturday from noon-5:30 p.m. and Sunday from noon-4 p.m.
There will be extended hours for Valentine's Day weekend.
Price: $18.00 a pound for chocolates.

This vintage style gift shop shares its space with hundreds of handmade chocolates, created in the back of this historic home. A glass case displays many different small chocolates after they've been whipped up by hand in the back room.

Next to the glass case sits a sign that reads,"Because chocolat

e can't get you pregnant." A housewife from the 1940's era pictured next to the wording, holds a gigantic chocolate cake and shows off her cheerful smile. This seems to be advertised as “the safe relationship.”

Chocolate cherubs, candy bars, and boxes containing a dozen chocolate roses are a few Valentine's Day themed sweets the Chocolate Boutique is displaying for this year's holiday.

Chocolates can also be boxed or bagged in valentine styles. The chocolate covered cherries look beautiful in white, dark, and milk chocolate, their bright red stems standing high above the chocolate mass.

Owner Nancy Klahn prides herself on using Belgian chocolate, say

ing, “It's important to me to have that taste.”

Best of all is the sample plate. These chocolate samples are offered to ev

ery guest as proof that it does taste as good as it looks.

She is quick to offer me a sample. Almost a quick as I a

m to take it.

Yes. She's right. Good chocolate does make a difference.

Try: The Rocky Road Pecan Clusters. Pecans help give a flavor of creamy butter that slowly melts in the mouth. This is a customer favorite at the Chocolate Boutique and understandably so.

Victorian Chocolate Company
www.victorian-chocolate.com

Address: 959 Grove St. Lebanon, OR. 97355.
Contact: (541)-401-3765
Price: Chocolates are $18.00 a pound.

I like the purple. The Victorian Chocolate Company shop is painted a bright purple. At first, I was a little concerned that I wouldn't be able to find the place, but as soon as I turned my car in this building's direction, I knew. This was definitely the place.

Inside I met Kelly Reetz, owner and expert chocolate maker. He's been making chocolates since 1988 and this shop has been open for about four years.

Reetz showed me around his playground. He explained how "Dreams,"as in Chocolate Dreams, have a denser gnash filling than the other chocolates.

He then picked up a chocolate and displayed the letter on top. Reetz demonstrated how he fingers the chocolate into the right letter as it sets. This is called stringing. O for Orange or R for raspberry.

The Victorian Chocolate Company has a huge selection of Valentine's day confections. Rocky Road Hearts, Marshmallow Hearts and Fudge Hearts, as well as chocolate suckers, are a few of the specialties made this time of year.

Continuing on, Reetz highlights some of the featured candies.

"My version of "Turtles,'" he says, are his selection of "Dragon Claws," which he renamed and remade. Turtles are boxed chocolate covered pecans with caramel in the middle. Reetz' Dragon Claws come in dark, white, and milk chocolate. Reetz also makes them with different types of nuts.

I have a confession to make. Because I knew my mom absolutely loves cashews, I decided to bring home one of the Cashew Dragon Claws. I put it in a separate bag, but as soon as I got to the car, my curiosity got the better of me. "She won't mind if I just take a little

nibble," I thought.

I did.

Then I had to take another nibble and another. You get the idea. Who knew that it would taste so great? It was gone within a couple minutes and I decided that it was no big deal. It just gave me a good reason to go back for more and this, I've decided, is a very good idea.

Try: The Apple Dumpling chocolates. These are Reetz' own recipe. The creamy, whipped apple filling has a hint of cinnamon and a texture like smooth ice cream minus the frozen quality.

Hazelnut Hill
www.hazelnuthill.com

Address: Located at milepost 95 between Corvallis and Monroe on Highway 99
Contact: (541)-754-5657
Hours: Thursday-Saturday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
Price: About $3.25 for 4 ounce bags and about $5.00 for 8 ounce bags, depending on the items.


Hazelnut Hill is a farm, ice cream shop, a museum, a coffee shop, gift shop, and home to chocolate covered goodies.

Stepping out of the car, silence and sunshine filled the air. Not even the sound of the highway could be heard coming from down the lane.

It was really tempting for me to just grab some chocolate and go for a long walk in the sunshine, but I wanted to get the whole experience. The front door brought me into a long hallway where glass windows separated me, the viewer, from the "work room" filled with hazelnuts and shiny equipment.

A woman, dressed in an apron smiled from the other side of the window and came to meet me on my side of the glass.

She brought me down the rest of the hall, proudly showing pictures of Hazelnut Hill through the years. I soon learned that this friendly woman, Sally, owned Hazelnut Hill along with her husband Rob. She explained that when the timber crisis hit in the early 1980s, they decided to start their own business.

Working together, they now dry about 40,000 lbs of nuts at a time. That's a lot of nuts.

These chocolate covered nuts don't have the elegant quality of a large lace covered box of truffles, but still scored high on my point system.

First of all, they are freshly made.

Everything is done at the farm from the growing of the nuts, to the roasting, the dipping and the packing.

Second, the chocolate isn't an after thought.

Just because this is a hazelnut farm doesn't mean the chocolate is average. In 1995 a Chocolatier with experience in Switzerland, was hired to give Rob and Sally the knowledge they needed to make outstanding chocolate delights.

They now sell milk and dark chocolates, brittle, butters and dried fruit in addition to their flavorful nuts.

These bags of nuts and candies make great gift that presents itself in a little less formal way than the usual dressed up box of truffles. Bags can be combined and boxed at the shop for gift giving.

Try: The Chocolate Hazelnut Toffee is exceptional. It's not chewy. Just chocolate covered with some crunchy nuts and perfectly prepared sweet toffee. The 4 ounce bag costs $3.75 and 8 ounce bags are $6.25. Prices seemed reasonable throughout the entire shop.