[1] Vosges Haut Chocolat’s brilliant box for Holiday 2020: Chocolate Alchemy Truffles (all photos © Vosges Chocolate).

[2] A close-up of the insides shows how beautifully artistic each detail is. To give you an idea of the size, the spheres and triangles are the size of regular bonbons. For the large orbs: Bring a knife!

[3] How can you decide where to start?

[4] Jupiter: apricot, ylang ylang flower, fennel pollen, almond and Amaretto liqueur in a 36% cocoa butter white chocolate tinted shell.

[5] The Moon: Grenadian nutmeg and Blackwell Jamaican Rum in a 36% cocoa butter white chocolate shell with pearlescent dust.

[6] Neptune: early-harvest first pressed Mediterranean olive oil in a 36% cocoa butter white chocolate shell.

November 29th is National Chocolates Day.

What’s the difference between chocolate (which has its own holiday) and chocolates?
 
 
CHOCOLATE VS. CHOCOLATES

Chocolate

Chocolate refers to the food product made from the roasted seeds of the fruit of the cacao tree. The seeds are more commonly known as cacao beans.

The hulled meat of the bean, the nib, is ground and processed into various forms of chocolate for eating and drinking. After the nibs are ground, however, the chocolate-making process has many more steps to go. Check them out.

 
TRIVIA: For thousands of years, chocolate was only a beverage. While the same cacao could be used to flavor puddings and baked goods, the first chocolate in solid form (i.e., a chocolate bar) was finally devised in 1847. And that was coarse, “rustic” chocolate, not the smooth, melt-in-your mouth product we know today.

Chocolates

A distinction is made between chocolate, the general food product made from cacao beans, and chocolates, which are confections made from chocolate: bonbons, pralines, truffles, etc.

While “chocolates” is also the plural form of “chocolate,” simple grammar rules should make this distinction clear.

Chocolate bars are referred to as chocolate. Items of more complex fabrication are chocolates.
 
 
THE VOSGES HEALER COLLECTION: CHOCOLATE ALCHEMY TRUFFLES

This new, limited edition, 2020 Holiday Collection is a real knockout.

It’s what you get when you blend astrology, alchemy, the classical elements*, great design and innovative flavors into a memorable collection of artisan chocolate truffles.

Each piece represents the solar system, the five elements of nature or the seasonals.

You don’t have to be into astrology, healing or magic to go crazy over this collection of 17 bonbons, large and small.

Rather, these are French truffle bonbons: centers of ganache, infused with “healing” flavors, in shells of dark, milk and white chocolate.

The flavors are not your typical creams, fruit purées and other soft centers.

Rather, along the lines of the healer and alchemy themes, each ganache has been infused with one or more healing elements: exotic fruits, liquors, oils, seeds and spices.

A full description of the pieces is on the ordering page, but here’s a taste:

 
The sizes range from bite-size to enormous (equal to three or four standard bonbons).

The fun and flavor: equally enormous.
 
 
GET YOURS HERE

Any sophisticated chocolate lover will adore this gift. Get it at VosgesChocolate.com.

The exquisite box, 14 inches in diameter (photos #1, #2, #3), is a definite “keeper”—a reminder of your wonderful gift long after the chocolate is gone.
 
 
> CHOCOLATE GLOSSARY: TERMINOLOGY & TYPES
 
 
> THE HISTORY OF CHOCOLATE
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*“Classical elements” typically refer to earth, water, air, fire, and later, ether, which were proposed to explain the nature and complexity of all matter in terms of simpler substances. The ancient cultures of Greece, Ancient Egypt, Persia, Babylonia, Japan, Tibet and India had all similar lists.