Malie Kai: Milk Chocolate with Nibs

Though the first three bars of Malie Kai were plain chocolates, they also provide the chocolate addicts of Hawaii with some bars with additions. One of those bars is the Milk Chocolate with Nibs.

As with the plain milk chocolate bar, caramel and nutty aromas are evident; however, the nibs are not visually apparent and I assumed that they were quite finely ground, which is my personal preference for nib bars.

Those nibs are a bit crunchy, well-chopped, and evenly but sparsely distributed, which prevents them from overwhelming the entire bar. Add that they are mild and not remotely bitter, and the inherent dairy flavor and banana flavors of the milk chocolate are allowed to emerge and play nicely against the nib flavor. The crunch nibs are further complimented by the creamy texture, and the bar is overall balanced and delightful. It is perhaps one of my favorite nib bars, as the sweet milk chocolate is a nice contrast to the nibs.

Do you prefer nibs with milk or dark chocolate?

Malie Kai: Dark Milk Chocolate

Having ascertained that Malie Kai does, in fact, sell a nice dark chocolate and a pretty good milk chocolate, one might wonder how these chocolates would work in concert.

One would be in luck – their Dark Milk Chocolate bar combines the two.

Given this blend, the aroma is surprisingly faint, with perhaps a bit of raspberry.

The bar has an immediate creamy feel, with a caramel flavor coming forward first, followed by some sweet fruitiness; finally, the slow melt allowed me to enjoy notes of banana and raisin near the end. I was surprised by how sweet this blended chocolate was, and while this chocolate features a number of pleasing flavors, be prepared for a sweet and dairy-heavy chocolate should you happen upon a bar.

Have you ever had a dark milk chocolate blend? How did you like it?

Malie Kai: Dark Chocolate

Malie Kai clearly demonstrated their ability to put out a nice milk chocolate bar in the plain bar that I reviewed yesterday. How about dark chocolate? Their plain Dark Chocolate bar, also made with cacao from the North Shore of Oahu, would answer this question.

Upon unwrapping the bar, I was greeted with a faint aroma of raspberry, perhaps complimented by a bit of cheese, which was a welcome surprise.

I tasted a bit of mint immediately, and then found some raspberry flavor followed by a bit of coffee and banana at the end. The chocolate is a bit sweeter than most dark chocolates, but the flavor is quite complex despite not being intense. The buttery melt is top-notch, and the fact that it is quite slow allowed me to enjoy the diverse flavor longer. This bar is a must-buy should you visit Oahu, if only for the texture.

What are your thoughts on sweeter dark chocolates?

Malie Kai: Milk Chocolate

When I briefly met with Miki and Nathan at the 220 Farmers Market, I was kindly provided with a slew of samples, which prompted me to purchase over a dozen of their Malie Kai bars for my trip home. That haul included a couple Milk Chocolate bars, which were made with North Shore Oahu cocoa, grown alongside a stream that flows through Waialua.

The bar features caramel and nutty aromas characteristic of many milk chocolates, as well as a slow, creamy melt.

A strong creamy flavor emerges immediately, along with a more subtle caramel flavor and notes of banana. The bar is sweet, but not overwhelmingly so, which allows the flavors to shine through. It’s a nice, sweet treat, fairly complexly but mildly flavored, that I could snack on endlessly.

Perhaps I’m fortunate that it’s difficult to find this bar outside Hawaii. I might give myself a stomachache enjoying far too much of it.

Is there a milk chocolate you really like but can’t easily get?

Hawaiian Chocolatiers: Malie Kai

During my trip to Hawaii last month, I got to meet with quite a few folks involved in the chocolate business, which is logical given that Hawaii is the only state where cacao grows. Some such meetings were accidental, such as my impromptu discussion with Derek Lanter of Waialua at an open water swim race. Others, I arranged, and of course I'll talk about those visits incessantly as I wouldn't want you to miss out on reading about all the fun I had.

Fun I had at places like the 220 Farmers Market, where everything sold comes from within 220 miles of the market site in Waikiki.
It was there that I caught up with Nathan Sato, half of the Malie Kai team.
The other half of the team, Miki Azuchi, was occupied with preparing and distributing samples for eager customers while I discussed Malie Kai's work with Nathan. Their bars, which I will be reviewing later this week, are all made with beans from the North Shore of Oahu. As Malie Kai does not currently have the equipment required to produce chocolate bars directly from the beans, it is sent to the mainland for production and quickly returned to Oahu for Malie Kai's use. Though limited in their current chocolate making capabilities, Nathan and Miki do produce their own line of nibs.
Nathan indicated that in the future, they hope to procure equipment necessary to undertake production themselves to create a truly native Hawaiian product. In the meantime, I was able to sample several milk and dark chocolate bars - some with nibs and coffee beans added in.

Though I'd spotted some Malie Kai at Biagio earlier this year, Nathan noted that they have had a hard time maintaining distribution of their bars on the mainland, as few chocolate shops have an appreciable interest in promoting Hawaiian chocolate. This is truly a shame because first, several of the Malie Kai bars are quite delicious, with a mild but complex flavor characteristic of many Hawaiian chocolates, and second, because it's a 100% American product.

So, chocolate shops in the contiguous 48 states, I ask you this: Where is your American pride? And where is your Malie Kai chocolate? Or any Hawaiian chocolate, for that matter? I'm going to be looking, because I'd like to have regular access to it.

In the meantime, I'll savor the 15+ bars I picked up while in Oahu.

Do any shops near you carry Hawaiian chocolate?

Woops, We Competed in a Triathlon and Tequila Lime Brownies

Shortly before this weekend's two mile open water swim race, I got a message from Beth that was a little scary.

Change of plans for Sunday. Bring your bike. I'll email you tomorrow.

The email? It had a link for an entry form for the Pequannock Triathlon. Which would be in SIX DAYS.

Me: Uh, Beth? Never done a triathlon before.

Beth: Whatever. You have a bike.

Since we had a whole 20 hours between the races, we took some time to bake these tequila lime brownies.

Tequila Lime Brownies (adapted from Nick Malgieri’s Supernatural Brownies) - Ingredients

For the brownie layer

6 ounces semi sweet chocolate (Ghirardelli 62% cocoa)

8 ounces butter

4 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Juice of ½ lime

1 cup flour

For the tequila-lime cream cheese layer

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1/2 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 large egg

Juice of 1 ½ limes

Zest of 2 limes

¼ cup tequila

Prepare the tequila-lime layer by beating cream cheese, sugar, and egg until smooth. Add the lime zest, lime juice, vanilla, and tequila and mix until uniform. Set aside.

Beth, tequila-baking expert extraordinaire and winner of the Women's 25-29 age group at our triathlon, took charge for that part. I dealt with the chocolate part. Here goes:

Melt the butter and chocolate together over low heat until just melted, set aside and allow to cool. Beat four eggs until fluffy, then add sugar and brown sugar, beat until fluffy again. Add salt, vanilla, lime juice and chocolate-butter mixture, blend until uniform. Fold in flour, then pour batter into a buttered 9”x13” pan. Spread tequila lime mixture on top, cut through the batter with a knife to swirl.

Bake at 350° F for 45-55 minutes, or until brownies are firm when the pan is shaken.

Allow to cool before cutting. Or let everybody in the house do this to the pan.

Hope that there are at least a few left for a picture.

Success.

Have you done a triathlon before? Did you have more than six days of notice?

Greenwich Two Mile Island Swim and Orange Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

Greenwich, CT is a lot like Oahu. Really.

They both had open water swims this July. Makes them almost twins, right?

Maybe not. But since I don’t think I could deal with two six-hour flights back to Oahu to swim there, I dragged Beth up to Greenwich, where we met up with Hollie and competed in the Greenwich Two-Mile Island Swim.

That’s Beth, me, and Hollie. With the medals we won for placing in the top three in our respective age groups. Beth and I were super-excited to finish in just under an hour. And to finish within 30 seconds of each other.

Then, since that was only a one-hour workout, we biked 21 miles. Duh.

Obviously, I brought chocolate alone. Since Hollie loves chocolate and orange, I knew I needed to combine these flavors into something delicious to prove my serious baking skills.

Solution: I whipped up some Orange Chocolate Thumbprint cookies.

Orange Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies (as inspired by Martha Stewart)

17 1/2 tablespoons butter, softened

½ cup sugar

2 egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ cup orange juice

Zest from 2 oranges

2 ½ cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

Cream 16 tablespoons of butter and all the sugar until fluffy, then add the yolks, vanilla, salt, juice, and zest. Beat in flour and salt on low speed until combined, then chill the dough for an hour. Shape the dough into ¾” diameter balls, chill again for 5-10 minutes (until firm).

Space the balls out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, then use the end of a wooden spoon to create a cavity in each ball.

Bake at 325° F for eight minutes, then reinforce indent with the end of the spoon and bake for an additional 3-4 minutes, or until firm. Allow cookies to cool Meanwhile,melt the bittersweet chocolate with the remaining 1 ½ tablespoons of butter over low heat. Drizzle into the cavity of each cookie.

Cool cookies until solid. Then take them to a two-mile open water race to share with other swimmers.

Final step mandatory.

What kind of cookies would you want after an open water race?