Custom Chocolates for Kenneth Cole!

Check out these awesome chocolates we customized for Kenneth Cole with their logo.  They are filled with our dark ganache + sea salt caramel...absolutely to die for and stunning! These organic custom chocolates are our most popular corporate gift in sizes ranging from 5, 10 and 20 piece boxes to mixing them in with our larger 3 lb and 5 lb chocolate assortments! They are too pretty to eat, until you taste one that is! ;)  Email us sales@compartes.com with your logos for a quote or call 310.826.3380!

Compartes Chocolates for Wedding Favors & Tablescape!

Check out these gorgeous pics the lovely bride and groom's friends snapped of our chocolates in beautiful 4 piece favor boxes (customized with monograms and the date of the wedding) as well as the chocolates set into a beautiful spread on the tables of the wedding reception.  This whole wedding was done so beautifully and our custom compartes chocolates for wedding favors were a special added touch that complimented everything! Check out the pics and please call us at 310.826.3380 for inquiries on favor boxes we can put together for your next event!

Custom Corporate Gifts & Customized Chocolates

Here is another photo of a beautiful gift box we made for a company based here in Los Angeles with their custom corporate logos, color scheme, etc mixed with our signature pieces.  This was a gorgeous and unique gift, they sent over 400 of these beautiful boxes throughout the country! You can do this too! Email us at sales@compartes.com or call us at 310.826.3380.  We can customize our chocolates for a small set up fee, you can choose flavors, ribbons, stickers, etc for a completely personalized artisan chocolate gift.

Compartes Chocolatier a favorite at Artisanal LA!

Last weekend Compartes Chocolatier participated in Artisanal LA, an event celebrating the city’s finest local, sustainable and handmade foods.

Our latest addition to the Compartes catalog – a jar of our incredibly addictive homemade organic peanut butter + honey + sea salt – sold out! So right after the event came to a close we headed straight to the factory to make more for the second day of the weekend long event – which again sold out!! No wonder, with our honey + peanut butter + sea salt truffles, it was an irresistible souvenir to take home and spread on toast from breakfast! You can also buy the truffles from our online store: Compartes Honey + Peanut Butter + Sea Salt Truffles! LA Weekly even named our peanut butter as "best of the event". Read LA Weekly's glowing review of our peanut butter here!

Foodies swarmed around the Compartes booth and we were left with more write-ups than any other participant! People absolutely adored our signature truffles and our magnificent display of custom chocolate boxes we have created for corporate clients. Anyone can customize our organic chocolate truffles with names, logos, colors; any design you can think of! For info on custom chocolate email info@compartes.com or call 310.826.3380 

Check out the pics from the event!

Compartes Chocolatier, Taste of Beverly Hills 2010

The official chocolatier at Food & Wine's Taste of Beverly Hills 2010. Watch Compartes Chocolatier Jonathan Grahm give you a quick tour!

EXCLUSIVE: Faith Evans Brand New Photos August 2010 "Something About Faith" Party photos at Compartes Chocolatier!

Faith Evans NEW ALBUM EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW at Compartes!

Compartes Chocolatier Jonathan as Guest Judge on Food Network's Chefs vs. City

Reality TV Star NeNe Leakes Real Housewives at Compartes Chocolatier LA

Discovery Channel 25th Anniversary Customized Truffles!

Another delicious day is passing at the chocolate factory here in Brentwood when the Discovery Channel calls and places an order for 2000 (yes, that’s right, two thousand!) customized truffles for their 25^th Anniversary special.

Setting to work immediately, we discuss presentation; how the logo would look best; sharing our designs and ideas together to come up with what results in a truly unique and striking box of chocolates that the Discovery Channel sends out to some of the most distinguished members of press and contacts that have supported them throughout their history.

An initial draft of the chocolate box layout.

2,000 Discovery Channel customized truffles ready for packaging.

The Chocolates are carefully boxed and inside is placed a custom message signed by the Discovery Communications Team.

Watch one of the lucky recipients capturing the moment he opens his box from Discovery! 

Customizing Compartes
We at Compartes take pride in using all organic ingredients and the quality of our chocolates is of utmost important to us. Each truffle is individually made by hand taking care to ensure accuracy in both the appearance and the taste. Best of all, anyone can customize our chocolate for any occasion! Weddings, baby-showers, marriages, birthdays, holidays; the list is endless!
For pricing and info, please click here for our contact page or call us now at 310-826-3380.

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See more about the 25th Anniversary of the Discovery Channel
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/25-anniversary
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/25-anniversary/about.html

Chocolate = Healthy Skin!

Here's a formula for sensational skin: cleanser, moisturizer, sunscreen, and . . . chocolate?

You heard right. When eaten, flavanol-rich cocoa, the main ingredient in dark chocolate, improves skin's texture, thickness, hydration, and blood flow. It may even boost your skin's defense against the sun by up to 25 percent! How? It packs serious antioxidant power. Just don't overdo it -- chocolate can be high in fat and calories, too. And you still need to wear sunscreen every day.

Chocolate's good for your skin? It's true! Antioxidant compounds in cocoa, called flavanols, improve artery health by boosting blood flow, and that boost may be good for your skin, too.

A unique, organic Artisan Dark Chocolate Bar from Compartes. A high percentage of cocoa ensures our bars are rich in antioxidant power. The one at left is artfully decorated with organic apricots and Japanese spices. These make a delicious addition to anyone's day! Click here to shop them online.

Researchers discovered this chocolate benefit in a study of women who consumed half a cup of cocoa (containing 329 milligrams of flavanols per serving, the amount in a 3-½ ounce serving of dark chocolate) daily for 12 weeks. At the end of the study, the women experienced less skin dryness, scaling, and roughness compared to the beginning of the study. Also, their skin was thicker, exhibited improved blood flow, and was even more resistant to sun damage. Pretty amazing.

Children’s Chocolate Tasting Party at Compartes!

We all know how much energy children have, but wait till you bring them to Compartes Chocolatier to dip their own chocolate! Yes, that’s right, last weekend at Compartes Chocolatier, more than twenty children came to dip their own chocolates… it was not as messy as it sounds!

Entering in little groups they first each gave their name which was written down and attached to their own tray. They then received a guided tour of the factory containing some of the original Compartes equipment from 1950…

 

… and then came the fun! Into the Magic Room, laid out on plates were marshmallows, Oreo cookies, Graham Crackers and Pretzels.

Choosing five pieces each, the children dipped their selections into the kettles of milk and dark chocolate, laid each piece out on their tray, then with a bit of effort (waiting for chocolate to dry is as exciting as it is difficult, at any age!) tried their patience outside with fun and games.

Twenty minutes later and finally dry, they collected their very own hand-dipped confections and sat down to enjoy the deliciousness and satisfaction. We were left with some very happy children!!

Does this sound like something you are interested in doing for your children? Please drop in to our store, call or email us for more information on planning your own chocolate-covered party!

The History of Chocolate

Chocolate comes from the fermented, roasted, and ground beans of the cacao or cocoa tree. The word "Chocolate" comes from the Nahualt language of the Aztecs. The Nahualt word xocolatl means bitter water. The pre-Columbian peoples of the Americans drank chocolate mixed with vanilla, chile pepper, and achiote. Europeans sweetened it by adding sugar and milk and removing the chile pepper. They later created a process to make solid chocolate creating the modern chocolate bar. Although cocoa is originally from the Americas, today Western Africa produces almost two-thirds of the world´s cocoa, with Côte d´Ivoire growing almost half of it. Today, it is one of the most popular and recognizable flavors in the world.

Chocolate: A Short History

Chocolate is made from the seed of the cacao tree, a tree native to lowland areas of South America. Cacao was used as far back in history as 1100 BC. Although historical evidence shows the Mayans used the cacao bean prior to this, most of the popular credit is given to the Aztec civilizations.

This scene painted on an ancient Maya vessel reveals how the people drank chocolate as a beverage and often presented it to their gods as an offering.

Cacao played an important role in the Aztec society, serving both as a drink and as currency. Columbus originally observed the natives scrambling to pick up the seeds when they spilled without realizing their value to them. The drink “xocolatl” or “bitter water” was consumed by the Aztec elite society. According to legend the Aztec ruler Montezuma consumed up to fifty cups of chocolate a day. Perhaps the myth of chocolate was born when Europeans first observed Montezuma drinking xocolatl prior to visiting his concubine.

Although Columbus actually was the first to bring cacao back to Spain, it wasn’t until Cortez returned to Spain with cacao beans that Europeans first started consuming it. Unlike the people of South America, Europeans found the drink bitter and sweetened it with sugar. Within 100 years the secrets of cacao had spread throughout Europe and chocolate was a favorite in the royal courts of Europe.

In 1828 the Dutch chemist Van Houten invented a press to extract the cocoa butter from the roasted ground beans leading to the invention of the chocolate bar. When Daniel Peters developed a technique to incorporate condensed milk into the chocolate and was able to maintain a stable product milk chocolate was born. At around the same time in the United States, Milton Hershey used fresh whole milk.

Many Maya artefacts show people harvesting cacao pods, grinding the seeds, or drinking chocolate.

History is sprinkled with anecdotes relating to chocolate and its various uses. In addition to Montezuma’s use of cacao as an aphrodisiac, the great Italian lover Cassanova allegedly used chocolate for the same reason. Reportedly he actually preferred chocolate to champagne. At one stage, chocolate was marketed as a medicine both in the United States and in Europe.

Oprah's Chocolate Tasting Tips by Jonathan Grahm

Master Chocolatier Tips for a Chocolate Tasting

by oprah.com contributor jonathan grahm

There's no better way to enjoy chocolate than by hosting a chocolate tasting for you and some of your favorite friends. Here are my four tips for choosing chocolates for a tasting party.


     1. Taste All Kinds and Colors of Chocolate

At Compartes, we do mostly dark chocolate, so I suggest choosing different flavors or brands of dark chocolates for your tasting at home. Traditionalists may want to add in a bit of good milk chocolate or even some white chocolate (although it is not a chocolate at all) to the mix of the chocolate tasting.

When tasting different types of chocolate such as dark, milk and white, I suggest breaking them up into sections since the dark chocolate is going to be the strongest in flavor profile, while the white would be the weakest. 

     2. Chocolate from Various Regions

Chocolates from around the globe are all the rage these days. You can find chocolates from all different regions in the Americas such as Trinidad, Ecuador, Venezuela (which is one of my personal favorites and one I use a lot at Compartes), Columbia and Costa Rica, to name a few.

Regional single-origin chocolates from places in Africa such as Ghana, Madagascar, Tanzania, Nigeria and the Congo region are also very popular. While chocolates from regions in Asia such as Papua New Guinea may be harder to find, they are available as well. You can pick up these "single-origin" chocolates in good health food stores, a local Whole Foods market or online for a fun way to compare the flavors based on where the chocolate is grown and cultivated.

     3. Try Chocolates Based on Cacao Percentage

You can get a bunch of different dark chocolates that have different percentages of cacao in them for an interesting tasting experience. I suggest starting with the lowest percentage of cacao and making your way up to the highest.

Did you know that 100 percent cacao, with no sugar at all, has a taste that is more bitter than coffee and some may compare it to burnt coal? My favorite chocolates are always around the 75 to 78 percent cacao range. With this kind of tasting, you can also pair several wines to match the strength of the cacao in the chocolate.

     4. Explore Exotic Chocolate Flavors

This is my favorite type of chocolate tasting and one I partake in the most often. At Compartes, we do tons of different ganaches or truffles with different all-natural flavor infusions, and I always think this is the most fun way to do a chocolate tasting since you get so many different and unique flavors and flavor profiles while tasting.

There is a broad range of chocolates that can be used in tastings based on flavor. Examples of interesting choices would be chocolates flavored with pepper (like a Mexican hot chocolate truffle or raspberry pink pepper), salt (such as our smoked salt or fleur de sel caramels), exotic fruits (such as kaffir lime or umeboshi plum), teas (like jasmine tea or earl grey) or a multitude of different flavor variations. Truffles or ganaches are my favorite to try for a flavor-based chocolate tasting, but chocolate bars (with exotic ingredients) are also a great way to go.

Overall, have fun and choose interesting combinations and varieties that have distinct flavor profiles that stand out and you are guaranteed a great afternoon or evening with friends and a whole lot of chocolate. Enjoy and happy eating!

See more from Compartes Chocolatier and Jonathan Grahm at Oprah.com

www.oprah.com/food/Tips-for-a-Chocolate-Tasting-Party-Jonathan-Grahm

Chocolate fans! Welcome to the new Compartes Chocolatier Blog!

Compartes has been serving the most delicious organic handmade chocolate and fruits since 1950 and we wanted to make your experience of our confections even more enjoyable (already so yummy we admit it’s a challenge!), so from now on you can follow us here for all the latest news and information on our famous chocolate. This will be the place where everything is chocolate-covered.  You will find tips, tricks, facts, info, exclusive secret recipes, special order coverage, and insights into the art of making chocolate, all from the mind of the youngest chocolatier in America and owner of Compartes Chocolatier, Jonathan Grahm.

Look out for our next blog soon…

Happy chocolate loving!