American chocolatier Vosges-Haut Chocolat Holiday offerings turn heads

By April MacIntyre Nov 25, 2011, 18:03 GMT

Katrina utilizes the original methods of French confectionery artistry which she learned during her training at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.

Chocolate as edible art and mind opening worldly experience is the core of American chocolatier Vosges-Haut Chocolat's approach to the confection, with distinctive Purple House boutiques in Chicago, New York City, Las Vegas and now Beverly Hills.

Vosges Haut-Chocolat founder Katrina Markoff graduated with the Grand Diplôme from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, and she worked her way extensively through France, Spain, Italy, Southeast Asia and Australia. Her Beverly Hills location is an architectural homage to her love of Morocco, as many of her mind-bending truffles and chocolate creations are laced with alluring combinations of sweet and savory spices.

Beverly Hills location opening, photo by April MacIntyre ©M&C

Katrina utilizes the original methods of French confectionery artistry which she learned during her training at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.

Markoff's offerings and her ethos for marrying flavors is very East meets West, with sumptuous combinations that no one in the world offers. Her fine dark chocolate blends are carefully crafted with voluptuous fresh fruits, nuts and dried herbs, curries, bacon, savories and even coffee, black tea and all sorts of exotic sugars and spirits and wines.

Markoff has earned numerous accolades from the press including Bon Appétit Food Artisan of the Year and being named the top innovator in chocolate by Food and Wine Magazine. During the past decade, she and her innovative creations have turned the chocolate cognoscenti heads, as American artisan chocolatiers today are considered world class and exceptional.

Chocolate is as necessary for some of us as water and air. Exceptional chocolate with the healthiest benefits contains the highest levels of cacao solids, and these Vosges velveteen flavors are blended with a dizzying array of flavors for a grown-up taste sensation.

If your idea of great chocolate is a Hershey's Milk Chocolate bar, stop here. If you are adventurous and a foodie with a curious palate, stay with me and find some excellent gifts to send for the holidays.

Vosges' exotic truffles are made from the finest ingredients offered around the world. Markoff, personally chooses every spice, flower and chocolate that is brought to her homebase Chicago kitchen.

Vosges Haut-Chocolat is a true luxury chocolate experience that awakens taste buds and mind, with a world of indigenous cultures' spices, herbs, roots, flowers, fruits, nuts, chocolate - the obscure mixed with the familiar. One of Markoff's desires is to make her clientele aware and open to the many cultures, artists and theories of the world's people through the medium of chocolate.

The company also is powered by 100% renewable energy and has been approved as an organic manufacturing facility, and is certified as a women’s business enterprise through the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the nation’s largest third party certifier of businesses owned and operated by women in the US.

So, deck the halls with a collection of seasonal chocolate parfums designed to lure your palate into the holiday spirit.

Each box is decorated with purple grosgrain ribbon and a silver patterned box. Each box includes an enclosure card that details the story behind its inspiration.
Monsters and Critics attended the grand opening of the new Beverly Hills' Moroccan themed store and tried some of the holiday treats from Vosges-Haut Chocolat:

Holiday Truffles
Limited edition collection

Phenomenal flavors and exquisite packaging. These are incredibly wonderful, high quality, fresh, creamy inventive marriages of spirits and seasonal flavors. The Egg Nog and Jamaican Rum is a white chocolate enrobed truffle tinged with Grenadian Nutmeg, Ginger and Appleton Estate Rum. Unctuous and decadent.

The Peppermint Candy Cane is a mint lovers nirvana, with 65% Dark Cacao chocolate. Candy Canes themselves are a 200 years-old tradition of welcoming Christmas. These new age bon bons are addictive.

Marrone Pistachio is a nut dusted truffle of Italian Chestnuts, Sicilian Pistachios wrapped in 45% Cacao Milk Chocolate. This truffle is a symphony of the finest of Italy and Sicily, and has notes of vanilla, hazelnut and even fresh bread.

The Holiday Plum Pudding is my favorite, a sophisticated blend of Marzipan and Armagnac in 65% dark cacao chocolate, with plum. This is a Victorian Christmas flavor throwback that wins on every count. Exceptional.

Holiday-inspired Mini Exotic Candy Bars

Vosges has nine holiday-inspired Mini Exotic Candy Bars inside an exclusive silver library box, complete with a hand tied purple ribbon. A bite for every occasion, perfect size and made for stockings and office gifts.

Holiday Mini Candy Bar Library includes nine ½ oz mini candy bars in the following parfums:
2 Amalfi – lemon zest + pink peppercorns + 36% cocoa butter white chocolate
2 Bapchi's Caramel Toffee – sweet butter toffee + walnuts + pecans + 45% deep milk chocolate
3 Gingerbread Toffee – gingerbread spiced toffee + 65% dark chocolate
2 Peppermint Candy Cane – peppermint candy cane + 62% dark chocolate
Gluten-Free product containing less than 20ppm of gluten.

Holiday Gingerbread Toffee – 1/4 lb

Sweet butter toffee, ginger, Ceylon cinnamon, Grenadian nutmeg and Jamaican allspice combine to create a crunchy, dark chocolate covered treat that is both indulgent and addictive. A dip in crushed walnuts and pecans brings a roasted nutty finish to balance the dark spices. Each ¼ lb. parcel arrives in an exclusive silver, square box tied with purple, grosgrain ribbon.