Ten 50-gram bars
As featured in InStyle Magazine
This gem is François Pralus's latest creation. The master of single-origin, high cocoa-content chocolate has created his second full-size pyramid of 10 bars, each one infused with a different luscious flavor. Three of the bars are high-cocoa milk chocolate and 7 are high-cocoa dark chocolate.
For the three milk-chocolate bars, Pralus starts with his classic 45% cocoa-content Melissa bar and then, using this as a base, he creates two more 45% bars, one infused with Ceylon Cinnamon and another with Crystallized Caramel.
For his dark chocolate bars, he starts with a 75% cocoa content Madagascar bar, and then, using that chocolate as his base, he created 6 more bars, including Peppermint, Vanilla, Sweet Orange, Lemon, Anise, and Ginger.
Each bar is a revelation - there's just enough extra flavor to play off the intensity of the chocolate without overwhelming it.
About the Pralus Pyramide
The Pyramide has attracted national attention in Fine Cooking, the Los Angeles Times, Health, Real Simple and the Chicago Sun-Times -- and ChefShop.com is named as the trusted source.
Read our newsletter article to learn the story behind Pralus!
About the Producer: Pralus
François Pralus is one of France's three remaining bean-to-bar chocolate makers, and he is a true chocolate aficionado. He is expert at discerning the finest beans and the best characteristics of each type of bean. As one does with wine, he can discuss chocolate's particular origin characteristics - such as the powerful and heady nose, aromas of burnt butter and liquor of the Venezuela Trinitario bean chocolate; or the fresh nose and slightly minty and fruity flavor of the Madagascar Criollo bean chocolate. The hard work, ingenuity, and palate of François Pralus have been rewarded with the most prestigious National and International awards; he won the Grand Prix d'Excellence International du Chocolat in both 1996 and 1997.
Since his father opened a pastry shop there in 1948, the town of Roanne, France has linked the name Pralus with top-quality confections. François took over the shop from his father in the 1980s, adding chocolate to the Pralus realm in 1992. Since then, Pralus's perfectly crafter, top-quality bean to bar, single-origin, artisan chocolate has enjoyed international success.
About Pralus Cocoa Beans
Cocoa beans only grow in the tropics within 20 degrees latitude north and south of the Equator, and François has circumnavigated the tropics for his beans, finding the best available Forastero, Trinitario, and of course Criollo. No less than 18 kinds of beans are imported from Central America, South America, Madagascar, São Tomé and Principé, Vanuatu, Africa, and Indonesia for his chocolate bars. Some of his blends reach a cocoa content of 80%. In 2004, Pralus invested in his own plantation on Madagascar's island of Nosy Be, a most unusual step for a chocolate-maker! We look forward to the first harvest around 2010…
No More Beans...
Oh yes, one more note . . . When François uses up all of the cocoa beans that he's bought for the year, he stops making chocolate, unlike other producers who might compromise quality by going in search of what is left on the market.