John & Kira's Chocolate Line

The Story Behind John & Kira's Chocolates

A short, behind the scenes peek into how we started John and Kira's. Even better, meet the kids at the Urban Nutrition Initiative garden in Philadelphia and hear their story!

Jess at John and Kira's Makes a New Ganache flavored with ROOT Liquor

New Urban Garden Chocolate Bars

After a whole lot of work, we have finally unveiled our first in a series of urban garden bars. We only have about 500 of these mint bars and they will be available at the Rittenhouse (Saturday) and Headhouse (Sunday) farmer's markets in Philadelphia. The weekend of the 26th of September we will have the kids from The Village of Arts and Humanities garden with us, so stop by for a sample, meet the kids, and check out the new mint chocolate bars.

New Garden Mint Bars - Final Stages of Development

At a certain point this Summer Jess, Meghan and I looked at each other and said - what are we going to do with all this fresh garden mint?  You see, we work with three urban public school gardens here in Philadelphia.  Each school picks mint for us once a week and we pick it up via courier and bring it back to J&K.  We then use it to make our mint ganache.  The problem this year was that we had too much mint . . . way too much.

So we decided to put our creative energies to work and see if we could infuse the mint first into cocoa butter, and then incorporate the mint cocoa butter into chocolate to make mint chocolate bars.  After a good deal of trial and error, we perfected the mix and are happy to (almost) be ready to present them to you, the public.

That said, we thought we'd take a few pictures of the freshly "minted" bars and a packaging idea we are trying to develop.  There are only about 500 bars, so we have to figure out how and to whom we should sell them.

 

Above, the mint bars freshly made and wrapped in a clear cello bag.

 

Our first idea for packaging the goodies.  A simple "wrap" that needs to be designed and printed.  We put a J&K wax seal on the part where the two sheets come together to create a kind of classic feel to the bar.

New Mint Delivery From Teens 4 Good Arrived Today . . .

Just received a new delivery of Kentucky Colonel mint from Jamie at Teens 4 Good (definitely worth checking out their site).  It is amazing how our entire place becomes engulfed in the smell of this wonderful plant!  It seems to permeate the senses and bring back memories of my Grandmother's garden.

While Jamie was here we sat and discussed how J&K might be able to help out Teens 4 Good.  She explained that they were working hard to fundraise in this difficult economic environment and that we might be able to help with their efforts.  We both brainstormed a bit and came up with some cool ideas.  One realization was that we have relationships with businesses that use our chocolates for corporate gifts and it would be a natural evolution for us to introduce these businesses to Teens 4 Good and the other not-for-profit organizations we work with.  A business could, for example, send a gift of chocolates with a message explaining that a donation had also been made to Teens 4 Good, the same organization that grows the mint for the mint chocolates inside the box they would soon enjoy!  

Chocolate and Bacon at Headhouse Farmer's Market

John & Kira's TV: Chocolate and Bacon at Headhouse Farmer's Market - Episode 2

J & K at Headhouse Farmer's Market and The Fig Story

John & Kira's TV: Headhouse Farmer's Market in Philly and Chocolate Covered Spanish Figs

L'Ecole du Chocolat at Valrhona

 What an experience.

Every once in a while, an opportunity presents itself in life that you just have to take advantage of.  They are often fleeting with a small window, and unfortunately we often let them slip by.

Well, when Eric Case at Valrhona Chocolate suggested that I might be interested in a chocolate course at their school in Tain L'Hermitage, France, I knew to immediately say yes.  This was going to be one experience not to forget. 

 
Above: Chocolate Caramel Passion & Rosemary Truffles.

It seemingly took days to get to this revered chocolate paradise.  The trip entailed a plane from Philadelphia to Paris (with the obligatory 2 day stopoverer in Paris to indulge in bread, cheese, wine and chocolate), then the TGV to Valence outside of Lyon, then finally a 20 minute taxi ride to the school.  I was nervous to say the least, fearful that the French pastry chefs would make me look like a true, inexperienced American.

The first day we met Phillip Givre, our French mentor and instructor for the 3 day course.  He was affable with a great sense of humor, something somewhat hard to find in a french pastry chef.  From the moment we walked in, the chocolate adventure began.

 
Above: Intense Nyangbo 68% Ganache Squares



We spent most of the course learning various techniques, especially the creation of a delicate ganache.  This just happens to be something we specialize in at J&K, so I was deeply engaged.  We went over how water and fat in cream is delicately mixed with chocolate, until the water is "suspended" in the mixture, and a silky smooth texture is formed, something really close to the picture above.  Attention: trying this at home could be dangerous to your health.  My obsession with creating the perfect emulsion has taken years off my life!

 
Framboise Truffles (in red)

Cappuccino

Even more interesting then the ganache was an opportunity to taste the wide range of Valrhona milk, dark and white chocolates.  Being a borderline chocolate obsessed crazy person, I was often seen dipping my hands into the various types, including Jivara lacte, Tanariva, Manjari and a new one called Coeur du Guanaja.  This last one was especially enticing, as it is something of an intensified chocolate with less cocoa butter and more cocoa content.  It is about as intense a dark chocolate experience I have ever had and kept me coming back for more.

 

Above - Every year I keep telling myself it is not that I am too fat, but that the French are too skinny!

 

Another of my favorite creations was the Iceberg ganache, pictured above.  Here we created a mint white chocolate ganache and wove a second dark chocolate ganache into the white using a small fork.  The end result is astonishingly beautiful, not to mention fabulous tasting:)

 

The L'Ecole is a bit exclusive, as it is not open to the public and is by invitation only.  So for all those folks that can't attend (just about everybody) we are thinking about launching some online chocolate making lessons on the J&K site.  Keep tuned!

Free Shipping (+ $4 OFF!) Our Mother's Day & Spring 28pc Boxes

 

Just for Mother's Day, we are offering FREE SHIPPING plus $4 Off our Spring and Mother's Day 28pc Boxes.  This offer will be available through May 7th.  Even better, use promotion code mom09 to take 10% Off all of our other products. Enjoy!

Flickr Pictures from the Chocolate Show

Every November (well . . . almost every, we had to cancel last year at the very last moment) just about everyone from J&K makes the pilgrimage to the New York Chocolate Show in Manhattan.  For a true chocolate lover, including yours truly, the show is an amazing experience, with some of the most renowned chocolatiers present sharing their creations.  Jacques Torres, Mary's Chocolates from Japan, Lillie Belle Farms, Payard and Knipschildt were all present as well as many of the chocolate manufacturers such as Guittard, Amedei and Chuao. 

We always say to ourselves "this year, we are bringing the camera!" but alas we seem to always forget.  So you can imagine my delight today as I was searching through Flickr and found these pictures from our booth.  Just in case you were wondering, the rocks were my idea.  Not sure how well they worked, but they seem pretty enough (let me know what you think).

Enjoy!

       

   

Behind the Scenes: Easter Chocolates

  
I thought we would take a moment and share a picture of what we are up to today.  These are Easter Bugs being carefully nestled into our boutique boxes.  The green and purple bugs are filled with a dark 64% Valrhona Manjari ganache, while the yellow "bugs" are actually bees filled with a salted honey caramel.  When things really get moving at J&K, it is really similar to the I Love Lucy scene with all of the chocolates coming down the enrober.