Tag: Kristen Hard

Save Mom from another Whitman’s Sampler with a box of jewel-like Jardí chocolates or a design-your-own bar from Twigg & Co.

Cacao's Kristen Hard discusses why chocolate is healthy, travel, and Steve Jobs.

Cacao owner Kristen Hard’s latest project, Twigg & Co., wants to give customers a healthy and sustainable treat. Her tiny store lets customers design their own chocolate bars, choosing from toppings such as rum raisins and pecan pralines, for only $5.50.

Kristen Hard’s bean-to-bar chocolate company Cacao Atlanta Chocolate Co. is expanding its Virginia-Highland location offerings to include new dessert and drink menus. Starting May 8, it will be called Cacao Café and serve everything from milkshakes and sundaes to sipping chocolates, according to a press release.

Dip a marshmallow, a pretzel, or even a graham cracker into a bath of melted chocolate, and suddenly, the mundane becomes magical. But here’s the catch: If you’re using fine, unadulterated chocolate—as opposed to artificially flavored coatings fortified with vegetable oils—you must temper it first.

I can’t remember a time when I didn’t like the fierce, bitter taste of dark chocolate. Like all French children, I grew up on chocolate croissants, peeling off the buttery dough to access the vein of pure delight. Later on, I pressed my face against the windows of Paris’s most renowned chocolate artisans, anticipating the one truffle or glossy bonbon I would buy with hoarded money.