Lake Champlain All-Natural Milk Chocolate Bar

Gourmet Chocolates from Vermont in the United States

Sep 29, 2009 Linda Gentile

Lake Champlain Chocolates is based in Vermont and produces a variety of hand-made chocolates and gourmet candy, including chocolate bars.

The All-Natural Milk (or signature) Chocolate Bar from Lake Champlain Chocolate is approximately 3/8" thick, 2 3/4" wide and 4 7/4" long. It weighs 3 oz (85g). The bars sell for $3.50 on the Lake Champlain website.

According to its wrapper, this gourmet chocolate is crafted in small batches and is a blend of cocoa beans from different countries in Africa. The chocolate bar has 34% cocoa and in the hand it feels solid and heavy.

Lake Champlain Milk Chocolate Bar Packaging

The outer wrapper is royal blue, with paler blue swirls. A brown center frame contains the chocolate bar information and a stag, the Lake Champlain logo. The back contains ingredients and nutritional information. The ingredients of this milk chocolate are sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, milk powder, milk fat, soybean lecithin, and vanilla.

The outer wrapper acts as a sheath, but the inner wrapper cannot be pushed out without breaking the outer. The inner foil is a sumptuous burnished gold with a pattern of stags picked out in darker gold. The reverse is a waxed white paper on which the deer can be seen in reverse.

Lake Champlain Milk Chocolate Bar Test—the Five Senses

The rear of the chocolate bar is patterned with the same swirls as the outer wrapper. There are eight squares on front, each imprinted with the legend "LCC." The color is a pleasant cafe au lait tone.

The aroma of this milk chocolate is warm and milky, with overtones of cocoa but nothing particularly subtle. The bar feels smooth to the touch, with no waxiness. The break is soft, but accurate. One piece is too large for the melt test.

When sucked, the taste is sweet, smooth and creamy. The melt starts immediately and releases a pleasant cocoa flavor. The chocolate feels like velvet down the throat. While the ingredients do list vanilla, this flavor was not detected by the reviewer.

The taste of the milk chocolate is delicious, but at the end becomes a little harsh due to excess sugar.

When bitten, the sugar is released much more quickly for a less satisfying flavor. This is a very sweet bar. However, with the bite, the aftertaste is more of cocoa, an improvement over the melt.

About Lake Champlain Chocolates

Lake Champlain Chocolates is located in Burlington, Vermont. According to its website, the company began with a dare. The owner of Ice House Restaurant, Jim Lampman, was in the habit of giving gourmet chocolates to his staff. In 1983, his pastry chef complained that the chocolates were poor, and promptly received a challenge: "Do better." The chef did. The chocolates became so popular that ultimately Lampman sold the restaurant.

The factory is open for tours and there is a factory store. A list of vendors is maintained on the website, or mail order is available. Apart from a range of regular and organic chocolate bars, the company sells seasonal chocolates and gift baskets, party favors and fine handcrafted chocolates.

The copyright of the article Lake Champlain All-Natural Milk Chocolate Bar in Baking & Desserts is owned by Linda Gentile. Permission to republish Lake Champlain All-Natural Milk Chocolate Bar in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Lake Champlain Milk Chocolate Bar Cover	Lake Champlain Milk Chocolate Bar Wrapper	Lake Champlain Milk Chocolate Bar Reverse
Lake Champlain Milk Chocolate Bar	Lake Champlain Milk Chocolate Bar