Hello Advent Calendar world, and sorry for the delay in updating! I was hoping to be able to update throughout the month, but the chocolate season and a new addition to my family has slowed things down a bit. I decided to update all of the entries at once now while I have time, so they will be here for you as you experience the calendar, and also in case you are jumping around the days. Thank you for your patience, happy chocolating, and happy holidays to you all!
<3 Rebecca
Dried spearmint from The Edible Source.
December 25: Edible Source’s Mint Melty
Ending the calendar on a minty note - I had dried this mint from The Edible Source ( http://ediblesource.com )and wanted to work it into a final treat. Thank you for following along all this month, this advent calendar has been adventure in many, many ways. I hope it has been a joy for you too, that you were able to share some special time with loved ones, and know that you are loved too for who you are, whatever your circumstances are, whatever your dreams. This has been like a quilt of all the hard work of all of these producers, I’m honored to be able to know them and share their fine work. It’s what makes life special :)
Merry Christmas!
Organic sweet potatoes from Robinette Farms.
December 24: Robinette Farms’ Sweet Potato Caramel + Haitian PISA Milk Chocolate
Thank you once again, Robinette Farms, for your superb produce! These organic sweet potatoes were like candy before they were made into caramel with local Burbach cream, organic butter, and local Hunter’s honey. A little warmth as the celebrations near.
Plate of Tasty Good Toffee’s churro toffee with white chocolate and cinnamon sugar.
December 23: Tasty Good Toffee’s Churro Toffee Hanukkah Gelt, 70% Colombian Sierra Nevada Dark Chocolate
Whatever you do - eat Tasty Good Toffee :) Katie makes the tenderest toffee from her grandmother’s recipe, and does it with amazing flair - I love all of her flavor combinations. Especially this churro one! I restrained myself from eating all of the toffee she brought me for this project! And trust me, I could smell it, agonizingly, for days :) And I knew I wanted to use it in the gelt (chocolate coins) for a little Hanukkah celebration, especially since Hanukkah is a time for symbolical fried foods (the toffee isn’t fried, but the flavor is inspired by friend churros!)
Order your own Tasty Good Toffee here: https://tastygoodtoffee.myshopify.com
Bottle of Milkweed Yoga’s Golden Spice Tea.
December 22: Milkweed Yoga’s Golden Spice Tea Coconut Praline + Milk Chocolate
This was another joyful collaboration. I respect Maggie’s opinion so much, as I have admired her work for a long time. When I was in college I used to get her magical veggie wraps and inspired muffins, and now it’s a privilege to see her share her light with the world in new avenues. Milkweed Yoga is one of them, and this Golden Spice Tea is the perfect combination of heart, body, and soul. I feel truly relaxed when I drink it, and Maggie had the idea of combining it with our coconut praline that she had had once. It was meant to be!
You can take Maggie’s yoga classes in Lincoln, and also purchase her tea mix and other things through her website: https://milkweedyoga.com
Arise Botanicals’ Bright Solstice blend of herbs infusing in coconut milk.
December 21: Arise Botanicals’ Solstice Blend Caramel, 75% Cacao Dominican Öko Caribe Dark Chocolate
Look, I’m honored to know Alex. The other weekend I was also able, from the corner of my eye as I was tending my own chocolate stand, to watch her so graciously work with her customers at an open house at The Sage House in Lincoln, where she holds her consultations. Imaginative, informed, and a true kind soul, I hope you’ll seek out more of her healing blends and elixirs, and also her wisdom. I wanted to feature her work on Solstice, and she crafted this uplifting blend with lemon balm, rose, and pine. I was over the moon :)
Bottle of Spiced Elder Berry Syrup from Spiritus Vitae.
December 20: Spiritus Vitae’s Spiced Elderberry Syrup Caramel (vegan), 75% Cacao Dominican Öko Caribe Dark Chocolate
Spiritus Vitae does so much good for our community. They are medicinal herb farmers, who grow some amazing things and craft very helpful and tasty herbal teas. Nicole also makes these very special syrups that are not only health-giving, they are truly delicious! That is what you get in this caramel made with their Spiced Elder Berry Syrup, which she made with locally-grown elder berries. I really wanted to feature it here, and keep it simple. I hope you will look out for more of their medicinal herbs and creations, and learn more about them here: https://www.spiritusvitaebotanicals.com
Organic beets, sweet potatoes, and carrots from Robinette Farms.
December 19: Robinette Farms’ Candied Beet + Haitian PISA Dark Chocolate Mendiant
Robinette Farms is just delightful, and I’m so thankful we have them so close and that you can find their organic micro greens in several local grocery stores. For this treat I really wanted to use their organic beets, because beets have a special place in my family’s life. You know the windex gag in My Big Fat Greek Wedding? It’s kind of like that for beets for my mom. And you know what, they probably do make everything better/healthier/smarter :) Thank you Robinette for your commitment to growing strong in Nebraska and keeping us healthy and happy!
Superb Snowshoe & Co caramel.
December 18: Snowshoe & Co’s Classic Sea Salt Caramel, 75% Cacao Dominican Öko Caribe Dark Chocolate
This is a delicious morsel that I’m warning you you’ll want more of…and the good thing is you can get from from https://snowshoeandco.com !
Ali has been making these sumptuous caramels from her grandfather’s recipe, using local ingredients and caring so much about every aspect of her business. So much thought and heart touches all of their products, especially since most of them are handmade or locally sourced. It has been a joy to see her family expand along with her family business. Also it’s wonderful to see their antique candy wrapping machine working after years of their wrapping each caramel by hand! Snowshoe & Co recently expanded into carrying so many intentionally curated natural wares, that I know you’ll find something meaningful there on their website.
Jar of our hot chocolate blend with red scotch bonnet chilis from Jefe’s Peppers.
December 17: Jefe’s Peppers’ Red Scotch Bonnet Chili Pepper Hot Chocolate Mix
This is a spicy one and I love it! I wanted to make a hot chocolate where you really felt the heat, but that was still manageable. Ed of Jefe’s Peppers grows some real scorching chilis, and the love he feels for all of them is palpable. Ed is also a bee keeper and committed biker, and I’m so grateful to have him around keeping the ecology around us alive and buzzing. Enjoy this hot chocolate in small sips, it does get hot, but what I like about the scotch bonnet is that it doesn’t usually go to the point of no return that some peppers do, more of a ginger-type warming burn with all of those endorphins flowing :)
Tart cherries about to be dried after macerating in a blend of their own juice and hibiscus-infused vodka.
December 16: Kimmel Orchard Tart Cherry Round + Hibiscus Candied Nibs, 70% Cacao Dominican Öko Caribe Dark Chocolate
Yes, I grew up in Omaha and we would head out each year for Apple Jack in Nebraska City, stopping off first at Kimmel Orchard. I was so happy to be able to use their tart cherries - orchards are rare in Nebraska, and it’s a treasure to have these. I hope there will be more in our future too.
I get excited about tart cherries. Bings are great but I love the zing of a tart cherry, I also love the old Anatolian cuisines that use tart cherries, the Italian amarena cherries, the French cerisettes…it’s my dream to make something of such pleasure and surprise.
Jar of our milk mocha hot chocolate mix, made with Cultiva’s directly-traded Costa Rican coffee from Cafe Con Amor.
December 15: Our milk mocha hot chocolate mix, made with Cultiva’s directly-traded Costa Rican coffee from Cafe Con Amor
The hot chocolate sneaked up! I wasn’t able to get Susan’s life affirming juice in time for the calendar crunch, but please follow her work here! https://www.facebook.com/lifeelixirjuices/
So we have a somewhat new product of ours - the milk mocha hot chocolate. It is basically a mocha to-go, which you can learn more about here:
https://www.sweetminou.com/bean-to-bar/milk-mocha
Made from our beloved Milk Mocha chocolate, which you can learn more about here:
Bottles of Empyrean Brewing Co’s Match Maker Chocolate Cinnamon Stout.
December 14: Empyrean Brewing Co’s Match Maker Chocolate Cinnamon Stout Caramel + Canela, 75% Cacao Dominican Öko Caribe Dark Chocolate
I love to work with ingredients for the joy of it, but what makes it even better is when you get to work with a company that works with you - Empyrean has been sourcing cocoa nibs for their brews from us for the last couple of years, and were the first to really commit to us. Since then we have been steadily growing, and I’m ever appreciative that they took a chance on us, and always love whenever I can get a taste of what they’ve created with it! This caramel was so good made their new special edition chocolate cinnamon stout made with our nibs + some true cinnamon I was able to get from Guerrero Market. Enjoy!
Rose petals from Harvest Home Flowers strewn on some fresh dark chocolate.
December 13: Harvest Home Flowers’ Rose Dark Chocolate + Milk Chocolate Swirl Bar
How sweet to have met Jamie of Harvest Home Flowers. She comes into Cultiva Labs often weekly while on her flower drop-off runs around town. They are a family owned farm producing specialty cut flowers for the area - whose work you can also see at Prairie Plate! In this mini bar I ground some of Jamie’s beautiful rose petals into a batch of Dominican dark chocolate, and then swirled it together with our milk chocolate. The effect is subtle, a kind of soft plant and chocolate medicine. There will be more to come as I continue to experiment withe Harvest Home’s pretties.
Twin Springs pecans.
December 12: Myrtle & Cypress’s Activated Maple Cinnamon Twin Springs Pecans Mendiant, 70% Cacao Dominican Öko Caribe Dark Chocolate
Myrtyle & Cypress coffee house in Omaha does so many interesting things. They are so committed to sourcing whole ingredients, and create all of their syrups and nut milks in house - and also their activated maple cinnamon pecans, with this batch made with local Twin Springs pecans! These nuts were soaked to activate their nutrition, and are coated with the most delicious and addictive maple cinnamon blend. They are so kind and have made a coffee house with heart - where you can also pick up your occasional Sweet Minou bars!
Sage from Common Good Farm, just dried and ready to be blended into a special small batch of milk chocolate.
December 11: Common Good Farm’s Sage Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup
Again, what a pleasure to use Common Good Farm’s organic and biodynamic produce, which is usually stronger than any others. To make this treat I dried their sage, then ground it into a small batch of milk chocolate, trying to balance the sage with the sweet. I thought it was perfect with peanut butter :)
Crowler of Saro Cider’s Halsey Forest Hard Cider.
December 10: Saro Cider’s Halsey Forest Hard Cider Caramel + Local Apple, 75% Cacao Dominican Öko Caribe Dark Chocolate
I wanted to use Saro’s fine cider because I know how important their fruit is to them, and was excited to be able to use this special edition Halsey Forest hard cider brewed with pine tips, with echos of this western Nebraskan forest in the Sandhills.
Fresh loaf of sourdough.
December 9: Farine + Four Buttered Sourdough + Haitian PISA Milk Chocolate Bar
I had been dreaming of making a sourdough bread chocolate for some time, and contacted Ellie at Farine + Four because I knew she went about her sourdough the old-school way - it starts with locally sourced organic grains (like those from Miller Dohrmann Farm) that she and her staff grind fresh and then ferment, form, and bake in house. It was also pleasure to get this loaf made by Katie Justman, someone I had admired for her cheese made from her cows of Branched Oak Dairy. For this small bar I toasted the sourdough crumbs in cultured organic butter until crispy, and blended it with out special milk chocolate made with house-pressed cocoa butter.
Actually these are not the Basque Espelette chilis, but another kind grown at Prairie Plate!
December 8: Prairie Plate Restaurant’s Basque Espelette Chili Ganache Truffle + Alpine Strawberry, 70% Cacao Guatemalan Cahabón Dark Chocolate
When Jerry Cornett mentioned, with excitement, these chilis they had been growing at Prairie Plate, it took me back. Back to my time in France almost a decade ago, when I taught English in Bordeaux for a year. The area to the south of Bordeaux is the Basque Country of France (which extends across into Spain). Here they are famous for their “piment d’espelette” - Espelette pepper that they grow and string into beautiful red and green hangings to dry. Red green and white are the colors of the region, and I had to shake myself a little back to reality that here I was in Nebraska where the Cornetts were growing this special chili pepper that is hot but not too hot, it is more known for its smokey fruity flavor that enhances the Basque cuisine.
But I had known that pepper earlier too, when I studied abroad in the north east of France and took a solo spring break train trip down to Bayonne in search of a piece of chocolate history - the introduction of chocolate making to France. There are different theories for its dispersal, through monasteries and royalty, and while these are all likely to have happened, Bayonne eventually became a very important chocolate producing city in France. In the 17th century, Jewish chocolate makers fled the Inquisition in Spain and Portugal and were welcomed to Saint Esprit - just across the river from Bayonne. It’s here that they introduced their craft. But they would eventually suffer discriminatory restrictions demanded by the new local chocolate guild that had learned their chocolate making skills. Not being able to take up residence in Bayonne meant they would have to cross the bridge each day with their stone metates and wares, since the chocolate was made the traditional way by grinding by hand (as is still done in some places in Latin America).
I have visited Bayonne/Saint Esprit a handful of times, walking over that bridge, thinking of these Jewish chocolate makers and their heavy stones. I’m not sure what I was looking for, what I’m always looking for. There has to be some sign, some wisp, some memory. Something that makes sense of where we are today, what chocolate is, where it’s going, where we can take it, where we can take everything. There are museums, what what does it mean to go to a place, to experience it off the tracks?
This is what the piment d’espelette reminds me of. These hours on the trains, the rains, the two interruptions because people had fallen on the tracks, the wandering in the cold alone and eating Chinese takeout in the hotel, looking out over the Adour, or was it the Nive? The Swine Flu outbreak, the empty streets. The haunting of closed and darkened doors and then opening into the bright hidden life inside. And then finally, and then finally the old traditional hot chocolates (mousseux and chocolat à l’eau) at Cazenave.
There is much more to this history, this place, this food. But this is what I tripped upon once along the old cobblestones.
Hand-rolled dark chocolate spiced pumpkin truffle with a piece of candied carrot atop.
December 7: Common Good Farm’s Spiced Pumpkin Ganache Truffle + Praire Plate’s Candied Carrots, 70% Colombian Sierra Nevada Dark Chocolate
Another day with a lot going on! In making this calendar, I knew I also wanted to include some things that aren’t usually found in chocolates - alcohols, herbs, nuts, fruits are all classic, but we have some really special organic farmers whose hard work I truly appreciated. A little over a decade ago my mother was diagnosed with multiple chemical sensitivities - a vague afflictions which makes the sufferer more susceptible to chemical exposure. This could be your average big box store cleaning products, but also perfumes, dryer sheets, petroleum products, and more. There is not a day that she isn’t affected, and it has really shaped my connection to the natural - and unnatural - world. I now try to not use any scents (even essential oils) or overbearing chemicals. I know she is not alone, and I know it’s something that will only get harder in our modern world. Which is why I try to support organic producers whenever I can. When I was in Haiti two years ago, I remember the farmers talking about how important organic was to them, and it was something they were trying to hold on to. It seems like something we’ve let go of here, but are trying to reclaim, and so to be able to use Common Good Farm’s organic and biodynamic produce was very important to me. I can’t fathom the hard work their family puts into their exceptional produce, and their pumpkin was what made this truffle really special. Atop this truffle, made with our special Colombian Sierra Nevada dark chocolate that has a special terra cotta color, is a candied carrot from Prairie Plate. So lucky to be able to use this organic produce from our Nebraskan soil, tended by people who really care and know that we can only take so much chemical exposure.
Learn more about Common Good Farm here: http://www.commongoodfarm.com
And Praire Plate here: https://prairieplaterestaurant.com
Pile of tortillas from Marlene’s Tortilleria.
December 6: Marlene’s Tortilleria Corn Tortilla Fried in Simply Sunflower Oil + Pepe’s Bistro Mole Ganache, 75% Cacao Dominican Öko Caribe Dark Chocolate
This day has so much to love going on. Across from Cultiva Labs, around the corner of Saint Theresa’s thrift shop and near Lincoln High’s Arts and Humanities school, is Marlene’s Torilleria. It is a treasure where you can get the freshest hot tortillas, usually corn but sometimes flour to take home and cook with. Which is what I wanted to do with this treat. I started with Marlene’s corn tortillas, cut into chip shape and then fried in Nebraska grown and made Simply Sunflower Oil. I wanted to, however humbly, try honor the ancient Mesoamerican connection between corn and cacao with this confection.
To me what brings it all together is Pepe’s vegan mole sauce - if you can get there on mole enchilada day, do, do, do. My mouth waters for Pepe’s locally sourced, organic, and vegetable-based Mexican cuisine. You can even sometimes get his mother’s prized pumpkin empanadas, and so many other beautiful things. I wanted to bring his mole sauce back to the chocolate, because he usually uses our chocolate in his recipe. It’s a full circle, or maybe full tortilla, kind of thing. And an honor to be able to use someone’s work who is so committed to doing what this advent calendar is all about - celebrating the producers and creators around us.
For some more information about Marlene’s: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Marlenes-Tortilleria/470071706352848
For Simply Sunflower Oil: https://www.simplysunflower.com
For Pepe’s: https://www.pepesbistro.com
Bottle of Brickway’s Mostly Honest Bourbon Whisky.
December 5: Brickway Brewery & Distillery Mostly Honest Bourbon Whiskey Traditional Truffle, 75% Cacao Dominican Öko Caribe Dark Chocolate
Sometimes I wish I were different, but I’m a moody chocolate lover. I’ll take whatever chocolate I can gracefully, but really, I’m looking all the time for what I’ll call “the real deal.” That can mean different things, but it’s usually chocolate that was made with a lot of heart and soul - often made from bean to bar by a passionate chocolate maker. I love it simple, I love it good. This is why I love this traditional whiskey truffle made with Brickway Brewery & Distillery’s Mostly Honesty Bourbon Whiskey. It’s minimal, it’s wonky, it’s voluptuous, which is what a traditional truffle is all about - it’s supposed to look like the prized fungus sniffed out by pigs and dug out of the ground. I’ve read that whiskey and chocolate share special chemical components that make them compatible, which is why this is such a winning match for me. And what a treasure to be able to source the whiskey locally. From Brickway’s website, they are “Omaha’s first combination brewery and distillery since prohibition! At Brickway Brewery & Distillery we use the finest ingredients to distill a variety great All American Spirits!”
Learn more about this special Omahan distiller here: https://www.drinkbrickway.com
Rosemary and carrots from Prairie Plate.
December 4: Prairie Plate Restaurant’s Rosemary Ganache Truffle, 75% Cacao Dominican Öko Caribe Dark Chocolate
One of the best parts of making this advent calendar was being able to meet with the producers to ask what they had available, and especially what they were excited about. One afternoon I drove out to Prairie Plate Restaurant, nestled in our rolling Nebraskan fields near Waverly and Lincoln. Prairie Plate has a beautiful setting - right on a small lake where you can watch the wildlife going about their business. That afternoon I met with Renee and Jerry Cornett, who farm their own organic produce, and also source locally what they do not produce. Renee is Prairie Plate’s chef, and I am so impressed by the layers that go into her creations - when I went there that afternoon they had been working on their sauerkraut they’ll use in their offerings. It’s all so whole, and I was honored to be able to use their fresh rosemary in this fresh truffle, letting the herb infuse slowly in the cream from Burbach’s. I’ll always have the memory of the waning afternoon light coming through the restaurant windows as we talked again about how important making real food is to us, an it’s really special to be able to showcase what they do here.
Learn more and make your reservations for Friday or Saturday dinners here: https://prairieplaterestaurant.com
Frozen plums from The Edible Source.
December 3: The Edible Source’s Wild & Beech Plum Compote + Hazelnut Gianduja in our Guatemalan Cahabón 70% Cacao Dark Chocolate
The Gianduja returns - had to admit what a nut I am for gianduja before, and this is why it’s here again, but with hazelnuts. One subject I’m excited about and have been patiently awaiting is the arrival of Nebraska’s own hybrid hazelnuts. Food and Wine covered a story on this project that’s been developing for over a decade: https://www.foodandwine.com/cooking-techniques/hybrid-hazelnuts-restaurants
We were sought out because I’ve been in contact with Aaron at the Nebraska Forest Service, bugging him a bit these past years about the hazelnuts. I can’t wait to support a local crop that also has sustainability prospects, something that’s very important for us at Sweet Minou. It’s our guide for sourcing our products and materials, packaging. I’m always learning, always getting it wrong, always trying to get it right. I know it’s a journey and we’re always learning.
So all that to say we didn’t get the hybrid hazelnuts in time, but you can learn more about the project here: https://nfs.unl.edu/hybrid-hazelnut-consortium
So these hazelnuts are from Oregon, but the star for me in today’s confection is the wild and beech plums from Adam at The Edible Source - it was a pleasure to meet Adam at the Farmers Market and hear him talk about his fruit projects. He uses an aquaponic system for his sustainable green houses.
Learn more about his methods here: http://ediblesource.com
He collected these wild plums, and I was moved to get them because I was thinking of this summer when I got to stay with my new friend Mahtab outside of Turin in Rivoli. I remember climbing up the hills of Rivoli to the Castello di Rivoli contemporary art museum, looking out over the city and countryside, taking deep breaths, and then Mahtab found a plum tree for us to share some tiny plums. Being from Iran, she had the classic Persian cuisine taste for tart, something I’ve come to appreciate too as I’ve aged.
I wanted to capture that moment, but also stories from my grandma of her mother who was an immigrant from Poland, and would make my grandmother plum pierogi. For me plums will always remind me of these special ladies. I don’t know what it is. They are sometimes a tough fruit - sometimes literally with the skin, but it has so much flavor if you give it time (especially in cooking). I love that these women appreciated the tart with the sweet, and the fleeting time we have them in the season. To me there is something for the immigrant in the plum - growing wild, there for you if you know how to find it.
So for this special confection I also wanted to include what I have to admit is probably my favorite dark chocolate we make. Our 70% Cacao Guatemalan Cahabón, which we won an award for at the Academy of Chocolate this summer, around the time I was eating plums with Mahtab. I love its flavor like I love plums’ flavor - something deep and dark and fruity about it. It is a small confection, but there is so much to it. I hope you enjoy.
Slab of our pecan gianduja sprinkled with nibs.
December 2: Twin Springs Pecan Gianduja + Nibs
Today’s confection is admittedly one of my favorites of all time and space. I got the gianduja bug when I was teaching in Paris, and would buy chocolates on sale at the basement market of Galeries Lafayette, chocolates that had bloomed or were past their prime somehow. That’s how I got to know gianduja - an Italian confection in origin, made in the Piedmont region/Turin in the early 1800s because of a tight cacao supply - but the region did have its hazelnuts to make up for it. Time and an endless flow of Nutella later, here we are. I was lucky to be able to stay with a friend outside of Turin this summer when I was on my fruit and chocolate journey, and taste the pure music of Guido Castagna’s gianduja, made to take back the lost of art gianduja that focuses on minimal and quality ingredients and sensitive handling of them.
I wanted to say that, to say how deeply in love with gianduja I am. And a purist would hate me for this, but I love to make substitutions, especially when they are of such unique and fine quality as you get with Twin Springs Pecans. To me this is a Nebraskan gianduja - utterly creamy, strong in flavor, one of a kind. I think that recipes ought to be less about purism, and more about the spirit of them - we have pecans here to celebrate, just as the Piedmont had their hazelnuts. I really hope you enjoy this day, I feel little glimmers of excitement thinking about it. And buy Twin Springs pecans when you can - family owned, and with an outstanding quality. There is nothing like getting a delivery from them, and I can’t wait for our next.
Henna-adorned dark chocolate truffles with gold luster.
December 1: Cultiva’s Black Label Espresso Ganache + Henna Gesserit deco, 75% Cacao Dominican Öko Caribe Dark Chocolate
I wanted to start the chocolate journey with some extra appreciation. I’ve been working for Cultiva since 2015 when I had just gotten out of my French studies and was making chocolate at home as a hobby. I had taught English in France for two years, then as an exchange came back and finished my master’s degree in French, teaching French as a teaching assistant. Really, I couldn’t teach. I’m an introvert with sweaty palms and dreaded directing a class each day. I knew I needed something else, and I’d been making chocolate since 2010 - throughout school and when I was back home from France. It was stuck in me and the only way to get it out was to get more serious about it. Eventually I decided to go for it, to try to make chocolate as a living - I began by working in local kitchens, as a dishwasher, as a prep cook, and that’s how my destiny got wound up with Cultiva. I was their prep cook and brought chocolate in once, some truffles I’d made from chocolate I was making at home - Jason, one of the owners, needed more. And eventually… after these Valentine’s truffles… Sweet Minou was born.
Also somewhat around this time I’d met Sam - I would do demos at Ten Thousand Villages each year for their fair trade Choctober event. It was at one of these demos, where Sam was creating glittery henna that blew my mind, that we first met. She gave me her card, and said we needed to get in touch about chocolate. See she is a chocolatier too, and she is many wonderful things - henna witch, massage and bodywork specialist, tango lover, artist, real soul, also chocolate ambassador :) It’s an honor to be able to collaborate with her on anything, but especially this first chocolate made with Cultiva’s espresso. I no longer can drink coffee, but coffee was what brought me here. I knew there was a connection with their truly good product, and I knew I wanted to make chocolate like that too.
Sam created these wheat motifs for this chocolate, an echo of the plains we live on. I hope you enjoy the art as much as the chocolate - each one was truly handcrafted, each one is unique. Thank you for being a part of this first Sweet Minou advent calendar. Let the chocolate begin :)
Find more about Sam’s work as Henna Gesserit on her website: https://www.hennagesserit.com
Book her henna for your parties, or schedule a massage. There is nothing but wonder to be found with Sam.
To order you Cultiva Coffee, find them here: https://www.cultivacoffee.com