Hello Dear Barometer Chocolate Friends!

I needed 12 ounces of gorgeous craft chocolate to make this luscious flourless cake for my family and friends to enjoy on Thanksgiving. I thought about six dark chocolate bars in my collection that would make an exquisite, cohesive tasting flight and then decided to feature them as the stars of this bake. I ventured into my chocolate room, picked them off the shelves and pinched myself. Working and playing with chocolate is a dream, and it’s also my life. I am so thankful.

Every Thanksgiving is special for me, but this one was a little extra special. I got to meet and snuggle with my brand new baby niece. She is ideal in every way: two months old, ADORABLE, nine pounds, and nestles herself perfectly in the spot between the top of my shoulder and the bottom of my rib cage. Like chocolate, she is absolutely delicious and makes me really happy.

New babies do not eat chocolate, but one day, I will take a tiny spoon and fill it with this flourless chocolate cake and a bit of whipped cream. I will turn said spoon into an airplane and I will fly it right into her mouth. Just imagine her expression! When I close my eyes and envision this moment, I want to jump for joy. What a gift! What a life!

Here are the six star bars that I chose to chop and melt for my most favorite cake on earth:

In honor of Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, and brand new babies who will one day love chocolate, please enjoy 15% off all of your purchases today through Monday, November 29. Use discount code BLACKFRIDAY15 at checkout (excludes tastings).

I hope you take pleasure in the last few days of this month. If you would like my flourless cake recipe, just let me know. I’m happy to share! Until we meet again next time, I will leave you with a November poem that my dad shared with me six years ago:

Praise Song

Praise the light of late November,

the thin sunlight that goes deep in the bones.

Praise the crows chattering in the oak trees;

though they are clothed in night, they do not

despair. Praise what little there's left:

the small boats of milkweed pods, husks, hulls,

shells, the architecture of trees. Praise the meadow

of dried weeds: yarrow, goldenrod, chicory,

the remains of summer. Praise the blue sky

that hasn't cracked yet. Praise the sun slipping down

behind the beechnuts, praise the quilt of leaves

that covers the grass: Scarlet Oak, Sweet Gum,

Sugar Maple. Though darkness gathers, praise our crazy

fallen world; it's all we have, and it's never enough.

- Barbara Crooker

With Love,
Nadine