New today in our Spices section, we present you one of the most exquisite - and delicious - salts you can find: Fleur de Sel.

This white “gold” celebrates its comeback with chocri! We source our fleur de sel from Portugal, so strictly speaking it is "Flor de Sal". Both terms mean "Flower of Salt", and this hand-harvested sea salt is one of the most expensive. It is collected by workers in the Atlantic in so-called "salt pans". If you look at a big heap of fleur de sel, it is often slightly grey because of the minerals contained in it. Most importantly though, it will taste fantastic on your chocolate bar.

Due to the small size of the crystals, fleur de sel dissolves faster than regular salt - tingling on your tongue as it melts along with the chocolate.

Try fleur de sel with bacon or peanuts for a savory experience, or pair it with sweet toppings to create an interesting polarization. What's on your chocolate bar?

Recently I received an email from a customer, saying the following: "I read on your site that you appreciate new input on ingredients for your chocolate bars. I think cardamom seeds would be perfect as a spice for your chocolate bars. Perhaps ground seeds would be best, as the taste of whole seeds could be too intense - I can imagine - but I'll let you decide on that."

We couldn't agree more! Cardamom is a wonderful sweet, pungent spice that literally adds some "heat" to your chocolate bar. As pointed out above, it is quite a "loud" spice, which is why we offer it ground so as not to overpower the chocolate and the other toppings. Cardamom is our Spice of the Month, so try it out while it lasts! Find it now in the Spices section when you create your personalized chocolate bar with chocri.

Traded already by the Ancient Greek, cardamom is a very "European" and "Asian" spice. While a lot of cardamom grows in India, hardly any is exported because the people there are so fond of it that they rather use it themselves. Arab cultures were equally excited about the spice, which was considered to have aphrodisiac qualities and was used in love potions.We recommend to pair cardamom with walnuts coffee, date pieces or, for the ultimate Indian chocri bar, with ginger.

What's on your chocolate bar?

We've been cooking (figuratively) and have something new for you!

As you know, with more than 100 topping choices and three base chocolates, you have more than 10 billion combinations at your fingertips, which leaves you plenty of room for your creativity.

Or maybe not?

We get many suggestions from you for new toppings, and we are grateful for each and everyone one of them, thank you and please keep them coming!

We really do our best to implement these great ideas. That's why we thought up the following:

The Topping Of The Month!

Since we know that chocriholics are curious and keen on everything that is new, unknown and maybe also a little bit extraordinary, the next few months we want to take you on a journey to the never ending fields of culinary extravaganzas, bizarre delicacies and tongue-tingling aromas.

Every month, we introduce you to a novel, unusual topping, which (while stocks last) you can use for your chocri creation.

As always, we want your input and suggestions! Feel free to suggest really weird toppings, the only criteria is: it must be edible ;-) Just send us an email with the subject "Topping of the month" to carmen@chocri.com or post your topping wish on our Facebook Page. We are looking forward to your suggestions!

Like this, we hope to enable each and everyone of you to create that chocolate bar of your wildest dreams. And who knows, if a topping is especially popular, it might end up with its buddies in the permanent assortment ;-)

Today, on the first of February, we start with the following topping:

Grains Of Paradise

No kidding, that's what they are called! And from today on, they are in the category "Spices", eagerly awaiting you and your chocolate creation.
Grains Of Paradise, also called Guinea Grains, are from Africa and are typically used in the Northern African cuisine. They are spicy with lots of aroma, and a fruity-warm taste. The combination with chocolate is, well, heavenly. This is a great topping for everyone who likes it spicy, but not too spicy. And let's be honest: ... who ever ate a chocolate bar with "grains of paradise"? This is really something extraordinary!

Let's go, you the adventurous and global gourmets! You won't regret. Enjoy!

In our Toppings List, some of the toppings don't have pictures yet (they're a little shy...), so I wanted to showcase four of them today... with a picture:

A delightful meeting of Mini Marshmallows, Toffee, Rice Crispies in Chocolate Coating, and Nougat Pieces.

Here in the US, we all know the Mini Marshmallows that taste oh-so-good in your hot chocolate (or just by themselves!). In Germany however, these caused a stir, since all the Marshmallows we Germans are accustomed to are the big ones, that we like to put on a stick and roast over a fire. Our Marshmallows are fluffy and add a very different experience to the otherwise snappy chocolate.

Toffee is a buttery version of caramel. Caramel itself is nothing else but sugar heated slowly to 340°F. That's pretty hot, as everyone knows who tried this at home before and burned their fingers because the caramel smells so tasty. But don't worry - the toffee pieces on your chocolate will have cooled down by the time you get them. Although your chocolate bar will still be "hot", only in a different sense.

We had Rice Crispies (and with picture) all along, because they look pretty and add crunchiness to your bar. We doubled up on the experience: Rice crispies IN chocolate ON chocolate. :)

Finally, Nougat was a challenge, since we can't put anything on a chocolate bar that wouldn't stay in shape on its way to you. Luckily, we found these pretty little pieces who make chocolate lovers happy with their aroma of nuts that melts in your mouth.