Amaure Chocolate from Ecuador and The Spanish Daughter

Hello dear time travelers,

How long has it been since we wrote a chocolate bar review?

Apologies, life has been…well, a lot.

We are here.

Fresh on the heels of the Ecuadorian team’s World Cup win (wow!), it feels fitting to share that this month, that we read The Spanish Daughter, by Lorena Hughes, and paired it with a never-before-tasted Ecuadorian cacao: Amaure Chocolate. Neither bar nor book disappointed. In fact, both were, well, excellent.

Set in the Ecuadorian country, The Spanish Daughter is a story of murder, romance, chocolate and intrigue—gorgeously centered around an Ecuadorian cacao plantation—set to be inherited by a family full of secrets… The book is filled with intrigue, love, and cacao, and was quite riveting. We loved the main character Puri, and her reflections on society and the role of women.

The setting transported us to Ecuador, and the gossip and drama kept us guessing. We could almost feel the warm breeze of the tropical landscape and hear the bustling towns, and we give this book a 4.5/5. How many books are there about cacao farms in Latin America? YOU let us know what to read next in the comments!

…To truly ground into the terroir of the landscape, we went to The Chocolate House in DC, to pick up an Ecuadorian chocolate origin bar. AMAURE caught our eye. A simple grey package with red logo, it didn’t scream “fancy,” but something called to us, quietly, sweetly, like the Ecuadorian Amazon. This bar is from Manabi, Ecuador. A simple compass in the lower right left of the bar’s packaging, and 75% seemed perfect, and 3 ingredients: cacao, cane sugar and cacao butter. Perfect.

On the back of the bar, we liked the language: “…from nurturing the cacao at its origin to crafting exquisite bars. Made with single-origin Ecuadorian cacao, our chocolate delivers unparalleled quality and flavor, celebrating the richness of its source. Amaure-where every bite tells a story of dedication, quality and love.” How beautiful.

We opened the packaging and read more information on the inside flaps. The company began in 1998 and their approach is ground to bar, or soil to table. “We don’t just make chocolate, we live it.” It felt like it matched the book perfectly.

The bar’s tasting notes are unequivocally: chocolate brownie batter—rich, full-bodied and juicy like cacao pulp nectar. We thoroughly enjoyed “meeting” this bar and brand and will be repurchasing; it was that delicious.

As we nibbled through the bar, we turned pages of The Spanish Daughter, and the accompaniment matched like a great dance partner. (Read the book for the party scene we’re referring to…) We highly recommend both the novel and the chocolate bar this summer.

We know it’s been HOT out there. For a beach read, pair The Spanish Daughter with flip-flops and an iced cacao. Melt this chocolate down, pour it over ice and your milk of choice for a refreshing drink when your toes are in the sand. The chocolate will refresh you as you read the sizzling drama of The Spanish Daughter.

Happy summer!

Wishing you many peaceful time cupsouls.