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Hopefully you’ve all been fortunate enough to experience the gastronomical euphoria that comes along with Fine and Raw confections. A staple in my home, these raw cacao treats are delicious and healthy, delivering a natural boost of energy and happiness to the mind and palate. And now that warm weather is here, Daniel Sklaar has fulfilled his promise of Fine and Raw ice cream!
This dark, intensely flavored ice cream is for serious chocolate lovers. Sugar and dairy free, the flavor focuses on cacao with a hint of coconut, all pleasantly sweet. Forget about those sugary brown tubs of fattening ice cream, Fine and Raw is the only frozen desert you need this season. It comes in small containers, and just a small amount satisfies.
If you love chocolate, deep and delicious chocolate, and you love ice cream, be sure to check out this seasonal treat. You can find it at the Greene Grape Provisions in Brooklyn, or visit their website to find a list of stores that carry Fine and Raw products.
Tired of a successful but risky career in finance, Daniel decided to pursue a more satisfying career indulging in his life’s passion: chocolate. He had always been a chocolate lover, self-proclaiming obsession, with early childhood memories of longing for coco puffs. It was his life’s experiences with food, health, and his never ending love for chocolate that led him to create Fine and Raw, the sophisticated and mind-blowingly delicious brand of chocolate confections made out of an old candy factory here in Brooklyn.
Having worked with raw foods in a restaurant setting, it was his own spiritual journey that led him to a comfortable understanding of raw and whole foods. Rather than adopting the trendy extreme diets, eating raw food is something that Daniel began to incorporate into his daily life little by little, based on needs and desires. This understanding cultivated a respect and appreciation for raw foods, rather than seeing it as a necessary burden.
While it was ultimately the tasty factor that encouraged Daniel to make the leap of faith, the health benefits of his products and production are equally important. For one thing, raw chocolate is one of the healthiest substances out there, loaded with antioxidants. The cacao used is Fair Trade and comes from the Ecuadorian rainforest from sustainable farmers growing heirloom varieties. All of the ingredients used in making Fine&Raw confections are organic, promoting not only healthy humans, but a healthy earth and society as well. Every aspect of the production is mindful of quality life on Earth.
Daniel believes silliness is an inherent quality in chocolate, which gives you an idea of his light-hearted approach. He understands fully the importance of having fun when experimenting with recipes and flavors. Experimenting almost daily in his chocolate lab/Brooklyn home, he has come up with wonderfully balanced confections and I am confident that his creativity will create even more in the future. The confections themselves are made in an old candy factory in Brooklyn where Daniel will often work with a team of a few people to turn out very small batches. Even with a growing demand, he is comfortable being a small production local company, continuing to put all of his love into every bite.
But most importantly: IT IS DELICIOUS!!! And I mean outrageously so! All of his experimenting paid off. The combination of chocolate, coconut and salt is bewitching: strong, creamy, satisfying. $8.50 for a bar is an easy choice once you’ve tasted this one of a kind treat. My personal favorites include the straightforward Bonbons, rich little morsels of soft heavenly chocolate covered in a layer of the dark chocolate; the Bonbon bar which features a layer of bonbon inside a dark chocolate bar (basically the best of both worlds); and the coconut and cacao bar with a smooth texture and rich flavor.
Even though his chocolate is simply sublime, Daniel continues to enjoy all kinds of chocolate and especially likes to support other local operations. He plans to continue engineering chocolaty confections in his Brooklyn loft, including a dark chocolate ice cream this summer to be featured locally. Check out their website, http://www.fineandraw.com/, to find out where to buy products and more info. Not local? No worries… they ship nationwide! And if you are local, be sure to keep your ears open for an up coming Valentines Day event featuring Fine&Raw chocolates.
