Baron Hasselhoff’s – Viva Frida, Almond and Spiced Molé Dark 47%

About the bar

This is a complex, smoky and spiced dark bar from Baron Hasselhoff’s. Inspired by traditional Mexican Molé, the Viva Frida bar blends dark cacao from Chiapas, Mexico, with toasted almonds, chipotle, cinnamon, and just a hint of ancho chilli.

About the maker

Founded by chef-turned-chocolate maker Clayton McErlane in Golden Bay, New Zealand in 2012, Baron Hasselhoff’s began as a producer of gluten-free sweets before evolving into an award-winning bean-to-bar chocolate maker. After years of working in the restaurant industry, Clayton discovered bean-to-bar chocolate in 2017 and became captivated with the idea of crafting chocolate entirely from scratch. The business is run by Clayton and his wife Erin Todd, alongside a small team, creating adventurous chocolate bars that are “20% weird” while championing flavour, creativity, and sustainability. The brand is built around the fictional Baron Hasselhoff, a globe-trotting taste adventurer who discovers new and exciting flavours.

The beans

The beans for this bar come from Sierra Madre in Chiapas, Mexico, and led by Revival Cacao. The beans are fermented by a cooperative called the Granos Selectos de la Montaña, established in 2021. With 12 members in their core group, they are located on the border between the Sierra Madre de Chiapas and the Pacific Coastal Plain, and they aimed to move away from Mexican traditions of fermenting cacao but rather washing it. The beans are centrally fermented by the Granos Selectos de la Montaña in linear boxes made of mango wood for roughly six to seven days, before they are sun-dried in raised beds.

Allergens*

Nuts

Ingredients

Chiapas nibs 42%, cacao butter 5%, organic sugar 29%, salted almonds 22.7%, chilli blend 0.50%, spice blend 0.80%

*Allergen advice: We directly import, and purchase, all products from independent makers and have these shipped by our partner warehouse (which is not certified allergen-free), and so we cannot guarantee that any product will be allergen-free. Even where an allergen is not listed, products may have been produced, shipped, or stored in facilities which handle allergens.

If you would like further information about a specific product, please contact us on [email protected] or contact the maker directly.