It’s no secret that Bobby Flay knows what he’s doing in the kitchen. After all, he is a Food Network superstar with an impressive list of television shows and competitions to his name — and he’s been featured in everything from a Christmas movie to an animated Scooby Doo movie thanks to his culinary reputation. And of course, he’s got a host of signature restaurants that always draw crowds. With that kind of credit to his name, it stands to reason that he also knows his food, so when Bobby Flay stands behind a product, foodies take notice. Such is the case with his favorite candy bar, which he thinks is so good that it stands alone among an endless sea of chocolate candy competitors.
Flay has not been shy about his love for the coconut gold bars from Seattle-based Fran’s Chocolate. To understand why he feels so passionately about a candy bar, look no further than what’s inside the gold-colored wrapper. The bars consist of a coconut and white chocolate ganache that features a splash of rum. They are topped with toasted almonds, then covered in a silky coating of Fairtrade dark chocolate and packed lovingly in delicate boxes wrapped with a champagne ribbon. These delicious little bars are often compared to Almond Joy candy bars, only better, and with a reputation like that, it is easy to see why Bobby Flay is a diehard fan.
How a choclate bar became a star in its own right
There are some pretty great chocolate bars on the market, but few that have such a culinary heavy hitter as Bobby Flay praising their deliciousness. To have a better understanding of how Fran’s Chocolates, the name behind the infamous Coconut Gold bar, gained such recognition, it helps to understand a bit more about the brand itself. Fran’s story began with an inspiring trip to Paris for owner Fran Bigelow, who opened her first chocolate shop upon returning home to Seattle in 1982. The reputations of Fran and her chocolates grew quickly, with customers lining up to get their share. In addition to selling Parisian-inspired sweets, she treated her waiting customers to samples of chocolate truffles, a brilliant move that cemented her place in the hearts of fans. Today the company offers caramels, truffles, fruit and nut chocolates, and of course, a line of chocolate bars that includes the Gold bars which, in addition to the iconic Coconut Gold bar, also includes Almond Gold bars, Macadamia Gold bars, and Park bars, which consist of roasted peanuts mixed into buttery caramel.
All of Fran’s chocolates are handmade from natural ingredients and don’t contain any additives or preservatives. This simple approach to making quality products that draw a crowd is something Bobby Flay can obviously relate to, as he too has mastered the art of making simple ingredients taste exceptional, like the way he turns cream of wheat into a sweet and savory delight. Luckily, Fran’s Chocolates offers an online shop so you can try a Coconut Gold bar, and probably a few (okay, a lot) of the other treats for yourself to see why these treats have no competition for fans like Bobby Flay.
