ReZoom

With chai-infused truffles and bacon-flavored chocolate, America's pastry chefs are crazier than ever. Check out what you might be missing.In a recent article by the New York Times, the gold standard of American journalism declared that the best chocolate could only be found overseas – in European chocolate shops to be precise. Curious as to whether or not America really was behind in its pastry preparation, ReZoom tracked down the best in homegrown chocolatiers to see how their wares fared in a taste test with our resident sweet tooths.

1. Burdick's
Walpole, New Hampshire
Many chocolate hipsters are familiar with Burdick's and its namesake chef, L.A. Burdick, due to the candy company's well-known hot chocolate. What began in New York with mugs of warm cocoa is now a thriving internet and mail-order business offering a wide array of chocolate bars and sugary delicacies. We ordered a sampler of white, dark and milk chocolate bars ($16.00) from Burdick's New Hampshire hub for our taste test. Before even taking a bite, the packaging was an immediate stand-out and represented the kind of presentation I'd want on a gift of quality chocolates. However, the chocolate itself met with mixed reactions. Some testers said it was "perfectly bitter and sweet" with "its strongest merits in the aftertaste," while others considered the flavor "slightly rubbery" and "not much better than a Dove bar."

2. Fran's
Seattle, Washington
Many consider chef Fran Bigelow to be "the best Chocolatier in America." The Seattle-based confectioner is also known as a master of the truffle. Thanks to her handy website, we ordered up the 12 piece dark chocolate truffle collection ($18.00) and had the decadent treats in hand by the following afternoon (another $20.00 for shipping). With flavor influences from oolong tea to whiskey, we couldn't wait to dig in. In general, Fran's truffles were a big hit, earning compliments from "truly fantastic" to "very, very good" to a nicely satisfied "good." The most negative comment about Fran's was a grade of "B-minus," but for most tasters, these truffles passed muster with a much higher score.

3. Jacques Torres
Brooklyn, New York
French-born chef Jacques Torres has had an illustrious career. In addition to earning his chops in some of the best kitchens in the world, he's won more awards than we have the energy to count. Plus, you might have heard his name in association with a little-known gastronomic haven called Le Cirque, the restaurant he joined in 1989. Nearly overwhelmed by our options on Torres' site, we ended up with a House Blend bar ($4.00), a Pistachio Pleasures bar ($4.50) and a Crème Brulee bar ($4.50). The chocolate was absolutely delicious with "excellent consistency," and the Pistachio Pleasures bar had one of our testers raving about "edible flecks of God's love."

4. Schakolad
Winter Park, Florida
Shakolad Chocolate Factory is on a mission to bring handmade, high quality chocolates to a city near you. With locations in over ten states and the Bahamas, Schakolad's claim to fame is that all of their treats are "made fresh right on the premises." But, considering the cringe-worthy corporate slogan ("The elegant way to say chocolate is schakolad"), we should have known this culinary quest would not end well. After trying Schakolad's milk and dark chocolate bars, one tester made the comment "not so good" while another referred to the candy as "the Air Supply of dark chocolate."

5. Xocohochco
Franklin, Tennessee
Tennessee-based chef Julie Hinton likes to think of her creamy concoctions as more than mere chocolate – in fact, they are often referred to as "edible art." Hinton's chocolates ($2.95 - $3.95 a piece) take on a variety of shapes and colors from a chai-flavored sweet with blue and red dots on a white background to a treat in the form of a pyramid. And, according to our testers, the chocolates from Xocohochco aren't trying to get by on their looks alone. In fact, we couldn't find anyone to say a bad word about them. It was all "delightful," "delicious" and "best truffle I've ever had" on that day in the office.

6. Dagoba Organic Chocolate
Ashland, Oregon
As one of the newer chocolate manufacturers on the block, Dagoba differentiates itself with an all organic product. Company head Frederick Schilling runs a largely family-based business that distributes via the web, specialty shops and high-end grocery chains like Whole Foods. With the single origin sampler ($17.99), we ended up with four delightfully different chocolate bars. Dagoba earned consistently high marks in our book. The chocolate was many testers' favorite, and the only complaint heard was when one tester pouted that his "piece was too small."

7. Vosges Haut-Chocolat
Chicago, Illinois
Katrina Markoff, founder and mastermind of Vosges Haut-Chocolat, strives for fusion in her chocolate products by incorporating tastes and elements not often associated with the sweet treat. She travels the world in search of new ingredients, and the company's slogan is even "One Love, One Chocolate" to reflect Markoff's desire to bring the East and West together in her candy creations. We ordered up two of her latest offerings, Mo's Bacon Bar ($7.00) and the Red Fire Bar ($7.00), to see what all the hoop-la was about. Unfortunately, these new-fangled chocolate bars did little to impress our testers. Apart from one lone soul willing to stick up for the Bacon Bar as "so tasty," the candy was largely disliked and even referred to as "sickening." And, as for the Fire Bar, most of our testers found the spices too overwhelming for the chocolate – and not in a good way. According to our boss man, "It burns afterwards."