The Weird & Wonderful World of Baron Hasselhoff’s

Baron Hasselhoff’s is making some of the most outrageously delicious chocolate in Oceania in the seaside capital city of Wellington, New Zealand.

The Baron’s world is full of audacious creations named after characters with hilarious backstories, such as Swinging Sultan (Rose, Raspberry & Pomegranate Truffles), inspired by a musical mishap at a Dire Straits-themed wedding in Istanbul. “Things need to be 20% weird,” says Founder Clayton McErlane. “It’s one of the benchmarks of anything that we do.” That weirdness is backed up with consistent quality, and throughout the Baron Hasselhoff’s brand, there’s meticulous attention to detail that’s been developed and refined over many years.

Background

Former chef McErlane – whose official title is ‘Chief Chocolate Disciple’ – established the company in 2012 and now runs it with his wife and business partner, Erin Todd. Originally the focus was on baked goods and gluten-free treats, but after experimenting with making chocolate truffles for friends and family, McErlane became fascinated by the power of chocolate. “People reacted so differently,” says Clayton. “After working with food my whole life, I’d never had that kind of reaction to any other food. Chocolate just has this multi-layered emotional connection for people.”

While making his mark as a top chocolatier, McErlane was introduced to New Zealand’s craft chocolate community and the inspiring bean-to-bar movement. After three years of tasting craft chocolate from all over the world – predominantly sourced via craft chocolate retailer The Chocolate Bar – and experimenting with micro-batch production at home, McErlane officially released his first bean-to-bar creations in 2019.

Taste Adventure

Baron Hasselfhoff's Papua New Guinea bar

Baron Hasselhoff’s offers a colourful and offbeat assortment of bean-to-bar delicacies, predominantly made with cacao from Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu, which is sourced via NZ-based companies Rautini and The Cacao Ambassador. Alongside the bean-to-bar selections, you’ll find fresh chocolate truffles and confectionery made with recently-launched Weave Cacao couverture. The team at Weave Cacao works directly with farmers in the Pacific Islands, and 26% of the company is owned by Ū Cacao, a charitable trust committed to on-the-ground change for cacao farming communities.

Inspired in equal parts by Indiana Jones and Anthony Bourdain, Baron Hasselhoff’s creations take you on a taste adventure that is both surprising and sumptuous. Think cinnamon donut and rum dark chocolate, tahini oat milk chocolate, and chai spice truffles with Szechuan pepper. It’s a bold, brave, and exquisitely bizarre collection.

Baron Hasselhoff’s in North America

Clayton McErlane at the Craft Chocolate Experience

Recently Baron Hasselhoff’s exhibited at the Northwest Chocolate Festival in Seattle (read our recap of the Northwest Chocolate Festival) and the Craft Chocolate Experience in San Francisco (read more about the Craft Chocolate Experience), introducing a huge new audience of craft chocolate lovers to some of New Zealand’s finest and most-awarded chocolate. Taking their chocolate to overseas festivals was a dream come true for McErlane and U.S.-born Todd, who had many ‘pinch-me’ moments meeting their favourite chocolate makers, such as Dick Taylor, Dandelion Chocolate and Goodnow Farms (read all about Goodnow Farms). “Once you start talking to these people, everyone’s just super sweet,” says Clayton. “New Zealand has a beautiful chocolate community, and it was really nice to see that that extends wherever you go.”

Coming from a small country with a population of just 5 million, export is a necessary focus for Baron Hasselhoff’s, with North America top of the list. They’ll be back at the Craft Chocolate Experience next year and hope to find a distributor soon, but in the meantime, you can find a selection of bars at Chocolate Covered in San Francisco, or you can order directly from the Baron Hasselhoff’s website (U.S.A. shipping available).

Must Try Bars

If you’re new to the world of Baron Hasselhoff’s, make sure you try the ‘Viva Frida’ Spiced Almond Molé bar. Inspired by Frida Kahlo’s personal molé recipe – which may or may not have been stolen from Kahlo’s house by The Baron himself – this bar perfectly encapsulates the fun, adventurous and culinary creativity that you’ll find throughout the Baron Hasselhoff’s collection.

The brand is also one of very few to offer a limited-edition bar made with cacao’s cousin, Theobroma Bricolour, also known as “jaguar.” The Jaguar Cacao with Neighbourhood Apples and Cinnamon bar also includes a touch of vanilla.