Geldhof Handmade Chocolate Selection
Guest Chocablogger Natasha Faria is back with a selection from South Africa…
Geldhof Chocolatiers are pretty much a mainstay of South African luxury chocolates. They stock a large variety – truffles, ganaches, chocolate bars, chocolate novelties (such as shot glasses and puzzles) and gifting. There are only 5 branches nationwide, and all of them are in Gauteng, so I’ve been aware of them for quite a while. You can check out their website and if you live in Gauteng, they’ll deliver! I dropped into the Cresta branch and being partial to cute little things, this gorgeous box of chocolates was right up my alley. I decided to leave the choice of what I would be reviewing up to the manager, who selected these six as either her choice or as the most popular – I’m not too sure. She didn’t tell me what the selection contained either, so it’ll be guesswork! Communication was not her strong point, but I’m hoping chocolate is.
First off – the butterfly. I should mention that white chocolate is my nemesis. If it’s white, it’s not right.
However, this is quite a nice little chocolate. The white chocolate is crisp and very sweet and creamy – as I suppose all white chocolates are. The centre taste like a milk chocolate ganache – very creamy and extraordinarily, but not sickly, sweet. It could be a caramel ganache in a white chocolate shell, but I may be overly influenced by the shell – which is a little too thick for my liking. Judging by the design and combination of flavours, I would judge this to be something perfect for that lady in your life who likes sweet things but not necessarily chocolatey things.
Next up, the almond surprise. I love the nut and chocolate combination, and this is quite divine. A milk chocolate ganache in a dark chocolate shell with roasted almonds covering it. The almonds set off the creamy ganache perfectly, while the dark chocolate and almonds work in unison to stop this from being too sweet while not taking anything away from the chocolate experience.
The criss-crossing chocolate is a wonderful surprise truffle – coconut fudge in a milk chocolate shell. Although the coconut is not apparent visually, you can begin tasting it from the moment you sink your teeth into the fudge. The fudge is lovely also – dark and decadent overtones give way to light sugary, almost syrupy, taste and it is not so dense that it overpowers the coconut. The shell is a perfect accompaniment, with the white sugar adding a little bit of light sweetness to the dark, fudgy flavour. A real winner.
The cake truffle is another interesting one – a milk chocolate shell covers a milk chocolate ganache on which caramelised sugar is sprinkled. Remember the large-grained sugar that came in different colours that your mom used to sprinkle on cupcakes and occasionally (if you were good) your porridge in the morning? They’re rather like that. I think this is the kind of chocolate meant to be eaten in one bite so that all the flavours can combine, and if eaten in that manner, the enormous white chocolate cap is not too disgusting! I love the combination of chocolate, ganache and sugar – similar in texture relationships to the almond surprise, but sweeter. A lovely stocking filler for aspiring chocolate connoisseurs.
Also in the selection was a truffle very similar to the cake truffle. Milk chocolate shell, milk chocolate ganache, white chocolate drizzle… but, oh wonder of wonders, little pieces of honeycomb interspersed with little pieces of nut. Unidentifiable nut but nut nonetheless. Again with the textures, so I won’t go into that, but quite a sweet chocolate. However, I wouldn’t take this and the cake truffle – they’re too similar and the difference between the caramelised sugar and the honeycomb/nut combination is negligible.
I was saving this last icing sugar coated truffle for last, as I thought it could only hold good things. However, it holds… a white chocolate ganache. Yucky. However, that being said, the ganache is so light that it makes me wonder if raw eggs were beaten into it. It really is the most tasty white ganache I’ve had – sweet and creamy but not completely offensive. Together with the milk chocolate shell and icing sugar dusting, it’s altogether too sweet for my liking, but that’s what you get when someone else picks for you.
Overall, I think that the chocolates are a good buy – and would make a fantastic gift for any woman (or women) in your life. My dislike of white chocolate is not an accurate representation of the quality of their chocolates, and I would recommend that you drop past and allow yourself to be seduced.
Information
- Contains dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate.
- Filed under assortment, dark chocolate, geldhof, milk chocolate, south africa, white chocolate.
As a huge fan of the brand, I was delighted to see this review. The chocolates are superb, and my personal favourite is the champagne truffle (unintentionally reviewed here as the one with the icing sugar). I’m a regular at the Sandton and Eastgate branches, where the friendly staff are always more than happy to help see me on my way with an enormous box of my favourites!
Really love the chocolates but the customer service received is pathetic.
Sasha I agree with you 100%.The guy named David is extremely rude.
He does not know how to treat customers.
As for the chocolates are devine…
Great Article, however can I point out some innacuracies of the article. Firstly that the person who served you was not the Manager – the Managers are very helpful and passionate about their chocolates and would have given you details on each and every chocolate had you asked the contents of each one. Further more, majority of the chocolates do have some form of label in the window (we got a bit sick of each customer asking what each one was) , so the Managers make sure that many of the choclates are named – so if you paid attention you would have been able to correctly identify each one in your article.
Thirdly, the butterfly is a hazelnut praline, and as Marzipan points out the ‘yucky one’ to which you refer is infact a champagne truffle (one of my personal favs). The one with the Roasted Almonds is also a hazelnut praline truffle rolled in roasted almonds. The other three are new since my departure so i cannot comment on them.
I used to work in the all the brances (apart from Cresta) so can confidently say that I know the Company and the chocolates very well having worked for them for 6 years!
Sasha – I cannot agree more on the customer service – it is rather pathetic – but then again all the shops I go into in South Africa I receive shocking customer service – or should i say a lack of customer service. So i would not let customer service be a reflection on the chocolates or the owners.
Kathy – I guess David is an acquired taste (maybe like white cholocate) – i certainly never had any issues with him, maybe he was just having a bad day with a rude customer.
I would like to thank Mark and Eileen for being an inspiration as im now too making my own chocolates for weddings and for gifts!
Hi Ginger Truffle,
Thanks for reading my article, and I am glad that you enjoyed it. However, it is important (to me) that you understand my knowledge of the contents of these chocolates was purposefully absent. I wanted the chocolates to speak for themselves, as suggesting a flavour (by labelling or discussing the chocolate) means that the taster is more likely to find that flavour present.
Therefore, my ignorance was purposeful – not because I “didn’t pay attention” or because I didn’t bother to ask. The products should speak for themselves.
I am certain that the owners of Geldhof are inspired individuals with a vision – which does not necessarily extend to every branch, as it is impossible for them to oversee all of them. Bad customer service is almost always a result of bad training, or a bad attitude. The brass only have control over one of those.
Good luck with your chocolate business – by now, it must be huge. Let me know where I can find some of your chocolates!
Regards
Shop at least once a week for a few choclates diabetic and normal anf have always been well treated. That you for the good service and great choclates. Amelia