It could be argued (and it frequently is) that white chocolate isn’t chocolate at all. But so far as Chocablog is concerned, the only thing that really matters is that it’s made with cocoa beans.
So while this Thorntons white chocolate with popping candy definitely falls into the ‘confectionery’ category, it easily earns its place on this site. For one thing, it’s made with single origin Dominican Republic cocoa butter, which is more than you can say for most of what you’d find on the newsagent or sweet shop’s shelves.
It also happens to be stupidly fun. The sweet edge of the white chocolate is balanced nicely by the hint of natural lemon oil, so it’s never too sweet, and the texture is smooth and creamy.
But of course the most important thing about this particular bar is the popping candy. When you place a chunk on your tongue, you have about five seconds to savour the subtle flavours before your mouth explodes and shrapnel embeds itself in your cheeks.
When I tried a pre production version of this bar earlier in the year, I didn’t think there was quite enough ‘pop’ to it, so I’m very happy to see Thorntons’ Master Chocolatier Keith Hurdman has managed to squeeze a bit more bang into the finished version.
I’m not entirely sure this is reminiscent of ‘cloudy lemonade’, as it’s really not quite lemony enough for that. And it’s obviously not something that could ever be classed as ‘fine chocolate’. Nevertheless, I love it.
It’s not big and it’s not clever, but it will put a smile on your face. And you can pick a block up for just £1.89 in Thorntons shops or on their website.
We first met Pourtoi at the Speciality Food Fair last year, where they shared a box of chocolates and a cookie with us. Since then, they’ve won several awards including Great Taste Awards for those cookies, and they’ve been kind enough to share their range with us.
These are all double choc chip cookies (the cookie itself is chocolate flavoured) and there are versions with orange oil, lemon and raisins.
All the cookies are dairy free, gluten free, lactose free, vegetarian and kosher, which should mean that most people can enjoy them. Don’t be fooled into thinking that these are just made for those on special diets though. They’re some of the nicest cookies I’ve had in a long time.
The cookies are thick, with a deeply cracked surface, but underneath they’re incredibly soft and moist. I’m not sure how they manage to stay together, as once you break them, they crumble apart very easily, but all my cookies arrived in perfect condition.
Despite being very soft and moist on the inside, they’re more crumbly than chewy, so it’s quite difficult to eat them without making a mess. But while they’re light in texture, they’re rich and chocolatey in flavour.
The orange flavour cookie won two gold stars at the Great Taste Awards last year, but my favourite is the plan double choc chip. It’s simple, tasty and very moreish.
I do slightly miss that chewy texture you get with other soft cookies, but given that these are gluten and dairy free, I think Pourtoi have done a great job.
Personally, I prefer the original double choc chip variety, but the orange, lemon and rasin cookies are all expertly made with just the right amount of flavour. The chocolate is always the star of the show.
Whether you have special dietary needs or just enjoy chocolate chip cookies, they’re worth seeking out. Pourtoi don’t have an online store yet, but you can place an order simply by dropping them an email.
At a time when many chocolate makers are using single origin beans, and when consumers are expressing much more interest in provenance and traceability, Amedei are something of an oddity. Alessio Tessieri (for it is he who, together with his sister Cecilia runs Amedei) has discovered and restored these plantations to productivity, using beans from no fewer than nine different plantations to create this unique blend of 75% chocolate. Yes, that’s right, there are nine different cacao bean varieties in this blend.
Of course, being Amedei there’s method in the madness. So much so that Amedei 9 has been winning awards for some time, including Academy of Chocolate Gold in 2009 and 2011. (Hardly cause for concern there then). With typical Italian modesty Amedei describe this bar as ‘An Extraordinary dark chocolate with all it takes to become a worldwide hit.’ and with nine bean varieties saved from extinction by Signor Tessieri and chums, it has a lot to offer.
The bar smells light, fruity, floral even, with hints of dark cacao. On the tongue there’s an initial lightness which quickly becomes a creamy, fruity experience reminiscent of berries and cream, then the chocolate begins to melt and starts to develop into an amazingly complex, rich dark st of flavours. It has an amazingly light, smooth mouthfeel and while the chocolate melts those fruity, floral notes open out. Light acidity and hints of citrus are the main flavours, with undercurrents of nuts and berries. It has a long, clean finish which belies the 75% cocoa solids. From the mouthfeel and flavours I would think the main player is Chuao cacao, and since when was that a bad thing?
In short, this blend is a masterwork. To be able to take and successfully blend no fewer than nine different cacao varieties obviously requires huge experience and knowledge. The way in which the other cacaos interplay with the main beans makes this a definite ‘one to savour’. The AOC Gold Award is definitely deserved, and if you’ve not tried Amedei chocolate before, this is definitely one to get your hands on. (I shan’t be sharing mine!)
Lurking at the bottom of my Woodhouse Chocolate package were a couple of slender acetate boxes with a single line of chocolate inside. And, to be honest, I put them both on one side because the other things in the package looked much more interesting. After all, I had just had some top notch hard toffee recently and while I’m not completely sick of caramels, I didn’t really feel the urge to gobble them down. So instead, they got left until the end and that’s when I discovered that I was wrong to neglect them.
The English Toffees were absolutely dominated by pieces of toasted almond which were scattered generously on each of the bite-sized toffees. The toffee itself wasn’t quite as rich as those made by Poco Dolce (which, incidentally, are now my yardstick for how crunchy toffees should taste), but they do have a lovely chewy quality after that initial burst of crunching. I personally felt that there were too many nuts on top and it took away from the toffee flavour, but these are still perfectly acceptable chocolates which are unlikely to elicit many complaints from anybody.
Of course, everybody and their dog make caramels with salt these days, making it much harder to stand out from the pack. That said, these ones do manage to hold their own although they aren’t the best I’ve ever tasted. Everything about them is right – the chocolate covering is not too thick and mingles with the caramel centre with each and every chew. They come in both milk and dark chocolate varieties, with the milk being my favourite because it works better with the creamy caramel inside. And the thing that they both kinds do really well is using just the right amount of French sea salt so that the buttery-ness of the caramel is complimented rather than dominated.
So two very decent chocolates, although neither are the best examples of their type. I would still be happy enough to eat another package of each if the situation arose, but I’d suggest trying their wonderful boxed chocolates first because those are where these Californians excel.
