Poco Dolce Sea Salt Toffee Squares

I was casually leafing through a magazine at my dentist’s, waiting to be told that I don’t floss enough, and I was stopped in my tracks by a photo. Poco Dolce made me want them with that photo. It was a tin overflowing with tiny, bite-sized squares of toffee covered with dark chocolate, and I needed to have them. And now I do, or at least a little foil bag of them which is sadly looking a little too close to being empty. Sigh.

Poco Dolce hail from San Francisco where they’ve been making all kinds of confections that walk the delicate line between sweet and savoury. They are fond of grey sea salt from France and these toffee squares have just enough of it to cut through the wealth of butter they are obviously made with. Not that I’m complaining.

Each square is covered with just the right amount of chocolate – not the thickest layer by any means, but enough to give some initial bitterness before the inevitable crunching takes over. And to be perfectly honest, the chocolate is definitely not the main attraction here because the rich, crunchy toffee is the real star of the show. Imagine a much tastier version of a Daim or Skor bar (depending on which side of the Atlantic you live on), and you are only beginning to approach their majesty. I could seriously eat a great big bowl of these and be exceptionally happy doing so.

What makes these so great is the balance between the sweet, salt and bitter, and that makes them my favourite new chocolate treat in quite a while. Or at least until I try some of the other varieties in the range – Burnt Caramel, Popcorn, Double Shot Espresso and Super Chile. Yum. I’m seriously considering moving to San Francisco…

Cacao Sampaka Dark Chocolate Arabica Coffee

More from Barcelona based Cacao Sampaka, and this time it’s coffee flavoured, or should I say it contains coffee. It’s slightly strange to see chocolate that doesn’t have a cacao percentage listed on the packaging. There’s plenty of nutritional information and a comprehensive list of ingredients, but nothing about the beans used or how much of them went into making these two 50g slabs.

The two long, elegant looking tablets of glossy dark chocolate, each bearing the Cacao Sampaka name in capitals at the top have a certain European ‘look’ about them, but as you can see from the photo they are a little fragile. They don’t smell particularly strongly of coffee, which is possibly a good sign. Combining coffee and chocolate is one of those things that could go either way (many of us still remember ‘the coffee one’ in Revels) and if the chocolate still smells like chocolate that’s usually a positive sign.

The chocolate itself has a slightly bittersweet opening note before the coffee starts to develop. Having read Dom’s review of Sampaka’s Gin & Tonic bar, I was expecting similar small crystals of coffee flavour (and therefore a slightly grainy texture) but there was more to this chocolate. Melting a little between finger and thumb revealed what could only be tiny grains of coffee as well, so the graininess persists throughout. The actual coffee taste was quite reasonable and went well with the chocolate, but I have to say that it was all a little on the average side. The cocoa doesn’t really have much in the way of nuances, but to be honest I expected as much before I opened the package.

There really isn’t anything outstanding about this chocolate at all, other than it being one of a handful of coffee bars that achieves harmony between the two mighty beans. I suppose if you’re on some sort of coffee chocolate quest this might be of interest, but otherwise I’m going to have to say I found it fairly forgettable.

Win 5 Toblerone Goody Bags

Update: This competition is now closed.

The fine people at Toblerone recently got in touch to tell us all about their new website, My Toblerone.

Now we don’t normally blog about websites, but when Toblerone set up their new Twitter account recently, we were the first people they followed, so we figured it was only fair. And when they promised to give us Toblerone goody bags to pass on to our lovely readers, we couldn’t refuse. Bribery is always helpful in situations like that.

The new website has recipes, fun challenges (with prizes) and lots of ways to get involved, so check it out.

How To Win

For your chance to win one of five Toblerone goody bags, just answer this simple question.

In which country was Toblerone invented? Was it?

Please make sure you read all the rules before entering your answer in the form below.

Update: This competition is now closed.

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Matcha Chocolat Mixed Selection

It’s hard to believe Matcha Chocolat have only been around for a year, as it seems like Katie Christoffer’s beautiful tea inspired chocolates have been around forever. But this first anniversary box represents something of a departure for Matcha, with more of the chocolates inspired by other herbs and spices.

The mixed selection will apparently feature chocolates that change on a weekly basis, all taken from Matcha’s ‘Chocolate Menu‘. You can still purchase any of the chocolates individually though, and I think that’s the way I would be inclined to buy them.

In this selection, there are six different chocolates. We’ve already talked about the Masala Chai, Mint & Green Tea and Jasmine Pearls in our previous Matcha reviews, and although I think they may have developed over time, I want to concentrate on the non-tea chocolates for this review. We have:

Rosemary, Raisin & Walnut
The caramelised walnut on this chocolate gave me some trouble – it’s sticky enough that when removing the protective cover from the box, the chocolate came with it and ended up on the floor. Boo. The raisin & rosemary are an interesting flavour combination though, and not one I’ve encountered before. Both flavours came through well, and worked quite nicely with the dark chocolate ganache.

Blueberry & Tarragon

A white chocolate diamond with white chocolate ganache blended with blueberry puree and tarragaon. The most striking thing about his chocolate is the deep purple ganache. Obviously there’s not a lot of chocolate flavour here, but the blueberry & tarragon ganache is very pleasant. It’s fresh, not too sweet, and has a light fruitiness to it.

Pink Grapefruit
Our second pink grapefruit chocolate in as many days! This one is a dark chocolate and pink grapefruit ganache in a milk chocolate shell. Another pleasant, but subtle chocolate. The grapefruit is evident, but perhaps slightly lost in the sweet creamy milk chocolate. I think I would have preferred to see a dark chocolate shell on this one.

All in all, an interesting selection, but on balance I would personally go for Matcha’s signature tea inspired chocolates rather than these. Having said that, there are enough chocolates on the ‘menu’, that there’s bound to be a good range that will appeal to most people. If I was looking for a chocolate gift with unusual flavour combinations and quality ingredients, Matcha Chocolat would be at the top of my list.