I’ll be honest with you, I’m not much of a fan of chocolate spreads, but when someone offers to send me something with chocolate in it, I rarely (never) refuse. And so I came to be in possession of three 400g jars of chocolate spreads from Le Pain Quotidien.
I don’t usually go for anything quite so sweet, but in the name of science, I decided to give them all a go.
Not being a chocolate spread connoisseur, I wasn’t quite sure how to eat these, so I tried a small spoonful on its own first, then spread them liberally on bread. I’m sure smarter people than me would be able to come up with sophisticated and exciting recipes, but “spread it on bread” is reaching the limits of my cooking skills as it is.
Surprisingly, I quite liked them. Yes, they’re sweet, but not overwhelmingly so. They’re smooth and light, and I was easily able to finish my samples without making myself ill, as would have been the case with the merest hint of Nutella. I even went back for seconds.
I don’t belive you can buy these online anywhere yet, but you can buy them over the counter at various Le Pain Quotidien locations around London. If you’re into your chocolate spreads, give them a go.
A few months ago I received a present of three selections from Delicaseys Sydney chocolate range. The first two were exceptionally good. Like a child with a favourite food, I put what I thought would be my favourite aside to try last. And there it sat, for a couple of months, tempting me until today.
And what might my favourite be? A quick check here should lead to no surprises at all – Ginger, naturally. In this case: Delicaseys Ginger Crisp. But something seems a little odd. Most ginger chocolate I have found so far is not crisp, so this one will be something rather different.
The pack contains small, flattish, slightly odd size pieces that remind me a little – in appearance only – of chocolate frogs. The resemblance, I hasten to add, ends there. These do look a little scuffed, the effect of being dragged around in baggage and through airports. During the photographing the rich aroma told me this was going to be something good. So good, in fact, that I couldn’t wait to go find a knife to dissect: those marks you see are from my teeth.
Inside a generous slathering of dark chocolate is a thin sliver of ginger. The origin of the chocolate used is not stated. Whatever it is, its pretty good. It’s not as dark as some, at only 54%, and it melts away fairly quickly. It is however, rich and pleasantly sweet, with not even a hint of bitterness. The ginger inside is candied, thin, and CRISP! Some candied ginger can be excessively sweet – this isn’t. It’s just really, really yum. About my only criticism is that I’d really like a bit more of that ginger in there.
This does raise something of a dilemma. My preference for ginger in chocolate is something I’ve written about here several times: to win me over you need to provide big hunks of ginger, covered with lots of rich thick dark chocolate. This one misses one of the essential components: there are no big chunks. Like assumptions that need to be challenged though, this perceived lack is made up for by the quality of the whole product. The chocolate is just right. The ginger crispiness is an unexpected surprise and works well. I think I now have close on a new best-in-breed. I’m giving it 9 out of 10. Gimme more ginger and it would get a 10.
In spite of that reservation, I sure as heck hope that when I die and go to heaven, Casey will be there too, making these and handing them around.
Update: This competition is now closed!
Earlier this week at the Green & Black’s 15:15 Challenge, we nabbed ourselves this rather exciting stash of Green & Black’s chocolate. That’s 15 different bars totalling 1.5kg in weight! And because we love you, we thought we’d give it all away to one lucky Chocablog reader! It’s the perfect Christmas stocking filler – providing you have really big stockings, of course!
To be in with a chance of winning the competition, simply subscribe to our daily email updates and answer to the following question in the entry form below.
And if you’re stuck, you’ll find the answer on Green & Black’s Web Site.
In 1994, Green & Black’s Maya Gold dark chocolate was the first UK product to carry the Fairtrade mark, but which country did the cocoa beans used in the bar come from? 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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Competition Rules
- To enter, you must be subscribed to our email updates service and use the same email address in the entry form above. You can unsubscribe afterward if you like, but you must be on the list on the competition closing date for your entry to be counted.
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Chocri is a German company that lets you create custom chocolate bars. Choose from a white, milk or dark chocolate base, then add up to five toppings from a selection of over 100. Chocri’s web site claims that makes over 27 billion potential combinations, and who am I to argue?
The process of designing your bar is fun and straightforward. The web site is very simple to use and makes it a pleasure to create your perfect bar. You can even give your bars a name and have it appear on the front of the pack, but imaginative names aren’t my strong point, and I skipped that step.
I went for a milk chocolate bar with caramel chocolate drops, nougat, rice crispies, toffee and cookie crumbs, a dark chocolate bar with ginger, raspberry and some writing, and a white chocolate bar.
The white chocolate bar was a bit different. I wanted to see just how disturbing I could make it – and if I’d get any warnings about my lack of taste and decency. I went for chives, gummy bears, chilli pepper, goji berries and soy bacon.
No, really…
Chocri dutifully went ahead and made the bar to my specifications, but strangely, I can’t quite bring myself to open it. Even looking at it makes me a little queasy.
The other bars look pretty good though.
It’s important to note that this needs to be treated as confectionery rather than fine chocolate. Chocri do use real chocolate (no nasty added vegetable fats), but it’s not the highest quality.
Still, the taste is pretty good. I don’t know how much of the process of making the bars is automated, and how much is done by hand, but I was impressed by the way all the bars turned out. Having so much fine chocolate in the house as it is, it’s not the kind of thing I’d particularly go for myself, but it’s fun, decent quality and well made.
I do have a minor issue with the fact that these bars are made to order in Germany and shipped over. That’s not the cheapest or most environmentally friendly way to buy your chocolate, but for a one-off gift, I guess it’s not a major issue. It’s certainly a unique and fun gift for the kids – or with a bit of help, for the kids to send personalised chocolate to their friends and relatives, particularly with Christmas approaching fast.
