It probably hasn’t escaped your notice, but Valentine’s Day is fast approaching. And what better gift for someone you love than great chocolate. This cute little box of ganaches turned up on my doorstep last week (not from a secret admirer unfortunately!), so rather than just scoff them in 15 seconds, I thought I should probably tell you about them.
‘Mara des Bois’ Strawberry & Rhubarb
Strawberry jelly layere with rhubarb and white chocolate ganache in a milk chocolate square. A tangy and sweet filling that’s well matched to the milk chocolate, with the slightly tart strawberry helping to cut through the sweetness.
Blackberry & Star Anise
Blackberry purée and dark chocolate ganache, infused with star anise in a dark chocolate square. A rich and fruity dark ganache with a smooth texture and just a hint of anise.
Lemon & Violet
Crushed lemon purée and violet white chocolate ganache in a milk chocolate heart. Sweet, but zingy! The lemon overpowers any trace of violet for me, but that’s quite Ok. Not the most sophisticated chocolate in the selection, but one that’s packed full of flavour.
Lychee, Rose & Raspberry
A lychee, rose & raspberry dark chocolate ganache in a dark chocolate form. More lychee and rose than raspberry, this dark ganache is another rich and intense experience.
Overall, a simple and elegant little box of ganaches that are great for those who love fruity flavours and want something a little more sophisticated. They’re packed with flavour and make the perfect simple gift for Valentine’s Day.
Information
- Buy it online from:
- Contains dark chocolate, milk chocolate (35, 64, 72% cocoa solids).
- Filed under anise, blackberry, lemon, lychee, raspberry, rhubarb, rococo, rose, strawberry, uk, valentines, violet.
This week, one of my favourite Parisian patisseries opened in London. La Pâtisserie des Rêves (The Patisserie Of Dreams) opened in Marylebone High Street – and promptly sold out.
I popped along on Saturday morning to have a look around and indulge in some fantastic patisserie. The shop is small but beautiful with pastries protected under UFO-like glass domes. The service during my visit was slightly chaotic and un-French, but the staff were helpful, if a little hassled. Us Brits obviously still aren’t quite sure how to order pastries (several people in front of me asked staff how to buy, and one man accidentally bought over £200 of large pastries when he wanted small ones). As a consequence, the staff looked a little shell-shocked.
I tried the Gâteau St Honoré, Chocolate Gran Cru, Coffee Eclair and the Paris-Brest, and from what I’ve tasted so far, the patisserie is just as good as it is in Paris. I’m sure the buying experience will settle down over the next few weeks. It’s well worth a visit if you’re in the area, but it’s probably best to go early if you want something in particular, as they’re selling out quickly.
La Pâtisserie des Rêves,
43 Marylebone High Street,
London W1U 5HR
Tel: 020 3603 7333
Photo Gallery
Making Gâteau St Honoré at La Pâtisserie des Rêves
Watch Chef patissier Philippe Contini make La Pâtisserie des Rêves’ famous Gâteau St Honoré.
One of my more adventurous friends went to Ecuador for her vacation and while I’d like to think it was in order to pick up some chocolate direct from the source, I suspect that was simply an incidental benefit to the trip. I was just happy to get a couple of more unusual bars. I’ve never seen any Republica Del Cacao bars in Canada before, so I was coming in blind. But from what I could see on the outside, it was hitting all the right buttons – it was a single origin bar, it was organic and was made in Ecuador.
The packaging is lovely. It has a rustic feel to it, with its spidery script and monochrome illustrations and has a lot of information inside about where the chocolate comes from. There’s even a little Certificate of Authenticity that states the bar is made with 100% Arriba Cacao from Ecuador – I’m not sure it would stand up in a court of law, but it is a nice touch. I must admit that by the time I’d perused the whole package, I was actually genuinely excited to taste the chocolate. And it really didn’t disappoint.
This is an 85% bar, and it both tastes and looks like it too. It starts off bitter and stays that way, never getting anywhere close to sweet. The notes are woody with hints of tobacco and leather, and hardly any room for fruitiness. There’s a lot of depth hidden in the richness, but it is very easy to get completely overwhelmed by the powerful flavour which starts strong and takes a long time to fade away. Or to put in another way, the best way to approach this one is with small, infrequent nibbles. It’s bold and unapologetic about it, and definitely not for everyone. Personally, I loved it but I can understand why some might find it a bit on the harsh side.
Even if you don’t speak German, you’ll probably have no trouble figuring out what “Das Exquisite Apfel Strudel” is.
Das Exquisite is a brand of German retail chain Rossman, so it’s no surprise that this bar falls squarely into the ‘supermarket chocolate’ category. In this case that means sweet milk chocolate with a sugary filling.
That said, the chocolate itself is a healthy 35% cocoa solids (as compared to something like Dairy Milk, which hovers around the 20% mark), and as you can see, it looks rather attractive.
The chocolate is pleasant, if not out of this world, and the filling is… interesting.
While there’s certainly an appley edge to it, it’s more of an apple flavoured confectionery cream with an alcoholic kick rather than something like the puree that I was hoping for.
It’s ultimately a little disappointing, and a quick glance at the ingredients reveals why. It contains hazelnuts, cinnamon liqueur, rum and Calvados, but no actual apple. The flavour comes purely from the alcohol, which is a little disappointing.
At only €0.99 for 100g, I guess it was asking a little much for it to contain real apple. As it is, it’s not an unpleasant bar, but it’s really only going to appeal to those who like sweet liqueur chocolates.
Based on looks alone, I had high hopes for this bar, but with no actual apple (other than that in the Calvados), I can’t exactly recommend it as an “apple strudel” flavour chocolate bar. Best spend your 1 Euro on something else.
