One of the perks of this job is that occasionally the postman will show up with “breakfast” – a delivery of chocolate samples. Today was one of those days and the breakfast in question consisted of two boxes of eight truffles from Charbonnel et Walker.
As you can see, the packaging is very similar to the Marc de Champagne truffles I reviewed (and found a little bland) a couple of years ago. I can’t help but wonder if the pin stripes on the banoffee packaging were deliberately designed to induce seizures, but unless you hold the box at exactly the right angle, the text is somewhat headache inducing.
Looking at the ingredients, it looks like they’re still using the same 33.5% milk chocolate as well. I guess when you’ve been in business for 130 years you don’t rush into making changes… even when you receive a negative Chocablog review. (I know… shocking, isn’t it!?)
One of my main complaints in that previous review was that that the truffles were just a bit bland for something so expensive, and for the milk chocolate truffles, I could argue once again that £11 for eight fairly basic chocolates is just a little over the top.
That’s the kind of price you’d expect to pay for the likes of Paul A. Young’s or William Curley’s creations which are hand made with fresh ingredients, rather than something with a six month shelf life.
So this is another negative review, right?
Not a bit of it. Because while the milk chocolate truffles are quite simply “nice”, the banoffee ones are to die for. The moment you open the box you’re hit by that unmistakable aroma of banoffee pie, and they taste every bit as good as they smell.
If I had one criticism it would be that the truffle filling is a little firm, but really all that does is prolong the deliciousness of the experience. Pop a whole truffle into your mouth and let it melt slowly and the chocolate and banoffee high will keep you going for at least as long as a piece of real banoffee pie.
I can take or leave the milk chocolate truffles, but ended up consuming the whole box of banoffees before lunch. More like this please, Charbonnel… you have my address…
Here’s something of an oddity – French Chocolate with a German name containing Williams Pear Liqueur.
Pear and chocolate is less of an oddity than it used to be, and that’s mainly due to European offerings like this one. I’m happy to report that this particular combination has none of he ‘pear drop’ artificiality that might have been an issue.
The milk chocolate (cocoa content undisclosed) is fairly run of the mill stuff – pleasant enough but unremarkable. The addition of the liqueur obviously means that any subtlety of flavour that the chocolate may have had (and if they’re not telling us how much cocoa it contains then it’s unlikely to have been THAT sophisticated) is overridden by the stronger fruit/alcohol pairing.
It’s… well, it’s okay. Something a bit different to bring home from your travels, which is exactly what it was. Certainly not worth repeating.
As you may have guessed, this is another Greek curiosity from Chocablog reader George Loumakis. This one’s definitely more of a “candy bar” than the ION with Chios Mastiha I reviewed previously.
George notes that it has some historical value as some claim Derby was the first chocolate bar ever produced in Greece, and the ION web site claims it to be one of the country’s most popular candy bars. The name doesn’t sound very Greek to me though!
So what exactly is it?
Well starting on the outside, we have milk chocolate of unknown cocoa content, with a good helping of crisped rice. Nice enough, but nothing special – and certainly not the most appetising looking chocolate creation I’ve seen.
Inside, things get a bit weirder. The filling is best described as “chewy coconut marshmallowy stuff”. I couldn’t make out the Greek translation, but I bet that’s the official description!
While there’s definitely pieces of desiccated coconut in there, it’s much more chewy than a Bounty bar, and has more flavour too. I imagine you would get a very similar experience if you grated a coconut into a jar of Fluff, then added half a bag of extra sugar – this stuff is really sweet.
Luckily though, it’s also very light and quite small, so it’s quite easy to get through in one go without sharing (sharing!? boo!!), and I found myself really quite enjoying it. Not posh, but the perfect antidote to a mid-afternoon sugar craving.
So far ION are two-for-two… I wonder what the Greeks have in store next…
Some of you may know that Chcoablog’s Aussie chocolate expert Kath Lockett has decided to move on and start her on chocolate blog. (Boo! Hiss! Traitor! etc!)
You can find Kath at her new site Gone Chocco. I’d like to personally thank her for the time and effort she’s put into Chocablog and wish her the best of luck with her new venture!
Needless to say, we’re looking for new Chocabloggers, but it would be impossible to replace Kath with just one person, so we’re looking for 2-3 regular contributors who can give us a taste of the chocolate in their part of the world. We’re particularly interested in hearing from people in Asia, The Middle East, South America and Africa. But we do have some fairly tough requirements. You need:
- A love of chocolate (naturally).
- A very strong grasp of the English language.
- Some experience in blogging. General writing experience is good, but writing short, interesting pieces for the web is a different skill.
- A decent camera and the ability to take gorgeous looking photos of chocolate.
- A working knowledge of the chocolate production process, what goes in to chocolate, and the desire to learn more.
Chocablog writers get paid. But they get paid poorly. It might cover the costs of any chocolate you buy, but don’t expect to get rich or give up your day job and eat chocolate all day. That’s my job.
Interested? Head on over to the Chocablog contact page and tell us a bit about yourself.
