Back in 2007, Simon compared two ginger bars in a head to head review. Now we have two more ginger bars and it’s time for Round 2…
You know you’re going to have a fantastic day when you spot two new dark chocolate and ginger blocks done by two reputable chocolatiers at the same time. In this case, Whittaker’s Spicy Ginger block and Lindt Excellence Ginger Dark. They were sitting within a couple of feet of each other and I just had to have them both.
First off the starters’ blocks is the Whittaker’s. Weighing in at a meaty 250 grams it packs a not too shabby 47% cocoa solids.
It has a fine aroma that wafts up invitingly when the foil is opened and the ginger is spread throughout the block in small crystallised chunks. The overall taste is very nice and satisfying. Interestingly, despite ginger comprising 12% of the total block and being made from (in order of volume) sugar, ginger and icing sugar, the result is sweet but not too sweet. Maybe the ‘spicy’ bit in it is what moves it from being potentially far too sickly into highly enjoyable?
Ingredients-wise there’s nothing too unusual there and the fat thunders in at 29g per 100g. Not surprisingly the sugars make up 52.8g per 100 grams. Good thing I didn’t inhale the entire 250 grams in one sitting…
Lindt prefer to keep their Excellence blocks to a sleek 100 grams which I suspect are designed by evil (and thin) marketers to leave us punters wanting more of it. Like the Whittaker’s block, it is also packing 47% cocoa solids. This is a relief to me on both counts because I think that 70% chocolate would not highlight the sweet pepperiness of the ginger.
Unlike the Whittakers, there aren’t any chunks of crystallised ginger or even the powdered stuff. The ingredients panel describes it as ënatural flavour from ginger’ and no, I don’t know what that means either. The Lindt squares are much flatter and smoother than the grainier Whittakers and the taste is truly delectable. The absence of chunky bits means that the flavours effortlessly dissolve with the chocolate, revealing a peppery fruitiness as well as a distinct spectrum of fresh ginger and spices. The extra smooth factor is revealed in that it slaps you with 32 grams of fat per 100 grams but slightly less sugar than the Whittakers at 49 grams per 100 grams.
Lindt again show how to tackle a traditional dark chocolate partner in a different way that still celebrates the union but elevates it to something better still. In terms of quality and flavour it easily beats Whittakers.
That’s not to say that Whittaker’s isn’t good, because it is. Both will remain regular fixtures in my choco-pantry. Whittakers for value but Lindt for quality.
Have I reached the end of my quest? The hunt for a good chocolate wafer biscuit…
Thus far the search has been far and wide, and pretty much disappointing. So the other day when I found Tago Bartek, I though it worth trying. This is another from Poland – land of many yummy chocolatey things. But what is it with Poland and chocolate? I’m finding an awful lot of Polish imports here, it seems over-represented. Is it the national industry or something?
The name in particular is something I find appealing. Perhaps it’s the inner geek struggling through, but the idea of a big bar of chocolate wafer being called “Bartek” is somehow appealing. Either that or it’s the name of a course at the local adult education college about the properties of reinforcing bars in concrete construction.
Whatever the name might imply, the contents are pretty good. We have a decent wafer, of about 4 layers. The whole thing is roughly 15 cm x 4 cm – so a decent size. It has a nice coating of chocolate over, and the layers are glued together with a very pleasant, slightly sweet, chocolatey cream. On mine, the chocolate coating had been knocked off in one or two places, so presentation was not quite as good as it could be. But for a cheap snack, who cares?
Perhaps the only disappointment is that on biting in, the wafer is not as crisp as I think it should be. However, the overall package of the wafer, the filling, the coating and the generous size means that on 3 out of 4 points, everything is done right. On one point, it’s not quite where it should be.
The other important thing to note about these is that they might seem generously sized. That does not mean they are suitable for sharing.
I’ll keep on the quest for the perfect chocolate wafer. Right now though, this one has to get the top ranking.
Over the past year or so, Cadbury seem to have spent most of their time sticking Green & Black’s logos on just about everything they can find. A quick glance at their online store will give you some idea of the range of vaguely-chocolate-related products they’re putting their name to.
Yet despite suffering a case of Organic Overload, these biscuits caught my eye in Tesco. Inside the 125g box, there are eight biscuits, half ‘dipped’ in 40% milk chocolate.
Now I’m not much of a biscuit/cookie person, so it’s been quite a while since I’ve had anything like this, but in terms of both taste and texture these reminded me of a chocolate hobnob biscuit.
There really aren’t that many sultanas per biscuit here – maybe one or two per biscuit, so I don’t think they add much more than a slight chewiness to an otherwise very crunchy biscuit. The cinnamon flavour is quite subtle too, only really coming through when the biscuit has gone – and annoyingly forcing you to have just one more every time…
There really isn’t a lot of chocolate either, and that’s unfortunate because it’s rather nice. But it’s also so thin that it tends to melt all over your fingers before you have a chance to stuff it into your mouth.
The net result of all this addictive cinnamoniness and melting chocolatiness is that the only way to eat these is quickly. This box disappeared in around 47 seconds.
In summary – I wish these had thicker chocolate and there were more of them, but they’re still a deliciously yummy way to spend 47 seconds.
No, it’s not champagne, but Cadbury’s very cheeky and blatant copy of Nestlé’s classic Aero bar.
Why Nestlé didn’t register names such as the obvious ‘Bubbly’ to protect their product is beyond me, but it’s taken Cadbury many years to either develop a good enough rival or to somehow circumvent intellectual choco-property rules in order to finally release their own version.
As you can see, it’s the faithful glass-and-a-half of full cream dairy milk chocolate with a non-threatening 21% cocoa solids. They’ve divided theirs into a mere five segments instead of Aero’s mystical number seven and, at 40 grams, they’re being sold at the same price as their other 50 to 60 gram bars. Sigh.
Casting my qualms about being unfaithful to Aero aside, it was time to try the imposter. Bugger – it’s very nice. Slightly sweeter chocolate than the Nestlé version perhaps but they’ve got the famous mini bubbles and fine texture inside just right. I would struggle to tell the difference in a blindfold test for either the original or the mint varieties. Five segments are frustratingly too few – why didn’t they go one better than Nestlé and put eight bad boys inside instead?
Kudos to Cadbury’s I guess but unless it’s on special, I’ll stick with Aero – the original. That is, unless Cadbury can come up with different flavours worth trying?
