I wouldn’t normally consider buying this, but my hunt for ‘every day’ chocolates that we haven’t yet reviewed is becoming increasingly difficult. My latest excursion to Waitrose resulted in this and two other bars… but upon returning home, I discovered Simon had already reviewed them. After three years of eating chocolate for a living, my memory is starting to fade.
I have to admit it was the bright orange wrapper that attracted my attention this time.
The chocolate here is exactly the same as the Bournville Old Jamaica I reviewed last month. At 39% cocoa solids and with added milk fat, it isn’t really dark chocolate at all (and I know many people who would argue it isn’t any kind of chocolate).
What makes this a little different from most other orange chocolates is that it contains “fruit pieces” – which (according to the ingredients) are mainly sugar with added orange pulp and apple for some inexplicable reason.
I really liked the idea of small chunks of fruit in the bar, but it’s verging on the ridiculous when you buy a dark chocolate with orange only to find that it’s made with milk and apples. Add that to the fact that this ‘Bournville’ bar – named after the village near Birmingham where the Cadbury factory is located – is actually manufactured in France, and it just confirms my opinion that what we have here is one big, orange lie.
Having said all that, it’s still a rather tasty bar. Like the Old Jamaica version, it’s really quite moreish and I’m almost ashamed to admit that I finished off this 180g bar on my own. Those fake orange pieces do actually taste quite orangey, and the fake dark chocolate is overly sweet, but quite edible.
I won’t be buying this again, but that’s primarily because I know I would just stuff my face and then feel bad about it for the next week. If you can live with that, then go buy some.
I really am most impressed with my local Foodland store. They only opened recently, but the range of chocolate is most impressive. Not only do they carry the usual range from Cadbury, Nestlé, and so on, but they also have a whole range of strange and unusual things that seem to be hard to find anywhere else; certainly things not carried by the other big supermarket chains.
Strangely though, they split their chocolate into two locations in the store: There is the usual huge floor to ceiling racks of the big name brands, and then there is the smaller section of health foods / imports and strange stuff (the things that, in my childhood would have been called “foreign muck”). This is of course where a bit of spelunking pays off. And it was here I found the Kaoka range.
Kaoka comes from France, and they make quite a big deal on the packaging about organic, fair trade, relationships with growers, yada yada. Sounds a lot like Green & Blacks, in their early days. The test is always in what the product is like, and I’m pleased to say this one is pretty damn good.
The block is only 100 grams, so comparable to your run-of-the-mill Lindt, but priced a bit higher. The cocoa content is only 55% – a bit light on for a Dark / Noir but I guess it scrapes in – and there are plenty of others out there similar.
When we open the pack, we see that the block breaks into pretty big pieces – again similar in size to Lindt. It seems a bit much at first, perhaps smaller pieces would be preferable. The trying will tell.
The actual breaking of a piece of is most impressive – some chocolate just won’t snap, even the really dark ones. This does – in fact, its quite solid and hard to break, and makes a great sound when it does. The aroma is not especially pronounced – so there are not really any hints there. But on tasting – the orange kicks in and complements the chocolate very well.
The chocolate is rich, there is no bitterness at all, and the sweetness is noticeable but not objectionable. For a 55% chocolate, this is quite exceptional. I was expecting more sweetness, the lack of it is quite an achievement. And the orange is neither too strong, nor too weak. Like Baby Bears porridge, its Juuuuust Riiiiight.
I kept going back for more samples while writing this. This is very moreish. I’m looking forward to racing back to Foodland to get a few of the other products in the Kaoka range. When I get ‘em, I’ll report back!
Yes, I chose these because they’re so small and I have a weakness for tiny things. Peanut butter also seems to be ending up in my hands a lot lately. I wasn’t really expecting the most here, though, especially considering the boring clear box.
But I found them worth looking into. Since summer is essentially here now, they’ve had to spend most of their time in the refrigerator lest they turn into a hopeless peanut butter-chocolate soup. The milk chocolate seems a decent quality. It makes up a big enough percentage to tell it isn’t just here for the idea. The filling is like fresh peanut butter with that oh, so tempting saltiness thrown in.
Being about the size of an ear of corn (though still with their peanut butter cup shape), it’s easy to lose track of how many you eat. Well, the nutrition facts do call twenty-seven one serving, which sounds like a lot, but that’s only about forty-two grams.
Now, looking at them, I thought they might make nice chocolate chips, so I had to test out the theory. Everyone agreed that they added a depth to the cookies, especially with their slightly bigger (for chocolate chips, that is) size. Either way you eat them, I’m quite happy with this find. And if it’s too hot that you think they’ll all melt and stick to each other before you get home, you can always rescue them by eating them all in the car after getting your groceries.
My good mate Justine suddenly pulled the car off the main drag and said, “Get out. I mean it – Get out! You have to come inside here with me.”
Luckily she was pointing to Lizzy’s Chocolate Creations (lizzyschoc@bigpond.com) in Carnegie, Melbourne, and not a crack den or the kerb.
We were accompanied by Justine’s three year old daughter Annabelle who immediately pointed to the chocolate hippopotamus’ on sale and said, ‘That’s what I’d like.’ She then sniffed the air and said, ‘Mmmm, smell it, Mummy.” She’s a smart kid, that one, because the air was filled with the heavenly scent of dark chocolate and cocoa.
Tim, co-owner with his wife Ingrid, came out for a chat when he noticed me whip the camera out and start snapping wildly. “We’ve just won four silver medals at the Royal Sydney Show,” he said proudly. Interestingly, three-out-of-four of those silvers were for categories where the judges did not award a gold medal for any of the chocolates in contention, so they were obviously a very picky bunch. Lizzy’s Chocolate Creations has been operating for over twenty five years using Belgian chocolate in all of their hand-made creations that are lovingly made at the back of the shop.
So what is Tim’s favourite?
The rose ganache. We’ve been using rosewater in ours for years, but have noticed that other manufacturers are starting to copy us now.
What about when you’re home, on the sofa in your tracksuit pants?
Our milk hazelnut slab, but not at home! Instead I eat some when I open the kitchen every morning, check the machines and the air-conditioning. It’s the first thing I eat every Sunday morning.
How come you’re so slim for a bloke who breakfasts on chocolate?
(Laughs), Oh trust me, the weight’s hidden under my apron!
We took some back to Justine and Annabelle’s for tasting. Annabelle was sent off for an afternoon sleep with the promise of being allowed to try her milk chocolate hippo upon awakening. With the room a tiny bit quieter Justine and I geared up to taste these little beauties:
The Lemon Tart Truffle was first, my only tasting rule being to start with the lightest and end with the darkest. “This tastes like lemon meringue cheesecake,” said Justine and I agreed. Very fine white chocolate with an almost liquid cream centre flavoured with lemon zest. Superb.
The milk chocolate truffle Earl Grey Tea was next. The tea flavour came through strongly enough to be appreciated, but subtlely enough to pair up perfectly with the milk chocolate. “These are definitely My Cup of Tea,” Justine said. “It makes you suck the gaps between your teeth to get more. I’ll be going back to buy some of these.” Me too.
There wasn’t a noticeable rose smell when the Rose Ganache truffle was bitten into, but a distinctive Turkish Delight taste was evident in the soft centre. This was much better than a jelly filling, especially when coated in dark chocolate. Definitely the best Turkish Delight re-invention I’ve tried.
As with the rose, the Lavender Infusion also was relatively odourless and took a bit longer to make its presence felt on the palate. Justine was relieved. “This is like the lovely old-fashioned lavender that’s growing in my garden; not the fake chemical stuff they use in loo spray.” I didn’t notice the floral at first, just the smooth dark chocolate until the lavender started to emerge as the truffle filling melted on my tongue. Delicately delightful.
Tim slipped in a couple of dark truffle Chilli Bombs as a bonus and a clever way to pack a punch at the end. Justine didn’t agree: “This is pain chilli, not nice chilli! Chocolate’s supposed to be fun, not a horrible surprise that kicks you in the guts.” I liked it. It got progressively hotter until it took over the dark chocolate and left a pleasant tingling. Remind me not to use too much chilli if I ever cook Justine a curry.
The flat-leaf shaped nougatines are the shop’s biggest sellers and come in white, milk and dark. Justine thought that the white “Tastes like a flat Crunchie, only better,” the milk reminded us of Toblerone but with tiny toffee shards and we both loved the dark. Bittersweet chocolate and sugary crunchy bits are always a winning combination.
These are all gold medal contenders in my opinion.
