Congratulations to Rachel Wilson of East Yorkshire who is our competion winner! Your 1Kg of chocolate is on its way to you now.
We had hundreds of entries for the competition, so a big thanks to everyone who entered – and if you didn’t win this time, don’t worry, we’ll be running more competitions very soon, so stick around!
As I was getting ready to leave the shop, my new best friend informed me that the ‘Champion du Monde’ had a shop just around the corner. The World Champion? The BEST chocolates available anywhere? Too good to be true! How lucky I am, I thought to myself as we set off in search of he shop in question. What amazing choco-karma!
Well, we found the shop – Pascal Caffet’s – and he is indeed the World Champion. His website gives you some idea of just what an amazing display was waiting for me when I walked through the automatic doors into the air conditioned, glass shelved showroom of cocoa based loveliness. A little more schoolboy French and some iron-willed self control and once again I found myself clutching a small bag containing three different types of chocolates, none of which I had seen before.
The Cristalline Noir (there were three types, but of course I went Dark) uses a 70% Venezuelan cocoa chocolate combined with light, crispy feuilletine (a crispy, almondy praline). The choice of a citrussy, slightly creamy cocoa variety in combination with a subtley nutty ‘filling’ produces an amazingly complex flavour combination. It’s nutty, creamy, slighty caramel and has a superb mouthfeel and finish. Never heavy, almost whisper-light, I was truly impressed by just how much flavour had been squeezed into such a small mouthful.
My second choice was something which had ‘Mortier D’or’ (Golden Mortar) inscribed on the top. Another dark choclate, I was told that this was also a ‘crispy’ chocolate, and having loved Hotel Chocolat’s pancake-based efforts, I was quite keen to have a go on this one.
Indeed it was crispy – the lightest, wafer thin (I had to get that one in somewhere) layers of buttery crispiness sitting in a dark chocolate shell. Something akin to coarse sugar in texture, the balance between the deep, rich cocoa from the chocolate and the light golden filling was quite remarkable, and utterly delicious.
My final choice was the single most garish looking chocolate in the shop – a bright crimson heart speckled with vibrant green dots. On the surface more fairytale mushroom than world beating chocolate, and to add to my confusion I was told it was an aniseed flavoured truffle. I half expected the red outer colouring to be some sort of sugar glaze, but it turned out to have been painted onto the surface of a white chocolate shell. When I bit into the interior I was very surprised to discover another dark cocoa ganache filling with a soft, subtle hint of aniseed which combined with the white and dark chocolates to produce nothing short of a sublime taste experience.
From my own personal point of view, tasting these chocolates was a lesson to my palate as to how chocolatiers are working to produce ever more beautiful and complex flavoured confectionery. Appearances are always important, but tasting the works of a world champion has made me appreciate just how much effort must have gone into combining and blending the tastes that M. Caffet has selected. These really are world class chocolates. My only regret has to be that I didn’t buy more, and that Troyes is so far away.
Obviously, if you’re ever in France, I would seriously recommend a detour to Troyes for the opportunity to sample some of Pascal Caffet’s work. Magnifique!
As we drove back through France after three weeks on the road, I suggested a lunch stop in Troyes to my colleague.
He agreed, and we pulled in off the motorway, leaving behind torrential rain. Perhaps the brilliant sunshine was a sign of some sort (more choco-karma in action?) because while we didn’t find the restaurant I vaguely remembered from a visit some years ago, I did come across a couple of rather splendid chocolatiers.
At 16 Rue De La Republique is Chocolaterie Le Praslin-Chocogil, the first shop I found. When we walked in I suddenly found myself having to try and explain just why I was so interested in their products, and I have to thank the lady in the shop for bearing with me while I waved my Chocablog card and babbled at her in my best ‘O’ Level French.
I asked her what the speciality of the shop was, and she invited me to taste a dark chocolate liqueur made in the shape of a champagne cork and containing (oddly enough) champagne.
Of course the inside of the sweet was lined with a sugar crust to keep the alcohol inside, but it didn’t really take away anything from the rich, dark cocoa flavours in the (very) dark, bitttersweet chocolate. Compared to Stainer’s Champagne Bar, this was so far ahead in terms of taste. The alcoholic hit of real champagne, followed by the dark, complex cocoa flavours of the chocolate and the crunchy sugar lining made a fantastic combination. Obviously the lady in the shop had chosen well when I asked for examples of their best work!
My second choice was a curious looking milk chocolate liqueur with a raspberry flavour. To my mind it looked like an acorn (memories of Hotel Chocolat’s Selection of the Season perhaps?) but the flavours were unlike anything I’d had before. The raspberry liqueur was strong, slightly sweet and with a superbly delicate fruit flavour on the finish, and the milk chooclate managed to keep a lot of it’s coca flavours. However, compared to the rich, dark tastes of the previous chocolate, it didn’t really excite me as much. It was definitely more sweet, a little too heavy on sugary tastes for my palate, but nevertheless a great combination of flavours presented beautifully.
My final choice (it was a blazingly hot day and I had to take everything away in a hot car, so I was being overly cautious. Plus I was already carrying twenty or more bars from all over Europe!) was a dark truffle with a fleck of gold on top. It appeared to be made of the same dark (nay, almost black) chocolate that had been used for the champagne cork, but this time there was no sugary lining. Instead I found myself biting through the sharp, bittersweet chocolate and finding a smooth, equally dark ganache filling which had a delightfully complex alcoholic note. Combined with the dark, smokey tastes of the cocoa, the alcoholic content of the ganache added a subtly sweet and fruity note which lifted the whole taste experience to a new level. It was nothing short of exquisite. As good as anything I have tasted.
For the first time in my life, I woke up with a chocolate hangover. That’s right – no alcohol, stupid dancing, yelling or shouting the entire pub a round of drinks was involved – just this box of Lindt Petits Desserts.
And it’s all Matt the Lindt man’s fault. He waved these in front of his face as a kind of barrier to deflect my attention (again) from trying to rape him for his chocolate stash. Luckily for us both, the diversion worked.
As with all things Lindt, the chocolates are beautifully made to look at as well as eat. There are eighteen chocolates in the box and seven varieties of flavours and I had one of each. My husband Love Chunks and daughter Sapphire had to fight over the remaining eleven, meaning that they didn’t get to try every flavour. But that’s how the cookie crumbles when you live with a dedicated Chocablogger.
So here in no particular order of preference, they are:
Brownie
Decadently rich, very dark 70% chocolate with chopped nuts. Very dense and cake like – the best chocolate that’s dared to call itself a brownie ever (that’s right, not Cadbury).
Lemon Tart
A smooth milk chocolate cup with white chocolate inside with a very delicate lemon flavour. I would have loved to have seen this encased in dark chocolate instead.
Macaroon
This was a real surprise. The Amaretto almond flavours of the praline shone through without being overly marzipan-y. I could happily eat a box just of these.
Chocolate Log
A soft mixture of milk and dark chocolate. Easy to eat, but almost a let down when it is surrounded by chocolate with other complementary flavours as well.
Tiramisu
Dark chocolate base, white chocolate top and a softer centre flavoured with coffee and tiramisu (Italian Marsala liqueur). Very, very nice.
Meringue
Another surprise along the lines of the macaroon. White, crunchy meringue bits hidden inside the milk chocolate and hazelnut swirl. If Lindt could do this in a 100g block, life would be pretty well perfect.
Crème Brûlée
As with the lemon tart, it is ‘served’ in a milk chocolate cup with a white chocolate filling with distinctly crunchy pieces of caramel. Would taste even better if it was ‘life sized’.
I’ll be honest, I ate far more than just seven. Hence the hangover. Deserved, but, unlike over-indulging in red wine, brandy or mango schnapps, I still wanted to eat chocolate again the next day.