The other day I appeared on the Amanda Blair afternoon show on radio 5AA Adelaide and had the added pleasure of meeting the lovely lad from Lindt, Matthew Thorpe. Perhaps I need to publicly apologise to him, because when he walked through the studio door with a shopping bag full of Lindor Stracciatella (cookies and cream) balls and their new three blocks of Creation 70% flavours, I might – just might – have hugged him and maybe – just maybe – even jumped on him.
So, sorry, Matt. My Lindt longings had finally come true and I imagine that I wouldn’t be the first person to react to you in that way.
As it happens, I had just purchased a box of the Stracciatella balls to try and was interested to discover that this cookies-n-crème flavour is the most popular type in Italy, where they were imported down here in time for Mothers’ Day. Yes, Aussie chocaphiles, they are a limited edition, sent here to tantalise us and then disappear quicker than a departing superhero: “But we never got the chance to thank him…”
Essentially the Stracciatella are Lindt’s classic white chocolate Lindor balls with the outer coating of slightly firmer white chocolate studded with chocolate biscuit pieces. They add a delightfully crunchy texture, with my only whinge being that I wish they were also inserted into the creamy middle as well. Leave ‘em wanting more, I guess.
Luckily, Matt the Magnificent didn’t disappoint. Lindt have re-branded their white-packaged blocks and revamped some of them into these rather glamorous dark wrappers that celebrate their 70% cocoa content. At 150g per block, they’re also a bit bigger than the standard 100g blocks we find on our store shelves here. I carried this box home with more care than my two university degrees.
After much begging from my daughter, we tried the Intense Orange block first. I hope you appreciate the arty wood-turned bowls my father made, in my attempt to add some artiness and reverence to the photograph.
Ten glossy, rich-smelling slabs-of-heaven greeted us. It looked so luxurious and would definitely pass muster as a gift block or dinner party dessert afterthought. The taste also fulfilled what the appearance promised. The slightly bitter but buttery dark chocolate was plentiful in a thickly generous coat, allowing a full appreciation of the 70% cocoa. Then there’s a hint of the layer of chocolate mousse to melt before finally enjoying the tangy, almost marmalade texture of the orange.
Sapphire’s verdict? “Mmmm hmmm, this is sweet and sour at the same time. The best chocolate I’ve ever had – and you know how much I enjoy Whittakers 72% Dark Ghana!” Fighting words indeed, and I’m not one to disagree. I am so looking forward to trying the next two blocks, but do I have to share them with my one and only child???
During Chocablogger Kath’s latest radio interview, a caller suggested that Milka wasn’t around any more because it had been “banned because of mad cow disease”. This is obviously not the case and Milka is still very much alive (in Europe at least), although here in the UK it can be a little hard to get hold of.
Needless to say I ran out and bought a couple of bars straight after the show. None of the shops near me seem to have it, but I found this Milka Alpine Cream in Waitrose in Brent Cross.
So what’s so special about Milka? The milk, of course!
Milka is one of those milk chocolates that’s incredibly creamy. This particular bar is even creamier because the filling happens to be cream flavoured too. You can’t see a great deal of difference between the milk chocolate and the filling, but the inside of this bar is lighter in texture than the smooth, 30% milk chocolate that surrounds it.
But it’s also particularly sweet. And while almost everyone likes Milka, if you were to eat this 100g bar in one sitting, you’d almost certainly make yourself ill. The last time I had Milka was sat around watching a movie with a group of friends, which was perfect. Everyone got a couple of chunks and nobody left feeling sick.
This is an utterly delicious bar. Its smoothness and creaminess are second to none. But if you’re the kind of person that eats a 100g bar of chocolate in one go, you might want to avoid this, simply because it’s so sweet. Milka is made for sharing.
Our very own Kath Lockett has been on the radio talking about all things chocolate again. The full show is over 40 minutes long, but it’s well worth a listen. The man from Lindt even shows up with free chocolate half way through!
(Not that I’m jealous or anything….)
This is the last of my current batch of South African chocolate, and probably my favourite. Peppermint Crisp is a bar of Nestlé milk chocolate with a crispty Kryptonite “peppermint crackle” centre.
While the filling resembles something that would make Superman want to curl up and die, it’s actually just sugar. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like it in a chocolate bar.
The peppermint in a peppermint crisp comes in the form of long thin tubes of luminous green sugar that run the length of the bar. In terms of flavour, it closely resembles a stick of rock, but because there’s so much air trapped inside, it’s crispy and crunchy rather than solid like rock.
The effect is quite bizarre. First it’s a little like biting into shards of glass, then you get the minty hit, then the chocolate, then the “shards” start to go chewy.
The milk chocolate itself is standard Nestlé fare. The flavour is nothing to write home about, but it’s largely overtaken by the mintyness from the real peppermint oil that flavours the bar anyway. But I don’t think you’d be buying this bar for the chocolate, anyway. You’d buy it for the completely unique texture.
This is one of those bars that you’re either going to love or hate (or cut the inside of your mouth to shreds on). Personally I love it because I’ve not seen anything else quite like it – and when you’ve been reviewing chocolate for two years, that’s quite refreshing.
