One of the things I love best about travelling is the coming across small independent companies who put their heart and soul into making top notch chocolates. Sometimes they can be very ‘serious’ artisans like Signor Aguzzi in Milan, and at other times you find a more lighthearted approach, like our new friends the Cocoa Bean Chocolate Company.
It was in Spain (La Coruna to be precise) that I chanced upon a range of products from The Chocolat Factory, another company with a lighthearted approach to their work. In among the various bars, jars and tins was an information sheet which, as it turned out, included a recipe, an explanation of the reasons for a chocolate bouquet, and a little history.
First purchase was a pot of chocolate and pear jam – one of a range – which I just HAD to pick up, simply because I have never seen chocolate jam before. Chocolate spreads come in many forms, but a chocolate and fruit preserve was something piqued my interest.
The lovely thing about this jam is that it really is jam-like. There’s a good portion of pear in the jar, and the chocolate content isn’t excessively high. What you get is a well balanced product which allows you to taste both elements. Imagine finely chopped pears in a light cocoa based sauce and you’re getting pretty close to this jam. Just like any good conserve, the jam has nice little chunks of pear floating around in it, and the chocolate element isn’t too sweet. They’ve used candied pear, which I presume has meant that there isn’t a need for huge amounts of extra sugar. (It’s still pretty sweet, mind!).
So far my pear and chocolate jam experiments have been limited to spreading it on toast, and I really like the way that the heat of the toast amplifies the pear flavours. It’s been a lovely change from marmalade, and I’m sure that when I run out of it I’m going to regret not having bought more, so next time you’re in Spain (or any of the other countries listed on their very informative and well designed website) keep your eyes peeled for Chocolat Factory products.
Bloody &%$#@!& Cadburys! They are infuriatingly inconsistent with what they offer the average suburban chocaholic these days. They either do things extremely well (always dependable, good old Dairy Milk and their superb 70% Old Gold chocolate range), or put out frankly dodgy stuff that is just horribly wrong (and a big welcome and thumbs down to Desserts Boysenberry Shortcake, Fudge Brownie and Lemon Cheesecake).
And so it is with Flake ‘Luxury’. However, I must admit that the blame also lies with me. For some reason I must have selected this bar before lunchtime/my second espresso and therefore the ability to focus, read and reflect was sorely lacking. I thought that ‘luxury’ meant that this version was coated in dark chocolate with the original flake inside or vice versa.
No such luck, bugger it. It was just the bog-standard flake coated in a thin layer of Dairy Milk. No ‘luxury’ there that I could see and I’m sure it has gotten smaller than the original Flake I remember from child and teenager-hood.
Sure, Flake is an old classic and always tastes great – instantly and delightfully melts in the mouth, is pleasantly crumbly and it’s nice to lick your finger and pick bits out of the wrapper making the sensation last longer – but encasing it in the same chocolate and slapping on a gold wrapper does not qualify describing it in any way, shape or form as ‘luxurious’. That’s like having a slice of bread with cheese on it, and then putting the second slice of bread on top and calling it a ‘Michelen Star Sandwich’. I don’t think so.
‘Flake Neater’, maybe, but not very catchy from the marketing point of view. ‘No More Embarrassing Crumbs in your Crotch Flake’ is another more honest description but perhaps still not a complete winner from the consumer standpoint.
How about ‘Flake Fake – There’s nothing new or luxurious about it’ for complete honesty? Nah, it’ll never take off.
I only lived about one kilometre away from the Chocolatier factory/shop on Waterdale Road, Ivanhoe when we still lived in Melbourne, and yet the only product I ate was a delicious Easter egg a friend gave me from there. They are particularly famous for their Easter range as they are attractive enough – with smooth finishes and marbled coloured chocolate all throughout – to not have to wrap them in foil.
Now, eight years and 560km further away, I found this pink box at my local K-Mart which promises to give the Australian Breast Cancer Foundation 50c (around 20p) for each box sold. What better excuse to eat chocolate, secure in the knowledge that it will help a noble cause?
Despite the packaging that is clearly designed to appeal to the more feminine-leaning chocaholics amongst us, my husband Love Chunks suddenly appeared by my side when I opened the box. We both started with the pink-topped strawberry delice which had a white chocolate centre flavoured with strawberry. It was very light and creamy for us Dark Side Dwellers but we both said “Mmmm!”
Love Chunks declared the macadamia truffle (milk chocolate) a triumph and I loved the ‘flower pot’ hazelnut praline – and that’s saying something, because hazelnut is not one of my favourites. We both enjoyed the cointreau truffle (white choc outside, milk chocolate in the middle) and considered it a ‘winner’ because neither of us believe that orange and milk chocolate goes as well as it does with dark but this was the best try we’d sampled so far.
The pink milk chocolate hearts were also delicious. At 34% cocoa solids, they tasted stronger and of much better quality than the insipid, far-too-sweet stuff you tend to find used as a coating by smaller chocolate manufacturers and is best avoided when served up on its own. But the pièce de résistance for us Dark Side Dwellers was most definitely the dark chocolate coated ‘limon’ (everything seems to sound posher in French) centre. Such modest-looking squares were the highlight of an already surprisingly good selection. I love l-o-v-e LOVE the combination of lemon and dark chocolate and hope that more chocolate manufacturers follow this trend.
The back of the box tells us that the dark chocolate contains 53% cocoa solids and that the nutrition panel considers two chocolates – or 25g – the average serving size – not in MY house! The box also contained a free bookmark photograph of the chocolates – a good sales technique, because every time I pick up whatever current book I’m reading, I see the photographs and start thinking about getting my greedy hands on more dark chocolate coated lemon/limon delights, and I wouldn’t be stopping at a mere two-chocolate average serve either…
That’s chocolate bananas to you!
This was a bit of a strange thing to find in my local sweet shop. Nestled (or should that be Nestléd) among the Aeros and Mars Bars was this single entry into the “foreign language” chocolate category. In fact, not only does this rather curious bar proudly proclaim “Made In Austria” on the back, but it’s also made by Manner who make the Idelfonso Nougat Choclate that Simon reviewed recently.
It just goes to prove my theory that you don’t need a jet setting lifestyle in order to find exotic chocolate. Wait long enough and the chocolate will come to you. Although in this particular case, my chocolate seems to have had a slightly tougher journey than Simon’s nougat…
I’m fairly sure that when it left Austria, the chocolate was completely intact, just like the picture on the wrapper. But aside from the crazy paving effect, the bar was in good condition, and it looks like the thick, sticky filling managed to hold all the chunks of chocolate in place.
And that chocolate is rather good. It’s a proper, 50% chocolate. Not too dark, not too sweet. As you can see, it’s quite a thin layer, so it’s difficult to judge the quality accurately, but it certainly tastes better than your average every day chocolate.
Inside that thin layer is a soft, airy, frothy, and slightly chewy banana flavoured centre. It’s sweet and tangy and tastes artificial – like those banana flavour sweets you find in Pick’n’Mix – but unlike those, this happens to be made with 6% real banana.
I’m not sure what they other 94% is, but there doesn’t appear to be any artificial flavourings or colours here, despite tasting liek there might be. And I actually quite enjoyed it.
The bar weighs only 22g, so unless you eat 5 at once, it’s unlikely the sweetness will become overly sickly. I’d certainly be tempted to buy it again. It’s definitely not posh, but it’s a fun, tangy, chocolatey treat.
