Something else I managed to find whilst on my travels in Europe was a small box of eight Ferrero Garden Pistachio thingummies (balls? orbs? Rochers?), and I’m not sure these are available in the UK (but I haven’t honestly looked at anything Ferrero Rocher related in a long time).
The classic Rocher has been with us now for decades, seemingly on the back of one badly dubbed ad which unaccountably made them Choc of Choice for any ‘special’ occasion (Mother’s Day, Birthdays, Christmas, Ambassadorial shindigs, you name it) for years.
Well now it seems that Ferrero have broken out f the drawing room and are now relaxing in the sun lounger outside. A light green box, shiny green foil, and a white petits fours case all reinforce the message that these are different.
…and they most certainly are…
As you can see – no chocolate! At first I thought ‘white chocolate’ but I was wrong. Ought I to end my review right there? Hang on, maybe there’s chocolate inside?
Drat.
Inside the crispy outer shell, which has been coated in almond chips glued on with some sort of soft cream, you will find a nutty tasting creamy goo which holds suspended a single pistachio nut.
I’ll say one thing for them – they’re easy to eat. a couple of bites and your Garden is gone. The combination of sweetness, creamy filling and almond and pistachio flavours make these alarmingly easy to dispose of. I found myself almost immediately fancying a second, then a third. The third one did it for me, but those with a sweet tooth should perhaps avoid buying these in quantities greater than eight. It could prove expensive.
A relative newcomer to the Aussie ‘lite’ chocolate bar scene, Fling is made by Masterfoods (Mars).
The blurb on the packet purrs, ‘Why have a full on chocolate affair when you can have a fling?’ and describes itself as ‘A delicate crispy centre layered with velvety chocolate cream covered in smooth milk chocolate.’
I was intrigued. And hungry. Of course, as stated before with regard to Mars bar ‘lite’, the main reason they have less fat is that there’s less of them in the packet. The same applies here. A 30g Fling costs the same as a regular-sized bar of chocolate (45-65g) and has the same fat content per 100g – 31.7%. They describe a serving as one 15g finger, so the fat content appears surprisingly small: 4.8g. But who’s only going to eat one finger instead of two for the sake of all that’s good and chocolatey?
Despite my cynicism, the bar came up trumps. The base tasted like the crunchy interior of a Malteser – not surprising considering that Maltesers are the key product of Masterfoods confectionery division and beloved by many an Aussie who chooses to eat them instead of rolling them down the aisles of cinemas. The top layer actually tastes like freshly whipped thick cream that you find in high end, hand-made truffles, which was a nice little bonus. I don’t know that I really want to find out what they put in it, to be honest.
The only trouble is that 30g is not enough. So I ate two.
I’ve been waiting for this for ages, but with the lack of any review samples coming from Cadbury, I had to wait for it to appear in my local shop. Which happened at about 8:31 this morning.
(Come on Mr Cadbury, I know you’re reading – why aren’t you sending us free stuff!? We’re incredibly easy to bribe!)
“So what’s this Twisted thing then!?” I hear you cry.
Well that’s simple. It’s Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate with a Creme Egg filling.
“But haven’t Cadbury done that before!?” you ask.
Another good question, dear reader. And the answer is of course, “yes!”. Two years ago, they came out with “Cadbury Dairy Milk with Creme Egg“, which was nice, but the name didn’t exactly roll off the tongue quite as easily as a Creme Egg would.
There are two main differences between that bar and this one. The first is the shape:
Rather than being divided into traditional Cadbury chunks, this bar has a much more distinctive shape. Obviously designed to look like it’s been twisted, the chocolate has a thick base, while the top is made of thinner chocolate and vaguely resembles a screw thread.
Inside, that leaves quite a bit of room for that yummy, sickly, sticky, icky Creme Egg fondant filling. Because there’s no clear definition between the chunks, you get more of it than you did in the old Dairy Milk bar.
“So what’s the second difference then?” you ask.
My, you are an inquisitive reader today!
The second difference isn’t in the bar itself, but in the branding. Despite having all the same ingredients as its older sibling, there’s no trace of the words “Dairy Milk” on this bar. This might seem like a small thing, but it’s definitely one I welcome. I’ve talked before about how much I hate the Dairy Milk “superbrand” because it limits how creative they can be because practically everything the do has to be shoehorned into the same, slightly dull brand.
This slightly freakish little bar of fun shows that Cadbury do still have what it takes to come up with something a little more interesting, even though strictly speaking nothing here is new.
But I know you still want to know how it tastes…
Well, it tastes like a Creme Egg. So you’ll either love it, or… well, love it.
After I reviewed the Cocoa Bean squares in March, I received an email from one of the sisters who run the company (Emily) asking me if I’d like to try a few more of their products. I’m sure you can hazard a guess as to my response.
As a result of that email, I have been the (very lucky) recipient of a fairly well stocked cardboard box containing a plethora of yummy looking Cocoa Bean and Skelligs products, which I now have the job of sampling so that you, our dear readers, know which ones to buy.
First up is this little wallet of five 20g bars of assorted milk and dark chocolate, each of which has a very distinct flavour. As you can see, we have three dark (Sea Salt, Gin & Tonic and Lime Zest & Black Pepper) and two milk (Rose & Pistachio and Irish Honey). Each sleeve has a little background pattern relating to the contents – fish, little honeycombs, lime leaves, roses and bubbles on the G&T. Very subtle and once again, a fun, fresh look to the packaging.
The bars themselves are also a little different. Instead of being divided conventionally (squares, rectangles etc.) the Cocoa Bean ladies have opted for a rather neat way of reinforcing the brand, using the logo and company name to divide each ‘strip’ of chocolate into both a square AND a rectangle.
So how do they taste?
Well, each bar has a little description of what’s in store printed on the back.
The Sea Salt bar is described as ‘playful chocolate’. “The salt crystals enhance the sweet and savoury flavours of the chocolate and then crackle and crunch intriguingly as the chocolate melts on your tongue”. I’d agree about the salt content – the addition of salt to 70% cocoa chocolate is a fantastic idea. The contrasting sweet/tart flavours work beautifully with each other. A big hit with both myself and my tasting buddies.
The Gin & Tonic bar uses juniper berries and lime zest to recreate the flavours of the classic drink. It’s a popular flavour at Cocoa Bean, and one they’re obviously proud of. The first flavour to hit your palate is juniper, but the balance with the citrus of the lime is perfect – at no point did I find myself wanting more or less of either flavour. As the wrapper says, perfectly acceptable at any time of day.
Lime Zest & Black Pepper is relatively new to me, but I have recently reviewed a Lindt Bar with these very flavours. Emily (who now reads Chocablog regularly) mailed me to say that she had no idea Lindt had done a Lime & Pepper bar, and I wonder who was first? There’s no comparing the two anyway, as the Lindt bar was a truffle filled confection and this is a thin slab of 70% cocoa dark chocolate. Once again, both flavours are in evidence, well balanced and working well with the smooth, rich chocolate.
The first Milk chocolate bar I tried was the Irish Honey bar. I followed the suggestion on the wrapper and let the chocolate slowly melt in my mouth so I could ‘indulge in the lingering sweetness’ and it was lovely. The honeyed sweetness is quite different to a sugary sweetness, the two flavours flooding the mouth and leaving you wanting more. This was a huge hit with the younger tasters.
Last up was the Rose & Pistachio bar – “an exotic Turkish Delight inspired seduction”, and boy, is it ever! As a young lad I was rather partial to a Fry’s Turkish Delight or two (or three, or four) and the first sniff of this bar took me right back. Popping a small sliver onto my tongue and closing my eyes transported me back to pre-teen Turkish Delight scoffing days, with the tiny fragments of pistachio nut enhancing the mouthfeel and flavour superbly.
After tasting these bars I think it’s not unreasonable to liken them to Dolfin’s little taster bars (as reviewed by yours truly elsewhere on this very site). Like Dolfin, Cocoa Bean have created a selection of bars which blend unusual flavours with chocolate in a subtle and harmonious way. The quality of the chocolate always shines through, and the choices of flavours all sit together beautifully. It would seem that the Belgians have a little competition! Highly recommended.
