A couple of weeks ago we made fun of Sweet Sweet Confections for their “asking for trouble” eat-as-many-as-you-can competition. Luckily, they didn’t go off in a huff and ignore us, but sent us some of their Smores Bars instead.
Smores Bars are billed as “graham crackers topped with a delicious marshmallow and hand dipped in luscious milk chocolate”. I really had no idea what to expect with these, and when they arrived I was a little worried. The “bars” come in a thin plastic bag (3 per pack), and had been squashed into a single lump.
After spending a few minutes separating the bars, I decided to take the plunge and take a bite. Now, Chocablog and U.S. chocolates don’t generally get along all that well. More often than not, American chocolate is far too sweet and loaded with so much artificial junk that it comes out with a closer resemblance to candle wax than real chocolate.
But somehow, Sweet Sweet Confections has managed to produce a rather tasty milk chocolate here. There’s plenty of it, and it actually tastes like real chocolate.
The “graham cracker” is soft and more like a cake. Combined with the marshmallow, the closest thing British readers may have had to something like this is probably a Tunnocks Tea Cake.
My only minor issue with Smores Bars is that the Marshmallow is a bit firm with a gelatinous texture, rather than soft and fluffy. Now that could be partly down to having traveled half way around the world in a thin plastic bag, but I think it’s partly by design too.
Aside from that, these are really quite tasty. This clearly isn’t gourmet chocolate, but it’s pretty damn tasty. As far as the chocolate itself is concerned, it’s some of the nicest American milk chocolate I’ve tasted recently.
If the marshmallow were a bit softer and the packaging a bit more substantial, they’d be perfect. As it is, I don’t think I could recommend buying these and having them shipped outside the US – but I’d certainly recommend our American readers give them a go.
Just South of the City of London lies Borough Market, home to a bewildering (and sometimes frighteningly expensive) range of gastronomic delights, from organically farmed meat to imported wines, ostrich, cheeses, and of course chocolate. Nestling among the plethora of stalls, you will find one that groans with an amazing array of fine handmade chocolates – Dark Sugars.
I first came across them just as the market was closing, and unfortunately was unable to make any purchases, but they let me nibble a couple of their truffles, and that was enough for me to decide to make a return journey as soon as I could.
The second trip was much more successful – I came away clutching a small sample bag containing a handful of the more esoteric flavours on offer, and it is these that I will review.
I chose what I thought were seven different flavours, but in fact I discovered that I only had a half dozen, missing out on the Gin & Lime truffle, so expect further reportage in the near future!
What I did manage to acquire were:
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Vodka and Orange
Dark truffle centre containing tiny pieces of orange zest and the subtle flavour of vodka. Deliciously warming to the palate and, as far as I am aware, unique. |
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Dry Apple Cider and Cinnamon
Tastes like a lovely home made apple pie. Bursting with apple flavours and finished off with a warming hint of cinnamon. Another first for me, and a real pleasure. |
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Stem Ginger and Honey
The first time I’ve come across these two flavours in combination, and they work beautifully. The honeyed chocolate truffle melts on the tongue, and the morsels of stem ginger provide a subtly fiery top note. Sweet and spicy, and very moreish! |
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Cardomom and Orange
Again, the combination of flavours is another first. Tangy, zesty orange complimented with the unique taste of cardomom. A real pleasure. |
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Infused Tobacco
If Dark Sugars had to have a flagship truffle, then I would nominate this one. Not only is it unique in my experience, but the flavour is something else. I would never have considered tobacco to be something one could add to a truffle, but this little beauty really blew me away. A triumph of imagination and daring. Bravo! |
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Lemon Tea
A dark chocolate coated truffle which delivers a wonderfully subtle lemon tea flavour. The first tea truflle I have had, and definitely not the last. |
Of course, handmade chocolates are not cheap, but I would seriously recommend trying these to any chocolate lover. They have a mail order service available, so geography is no boundary to the enjoyment of truffles that have obviously been made with a great deal of love and enthusiasm.
Go to www.darksugars.co.uk and tell them I sent you – every self respecting chocoholic should try their Infused Tobacco truffle at least once.
I had spied this on the shelf a couple of times, and was considering a purchase, but the addition of a 25% reduction finally tipped the scales, and I brought one home this very afternoon.
A limited edition bar is a funny thing – either you bemoan the fact you can’t find it any more or it gets largely ignored and quickly forgotten. I must admit to being slightly dubious about this bar anyway (hence me passing it by a couple of times). After all, it could just be a flat Bounty bar.
I’m very happy to report that this is not the case.
The bar consists of little milk chocolate pillows, each of which contains a delicious coconut cream filling with a few flakes of real coconut suspended in it – enough to give texture, but not so many that they end up finding every nook and cranny in your molars (à la Bounty).
It’s meltingly lovely, and the coconut combines with the chocolate in a dangerously moreish way. The chocolate is a 30% milk choc, so it’s no slouch on the tastebuds in itself, but when it starts mingling with the sweet, creamy filling you’re in for a real treat. Taste the Difference is Sainsbury’s flagship foodie line, and this chocolate bar deserves it’s place in the lineup.
I recommend that UK readers go out and buy in a couple before they become extinct, and at 25% off, they’re well worth it.
This is the last of the ‘Klik’ range of Israeli chocs sent to us by OhNuts.com, they others being Gourmet Truffles, Malt Balls and Kariot-Pillows.
These ‘Cookies’ are pretty much what you’d expect looking at the bag. Random chunks of cookie, coated in milk chocolate.
My opninon of these is pretty much the same as the others in the range. They’re OK, but really nothing special.
The cookie pieces are a little dry for my liking, and have a strange, slightly artificial taste that I can’t quite put my finger on. The closest comparison to something we get in the UK would be a digestive biscuit – except not quite as nice. They’re not the kind of cookie I’d want to eat if they weren’t covered in chocolate.
And that’s just about all I have to say about these. Klick Cookie sums up the whole range of Klik products for me. They’re “OK” and it’s a novelty having chocolates that say “Made in Israel” on them. The packaging is very colourful and they’re a bit different from anything I’ve had before.
But they don’t quite manage to hide the fact that they’re obviously mass produced, and I don’t think I can really justify the fact that this chocolate travelled 13,000 miles to get to me.
