Oh how I love my little local convenience shop. It may be small, but it sells absolutely everything I could ever need – and often has little unexpected surprises on the shelves.
Take this for instance. We don’t often get Hershey’s in the UK – this bar was apparently made in Canada – but when we do get them, they must be reviewed!
Nutrageous is a fairly long, thin bar in a very orange wrapper. It certainly stood out on the shelf, even though I had no idea what it was. But as I took my first bite, I noticed three words on the wrapper that stopped me in my tracks…
“Chocolate Flavored Coating”
Chocolate Flavored? Uh-oh. This could be bad.
But I needn’t have worried. This is nice.
The “coating” certainly tastes like milk chocolate. It has a slightly dull appearance, but it’s not unattractive. And you can tell it’s packed with nuts because it’s so… lumpy.
Which leads me to the filling. It’s pretty much solid, whole peanuts held together with caramel and a touch of peanut butter. Very simple, but very, very tasty. The chocolate may not be real, but the nuts certainly are.
Combined with the caramel, they give exactly the right balance of salty and sweet. It’s crunchy, chewy and really quite satisfying.
Interestingly, the picture on the wrapper shows a much ’rounder’ bar, but I don’t think mine was particularly squashed – it just looks like Hershey’s hired an over-optimistic illustrator.
I was quite prepared to hate this bar, but it’s a really tasty little snack. Although it looks large, it’s not overly filling – and just the thing to keep you going until lunch time.
You can tell this is something a little special from the moment you pick up the box.
It has the perfect balance of minimalist style and a touch of the ‘home made’ look that lets anyone who receives one know a lot of thought has gone into it. It’s made from a thick matt black craft paper with the simple ‘Hotel Chocolat’ logo in silver and a gold label that makes it look like some kind of chocolate trophy.
It’s almost a shame to rip it open and destroy it to get to the chocolate inside. Almost.
When you do lift the egg out of the remains of the box, the first thing you notice is the weight. This is seriously heavy (450g) and almost feels solid. I guess they weren’t kidding when they said ‘extra thick shells’.
The second thing you notice about it is that each half is wrapped separately. One half is milk chocolate wrapped in silver, and the other is 72% dark chocolate, wrapped in gold. Clever.
Inside, each half of the egg is stuffed full of large egg-shaped dark, milk and white chocolate truffles. None of the usual small bag of boring non-descript chocolates here. No wonder if felt solid.
The truffle eggs are simply delicious. All different with (according to the web site) “soft ganaches of kir royale, marc de champagne, bellini, kirsch, whisky, calvados, rum, amaretto, tiramisu and much more”. Yup, they’re all alcoholic – but they’re also incredibly soft and creamy.
The chocolate shell is a work of art in itself. Half milk, half dark chocolate, but both extra thick with an eggshell luster finish and embossed with the Hotel Chocolat logo. The milk chocolate half is smooth and has a distinct flavour – I’m guessing it contains a little more cocoa than your average milk chocolate.
The dark chocolate half is as nice as any dark chocolate I’ve had. My only real issue with it is that it’s quite hard to eat being so thick. You either have to smash it on the table or just nibble little bits off it as you can’t really just break it in your hands.
But the real stars here are definitely the little truffle eggs. They look and taste amazing and entirely fill up the centre of the main egg. The problem is that they’re so moreish, you might just find yourself getting a little tipsy.
On the plus side, the alcohol content is the perfect excuse for not sharing them with the kids. These are far too good for children anyway.
Finally, in the interest of full disclosure, I’d like to add that this was a free review sample sent by Hotel Chocolat, but that in no way affects the content of this review. It is quite simply one of the most delicious (and beautiful) things I’ve ever eaten and I have absolutely no hesitation in thoroughly recommending it. If you’re tempted to buy this for a loved one this Easter, I guarantee they will not be disappointed.
I’ve not had a lot of good things to say about certain varieties of KitKat in the past, so I was quite worried about this one.
You see, I like dark chocolate. And I even quite like regular KitKats, but often large manufacturers mess up when they create new versions of their best sellers – particularly when “upgrading” to dark chocolate.
But upon opening the wrapper, first impressions are good. It definitely looks and smells like dark chocolate. And the standard, slim KitKat fingers look so much better than the brick-like ‘Chunky’ varieties.
Breaking a finger off and snapping it in two, it somehow feels a little crunchier than a standard milk chocolate KitKat. I’m not sure if that’s just my imagination or if it really is crunchier, but it’s certainly not a bad thing.
And the taste? Well, it’s pretty good actually. The wrapper states proudly that the chocolate contains 52% cocoa solids, but I would have guessed a little higher.
It’s not as smooth as some more expensive dark chocolates I could mention though. To me it tastes a little like drinking chocolate – the bitter-sweet taste is there, but it lacks a little of the full “chocolateyness” you’d expect from something more expensive.
The back of the packet suggests you dunk your KitKat in your coffee (with a helpful picture to illustrate the procedure), and while I’m not really a coffee drinker, I could see how this would work. You wouldn’t want to dip it in too long though, or or you’d just end up with some kind of Soggymochachino snack/drink.
Overall, this is a nice little snack. It’s not a ‘posh choc’ and probably wouldn’t get this every day either, but it’s a nice little treat for KitKat lovers and dark chocolate lovers alike.
NOTE: This competition is now closed.
Chocablog has teamed up with Hotel Chocolat (affiliate link) to offer you all a very special Online Easter Egg Hunt this Easter.
To enter the competition and find the chocolate goodies, you need to answer the questions below and use the first letter of each answer to create a secret password. The password is a real word, so you should be able to figure out if you’ve got it.
Once you have the password, simply enter it into the competition page on the Hotel Chocolat web site. If you got it right, the code will unlock a secret part of the Hotel Chocolat website where you’ll be entered into a prize draw to win a luxury Easter Hamper.
The Hampers usually cost £50 each and are choc full of chocolate goodness … just in time for Easter.
So, let’s get hunting!
The Questions:
1. Where are the Pistachio nuts in Hotel Chocolat’s ‘Serious Dark Fix Egg’ from? [Hint]
2. What is the Spanish name of Easter Island? [Hint]
3. In the book ‘Charlie and The Chocolate Factory’ what colour was the ticket that won the discoverer a tour around Willy Wonker’s factory? [Hint]
4. When building the world’s largest Easter Egg, in Vegreville, Canada, which stands at 31.6 ft high, how many mathematical, architectural and engineering firsts were achieved? [Hint]
5. What Wednesday is the 7th Wednesday before Easter Sunday? [Hint]
6. Heston Blumenthal is known for his unusual food combinations, especially his desert of white chocolate and caviar! What’s the name of Heston’s restaurant? [Hint]
7. In the Judy Garland film ‘Easter Parade’, Peter Lawford sings a song about being ‘A fella with an……’? [Hint]
8. For Chocablog’s 1st birthday, we celebrated with a chocolate Dalek cake. What is the name of the ninth Doctor’s main companion? [Hint]
9. Finish this sentence: Easter Sunday falls on the first Sunday after the Full Moon that occurs on or after the Vernal……? [Hint]
Got the answers?
Now, take the first letter of each answer to make your password and enter it on this page. If you’ve got it right, it’ll let you know and you’ll be entered in the draw. If your answer is wrong, check your answers to the questions and try again.
The competition closes on April 2nd, is open to all Chocablog readers (one entry per person please!) and we’ll publish the winner’s name here. Good luck!
