When Chocstress reviewed Cadbury Flake back in September, she noted that the ones she had were smaller than usual. Well I can’t say for sure, but I think this Flake Dark is bigger than usual. I think maybe someone at Cadbury is hung up on size…
The one thing this does have in common with every other Flake I’ve tried is that it’s crumbly. Very crumbly.
Interestingly, the Flake tag line “The crumbliest flakiest milk chocolate in the world” has been changed to “The crumbliest flakiest dark chocolate”. Which leads me to believe that somewhere “in the world” there may be a chocolate even crumblier. I intend to make it my life’s work to track this mystery chocolate down.
Er… where was I? Oh yes…
Cadbury don’t often do dark chocolate, so taste-wise I didn’t really know what to expect. As it happens, it’s pretty good. It’s only 44% (which some people would say isn’t really enough to classify it as ‘dark’ chocolate), but it’s not bad – and I suspect there are limits on how much cocoa you can have while keeping that trademark Flake texture. It’s very chocolatey and has that trademark bittersweet aftertaste. Yum.
However, I now have crumbs everywhere. And that’s always been my issue with Flake. The taste and texture are delicious, but I really think Cadbury should supply a ‘free dry cleaning’ token in every packet. Then it would be perfect.
I definitely prefer this to the Praline and Snowflake varieties, but for me, it’s not quite dark enough to be a real luxury chocolate. And that whole crumbs thing is really becoming an issue. I simply don’t want to spend 10 minutes relaxing with a bar of chocolate only to have to spend half an hour cleaning up after myself. Pah.
If, like us, you’ve eaten everything Chocablog has ever reviewed, you might be in need of our new sister site – Endiet. We like to call it our “evil twin”.
Endiet will feature recipes, diet tips, advice and news for all kinds of diets – all mixed with a healthy dose of fun. You never know, they may even talk about chocolate – we all know how good it is for you. So check it out!
But don’t worry, we’re not going to get all healthy on you here. Normal Chocablog service will be resumed immediately!
Galaxy Minstrels are another of my childhood favourites that I haven’t had in years. Of course, back in my day, they were just “Minstrels” (sans Galaxy).
Unusually, these are even better than I remember them as a kid. I’m not sure if it’s just my imagination, but they seem bigger – and the Galaxy chocolate is certainly creamier.
For the uninitiated, Minstrels are solid, spheroid shaped (oblate spheroid, to be precise) chocolate, coated with a crispy shell. They’re somewhat akin to (British) Smarties or M&Ms. Except they’re so much nicer… and they’re not coloured with chopped up beetles. That’s always a good thing.
Oh. And they do look quite nice when served in a large wine glass…
It’s difficult to say why I like Minstrels so much. They’re very simple. Sugar-coated chocolate. But it’s done so well. I think the chocolate is the key. It’s quite sweet, but very smooth and creamy.
While I like Galaxy chocolate, it’s not normally my favourite – simply because it is so sweet – but the size of Minstrels makes all the difference. You get just the right amount of chocolatey creaminess and crispy shell in each one.
Apparently, they’re also great for sharing. But I wouldn’t know about that… the Minstrels are mine. Got it?
Definitely a thumbs up. But go buy your own, Ok?
As you may already know, I’m a huge fan of Ritter Sport. They make simple, great quality chocolate in decent sized bars. It’s unpretentious and delicious.
This particular bar is interesting because it’s quite similar to the Guylian Sea Shells I reviewed previously.
Yes, I know this big square of chocolate doesn’t look much like a sea shell, but look beyond the shape and you’ll see they’re both good quality chocolates with a soft praline filling.
So how does this compare? Well the chocolate itself is very nice, although it’s not quite as creamy as the Guylian. That’s partly because the Guylian shells have white chocolate in them, but I think the overall quality is slightly better too. But then you expect Belgian Chocolate to be the best anyway.
The Ritter’s filling is slightly softer, slightly creamier and slightly nuttier. There isn’t an awful lot in it, but I think the Ritter wins here. If there’s one thing Ritter Sport is good at, it’s making delicious fillings for their bars. This is no exception.
Appearance wise, I prefer the square slab of chocolate to the fancy sea shell shapes. I like chocolate I can eat on the bus without looking like a total idiot. And shells are for girls.
Overall, it’s close, but Ritter is much more of an every day chocolate. If you’re buying chocolate as a gift, the Guylian is sure to go down better, but if you just want a tasty, good quality bar, go for the Ritter.
Having said all that, this isn’t my favourite Ritter Sport bar. I prefer the Cappuccino and Peppermint varieties. But they have loads of others to choose from too.
