Charbonnel et Walker Milk Chocolate & Banoffee Truffles
One of the perks of this job is that occasionally the postman will show up with “breakfast” – a delivery of chocolate samples. Today was one of those days and the breakfast in question consisted of two boxes of eight truffles from Charbonnel et Walker.
As you can see, the packaging is very similar to the Marc de Champagne truffles I reviewed (and found a little bland) a couple of years ago. I can’t help but wonder if the pin stripes on the banoffee packaging were deliberately designed to induce seizures, but unless you hold the box at exactly the right angle, the text is somewhat headache inducing.
Looking at the ingredients, it looks like they’re still using the same 33.5% milk chocolate as well. I guess when you’ve been in business for 130 years you don’t rush into making changes… even when you receive a negative Chocablog review. (I know… shocking, isn’t it!?)
One of my main complaints in that previous review was that that the truffles were just a bit bland for something so expensive, and for the milk chocolate truffles, I could argue once again that £11 for eight fairly basic chocolates is just a little over the top.
That’s the kind of price you’d expect to pay for the likes of Paul A. Young’s or William Curley’s creations which are hand made with fresh ingredients, rather than something with a six month shelf life.
So this is another negative review, right?
Not a bit of it. Because while the milk chocolate truffles are quite simply “nice”, the banoffee ones are to die for. The moment you open the box you’re hit by that unmistakable aroma of banoffee pie, and they taste every bit as good as they smell.
If I had one criticism it would be that the truffle filling is a little firm, but really all that does is prolong the deliciousness of the experience. Pop a whole truffle into your mouth and let it melt slowly and the chocolate and banoffee high will keep you going for at least as long as a piece of real banoffee pie.
I can take or leave the milk chocolate truffles, but ended up consuming the whole box of banoffees before lunch. More like this please, Charbonnel… you have my address…
Information
- Buy it online from:
- Contains milk chocolate (33% cocoa solids).
- Filed under banoffee, charbonnel et walker, milk chocolate, truffle, uk.
I totally agree: these are just eqxuisitr, if a bit pricey. They’d make a wonderful gift… if you manage to stop yourself from devouring them 🙂
I really like their pink champagne truffles. I thought the Hotel Chocolat ones were fantastic, until I tried these. They’re a bit more sublte, not that aggressive, just delicious.
If I hadn’t read your review about this chocolate, I probably wouldn’t have even wanted to try it. Among us chocolatiers, having a thick cocoa shell is a no no. Thanks for the post, I’ll try to see if I can get some in the US.
Wow, I’ve not heard about these banoffee chocs before but they sound absolutely delicious!