Hotel Chocolat Canapés Caramel

It’s been a while since we’ve reviewed any Hotel Chocolat products, so it’s probably about time we looked at some of their latest offerings. They were kind enough to send some samples, and this one in particular caught my eye.

Now I know the chocolatiers at Hotel Chocolat have a sense of humour (nobody else I know includes blindfolds with their chocolate), but I just can’t quite figure out whether I’m meant to take this seriously.

Two layers of canapés that are clearly designed to look like something that would have been served at a slightly-too-pretentious dinner party circa 1979. In place of smoked salmon, we have a “florentine square” of caramelised nuts and a “caramel button”.

The concept is just a little bizarre. I am quite certain that it would go down well at one of Ferrero Rochers Ambassadors Receptions, but is that really the market Hotel Chocolat are going for here?

There was only one way to find out… so I took them to a party to see what other people thought.

Somewhat surprisingly, my party-going friends were not as baffled by these as I was. It wasn’t that they understood the thinking behind them – it was more that they simply didn’t care.

They were more interested in how the canapés tasted; and thankfully, they taste pretty good. The florentine is a little too sweet for my liking, but it does add a nutty crispiness to the overall effect, and it’s quite clear they’ve been made with the usual high quality Hotel Chocolat ingredients.

So they went down well with my friends, but for me, the usual Hotel Chocolat “wow” factor is more of a “wtf?” factor here.

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