July 18th: Ritter Sport Marzipan

Kcal 180 Fat 10.0g Fat(sats) 5.0g Carbs 23.0g (per 6 blocks 37.5g)

This will be the first of many reviews of the Ritter range over the coming weeks - today saw me kick the range review off with the Ritter Sport Marzipan bar. This bar encorporated plain chocolate and a marzipan filling (44%) - for those of you that dont know marzipan is a confection primarily consisting of ground almonds and sugar.

As with all the Ritter Sport bars this came in a 100g serving - normally I would have eaten this over two 50g sittings, but due to the nature of the taste I ended up eating this over four. The bar came in a square format split into sixteen individual blocks - although not the most originally presented this format made the bar easy to section and the extra added Ritter enscribed logo on each block added a little finesse. The wrapper was nicely presented - not the most premiuim looking though it had a nice fresh tight seal and a clear appetising picture of the Marzipan flavour.

The bar had a nice aroma which was at first deeply dominated by the plain chocolate element...it had a deep cocoa smell that smelt slightly burnt. Once the blocks were split, the nuttyness of the almond came through in the smell - neither of the two elements smelt amazingly enticing, though both were far from offensive.

The plain chocolate had a smooth texture that melted nicely on the tongue to reveal a thick grainy textured marzipan. I wasnt bothered by the roughness of the marzipan as I was expecting it due to the nature of the filling - but still it wasnt the nicest feel in the mouth. The plain chocolate tasted pleasant enough - its flavour wasnt the darkest of plain chocolate I have consumed nor was it the tastiest. It was slightly one dimensional in its flavours - it had a nice cocoa taste with a slightly noted honey aftertaste - generally it was just pleasant enough plain chocolate. Comparatively the marzipan tasted delicious. It was portioned nicely and generously, and although I was expecting it to have an extremely sugary taste, its flavour was more reliant on the almond ingredient and it had a pleasant buttery nutyness. Dont get me wrong it was still very sweet though and thus four blocks of this bar at a time proved to be a rich enough experience.

Overall the combination of chocolate and marzipan is a slightly dangerous one to attempt in that I could easily see how it could be delivered in an overly sweet and sickly tasting bar. Fortunately this Ritter bar managed to avoid this pitfall - though it must be said the subsequent taste was very rich. The plain chocolate was a tad one dimensional and on its own I think it may be a little lacklusture. Luckily the marzipan element was delightful and balanced in its flavours and delivered a super sweet but enjoyable almond taste. A good start for the Ritter range and one to look out for if your a fan of marzipan. This is not a bar a you will want to eat in vast quantities but as a fulfiling quick chocolaty sugar fix this is a good opion.

8.0 out of 10