Monday, 3 January 2011

January 3rd: Ed Hardy Caffeinated Chocolates

Just before Christmas I was contacted by a company called Eat Hearty who are based in Beverly Hills, USA. A kind chap by the name of Gary offered me the chance of trying some new caffeine fueled chocolate products that his company had recently made under the guise of a brand called 'Ed Hardy'. Using the wonder tool that is wikipedia, I managed to find out that Ed hardy is actually a well known tattooist based in America who has licensed his name to clothing lines and now snacks (See HERE). Being open to all things chocolate, I of course told Gary to feel free to send some samples over, and I present to you today both these Chocolate & Coffee Rocks variants.

Both flavours came in 40.0g boxes that contained 30 or so hard candy shelled chocolate pieces. I wouldn't personally say that the style of the packaging was to my taste, but I could appreciate that the nature of the Ed Hardy brand was communicated well. To be honest I was more preoccupied by the bold on-pack claims, which informed me that just five of these small chocolates contained 100mg of caffeine - that's the equivalent of a cup of coffee. The taste tests were certainly going to be interesting.

Chocolate Rocks
Kcal 190 Fat 10.0g Fat(sats) 6.0g Carbs 26.0g (1 box)


I thought I would start off with the plain chocolate flavour so took a handful to eat with my traditional morning black coffee. Caffeine fueled chocolates that I have tried in the past have often stumbled at the taste test due to the common occurrence of a bitter aftertaste forming after consumption. Well whilst I'm pleased to say I didn't encounter this with these, I have to admit I didn't think all that much of the chocolatey taste generated by the 60% cocoa centres. For my liking the chocolate tasted a little bland and the sweetness of the outer shells dominated the main stay of the taste. Whilst I wasn't in awe of the chocolate flavour hit, one 'hit' I did get was the caffeine kick! Eating ten of these in one sitting (pieces not boxes haha!) brought about a definite increase in my alertness for a brief period after consumption. Speaking as someone who drinks strong coffee every morning, this amount did the equivalent.

Coffee Rocks
Kcal 190 Fat 10.0g Fat(sats) 6.0g Carbs 26.0g (1 box)


Having hardly been bowled over by the taste of the plain chocolate variety I was hoping for better things from these coffee chocolate ones. As soon as I opened the packet my hopes were raised - the roasted coffee smells emanating instantly struck as stronger, though I was a little confused as to why they were lighter in colour (I think they might have got the colourings the wrong way round!!). As indicated by the aromas, the taste did prove to have a little more backbone to it. The outer candy shells took more of a backseat in the taste, with some pleasant coffee notes coming to the party as soon as the inner chocolate constituents began melting. The introduction of the coffee flavours meant the taste was simply more impactful, longer lasting and generally just more exciting. As with the above chocolate variant, the coffee buzz was just as noticeable.


Overall these Ed Hardy Caffeinated Chocolates are a product that are more notable for their functionality rather than their flavour experiential credentials. Although I doubted them at first, these genuinely offered up the sort of caffeine hit that I get from normal cups of coffee. Taste wise neither of the two variants offered anything particularly special, or noteworthy than I have had from any confectionery before, but lets be honest, these aren't what they are all about. The coffee variant was more to my liking than the plain chocolate one, but even those were OK at best and not offering a taste that I would pin down as a 'must try'. What I do think needs respecting though, is the fact that these Ed Hardy Caffeinated Chocolates don't mess about when it comes to delivering on their promise of a caffeine kick. When you think that a whole box contains the equivalent of 600mg you have to wonder what sort of state you would be in if you consumed one whole box at a time :D haha! I may not recommend them based on their taste, but if you are game for a laugh and the novelty factor, these are one of the few palatable caffeine chocolates out there.

Ed Hardy Chocolate Rocks Caffeinated Chocolates - 6.8 out of 10
Ed Hardy Coffee Rocks Caffeinated Chocolates - 7.4 out of 10

Sunday, 2 January 2011

*** SITE ANNOUNCEMENT ***

Hi All,

Happy New Year to everyone. I hope you are making the best of your last few days of holiday before you return to work/school etc.

I have just a few announcements to make as to how the site will be run going forwards in 2011. If If you have any comments/thoughts regarding these changes I would welcome you to contact me directly at Jim[@]Chocolatemission.net
EDIT: Any messages left by comments will be left as private messages to myself.

These changes are being made with the sole intention to improve the quality of the site and my own work balance:

1. Reviews will be posted on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays
2. Comments will be answered on Tuesdays, Thursdays & Sundays
3. '7days of Chocolate Reviews' will be posted on Saturdays

Moving to this posting structure, I will now be more focused on reader requests and new products. There was only so long one guy could post 5 days a week after 1,300+ reviews :D

If you are really going to miss the daily interaction with myself :D then I suggest you make sure you sign up to the ChocolateMission TWITTER feed (HERE) which is becoming increasingly active with my daily musings and weekly competitions.

EDIT: In more positive news this extra time means I will be able to work on the functionality of the site. I'm looking at improving the search functionality, updating some of the photography/wrappers and also setting up a new 'reader rating' function for each review. Changes & Updates will be provided in weekend posts.

Thanks for the support

JIM

Saturday, 1 January 2011

January 1st/2nd: Ritter Sport Weiss + Crisp

Kcal ??? Fat ??? Fat(sats) ??? Carbs ???

HAPPY 2011!!! ChocolateMission is back, and boy is it back with a bang!!! I couldn't think of any more appropriate bar to start the year off with than Ritter Sport's 2011 flavour of the year. I was sent this bar back in October 2010 as part of Ritter's bloggers tasting panel to give them some early feedback on what I thought (hence the stock photo of the wrapper above!), suffice to say I've been excited about telling you all about it for a good while now. So what is flavour of the year for 2011? Why of course it is the 'Weiss + Crisp' variant - that's 'White & Crisp' to us Brits! Formed of 'white chocolate and cornflake cereal pieces' this was a rare opportunity to see what Ritter could do with their white chocolate.

As I said above I received this in sampling form so all the 100.0g bars came delivered to me in unmarked Ritter packs. I'm making assumptions about the wrapper, but looking at the design of it I would say that it retains the modern feel of the Ritter brand and manages to communicate the flavour theme in an unfussy manner. My first impressions of the chocolate that were that is was absolutely jam packed full of cornflakes at the base. Compared to the milk chocolate Knusperflakes bar, the chocolate seemed to have more cereal - I guess this is something we can check out when the details emerge on the Ritter website.

What with Ritter being so kind to send multiple bars along, I was able to share them with the rest of my family who are also experienced Ritter Sport consumers. Aroma wise the chocolate smelt nice and offered a dairy based set of scents that had minor biscuity hints. Breaking the bars apart did cause fragments of cereal to disperse themselves but this worried us all very little as soon as we had the chocolate in our mouths. I think we all know that white chocolate isn't my favourite type, but boy was I loving this stuff! It was sinfully creamy in taste and although sweet it never developed an over reliance on it's sugaryness. As the smooth melt of the chocolate progressed an ever developing note of vanilla came to the party and was the lasting impression left in the mouth. The cereal constituents were also well integrated. The corn flavours may not has been as powerful as any nuts, but the saltyness of cereal complimented to the sweet taste of the chocolate wonderfully. This was such a moreish chocolate, I had no problems eating over a half a bar in one sitting - it was that good!

Overall the Ritter Sport bars of the Year haven't always been the best the brand has to offer (See last years HERE), but we should all be very pleased that this Weiss + Crisp is going to be around for at least 12 months. Ever since I reviewed the Ritter Sport White & Whole Hazelnut bar back in 2008 (See HERE), I have been a massive advocate the Ritter should try make a few more variants using their white chocolate recipe. Up until now, Ritter have only obliged with a smattering of white chocolate in their summer bars, but this bar here provides us with further evidence that they really need to start using it an awful lot more. Ritter Sport's white chocolate is quite frankly delicious, and as showcased here pairing it with cornflakes made for a really top combination. I needn't have to say anything more about this particular flavour other than you should try it if you like white chocolate. What a cracking start to the year, fingers crossed everything lives up the standard set here.

8.4 out of 10

Friday, 24 December 2010

December 24th: Seasons Greetings!!!


Delivered Chocolate Gifts at Hotel Chocolat


Hi All,

Could I have found a cheesier, more irritating 'Seasons Greetings' image??? :D

I have finally run out of Christmas products to bring you all so it's about time I shut down the ChocolateMission for the holidays and take some much needed Cadbury Timeout (couldn't resist that one!).

I will be back posting reviews in the New Year, though you may want to keep an eye on the site on boxing day when I will be posting up announcements of all the online/offline chocolate sales.

Until then have a great holiday, whichever it is you celebrate.
Thank you for all your ongoing support.

JIM

P.S. Be sure to let me know what great chocolate gifts you gave and received this year!

Thursday, 23 December 2010

December 23rd: JIM's CHRISTMAS BUYER'S GUIDE - PART 3

PANIC PANIC PANIC!!!! "The chocolates I ordered online haven't turned up" ... "I've left my presents at the office" ... "I've forgotten to buy 'so-&-so a present"!!!!

... Lets face it, we have all been in this position before! Lucky for you guys, I have compiled a quick guide for those last minute chocolate buys that you should be able to make even out of your local convenience store. None of these may seem like the perfect gift, but hey desperate times and all ...

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WHO: Nestle
WHAT: If you are savvy enough you should be able to find these Smarties Penguin and Milkybar Cow on some sort of 2 for £3.00 deal in your local shop or supermarket. Not everyone will be a fan of Milkybar super sweet white chocolate, but you can't go far wrong with the milk chocolate alternative penguin. I always knew Smarties 'would have the answer':D

WHERE: Nationwide local stores & Supermarkets

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WHO: Kraft
WHAT: Lets face it if you led a childhood without getting one of these in your stocking then you really need to be asking your parents some questions :D Terry's Chocolate Orange is one of the more generic offerings, but it provides an easy option last minute present that wont have any noses being turned upwards.WHERE: Nationwide local stores & Supermarkets

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WHO: Thorntons
WHAT: If you want to at least attempt to look a little bit fancy then you might want to try your luck sneaking a pack of these Classic Collection Truffles into someones goodie bag. The quality of the chocolates aren't up to particularly much, but the pack does it at least come at an affordable £1.00 and contains 8 pieces. The odds are stacked in your favour they will find something they like.

WHERE: Nationwide local stores & Supermarkets

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WHO: Lindt
WHAT: If you really hit it lucky your local store or supermarket might have some Lindt chocolate left in stock. If that is the case you want to look out for the solid milk chocolate santa and the Lindt Milk Chocolate Snowdrops. The latter of the two come highly recommended by myself - 'milk chocolate snowballs with a creamy double milk centre' ... they are pretty delicious trust me!WHERE: Nationwide local stores & Supermarkets

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WHO: Marks & Spencer
WHAT: Those of you that are lucky enough to have a local M&S Food shop may want to check out their range of small chocolate gifts this year. From what I have tried their milk chocolate aerated santa wont go upsetting anybody, nor will their giant fondant filled snowballs which will send anyone in to sugary Creme Egg like coma :DWHERE: Nationwide M&S

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WHO: Cadbury
WHAT: If all else fails ... Gifting a few Cadbury Wishes is a fail safe option for you. Firstly it is unlikely you will get many complaints about the actual chocolate - its just aerated Cadbury stuff after all! Secondly you can claim they can feel good about some of the proceeds going to the 'Make a Wish Foundation' ... the charity card eh!? :D Haha a bit cheap indeed, but whose to know :D WHERE: Nationwide local stores & Supermarkets

-------

So are any of you last minute panic buying today? Stories and recommendations are very welcome! One last general post tomorrow before I wrap up for the year!!

Wednesday, 22 December 2010

December 22nd: Booja-Booja Organic Chocolate Truffles Around Midnight Espresso

Kcal 61 Fat 4.8g Carbs 3.9g (per truffle)

The shopping days until Christmas are fast drawing in so and I'm sure there will be a number of you buying last minute chocolate gifts for this weekend. For those of you still mulling over the wide choice of chocolate products using my reviews, I thought I would confuse matters even more so for you by throwing in a brand that hasn't even featured on the site before. Indeed, making their ChocolateMission debut, I present you with Booja-Booja - a UK based chocolate manufacture from Norfolk. I don't know if these guys will be a company you have heard of before, but I was only introduced to the brand myself last week when a work colleague (and fellow chocolate addict) bought me a pack of these 'Around Midnight Espresso' truffles.

These truffles came in a 80.0g box and I was immediately impressed with the packaging. The round edged cardboard box gave the product an immediate premium feel with it's gold fonts and detailed on-pack information (award winning claims etc). Inside the truffles were protected by a dual layer of tissue paper and individual paper sleeves - for chocolates that were coated in a potentially messy layer of cocoa powder they were in immaculate condition. Taking care not to get this cocoa powder up my nose, I took a smell of the truffles and was met with some light but engaging cocoa scents.

I have passed mention already to the copious amount of blurb that was on the packaging but I have to say some of it was really quite intriguing. It just so happened that these truffles were 'dairy free, cholesterol free and gluten free' - those of you on restricted diets will really want to sit up and take notice! Looking at the ingredients these truffles were simple in their construct: 'cocoa, sugar, water, coffee, agave (???), coconut oil and cocoa powder'. They were simple in construct, and on the whole pretty simple in taste. Starting the experience off, the cocoa powder straight away established a pleasant mouth sensation and conjured an unsweetened earthy cocoa taste from out the outset. As the truffle melted away smoothly the taste developed a deeper, richer cocoa flavour base that marginally grew in volume during the progression from solid to liquid state. The coffee element was highly detectable by mid melt of the truffle, though was more of a dark, fruity black Americano rather than an intense raw coffee espresso shot. Two of these truffles at a time complimented a cup of actual coffee quite nicely, but I think a stronger coffee aftertaste would have given them a further richness.

Overall I would give my first experience with Booja-Booja a thumbs up, though they didn't quite manage to blow my socks off with these Around Midnight Espresso truffles. As I have stated quite clearly above the coffee flavour hit wasn't as intense as one might hope for with a product that comes billed as espresso strength. With that said the coffee element was certainly brought to the party and will most likely be well balanced for those who are a happy with a little less intense coffee buzz from their chocolate. Praise must also be awarded to Booja-Booja here for creating some truffles that satisfy many dietary guidelines that some people have to follow. I have tried a few awful gluten, dairy free products in my time, but these do a great job of setting the standard for other companies to live up to. I will certainly being trying more Booja-Booja in the near future - sorry if I have confused you late present buyers even more :D

8.1 out 10

Tuesday, 21 December 2010

December 21st: Terry's All Gold Milk Chocolates

The big day isn't even upon us yet, but I'm sure a number of you have been tucking in to all manner of chocolate selection boxes overs the last few weeks. One of the boxes that I bought most recently was this Terry's All Gold Milk Chocolates, a selection that came billed as 'a fine assortment of milk chocolates'.

I bought this selection in it's 200.0g form (also available in 400.0g) and shared it amongst some colleagues as work. The box included nine different chocolates, each of which were portioned twice and annoyingly only identifiable through a menu detailed on the inner side of the flip-top lid. Having been produced since 1932 I was expecting a classical style of presentation, however I felt the characteristics and decoration of the exterior box was more unfashionable rather than retro chic.

Below are my thoughts on each of the chocolates. As usual ratings are from Awful-to-Superb.

Truffle Intrigue - Described as a 'smooth milk chocolate truffle' this was one of the plainer sounding chocolates in the pack, and this proved to be exactly the case. Although there were textural differences between the outer and inner constituents there was no flavour development from the sugary milky taste offered from the start. Standard.

Caramel Nectar - Being a big caramel lover this was the first piece I went for. Texture wise the caramel felt fantastic on the tongue and had a very pleasurable soft feel. Whilst the mouth feel was great, the taste of the caramel wasn't quite as prestigious as it lacked the buttery, salted flavours I desired. Standard.

Orange Blossom - If there was one piece from this collection that I was expecting to be good it was this one (I'm alluding to Terry's Chocolate Orange of course!). I didn't get to try this one myself, but my fellow tastees who did said it lacked the strength of orangey flavours they were expecting. One commented that the outer milk chocolate was too thick and subsequently dominated the centre orange truffle portion. Standard.


Terry's Hallmark - This was the only piece in the collection that was portioned the once, and to be frank I had no problem with this. This piece was a pure milk chocolate disc. You may have ascertained already that the milk chocolate was generic in it's sweet milky flavours already. This piece felt more like a 'filler' rather than a chocolate included for a reason. Standard.

Roasted Nut Harvest - This was one of the few chocolates in the box which actually had a differentiated tasting outer milk chocolate. The hazelnut flavours kicked in straight away when the chocolate was placed in the mouth. The inner praline did little to take the taste further aside from making it sweeter, but the nutty taste at least offered more than the majority of the chocolates. Good.

Vanilla Flourish - I thought this was one of the more interesting sounding truffles in the box and I liked the sound of a 'vanilla flavour fudge centre'. Unfortunately the centre didn't not come as described, and was totally un-fudge like in texture and taste. Against expectations it was very soft and melted very quickly after first establishing a very fake tasting sugary vanilla note. It did not go down well! Awful.

Hazelnut in Gold - This piece was essentially the same as the caramel nectar, but with an added whole hazelnut thrown in at the centre. Of course this all sounded great in theory, but unfortunately the hazelnut in my piece was soft and neither fresh or flavoursome. The texture differences were nice but the taste was disappointing. Standard.

Strawberry Bloom - I have to admit I was expecting this to be an abyss of fake, artificial tasting strawberry awfulness but I was pleasantly surprised. The centre could have done with being a little more viscous, but the soft runny liquid actually offered a fair set of real tasting fruity flavours. The other tastee who tried it also thought it was ok. Standard.

Burnished Nut Brulee - This sounded like the fanciest in the in the box, but it was essentially the roasted nut harvest piece reshaped. It does confuse me when manufactures try and do this in their selection boxes, I honestly don't know who they are trying to kid. Again the hazelnut flavours were more interesting than the majority of the other offerings, yet it was still pretty unspectacular. Good.

Overall you may have noticed that the majority of the pieces in this selection box achieved a 'Standard' rating - I think this would be a fair reflection on the product as a whole. Comparing a selection box like this to one from say Hotel Chocolat or Thorntons would be a complete nonsense - the price difference between the products is vast, with anything in the region of £10-15 likely separating them. When you put this Terry's All Gold offering in that context you have to say that the value on offer is fair enough. None of the chocolates in the box were anything better than 'Good', and there was one token 'dud' in the form of the vanilla flourish, but what can you expect for just £3.75!? I wouldn't like to pick a winner between this and the Cadbury Milk Tray, but one thing we can safely say is that it is much better than the Nestle Dairy Box.

7.0 out of 10

Monday, 20 December 2010

December 20th: Cadbury KOKO Truffle Collection

Kcal 75 Fat 5.4g Fat(sats) 2.7g Carbs 6.1g (per truffle)

With only a few days left until Christmas I have gone to the effort of bringing you a product review that ticks both the boxes of 'new product Monday', and also something that can be found on the highstreet for all you last minute present buyers! Indeed, the product in the spotlight today is the new KOKO Truffle Collection from Cadbury! Hold on a minute!? Didn't I review the Cadbury KOKO truffles already last year!? ... Why of course I did .... However, Cadbury the sneaky devils have brought out a new 'Truffle Collection' alternative for 2010 - they obviously just forgot to tell anyone about it!

I bought this Cadbury KOKO Truffle Collection whilst in the highstreet drugstore 'Superdrug'. Like the originals the individually wrapped truffles came in a large 200.0g box and cost a very reasonable sounding £2.99. Sat amongst everything else on the shelf, it took my finely tuned 'new product chocolate hunting eyes' to notice the different light green colours used on the packaging. As far as I good see, this was the only noticeable differentiatior from the standard KOKO pack. Don't get me wrong it still looked lovely, as did the truffles, but I think it would have been worth while Cadbury making things a little clearer.

This Truffle Collection consisted of three different flavours - my comments on each of them are below:
Milk Truffle - These were essentially the standard KOKO truffles and had thick outer Cadbury milk chocolate exteriors, with a smooth truffle filling. I hate to spoil the review but these orgiginals still turned out to be the best. The flavour development of the sweet milky chocolate was little different from shell to filling, but the softer textured centre created a very pleasant overall mouth feel. Not Dairy Milk, but still nice enough sweet milk chocolate truffles.

Almond Truffle - These truffles included roasted almond nut pieces within the usual inner truffle centre which I thought made for a very tantalising prospect. Unfortunately the presence of the tiny almond fragments failed to generate any nutty flavours, and rather just upset the texture of the truffles by making them feel a little gritty. Sigh!

Hazelnut Truffle - The hazelnut truffles promised 'delicious hazelnut praline' within the milk chocolate truffle, which I thought again sounded like a decent proposition if executed correctly. Texture wise the smallness of the nut pieces did again upset the smooth, flowing nature of the truffle, but on a more positive note there were at least minor detectable notes of wooden hazelnut in the latter stages of the melt development.


Overall this Cadbury KOKO Truffle Collection was a fair box of chocolates, but it could have been a lot better had there been some more thought given to how the nut variations were created. To put it in to an understandable context, both the hazelnut and almond truffles came across as more 'Cadbury Roses' in terms of quality, rather than chocolates that had been created especially for a premium Cadbury offering. Neither of the two variants were 'bad' so to speak, but at the end of things neither really offered enough in terms of being deemed anything like superior to just the original milk flavoured truffles on offer by Cadbury KOKO already. If you are stuck in a bit of a corner this Christmas and need a last minute gift for someone, then you wont be doing anyone a disservice by buying them a pack of these Cadbury KOKO Truffle Collection (unless they have nut allergies haha!). If you have the time though, I would suggest you take a look at other alternatives, as these really aren't anything spectacular.

7.4 out of 10

Saturday, 18 December 2010

December 18/19th: '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' - Edition 63

*** Jim's Corner ***

Hi All,

Phew!!! What a week of chocolate reviews :D In case you missed anything let me fill you in what we have got through this week ...

Day 1 - Chocri Jim's Winter Warmer
Day 2 - Jim's Buyers Guide Part 1
Day 3 - Hotel Chocolat Chocolate Canapes
Day 4 - Jim's Buyers Guide Part 2
Day 5 - Heavenly Cakes Chilli Brownie

Thanks for all the feedback and input on all these reviews/guides this week :D It's been a battle getting everything up before Christmas - judging by all the comments it was well worth the effort.

This is the last '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' before the end of the year. It will return in 2011 better than ever - I already have plans for a whole new 'Stars & their Bars' aswell as a competition that I will run in January to clear out some leftover samples from 2010.

Review posting winds up on the 24th this year, at which point I will take a week off to charge my ChocolateMission batteries after this hectic Christmas run up! Until then lets go 100 mph - I hope all my UK readers are surviving the latest bout of weather!

JIM


*** News from the Chocolate Market ***

* Nestle have announced they are bringing back the Aero Orange bar ... See HERE

* Nakd have launched a new healthy snack range - perhaps I should take a look at these in January ... See HERE

* Now these are intriguing ... McVitie's announce the launch of Hobnob cookies ... See HERE

* Sad news at this time of year with the closure of a factory that makes one of the UK's most renowned Nestle products ... See HERE

* I think The Independent need to check out ChocolateMission if they want the lowdown on some of these 'crazy Kit Kat flavours' ... See HERE

* According to this site - 'Thinking about chocolate makes you thin' ... yep I cringed at that to ... See HERE


***Blogs I enjoyed this Year***

GiGi Reviews - Gi really stepped up the quality of her site this year. The products featured are wonderfully random, but the photo quality and writing detail in precise as anything ... See HERE

The Impulsive Buy - Marvo has recently made some new additions to his Impulsive Buy crew. If 2010 is anything to go by, 2011 will be another exciting year of product reviews from these guys ... See HERE

CandyBlog - Cybele's site continues to set the standards for Candy & Chocolate reviewers. Her photography is the best in class and her grasp of the English language is second to none. I can't say too many nice things about CandyBlog ... See HERE

Chocablog - Dom and co. continue to do a fabulous job covering all corners of the globe with their fantastic chocolate reviews. There are some very talented writers over there, I suggest it as another you keep a constant eye on ... See HERE

Chocolate Reviews - Lee is a very talented web designer with a site design that is envied by one and all in the Chocosphere. He has a keen eye for great quality chocolate and has a flair for writing some excellent reviews ... See HERE

Foodstufffinds - Liz over at Foodstufffinds is always the first to hunt down the newest consumer goods out on the market. Be sure to keep a close eye on this blog in 2011 if it is new products you like ... See HERE

... apologies if I have forgotten anyone ... I could go on forever talking about any of the blogs featured in my Blogroll but honourable mentions must also go to ZOMGCandy, Rodzilla Reviews, Gone Chocco, It's all about Limited Edition, Sugar Pressure, Snackspot and Foodette Reviews.

Friday, 17 December 2010

December 17th: Heavenly Cakes Chilli Brownie

Kcal 'a few' Fat ??? Fat(sats) 'a smidgen' Carbs 'minimal of course'

Before I launch in to my final Heavenly Cakes review of the year, I must first give you all notice that they are still able to fulfil orders that are placed by midday tomorrow (December 18th)!! That means all you ChocolateMission readers still have the chance to take advantage of the 10% discount they are offering you all - just enter the code 'JCM001' at the checkout stage online and the amount will be deducted from your final basket. One of the cakes you may want to consider putting in that basket of yours is this Heavenly Cakes Chilli Brownie, which is another of their specialist creations for Christmas 2010.

I received this Chilli Brownie in a single serve portion, though like I always do I shared it with a friend to get a second opinion. Aesthetically this brownie looked innocent in regards to it's chilli content. If I could suggest one improvement to be made for this cake, I would tell Heavenly to make the chilli contents a bit more obvious on the eye. If the ingredients are in there, I don't see any reason why they shouldn't have more attention brought to them. I think it would create a nice talkability factor for the cakes also.

Thinking about it now, it is funny how some food trends develop. Not so long ago if you had mentioned that someone had flavoured a chocolate brownie with chilli, it would probably have been suspected that they were being used for some sort of practical joke. Nowadays chilli and dark chocolate is almost considered a classic combination - this brownie supplied further evidence to why this should be so. Taking the brownie out the packet it felt almost worrying how familiar the tempting brownie scents were to my senses - too many Heavenly Cakes this year perhaps Jim? ... Never!!! Hopefully from my photograph above you can get an idea of how well the cake had been baked. It had a terrific crisp exterior and a soft, gooey, viscous centre - texturally it was almost perfection. I always pull out the corny phrases for Heavenly Cakes reviews, but this really was 'love at first bite'. The base brownie taste was packed with buttery chocolate cake flavours and was nicely enhanced with solid chunks of plain 50% cocoa chocolate chunks which had been dispersed throughout. Although the chilli didn't play so much a role in the taste of the brownie with it's weak to mild pepperyness, boy did the Jolokia chillis (pictures HERE) come to the party in the latter stages of each mouthful. The heat feel generated for the vast majority of the bites was amazingly balanced and delivered a very pleasant winter warming mouth sensation. My friend did comment at times that the chilli was perhaps a little too eager, but I would probably put that more down to the fact we at our portions so quickly :D

Overall Heavenly Cakes have a lot to be proud of here again as they crafted yet another fine tasting and unique cake offering. As I mentioned in the paragraph above, the idea of a chilli flavoured brownie not so long ago would have just been treated as a joke. Heavenly have proven here that this combination is suitable not only for plain chocolate bars, but is also more than appropriate to be enjoyed in cakes and brownies - now I can't recall any other of the mass manufacture brands being as bold as this yet!? Although I would have loved Heavenly to have used a slightly stronger dark chocolate, the friend that I tried this with said it was spot on in terms of richness so I'm guessing they have got the cocoa strength spot-on for the common consumer. The chilli fire power was also well integrated - it wasn't excessively peppery in the taste, and brought a magnificent, warm cosy feel to mouth. Recommendations are easy here - get involved if you like your chilli flavoured chocolates.

8.8 out of 10


Thursday, 16 December 2010

December 16th: JIM's CHRISTMAS BUYER'S GUIDE - PART 2

If you saw my Buyer's Guide Part 1 (See HERE) you will have noticed that I mainly focused on the online retailers. With order & postage times dwindling, Buyers Guide Part 2 focuses on the options you will more likely find in your local supermarket and highstreet stores. Remember these are just a few of my own picks - please share your own top products for Christmas time this year and share them with us all ...

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WHO: Hotel Chocolat
WHAT: Orders are still being fulfilled online, but if you are lucky enough to live within distance of a Hotel Chocolat store you might want to check out this delicious Dasher Reindeer. This chap mainly comprises of the amazingly delicious Hotel Chocolat 40% milk chocolate, but his white chocolate belly and dark chocolate scarf and hooves bring a nice bit of variety for just £6.00. A great gifting option.


WHERE:
Tasting Club_468x60


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WHO: Mr Kipling
WHAT: These Mr Kipling Rum & Raisin Slices come with a seal of approval from ChocolateMission readers Phil and . It took me a while to find them myself, but I'm sure glad I found these 'moist cakes with rum, juicy raisins, topped with caramel and chocolate'. Heavenly Cakes may be leading the way forward when it comes to the speciality homemade cakes, but if you are looking for a quick fix option I can confirm these are 'exceedingly good' :D :D

WHERE: Sainsbury's or Lidl

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WHO: Ritter Sport
WHAT: The bars pictured below are the Limited Edition Goldschatz (only available around Christmas time!) and Schokocreme which were sent to me by Ritter Sport in Germany. Whilst you may not have much luck finding these in the UK, I would suggest you have a hunt around for the Marzipan, Peppermint and Whole Hazelnut variants which we can all easily find. Ritter Sport chocolates are perfect if you are looking for tasty, but affordable gifting material this Christmas.

WHERE: Major Supermarkets and other Highstreet merchants.

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WHO: Milka
WHAT: The general public may not have been best pleased with Kraft's takeover of Cadbury this year, but there is no denying that they don't make some half tasty chocolate with their own Milka brand. If you know want to impress your friends and family with some sweet milk chocolate this Christmas, but dont want to go down the predicatable Cadbury or Galaxy route, then why not treat someone to a Milka Alpenmilch Santa or a bag of these Milka Feine Kugeln Truffles (Nougat-Creme and Noisette flavours pictured below) I can highly recommend either options :DWHERE: Major Supermarkets and other Highstreet merchants.

Wednesday, 15 December 2010

December 15th: Hotel Chocolat Chocolate Canapes


I will warn you all now that the Hotel Chocolat reviews are going to be coming thick and fast in the next few weeks - there are still a great amount of reviews to be packed in before Christmas time!

A few months ago I asked you all what products you wanted to see reviewed on the site during the countdown to the festive period. To my surprise not all the requests were for posts on chocolate shaped reindeers and Christmas Wreathes. Indeed a great deal of you went down a more sophisticated route - possibly seeking good chocolate options for you to take to various dinner parties (that's my theory anyway :D ). One of the most commonly requested products you all told me to take a look at was this Chocolate Canapes Selection, thankfully Hotel Chocolat were more than willing to oblige with a sample.

I received this selection in a thin box containing 24 chocolates. In terms of presentation everything was to the usual Hotel Chocolat standards. Being able to see the canapes through a transparent plastic cover was a nice touch (if difficult to photograph!), whilst I'm sure you will agree the canapes looked stunning themselves. Speaking of the canapes they came in three different varieties ...

Chilli & Almond - These canapes combined a dark chocolate base and had a fresh almond piece placed on top. Somewhat curiously the chilli element in the chocolate didn't come through for me whatsoever - manufacturing fault in the factory perhaps!? Luckily the rich dark cocoa flavours of the 70% chocolate and the buttery, savoury almond nuts flavours were more than sufficient to entertain my tastebuds.

Pecan & Vanilla - This canapes was formed of a milk chocolate base, topped with a roasted pecan nut and drizzled with vanilla chocolate. It was utterly delicious, and I loved the way each canape progressed it's flavours from cream based cocoa, salty nut to a longing bourbon vanilla aftertaste. For such a small chocolate the flavour journey was incredible.

Caramel Florentine Square - What can I say about this canapes? This was my favourite in the selection without doubt, and combined a caramel milk chocolate base with a lovely Florentine square. The creamy caramel chocolate base was superb, but the extra toffee and nut flavours brought to the party by the Florentine piece created a luxurious, delicious taste with it's unique crunchy texture. When I shared these amongst my family these Florentine pieces were the first to go.


Overall this wasn't a perfect Hotel Chocolat product by any means, but if you are going to be hosting/turning up at a Christmas party get together this month they are the perfect thing to whip out at the end of a meal or gift. The three different flavours on offer are pretty perfect in terms of what they offer. The dark chocolate and chilli canapes I had in my selection were lacking the chilli, but I will rule under the assumption that this was just an error in the pack I received. As I said above the dark chocolate and almond was sufficient anyway, whilst the two milk chocolate canapes were just simply quite phenomenal. My only real criticism about this product as a whole was that Hotel Chocolat didn't actually include one of the best canapes they make. The dark chocolate and ginger canapes (See review HERE) they produce are just as fantastic as any of these three, and they would have been a good option for anyone not interested in nuts. That gripe aside I can whole heartily recommend these. If you are looking to impress at the dinner parties this year, make sure you are the guest/host whipping these out!

8.2 out of 10

Tuesday, 14 December 2010

December 14th: JIM's CHRISTMAS BUYER'S GUIDE - PART 1

Welcome to JIM's CHRISTMAS BUYER'S GUIDE - PART 1 featuring my top buys for Christmas 2010!! If you have any of your own 'top tips' for this Christmas be sure to share them with the ChocolateMission community!

Sit back, relax and contemplate the tasty treats to come in the coming weeks!


WHO: Heavenly Cakes
WHAT: These guys have a wide range of different handmade cakes on offer for you this Christmas. Showcased below is their Cappuccino cake which combines a 'Belgian dark chocolate & real coffee biscuit base with a layer of white chocolate and sprinkled cocoa' Trust me - it's absolutely delicious and just one of many of the superb cakes these guys have to offer. Don't forget to use the discount code available to all ChocolateMission readers - 'JCM001' to recieve 10% off your order!!!!

WHERE: http://www.heavenlycakes.co.uk/

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WHO: Cadbury
WHAT: If you are a fan of Dairy Milk then you will want to be checking out this Cadbury Dairy Milk Christmas Cracker. Available for the bargain price of £2 this carboard box cracker contains several individually wrapped Dairy Milk Blocks - a sure fire winner for any Cadbury fan surely?
WHERE:



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WHO: J-LIST
WHAT: Where else would you head for all the latest Japanese chocolate & snack items? Featured below you will see the Meiji Chopan Framboise / Original, Meiji Creamy Air Chocolate w/ Marshmallow and Glico's Powan Marshmallow Chocolate ... these are just a few of the great chocolatey snacks currently on offer. Get your orders in quick before it's too late to recieve them for Christmas!WHERE:


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WHO: Hotel Chocolat
WHAT: Need I really remind you to stop by Hotel Chocolat? Haha probably not :D They have a huge range of Christmas products this year for 2010! One product you might not have considered yet are these Hotel Chocolat Christmas Table Crackers - 'Ribbon-tied and ready to finish off your carefully laid table in style. And being filled with premium Christmas chocolates, there’s not a novelty toy in sight!'
WHERE:
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WHO: Nestle
WHAT: I'm sure you will all be working extremely hard up until the Christmas holidays - why not have a break? Have a Santa Claus Kit Kat :D
WHERE: All Major Retailer Supermarkets
 

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