June 25th: '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' - Edition 77 - Thorntons Gold Award Winners 2011

SITE UPDATE

Hi All,

It's been another really great week for the site with record amounts of visitors and some really good chit chat on the reviews. If you are one of my readers who doesn't look at the comment threads on the reviews I would strongly suggest you start doing so. There are a great bunch of regulars and the discussions can get very lively.

Whats gone on in my world this week!? Well not that much to be honest with you folks. I have recieved deliveries from Thorntons and Ritter Sport, but apart from that it has been all rather quiet.

Next week you can expect to see more Hotel Chocolat, Lucky's Cakes and AmericanSoda. Make sure you are signed up to the ChocolateMission Twitter feed HERE. You never know I might have the sudden urge to hold another competition if I get the chance. As ever if you have any products you want to see reviewd please just leave them on the request page.

Have great weekends and remember to visit the NEWS PAGE.

JIM


SNACK OF THE WEEK ..... a new part of '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' which will feature any manner of snacking product I have been products munching on in the week




Hands up if you have seen these doing the rounds on the Chocosphere this week :D .... Yeah, you and me both! There I was thinking I was all special this week after recieving these 'Academy of Chocolate 2011 award winning chocolates' through the post from my pals at Thorntons.

As part of their attempts to reshape their somewhat troubled brand image it appears that Thorntons are attempting to remind people just how good some of their chocolates are by sending out some PR samples to us so called 'chocolate experts'. Included in these packs Thorntons included three of their chocolates that won awards at the latest Academy of Chocolate awards ... here are my thoughts on them.

Crunchy Praline - This was a great chocolate that combined a soft yielding hazelnut filling with small crunchy rice cereal pieces dispersed throughout. In terms of taste the woody nut flavours were forthcoming and the outer chocolate had a pleasant creamy sweetness. The rice cereal specs offered little flavourwise, though they brought pleasant addictions texturally. Good.
Raspberry & Rose - This piece was suitably coated with a less sugar intensive dark chocolate which I thought matched the highly sweet centre well. Once again the mouthfeel of the soft filling was pleasant against the crisp outer chocolate, though I wasn't all that taken by raspberry and rose flavours. Though distinctive I thought they were highly reminiscent of Thorntons' standard Turkish Delight bar which didn't make it feel like an altogether 'special' award worthy chocolate. More could have been done with the raspberry. Standard.
Vanilla Caramel - Given the amount of caramels I have tried in my time this was probably the one they were going to have most problems impressing me with - to my surprise they did! This was a delightful caramel that had both a wonderful mouthfeel and a terrific flavour delivery. The filling was soft and slightly viscous in texture, whilst the taste had elements of butter, salt, vanilla and cream all in one. It wasn't the best ever caramel, but it was still highly enjoyable. I wouldn't mind a box of these. Superb.

So where can you get some of these 'award winners' yourself? Well you can head over to Thorntons HERE and keep an eye out for the £100 'Wonder box' that these will be included in to celebrate their 100 year Jubilee year. Here's hoping they also come out with a more realistically priced offering eh!? :D

8.3 out of 10




CHOCOLATE NEWS

Visit the ChocolateMission news page for all the latest developments in the Chocolate market ... Click the banner below ....

June 24th: William Curley Nostalgia Range

If you have been following the site over the last few months you will no doubt have come across my reviews of some of William Curley's finest chocolates (Website & Shop - See HERE). As I have slowly made my way through his range, an ever increasing amount of ChocolateMission fanatics (there are a few of you haha!) have been requesting that I take a look at the William Curley Nostalgia bars.

The Nostalgia range is William's take on some of the all time classic chocolates that we have here in the UK. After getting in contact with the guys at WC, they felt that the Bounty, Millionaire's and Marathon bars would be their best representation. All three of these bars came delivered to me in clear cellophane packs as you can see above. Upon receiving them in this manner I have to admit I was little surprised, as although the bars themselves looked grand, the cellophane wrappers hardly looked the classiest - especially compared to the amazingly decorative boxes of the other William Curley products I reviewed previously.

Alongside some trusted taste test helpers, I have been sampling these all this week. Below are our collective thoughts:

William Curley Millionaire's

Unlike the other two below this wasn't a bar based on a commercial bar, but more just the concept of Millionaire's Shortcake. This one came described as 'Traditional all-butter shortbread topped with sea salt caramel and coated in Toscano 66% dark chocolate'.

All of us that tasted this one loved two out of three major components of this bar. The 66% Toscano chocolate that coated it was absolutely delicious. The dark chocolate was forthcoming with it's flavours from the outset, and it fast established a fine set of unsweetened cocoa flavours that were layered with hints of earth and red wine. The bitterness of the chocolate was tempered quite superbly by the inner shortbread that brought tones of butter, salt and brown sugar to the party within it's soft, melt in the mouth texture. Unfortunately, like we found with the William Curley Sea Salted Caramel Mou, the caramel was a let down and didn't quite do the job we all hoped it would. It was agreed all round that it lacked the desired butterscotch and salt flavours that we were all hoping. It wasn't a bad offering by any means but it didn't tick all of the boxes.

7.2 out of 10



William Curley Marathon Bar

For those unaware (I willingly to bet none of you!!) the Marathon bar was the original name given to the Snickers. If you wish to read up more on this I suggest you head on over to our pals at WIKI. The long story cut short is that the bar was called the Marathon up until 1981, at which point it got renamed. This bar came described as 'Peanut and chocolate nougat topped with a salted peanut caramel and coated in Toscano 70% dark chocolate'.

Unless I'm missing something here, I guess one could argue right off the bat this wasn't a complete like-for-like bar given that it had a dark chocolate coating as opposed to the traditional milk chocolate used by Mars today. Although the 70% recipe was only 4.0% different in terms of cocoa content, this chocolate couldn't of tasted any more different. The Toscano chocolate was bursting full of character and had a strong smokey, tobacco like definition that was very, very strong! To be honest it was felt by most of us that chocolate was too distracting from the other elements in the bar. Indeed, the chocolate was so concentrated in taste it took attention away from the nougat, caramel and peanuts which all frankly struggled to create much of an impression apart from texturally. Out of three the roasted peanuts were the most definitive but for the main part even they struggled to come to terms with the domination of the strong chocolate. The holistic feedback was that this was a bar that most of us wanted to try with a milk chocolate coating.

7.9 out of 10



William Curley Bounty Bar

Have I been a saddo and saved the best until last again :D Why of course! This Bounty bar was admittedly the one I had least enthusiasm about but I was thankfully surprised by it and then some. It came described as 'White chocolate and toasted coconut ganache coated in Toscano 70% dark chocolate'.

As with the Marathon bar above this one came coated in the same strong tasting Toscano 70% dark chocolate, however things were a little different here and it wasn't quite so dominant. Indeed, although it shared the flavour construction as talked about above, the filling was so contrasting in style it managed to create the desired impact. The dark chocolate was great .... the white chocolate coconut ganache was out of this world :D It was so good infact it created one of those special moments that when you share with someone and you taste it at the same time, all you can do is look at each other with wider eyes and big grins :D The filling to this was bar was one of the creamiest, most delicious things I have tasted in a long time. No words can do it justice really, I think if you are an appreciator of coconut then this will make you feel like you are touching the stars - I will just leave it at that :D The most disappointing thing for me here was I chose to share it.

8.7 out of 10



Overall from what I have tasted, the William Curley Nostalgia range is one worth exploring if you have an interest in seeing how an up market chocolatier translates popular commercial offerings into their own style. Out of the three I tried, I do think that two of them need a little work. The Marathon was a little disappointing for what it intended to be, though Mr Curley more than made up for things with his outstanding take on the Bounty. Would I pay in excess of £3.00 for these again? The Marathon and Millionaire's I wouldn't without a recipe change. The Bounty bar I would honestly be prepared to pay more for.

June 22nd: 'Bits n Bobs' American Soda Selection

It's been a while since we last had a proper 'Bits n Bobs' review but today I have the pleasure of showcasing you all a number of goodies sent to me by my pals at AmericanSoda (Website See HERE). Despite the name, these chaps also import all kinds of American foodstuffs. You will no doubt have seen many of my 'Snack of the Week' products have come from these guys lately - namely the Oreo Golden Double Stuff Cookies being a particular highlight (See HERE).

----
Goldenberg's Chew-ets Original / Milk Chocolate Peanut Chews

Original - Kcal 270 Fat 14.0g Fat(sats) 6.0g Carbs 35.0g (per 6 pieces)
Milk Chocolate - Kcal 270 Fat 14.0g Fat(sats) 6.0g Carbs 33.0g (per 6 pieces)

I have to admit that I was dreading having to both eat and review these when the guys at AmericanSoda told me they were sending them across. Having read up on them on other American review websites such as Candyblog (Cybele's review HERE), the prospect of fake chocolate and even fake caramel didn't sound an altogether desirable mix. Factor in the vague on-pack descriptors 'Bite-size chewy pieces loaded with peanuts' and the inclusion of the much dread trans fats, things didn't sound very promising.

Well consider me pleasantly surprised! These weren't half bad you know :D The so called 'chocolate' on both was ...errr.... pointless considering that both variants were relatively flavourless. The milk variant was a little sweeter, though frankly the chocolate was a complete non-factor by the time the inner molasses and peanuts were encountered. This may sound negative but I guess if they weren't going to bother with decent chocolate then it made sense for them to let the peanuts take centre stage. Thankfully this was something they did rather nicely, and their roasted, salty flavours played off nicely against the sugary, treacle like fillings. The chewy textures made their mouth longevity a decent long while, I genuinely couldn't pull a favourite out of the two. I wouldn't count them as an essential purchase, but if you are looking for a basket filler you could do a lot worse.

Original - 7.2 out of 10
Milk Chocolate -7.2 out of 10


-----
Hershey's Milk Chocolate Drops

Kcal 200 Fat 12.0g Fat(sats) 7.0g Carbs 25.0g) (per 15 pieces - 41.0g)

My initial reaction when I saw these was that we had yet another Galaxy Counters product at hand. To be fair to Hershey's I don't think Galaxy (or Dove as they are known in the US) actually have these out over there, so one might forgive them for just plugging an existing gap in their current market. As you can probably tell from my photos these were pretty simple in proposition and build 'milk chocolate drops - no shell, no mess' was what was promised on the front of the wrapper.

Now normally this type of candy and chocolate don't smell of much when their packets are opened. Well I wish this had been true about these guys - the Hershey's disgusting wrank milk smell was unfortunately evident here, even my old man winced when taking the photographs. Not allowing myself not to be perturbed I just got on with things and at the end of the day just enjoyed a decently average bag of chocolate. Glazing agent shell coatings aren't my favourite thing in the world, but they were at least very thin here and didn't inhibit the release of the flavours to a great degree. The chocolate was everything I expected it to be with it's sweet milky cocoa flavour set later followed by the unique Herhsey's yoghurty like after taste. Hershey chocolate sits fine with me so I got an average amount of enjoyment from these. They didn't offer anything I hadn't experienced before but they still made for a decent enough snack.

7.0 out of 10


-----
Kellogg's Pop Tarts Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Kcal 190 Fat 5.0g Fat(sats) 2.5g Carbs 19.0g (per pastry)

Kellogg's Pop Tarts aren't one of my favourite products in the world, however they have featured on ChocolateMission previously when I took a look at the 'Chocotastic' flavour we have available here in the UK (See HERE). Anyone who knows their American foods will know that Pop Tarts are 'serious business' in America! Kellogg's have a pretty extensive range of different flavours to offer - I think I counted around 30 last time I cared to look on their website.

As I said above they may not be my favourite things ever but I was hardly going to turn down the opportunity of trying these Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough flavoured ones. Replacing my usual bran flakes and fruit, I tried eating two of these this morning, however failed miserabley when I just couldn't take the sugar overload that I got from just the one. Aromas wise it has to be said that these pastries smelt very pleasant and the fresh baked pastry smells gave signs of real promise. Once toasted the surrounding pastry was a little dry and flavourless but it at least wasn't quite the sugar onslaught of the upper topping of frosting and inner filling. Taste wise the filling wasn't bad - it wasn't quite the full on effect chocolate cookie dough experience desired (ala Ben & Jerry's), but for a limited duration at the start of each bite I did get hints of cookie and chocolate before the sugar took over. My big issue with these was that I didn't they didn't to provide much in the way of sustenance. By 11.00am I was hit with with a severe case of the hunger pangs! Pop Tarts fan might want to take a look but I think I will be sticking to my usual cereal for the time being.

6.7 out of 10


----
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Minis

Kcal 200 Fat 12.0g Fat(sats) 6.0g Carbs 23.0g (per 11 pieces)

HERSHEY WORKER #1: "Guys we need to come up with a new development for Reese's"
HERSHEY WORKER #2: "Hmmm I know, lets do miniature versions of the normal ones"
HERSHEY WORKER #1: "Wow that's great ... but haven't we done that before?"
HERSHEY WORKER #2: "Oh yeah ... errr

*2 minute pause*

HERSHEY WORKER #2: Eureka!!! I know!!! Lets make them even smaller!!"
HERSHEY WORKER #1: "Wow what an idea! We're the best!"


.... That's how I envisage the geniouses at Hershey's came up with these :D See my review of the original Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Miniatures HERE.

Ignoring my pessimism, and just reviewing the product at hand these were admittedly still pretty cool. Each of the mini-miniatures was about the size of a 5 pence piece - about five or so made for a comfortable mouthful at any given time. What I loved about these so much was that they were not only great when eaten by themselves, but also as when eaten alongside other foods such as cereal, ice cream etc. These didn't present anything different in terms of the chocolate being crappy and the peanut butter filling exceptional, but still I imagine they would bring a great deal of pleasure to anyone who has enjoyed Reese's products before. Recommended for Reese's nutters :D

7.9 out of 10

June 20th: Hotel Chocolat Knickerbocker Glory Peach Melba & Mint Choc Chip

Ask and you shall receive ChocolateMission fanatics :D If you have been checking out the site for the last few weeks you will not doubt have seen that the Hotel Chocolat Monday's have been in full flow. Feedback in those reviews has often come in the form of further requests - a notable sum of them being calls for me to review the rest of the Knickerbocker Glory range. The first variant I reviewed from this range did very well on the ChocolateMission rating system (See Hotel Chocolat Knickerbocker Glory Neopolitan review HERE), so further joys were expected from both these Peach Melba and Mint Choc Chips flavours.

Just as with the Neopolitans, both of these came in 110.0g packets that comprised of ten truffles in each. I'm sure you will agree, the presentation of both was very impressive. The Peach Melba truffles aesthetically caught the eye with their vivid bright pink outer shells. The Mint Choc Chip ones were more notable for their forthcoming minty scents that emerged as the plastic packet was split.

Below are my thoughts on each - my taste testing helper panel this time consisted of various family members.


Hotel Chocolat Knickerbocker Glory Mint Choc Chip - 'Mint ganache covered in dark chocolate with dark chocolate chips'. For some reason or other (i.e. I have no idea why!?), Hotel Chocolat don't seem to offer the broadest selection of chocolate mint products. Their Hotel Chocolat Midnight Mint Collection impressed in the past, however if you think about just how many truffle collections of their's I have tried, it is a little puzzling why their seems to be such a limited amount. Believe me, this all becomes increasingly more puzzling when they prove they can make truffles like these, which were simply nothing short of outstanding. The 70.0% dark chocolate which coated each truffle substantiated coffee noted unsweetened cocoa flavours from the outset and these shells were the perfect foil for the utterly gorgeous minty fillings below. Exceeding all expectations, the peppermint ganache was smooth on the tongue, creamy and had just about the right level of mintyness. These two contrasting elements made for an altogether sensational flavour experience which was loved by one and all. Chocolate mint fans - this is your ecstasy!!

9.1 out of 10


---------

Hotel Chocolat Knickerbocker Glory Peach Melba - 'Peach ganache in white chocolate, coated in raspberry powder and icing sugar'. Whenever the words Hotel Chocolat and any sort of fruit get mentioned in our household there is always a great deal of interest shown. Being a lover of peaches ("the flesh not the skin" so she tells me at every given opportunity :D), my mother was hugely keen on trying these so I didn't deny her the pleasure. To be honest it's lucky for Hotel Chocolat that I did draft her in to help me here, as I personally didn't find these to my taste. Personally I wasn't keen on the make up of the outer shells, as I thought the icing sugar and raspberry dusting were somewhat uncessary. Indeed they added colour to the truffles, but for me they changed the usual taste of Hotel Chocolat white chocolate which I thought this time was more intensely sugary. My mother was undeterred by this of course and was more focused on the peach filling which by all means was very tasty. It delivered contributions of peachy fruit and cream in equal measures - the minor tartness of the peach was highlight and didn't at least temper the sweetness of the chocolate partially.

8.2 out of 10



Overall these were both good standard truffles, though for me the Mint Choc Chip really stood out as something special. All three of these Hotel Chocolat Knickbocker Glory flavours have been pretty good and I would suggest you give them a try if any of the flavours whet the appetite. I'm now heading off to hide the rest of the Mint Choc Chips ones from wondering hands :D

June 18th: '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' - Edition 76 - Oreo Golden Double Stuf

SITE UPDATE + TWITTER COMPETITION WINNERS

Hi All,

The reviews seem to have been received rather well this week - Thank you ever so much for all the kind words and feedback you have left on them. Just in case you missed them you can catch up with them using the links below:

Hotel Chocolat Mississippi Mud Pie - See HERE
Lucky's Mad Hatter Bars - See HERE
William Curley Sea Salt Caramel Mou / Praline Feullantine - See HERE

Hopefully all of you will have seen and participated in the twitter competition this week. I can reveal the winners are:

@Tinky_Pink
@k83atie
@NiceMovesIsla

Congratulations. You have all won Ritter Sport prizes! Please direct message me your addresses (or e-mail!) For all of you who missed out this time FOLLOW ME HERE, to save missing out next time.

I can't offer another competition this week, but keep your eyes and ears open for another big one coming up in the next few weeks. I'm still yet to decide the upcoming reviews this week, however Hotel Chocolat Monday is a nailed on certainty.

Have great weekends and remember to visit the NEWS PAGE.

JIM


SNACK OF THE WEEK ..... a new part of '7Days of Chocolate Reviews' which will feature any manner of snacking product I have been products munching on in the weekKcal 150 Fat 7.0g Fat(sats) 2.5g Carbs 21.0g (Per 2 cookies)

Today 'Snack of the Week' comes courtesy of my pals at American Soda (Website HERE) who ever so kindly sourced a pack of these Oreo Golden Double Stuff for me when I pleaded for them to get added to their site. These had been recommended to me by a number of people on Twitter after my review of the original Oreo Double Stuff - it was hardly like I need much encouragement, especially after reading Marvo's great review HERE.

In case you are a UK reader who hasn't come across these before, Oreo Golden come described as 'golden vanilla sandwich cookies with vanilla cream fillings'. As you can see from my photos these double stuf (why the silly spelling I don't know!) looked very attractive with the immense volume of vanilla cream very much catching the eye. If you will allow me to compare these to the original Double Stuff (See HERE), I will tell you there were elements about these that I both found better and inferior. What was worse? The golden cookies weren't bad tasting, but on balance I would say the chocolate biscuits of the originals have a bit more to them. What was better? I found the vanilla cream worked better with the golden biscuit and the vanilla flavours seemed enhanced and less sugary.

Overall these were a nice variation of Oreo, though I'm unsure they managed to surpass the originals in my eyes - the jury is still out on that one. One thing I do know is that fans of Custard Creme biscuits here in the UK will think they have died and gone to heaven. Get yourselves to American Soda before they sell out folks.

8.2 out of 10





CHOCOLATE NEWS

Visit the ChocolateMission news page for all the latest developments in the Chocolate market ... Click the banner below ....

June 17th: William Curley Sea Salt Caramel Mou / Praline Feullantine

A little while ago we had the ChocolateMission debut of William Curley who failed to create much too much excitement or enthusiasm with some of his plain house dark and white chocolate recipes - See HERE.

The reader feedback from those reviews contained many suggestions that I try some of their flavoured chocolate bars with the hope that they might be add an X-factor to the good, but not necessarily amazing standard chocolate. Being the kind souls they are at WC, they fully obliged with these requests and sent along two bars they believed would represent their range well.

Both these William Curley Sea Salt Caramel Mou & Praline Feullantine bars came in the most beautifully presented black boxes, which were decorated with some stunning gold coloured pattern work and fonts. As with the plain house offerings I tried previously, the packaging created a terrific sense of premiumness, I just hoped the chocolates were going to back it up this time.

William Curley Sea Salt Caramel Mou



One look at the ChocolateMission leaderboard should give you some idea of my love for caramel flavoured chocolates - I was really looking forward to seeing what WC were going going to offer with this one. It came described as 'caramel hinted with Brittany sea salt, coated in dark chocolate', and was split into two separate 32.5g bars that came wrapped in thick gold foil.

The cocoa hinted butterscotch scents that greeted me when I released the bars from their foil confines were absolutely terrific and set up expectations rocketing. The 70% dark chocolate that coated the caramel innards was instantly familiar and fast went about establishing an unsweetened, rich cocoa taste in the mouth. The caramel below was a dark gold colour and had a delightful smooth texture that was halfway between a solid and liquid state. Unfortunately, whilst the mouth feel was sensational, for me it didn't hold up it's end of the bargain taste wise. I thought it lacked the complexity of flavours of other high quality caramels, with it's burnt sugar flavours coming across as 'over toasted', harsh and a little one dimensional. Personally I couldn't detect any saltiness, and was desperately seeking smoother tones of butter and cream which I didn't get.

Overall this was by no stretch of the imagination a bad chocolate caramel offering, however it just wasn't one that I would consider up there as one of the best. Having tried so many high chocolate caramels in my time I guess my standards are very high, so I would encourage you to investigate for yourselves before making a finalised judgement.

7.5 out of 10



William Curley Praline Feullantine


When I reviewed the plain bars from William Curley the cheekier few amongst my readership noted that I hadn't touched upon any of their milk chocolate offerings. Well no such criticism can be thrown my way today. Below are my thoughts on the William Curley Praline Feullantine milk chocolate bar - a 'Crispy praline wafer with toasted Piedmont hazelnuts encased in milk chocolate'.

This bar came in a 45.0g size that was segregated into five blocked pieces. The chocolate was decorated with 'wooden bark' like pattern work which was fitting given that a strong set of woody hazelnut nuts scents emerged once released from it's gold foil confines. The milk chocolate that coated this bar was a 40.0% recipe and it developed a delightful creamy cocoa taste upon its smooth melt in the mouth. If I had to relate it to a similar chocolate, I would say that it was similar in texture to Galaxy, but with a more characteristic, cleaner set of cocoa flavours that had an an inviting touch of honey and butter in it's midst. The bits of wafer weren't particularly flavoursome, however they added nice crunchy textural elements. I'm sure you will all be glad to hear that the hazelnut praline centre was worthy of a big thumbs up. As indicated by the aromas, the filling had an earthy, woody, savoury hazelnut taste that was established almost instantaneously upon it's revelation. The small fragments of nut added further nutty bursts whilst not hampering the mouth feel to any great significance.

Overall this was definitely the best thing I have tried from William Curley yet. Having reviewed tons and tons of praline products over the course of my three years running this website, I should be able to determine high quality praline when I taste one and this was certainly one that was up there with the best of them. Some of you may be put off by the price, but if love chocolate bars like everyday bars like the Kinder Bueno its likely you will see this as a real treat.

8.5 out of 10



If you fancy trying the William Curley range yourself you can head to his online shop HERE

June 15th: Lucky's Mad Hatter Bars

Back in March we had the ChocolateMission debut of a brand called Lucky's. If you need reminding, Lucky's produce 'unique luxury cakes covered in pure chocolate', and they managed to really impress me with their Honey Time Collection gift pack. I was so taken by their cakes, you may recall that I concluded that they were 'the best product I had reviewed on ChocolateMission so far in 2011'- thats some high praise! Well given that experience you can imagine my excitement when Lucky's offered me the chance to try some of their latest additions.

The three cakes I will be showcasing today are the three new 'Mad Hatter Bar' variants. The Mad Hatter Bar range consists of Lucky's special dark brownie cake which they have flavoured with three different types of Valrhona chocolate, as well as several flavour variations that I will make clearer below. As with my last experience these cakes came beautifully presented in transparent plastic box cases which had been wrapped and hand sealed with an Alice in Wonderland themed label. I probably needn't point out the marvellous look of the cakes themselves - I hope my photos showcase that. They had obviously been crafted with real care, and the clear Lucky's moulded branding on the top of each was a clear reminder of the premium quality at hand.

Going Bananas - 'Dark brownie with banana and ginger, covered in milk Valrhona chocolate (40.0%)'. Banana cake is a real favourite of mine at the moment so I had high expectations for this one. The melt of the milk chocolate was smooth and provided a rich set of creamy chocolatey flavours for every mouthful. This great quality chocolate was only superseded by the deliciousness of the brownie that sat at the heart of this chunky block - boy was it phenomenal! The banana flavours were true and forthcoming, and a subtle undertone of ginger added a remarkable hint of warming spice to the rich cocoa flavours of the brownie. A thin layer of some sort of caramel or creme could have made this utterly outstanding, but frankly it was almost near perfection - an outstanding synergy of fruit, cake and chocolate. One for banana cake fans that's for sure!

8.8 out of 10


-----
Looney Raspberry - 'Dark brownie with raspberry and pistachio, covered in white Valrhona chocolate (35.0%)'. Out of all three this did admittedly sound like the weakest to me though I was still quite excited by the prospect of the pistachio nuts and Valrhona white chocolate. The white chocolate did it's job of establishing a milky, vanilla hinted initial taste, however it soon became a bit of an after thought with the other stronger flavoured constituents taking a lead. When chewing the cake by far the strongest flavours came from the raspberry element, which like the banana above was as real tasting and fruity as you could ever hope for. The pistachios were notable for bringing a slight saltness and added crunch texturally, though their true flavours were understandably hampered somewhat by the stronger flavoured brownie and fruit. Again, all these different fruit, brownie and nut elements combined made for an outstanding cake.

8.4 out of 10


-----
Salty Insanity - 'Dark brownie with salted hard caramel covered in dark Valrhona chocolate (70.0%)'. You saved the best until last right? Well so I thought, but it wasn't to be I'm afraid. The dark chocolate as I thought it would be was absolutely delicious (I really need to get around to doing some Valrhona reviews don't I!!) and the contrast of the unsweetened, earthy cocoa flavours of the exterior shell contrasted perfectly with the sweet, cakey cocoa of the brownie below. Where I feel this one let itself down to a degree was the implementation of the caramel - which for me just didn't come through in the taste to level I wanted it to. Indeed, the caramel element was nothing more than a minor suggestion of sweeter brown sugar tones. The butter, salt and cream flavours just weren't there no matter how much I searched for them. The combination of the superb chocolate and gorgeous brownie still made for a delicious product at hand, but it didn't live up to my sky high expectations.

7.3 out of 10



Overall not all of these Mad Hatter Bars came off quite as well as I hoped but being frank they were all still exceedingly tasty. Banana fans will seriosuly want to look at getting involved with the 'Going Bananas', and raspberry fans will no doubt be just as pleased with the 'Looney Raspberry'. As I stated above the 'Salty Insanity' was a little bit of a sore point for me, though luckily I was able to comfort myself with the other gift set that Lucky's sent my way (review coming soon :D). These are damn expensive cakes, but some of them are worth the money and them some.