Tag Archives: milk chocolate

Chocolatepalooza: Raw Shakti, Justin’s, Madécasse

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Writing this blog has brought many, many wonderful people into my life. Glorious people, shining people, inspiring people, talented people. One such people person is the lovely and hilarious Alayna of Thyme Bombe.

Alayna recently published her first cookbook, The Japanese Pantry, which showcases approachable yet dinner party-worthy Japanese (and Japanese-inspired) recipes. Believe you me, Alayna’s recipes look, sound, and taste as good as many of the dishes I ate in Japan several years ago.

Madécasse Pink Pepper and Citrus, Justin's Milk Chocolate Candy Bar, Raw Shakti Chocolate, Kind Bar, Living Raw Chocolate Macaroons, Justin's Dark Chocolate Peanut ButterWhen Alayna offered me a copy of her cookbook, I was breathless with gratitude and joy. A few weeks later, I moved beyond “breathless” to “squealing” because, along with her cookbook, Alayna sent me the dazzling array of goodies you see above.

Alayna, you are a wonder and a song. This is your chocolatepalooza post. Thank you.

Raw Shakti Chocolate 85% Cacao

Raw Shakti Chocolate 85% CacaoA part of me is tempted to repeat the words on the Raw Shakti Chocolate package then proclaim “voila! My review!” After all, Shakti proclaims that its chocolate is: 85% cacao, raw, stoneground, handcrafted, sustainable, [made from] single origin Ecuador[ian cacao], [using] all organic ingredients, [and has] deep fruity notes with a complex floral finish.

Need I say more?

Raw Shakti Chocolate 85% CacaoPerhaps not, but I will anyway. This Raw Shakti 85% vegan dark chocolate had one of the crispest snaps I’ve ever encountered in raw chocolate, as well as an unwavering aroma of twangy redcurrant and unripe plum mixed with bitter raw cacao.

The taste followed suit with red fruit acidity, but thankfully not in a puckeringly sour way. The flavour was strong in tannins, merlot, lemon, and (again) unripe plums, but it also had notes of cigarette ash and the coolness of underground caves. Yes, I just said this chocolate tastes like caves.

I’d like to see that appear in the marketing blurb one day.

Justin’s All-Natural Milk Chocolate Peanut Candy Bar

Justin’s All-Natural Milk Chocolate Peanut Candy BarHave you ever wanted a Snickers bar but not its plethora of dodgy ingredients? Well, Justin’s has your back. Justin’s All-Natural Milk Chocolate Peanut Candy Bar is comprised of milk chocolate, peanuts, caramel, and nougat, but no hydrogenated oils or multisyllabic chemical components. Just pronounceable nuts, sugar, and chocolate.

Justin’s All-Natural Milk Chocolate Peanut Candy BarThe caramel was firmer than is found in a Mars Bar or Snickers, and had a lighter sweetness too. The nougat was malty and the peanuts well-roasted, balancing the sweetness of the caramel and milk chocolate. At times, the overall texture and flavour reminded me of fudge.

I want Justin’s (vegan) Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups now.

Madécasse Pink Pepper and Citrus

Madécasse Pink Pepper and CitrusI saved the best for last! Having previously tried and loved Madécasse, I was supremely excited about this mini bar of Madécasse Pink Pepper and Citrus 63% Dark Chocolate. The citrus refers to combava fruit, also known as kaffir lime.

This bar was wonderful. Alayna, you’re wonderful.

Madécasse Pink Pepper and CitrusThe aroma was so strong, so chocolatey, so tangy (in a gorgeously fruity way). As is always the case, Madécasse exemplified perfect tempering in this bar, with a beautiful crack-snap ringing out each time I broke off a square.

The flavour was light yet strong, by which I mean that the lime notes were ever-present but not overpowering. The citrus was like a cloud of perfume dancing through the vanilla-scented heady cacao notes of the 63% chocolate, while the pink pepper added just the barest hint of a savoury twist, broadening and deepening the bar’s overall flavour.

Oh Madécasse. I like you almost as much as I like Alayna.

Chocolatepalooza: Starbucks Caramel Brûlé, Pretzel M&M’s, Cadbury Crispy Crunch

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I’m eating so many wonderful (sweet) things here in California that I can’t see how I’ll ever write them all up. Particularly when I’m still plowing through reviews, restaurants, and recipes from my time in Toronto.

Maybe today’s chocolates don’t need to be written about. But, then again, I don’t necessarily want to only post about hard-to-find, expensive, artisanal, and/or fancypants treats, because heaven knows that neither money nor chocolate grows on trees. (Well, cacao pods do…)

Aaaaaand I just managed to drip pistachio gelato down my top. That may’ve been the universe telling me to stop complaining about having a surfeit of treats. Message received, universe. Message received.

Starbucks Caramel Brûlé Chocolate Bites

Starbucks Caramel Brûlé Chocolate BitesFirstly, Starbucks spelled “brûlé” in a way I’d never seen before, but Janet has informed me that it is, indeed, correct. Go you good thing, bilingual country!

Secondly, Starbucks spelled “natural” incorrectly. Unless “natrual flavours” are something new and exciting in the chocolate world?

Starbucks Caramel Brûlé Chocolate BitesThirdly, these “milk and dark chocolate surrounding a rich, creamy caramel” bites were pretty in a dappled way, with a caramel ice cream aroma.

Fourthly, the chocolate coating melted easily and the caramel inside was chewy, but initially completely lacked flavour.

Fifthly, no, I really mean that; I spent the first few seconds of every bite wondering why I could taste nothing despite knowing something was in my mouth.

Starbucks Caramel Brûlé Chocolate BitesSixthly, a mild sweetness did emerge after a few chews, reminding me of Werther’s caramels with hints of butteriness.

Seventhly, these were disappointing and I wouldn’t buy them again. Actually, I wouldn’t even eat them again if offered for free. Life is too short to waste on chocolate that tastes predominantly of nothing.

Pretzel M&M’s

Pretzel M&M’sLarger than original M&M’s but far lighter when it comes to throwing and catching in one’s mouth, these Pretzel M&M’s were incredibly easy to eat.

Pretzel M&M’sThe crackly sugar coating gave way to a thin layer of milk chocolate, together tasting like M&M’s. Yes, saying that is redundant, but what can I do? M&M’s have a particular taste, and thus M&M’s have a particular taste.

Beneath the chocolate lurked firm little nuggets of crunchy salty pretzel, thereby creating a fun salty-sweet-sugary-chocolatey-malty-toasty taste.

I hope peanut-butter-pretzel M&M’s are brought into existence next.

Cadbury Crispy Crunch

Cadbury Crispy CrunchI’ve been craving Chick-O-Sticks like a fiend for months now.

Butterfingers are like Chick-O-Sticks covered in mockolate.

Cadbury Crispy Crunch(es) seem to be a Canadian version of Butterfingers.

Ergo I had to buy this candy bar.

Cadbury Crispy CrunchWith an aroma like roasted peanuts, then peanut brittle, then just a hint of sweet cocoa, I had high hopes for the peanutiness of this Cadbury Crispy Crunch bar.

It broke crisply, firmly, with the same peanut brittle-esque layers as inside a Butterfinger bar but less flaky, more solid.

Cadbury Crispy CrunchEach bite was a tasty wallop of salt, caramel/burnt caramel, honeycomb, salted roasted peanuts, peanut butter, peanut brittle, nondescript unimportant milky chocolate, toffee sweetness, again salt, again roasted peanuts, again peanut brittle.

I want a Chick-O-Stick even more now.

Cadbury Dairy Milk Salty Caramelised Peanut and Toasted Coconut & Cashew

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With any luck, today’s double chocolate review should see us free of Cadbury chocolate for the foreseeable future*.  I’d like to say it’s been swell, but we all know that would be a lie. In truth, it’s just been sugary.

To give Cadbury some credit, today’s bars were slightly less sweet-forward than the previously-reviewed Cookie Crunch and Peanut Butter bars. Slightly.

* Unless, of course, new flavours come out and are immediately put on sale at my local supermarket. Oh, the lure of cheap novelties…

Cadbury Dairy Milk Salty Caramelised Peanut

Cadbury Dairy Milk Salty Caramelized PeanutOnce again, I saw the French word “arachides” on the packaging here and immediately thought “Spiders! Arachnids! Get them away from me!” This led me to think about the spider chapter in Rowan of Rin, which even now gives me the heebie-jeebies, and then I started reciting the relevant prophecy in my head (“Let arms be still and voices low / A million eyes watch as you go / The silken door, your pathway ends / There fire and light will be your friends…”)

Then I paused to consider the fact that my mind can recall verses from a children’s book I read fifteen years ago, yet still can’t remember my postal code here in Toronto.

Ah well.

Cadbury Dairy Milk Salty Caramelized PeanutThe ingredients in this Cadbury Dairy Milk Salty Caramelised Peanut bar aren’t horrific. The chocolate is made from sugar, milk, cocoa butter, unsweetened chocolate, and flavouring, while the caramelised peanuts are simply peanuts, brown sugar, sea salt, and flavouring. Hurrah for a bar without murky vegetable oils!

Cadbury Dairy Milk Salty Caramelized PeanutThe bar’s aroma was akin to a Reese’s peanut butter cup, with additional vanilla and honey notes. The chocolate had the standard caramel- and dairy-strong Cadbury milk chocolate taste, but the peanuts did add crispy-crackly interest to the mix.

The peanut flavour was pretty light and, despite the bar’s name, there wasn’t much salt to speak of. However, at certain points the overall flavour reminded me of sneaking multiple samples of Darrell Lea peanut brittle at the shopping centre with my brother while our parents weren’t looking (again, fifteen years ago now) on a weekend morning, and such nostalgic memories are never a bad thing.

(I miss my brother.)

Cadbury Dairy Milk Toasted Coconut and Cashews

Cadbury Dairy Milk Toasted Coconut and CashewsSo, hands up if you noticed that the review you just read was 10% insight into the chocolate and 90% remembrances from my childhood?

Gold stars for all of you. Let’s see if I can do better this time ‘round.

The aroma of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk Toasted Coconut and Cashews was reminiscent of Golden Roughs, which I occasionally ate as a kid. However, more often than not, I’d spend my pocket money on Fun Dips, sour gummy worms, Redskins, and those tangy chewy Toffee Apple bars rather than Golden Roughs. In other words, the smell of this chocolate made me want a Fun Dip.

Childhood memory: check.

Cadbury Dairy Milk Toasted Coconut and CashewsThis chocolate was studded with a goodly number of toasted golden coconut shards and honey-roasted cashews. Each bite was a mix of caramelly-sweet Cadbury chocolate and the buttery-sugary-crackly-little-bit-like-praline-and-dulce-de-leche nuts and coconut. In small doses, the chocolate was quite enjoyable, but after eating half the bar in one sitting, the sugar had near burned my throat to doom with its cloying intensity.

Chocolate review: check.

I think I need my Lindt 90% palate cleanser now.

Cadbury Dairy Milk Cookie Crunch: The Limerick Edition

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Why should the haiku poetry form get to have all the fun when it comes to chocolate?

Exactly. It shouldn’t.

Time to give the almighty limerick form its Andy Warhol-esque 15 minutes of fame.

Cadbury Dairy Milk Cookie Crunch

Cadbury Dairy Milk Cookie CrunchThere once was a Cadbury Cookie Crunch
Which I bought on a whim, on a vague hunch
That its sugary flavour
Would make me belabour
The obvious: it’s not a good lunch.

Cadbury Dairy Milk Cookie CrunchWith milk chocolate and cookie bits
Plus a handful of chocolatey chips
This crazily sweet
Oreo-tasting treat
Sugar-bombed me near out of my wits.

Cadbury Dairy Milk Cookie CrunchTasting close to a cheap hot fudge sundae
Or a Starbucks Frappuccino Grande
All greasy with cream
(Just a little obscene)
Would I eat it again? Oh no. No way.

Donini Chocolate Campfire Crunch Milk Chocolate

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I have to be honest.

While I was initially drawn to this Donini Chocolate Campfire Crunch block because of the plethora of mini marshmallows and graham crackers strewn atop and within the glossy chocolate, it was the little red sticker on the package proclaiming “eh!” that sealed the deal. Oh, Canada!

The funny thing is that if I saw something comparable in Australia (a chocolate bar with “G’day!” written on it, for example), I’d likely wrinkle my nose and walk away.

Ah well. At least I can acknowledge my little hypocrisies, eh?

Donini Chocolate Campfire Crunch Milk Chocolate

IMG_8157Studious deciphering of the ingredients list on the back of the Donini Chocolate package led me to the Holmesian conclusion that this is milk chocolate of unknown cacao percentage liberally studded with honey graham squares, marshmallows, and mini chocolate chips.

I simultaneously discovered that Canadians refer to non-blackstrap molasses as “fancy molasses”. I approve of this wholeheartedly.

IMG_8191The aroma of the bar was definitely sweet, but also slightly malty and reminiscent of pie crust. Which, I suppose, is how my Australian brain is interpreting the new-to-it aroma of honey graham squares.

I took a bite of the jam-packed-with-honey-graham-squares chocolate, and my immediate response was this tastes like sweet sweet sweet vanilla ice cream like soft serve like Bulla ice cream from the cartoon at my childhood friend’s house like the fluffy inside of a Magnum Classic so much sweet chocolate-y sweet.

IMG_8222The milk chocolate was fairly nondescript, with an even lighter cocoa taste than Cadbury Dairy Milk. However, it wasn’t as cloyingly sweet as Cadbury, and the light crispy honey-tinted graham combined with the vanilla-heavy chocolate was surprisingly easy to eat.

IMG_8197bThe teensy little marshmallows were soft and fluffy, contributing more in texture than flavour to the overall experience. Similarly, the little chocolate chips seemed more about novelty value than strong cocoa notes.

If only the marshmallows could have been toasted, eh?