Sugar Savvy

I’ve sampled many chocolates in the last few months, these were the most noteworthy.

A few months ago my good friend Brian brought me three treats from his visit to Michigan. Any foreign candy is exciting to me since I know no matter how good it is, I may only taste it once. Hershey’s Kisses Chocolate Truffles came on a long, bar-shaped tray, 5 kisses in all. These were delicious and quite rich, great melt-in-your-mouth quality. Michelle said it tasted like an ultra-rich Hershey’s Kiss. She said she almost felt like she’d eaten a Belgian chocolate. One of these was delightful but I only ate one, that was plenty to satisfy my desire. So rich.

Hershey’s Extra Dark Chocolate with Cranberries, Blueberries & Almonds caught me quite off guard. The addition of the fruits and nuts made the dark chocolate sing and all I could think was, ‘mmmmm’. Delicious.

Lastly from the Michigan group, Hershey’s Cacao Reserve 35% Milk Chocolate Truffles were also delightful but for me the real treat was that they came in a little pocket tin. I am a tin collector and Brian’s thoughtful gift, empty of chocolates, now sits on my shelf. Again, these were quite rich. I would eat only two at a time, at the most. A very nice treat. Michelle thought they had a buttery aftertaste, that the breakdown of the truffle was oily but in a good way. It reminded me of a Lindt truffle, very creamy. Darci, who isn’t usually a fan of Hershey’s chocolate, thought that these were much better than Hershey’s kisses. I would have to agree.

Dave was also nice enough to drop by one day with Cadbury Dark Chocolate Mini Eggs which we both loved. Also, we tried the Cadbury Popping Mini Eggs to which Dave exclaimed ‘Where’s the pop?” Perhaps white chocolate would have been better.Malteasers Dark Chocolate were tasty and nice but maybe a little too dark for me. The malt center isn’t sweet enough to balance it. Plus, my favourite way to eat Malteasers is to slowly let them melt in my mouth. This just isn’t possible with the dark chocolate. Without a little milk in there they almost didn’t want to melt at all and therefore my enjoyment of them was limited. It took me several weeks to finish my small bag.

Mr. Big Chew or Mr. Chew Big, whatever you call it, I loved it. Michelle, Darci and I all dug into our pieces and they were swiftly gone. We all agreed that the middle of the bar (the chew part, I suppose) was awesome and that they should make it with nuts. When one of us remarked that it was kind of like the middle of a Turtle, someone else exclaimed ‘They should make a Turtle Bar!’. No argument here. Michelle thought that there weren’t as many rice crisps in this as in a regular Mr. Big bar and I think that’s a good thing. Too many rice crisps is why I stopped eating Mr. Big in the first place. Darci likened it to a party in her mouth.

And finally, three chocolate treats that I absolutely insist you run out a buy immediately. Assuming you’re not lactose intolerant. Milka Strawberry Yoghurt bar is incredible, a little expensive but totally worth it. J, Michelle and I were all impressed with the soft delicious chocolate that turned all melty the instant it hit our mouths. The soft strawberry yoghurt filling had sweet, crunchy, toffee-esque strawberry bits in it that were just delicious. One of the best chocolate bars I’ve had in a long time.

Lindt Wafer bar is also incredible. Lindt chocolate is always good but to put a flattened pirouline cookie inside is inspired. Orgasmic.

Last, but certainly not least, Kinder Joy. A plastic egg splits in two and on one side you get your expected, fun Kinder toy. On the other is a dream come true of chocolate fantasy. Delicious, Ferrero Rocher-like nuggets in a bath of liquidy white chocolate goo on top of liquidy milk chocolate goo. Everyone of my friends who’s tried this so far has been too swept up in the deliciousness of it all and been rendered unable to speak. J was a little confused by the packaging but once he figured it out and the chocolate hit his mouth he collapsed on the floor in delirious excitement. Once he regained consciousness he said he would be happy to jump into it and swim around. Go. Get. One. Now.