Taking my Yorkie home, I studied its masculine packaging, with its ‘no girls’ icon looking similar to a no-smoking sign, but with a lady replacing the cigarette. You can tell it’s a girl by the triangle skirt and the little handbag.

Rather than critiquing its packaging, let’s talk about the chocolate bar. Honestly, I was unimpressed. The bar is divided into fat rectangles, which snap quite easily. The rectangles are quite large, and they don’t fit in the mouth easily (at least not my girly mouth). And with all the warning signs on the front, I was expecting some kind of nuts (or bolts) but the bar is rather plain chocolate. Honestly, I found it a little boring; if that was what I was after I would have picked a regular chocolate bar that actually wanted my custom.

So there you have it. I braved the Yorkie threats to find just a normal chocolate bar under a cover of bravado. Maybe that’s the reason girls aren’t allowed. They’d get bored.

Adora Chocolates- quite out of the way, this boutique chocolatier has a wide selection of handmade chocolates. One of my favorites is definitely the cinnamon chili white chocolate, a white chocolate that I actually like! The little store has an even littler café and when you order a coffee you can choose a chocolate to come with it. The combination of good coffee and great chocolate is worth the trip.

Belle Fleur- specializing in Belgian chocolates, this store always has a beautiful window display made of chocolate. The intricate details of these displays showcase the artistry of their products. I’ve seen a replica of the Brussels town hall, a huge soccer display for the world cup and a Balmain Tigers display honoring the local football team. The chocolate shop is also impressive, with a beautiful window display and many pre-packaged items if you’re on the run.

Colefax Chocolate- this gourmet chocolatier has the best chili chocolate that I have ever tried. It is a delicate circle adorned with a simple red chili, and its dark interior packs a fiery heat. While it is not very close to the city, it is located in a hub of fine food stores including gourmet coffee, cheese and pasta.

I first spotted these biscuity chocolatey treats two years ago, only then they were in rectangular boxes in the biscuit aisle. I tried them out of curiosity and was interested but not overwhelmed by the bowl-shaped parcels. Shopping recently I saw the same product now sold in foil bags in the bagged candy section of the supermarket. A relocation of a few metres, but it is an entirely new neighborhood. I think that this is a better place for Pods, these sweets are better associated with treats rather than snacks. They are extremely sweet and their ratio of biscuit to chocolate is not much to a lot.

The fact that Pods have changed homes is interesting as they are a relatively new product and are obviously searching for their market. My high school history teacher was fond of proving how old he was by stating that he remembered the days when Tim Tams were sold in the confectionery aisle, instead of the biscuit aisle where they have been for years. Tim Tams are now Australia’s favorite chocolate biscuit; so ubiquitous that any store stocking essentials such as milk and bread invariably has Tim Tams also on offer. Therefore, finding the right definition of a product can obviously work wonders for its sales.

I bought the revamped Pods to try and while sweet and tasty the same problem I had two years ago was still present. It’s just that the packaging is too darn good. The chocolate pictured on the front is in now way representative of the Pods. The photographed Pods are luscious and shiny, with oozing golden caramel and a dark biscuit layer. The actual Pods are dusty (presumably due to the wafer biscuit rattling in the bag), smaller than the photo and leak a limp, pale yellow caramel. After looking at the exciting photo I feel a little let down when seeing the chocolate biscuit.

So although I like Pods, I can’t help but be seduced by the packaging and not the product. Possibly some alien mind tricks at play?

Not only is the texture of icing sugar amazing, but also its ability to create delicious icing with just a few ingredients. Recently with a surplus of passion fruit I made an icing for a lemon cake, with the sweet sugar complementing the tangy passion fruit and lemon.

Zesty Passion Cake

Lemon Cake

185g butter, softened
3/4 cup castor sugar
1 tbsp grated lemon zest
1 tbsp lemon juice
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour, sifted

Preheat the oven to 160 C and line the base and grease the sides of a loaf tin.

With electric beaters beat the sugar, butter, lemon juice and zest together until soft and sugar is almost dissolved. Alternate adding flour and eggs, mixing well in between. Finish with the flour and use a wooden spoon to do the final mixing.

Spoon the cake batter into the loaf tin, level the top, and bake for around 40 minutes. Test cake by inserting a skewer and if it comes out clean the cake is done.

Passion Icing

90g cream cheese, softened
40g butter
1 1/2 cups icing sugar, sifted
2 passion fruits

Beat cream cheese and butter until well combined, add icing sugar and continue beating. Halve the passion fruits and add juice and pulp to the icing mixture. Mix well before spreading on cake. If consistency is too stiff add another half passion fruit, if consistency is too runny add a little more sifted icing sugar.

You could strain the passion fruit to remove seeds, which some people find more aesthetically pleasing. I sprinkled some chopped strawberries on for a little colour.

Spotting this chocolate bar on the shelves not only satisfied my curiosity for new brands but my inner greenie was ecstatic by the organic and Fair Trade in the title. Cocolo is an Australian company, making chocolate in Switzerland and sourcing their cocoa from Fair Trade cooperatives worldwide. Now that is positive international trade.

The packaging contains information about Fair Trade farming, as well as listing the origins of the chocolate in the ingredients. The dark chocolate orange bar has cocoa mass from Bolivia and Costa Rica, cane juice from the Philippines and cocoa butter from Bolivia and Dominican Republic.

A heady aroma escapes once the ecologically sound packaging is torn off and the dark, rich, rectangular bricks are in view. There are no pieces in this chocolate, just the essence of orange enveloped by the decadent chocolate. The chocolate is slightly bitter, with a strong taste meaning that the flavor from a little piece lingers. The dusky, thick bar is not glossy, with a dark, smooth finish. The sharp flavor and lack of sweetness make this chocolate bar only for certain tastes…but those who like their chocolate dark and strong will find this certainly tastes fine.

If you want to bring me something from your travels, I’ll take some food. Indulging in foreign sweet treats almost makes up for not going on a trip of my own, while new tastes allow a different form of armchair travel; “tastebud travel”. Luckily my loved ones know this, explaining the adorable pink tin I received from a friend’s trip to Japan. I am now the proud owner of a tin of Strawberry Chocolate Yatsuhashi, from Kyoto. Well, I was the proud owner, until I recently ate them all.

The thin tin is about the size of a small book, and the winking, kimono-wearing darling on the front informs me that:

“About 250 years ago People started selling Yatsuhashi as a souvenir. Now Yatsuhashi is the most popular souvenir in KYOTO. Yatsuhashi is traditional Japanese cookies made from Rice flour with cinnamon.”

Educational and tasty. Researching Yatsuhashi I found that this sweet cookie is exclusive to Kyoto, and while I couldn’t find a definitive recipe, most contain rice flour, sugar and cinnamon. The Yatsuhashi I had were made by Otabe, whose mascot is the delightful Maiko girl on the front of the tin. (In other news, I just realized that Kyoto and Tokyo have the exact same letters. Does that mean something?)

But onto the sweets. Opening the rectangular case, there are eight individually wrapped packages, each containing two Yatsuhashi. The packets release a strong smell of strawberry once opened, although it is a vaguely artificial, sweet smell. The small, crisp wafers have been dipped in a strawberry concoction, so one end is thick and smooth while the other is rough. While they are supposed to be Strawberry Chocolate Yatsuhashi, I can really only taste the cinnamon and strawberry, although the chocolate colour is present. Regardless, they are very yummy, quite sweet and although the individual wrapping is bad for the environment, it does inspire a whimsical novelty in the experience.

Overall, I love my Strawberry Chocolate Yatsuhashi. Even better, the tin is just the right size to store all those annoying “Wish you were here” postcards from well meaning friends.

Blindly walking out of the store while reading the packaging I realize I’ve bought the milk/white variety. As I usually avoid white chocolate, after all it isn’t really chocolate, I wouldn’t have normally picked this up. From the fact it is sold in Australia and the Japanese writing on the packet I understand that Droste is no small company, I later find out they are distributed in 60 countries. I had always associated them with their distinctive cocoa boxes, the ones with a wholesome nurse offering up a remedy of hot chocolate, this is a health regime that I can get behind. These boxes are more than iconic; they are the namesake for the Droste Effect, the artistic technique of having a picture show a depiction of itself within the picture, which continues supposedly to infinity. This technique is most notably used by M.C. Escher, but is also apparent when placing two mirrors facing each other. But the only Droste Effect that I was interested in was the effect of these pastilles on my taste buds.

The pastilles are sweet, as to be expected by the milk/white combination, and they have a firm, not brittle texture. I usually find white chocolate a little buttery, with not much depth, so I appreciate the mix of chocolates, it gives the sweetness and smoothness of white chocolate with the stronger cocoa hit of real chocolate. The packaging is a delight as well, a long foil wrapped roll of pastilles resembling Berocca for a sweet tooth.

So my experimentation with this random checkout purchase has not dissuaded me from trying it again. Impulse buying is bad for health and the budget, but spontaneity is the spice of life.

While the 70% is great for snacking and cooking, my favourite for a sweet, bitter treat is the Lindt Orange Intense. The packet glistens with a picture of a juicy orange, and the combination of dark chocolate, pieces of crystallised orange and slivers of almonds makes for an intense dessert experience. I only know of one size, as with all the Lindt chocolate bars, the 100g slab, and the thin, foil wrapped chocolate is delicate and unique in appearance.

Tearing open the cardboard and sliding the silver rectangle out of the box allows a hint of the deep chocolate smell to escape. However the aroma is immediately present after tearing the whisper thin foil away; the air vibrates with luscious dark chocolate and strong citrus perfume.

The chocolate is strong and dark, with little sweetness. Chunks of sugar-encrusted orange are zesty and syrupy while almond slivers allow for texture and a smooth, unifying flavour. Although the combination of fruit, nuts and chocolate is decidedly not Swiss, the marriage of these ingredients results in a decadent confection.

Few sweets can match those had in our childhood. As adults there are no barriers to the world of sweets, yet as children we are denied this freedom. Therefore, any treats that we manage to get our little hands on are savoured and worshiped . . . for who knows when the next sweet may come?

A common Australian treat that turns up at school carnivals, birthday parties and fundraisers, is the Chocolate Crackle. Although some would like memories of this sweet to be branded, the Chocolate Crackle transcends marketing. It is a ubiquitous delicacy but the closest thing to advertising the Chocolate Crackle would be a hand-lettered sign affixed with tape to a paper plate containing crackles at the school fair.

So exactly what are these Down Under Delights? Chocolate Crackles are very simple to make, containing Rice Bubbles (Rice Krispies), Copha (solidified coconut oil), desiccated coconut, icing sugar (confectioner’s sugar) and cocoa. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and then slowly melt the copha and mix into the main bowl. Spoon the mixture into paper patty pans and place in the fridge where they only take a few hours to set. The warm mixture is muddy and slushy, while the cooled crackles are crunchy with pockets of hardened chocolate hidden around the cereal grains.

Recently a friend commissioned me to make some Chocolate Crackles, a task that I accepted wholeheartedly. I made these in mini paper patty pans, as I always mourned the crispy crumbs that would fly off when biting into a large crackle. These bite-sized morsels removed that danger and made it easier to eat a handful in one sitting.

Sifting, melting, mixing, spooning and refrigerating I was caught in a wave of nostalgia, and it was difficult not to go out the front of the house, set up a card table and let people snap up my crackles for 20 cents a pop.