Chock Full of Chocolate

I confess. I had to pick up two more salted caramels from Thorntons. They're starting to nudge against the Seville and the Apricot Parfaits in my favourite chocolates lists (heads up to any siblings stuck for Christmas present ideas - a couple of those go down a treat, and His Lordship likes them too). Yes, I have more than one favourite chocolates list - some you just can't categorise in the same classifications as others!

Anyway, there were two new chocolates out! A Peach Schnapps and a Cherry Truffle. Oooh, flavours I definitely like. Having said that though, it's somewhat rare I DON'T find a chocolate I like. Meh!

The Peach Schnapps wasn't great, if I'm entirely honest. Sorry guys, but it was a bit of a letdown. The golden coconut sealed to the milk chocolate shell with white chocolate was cute I guess, but gimmicky and bitty - neither of us were keen on the combination. Personally, I think a softly bitter lemon oil in white chocolate shell would have made the ideal accompaniment to that rather tasty, sweet and gently fiery schnapps centre. It was creamy, warm and smooth in texture but the coconut was bitty and chewy in comparison and didn't make for a good mouth feel. It's not a pretty chocolate either. I wish I'd have taken a picture before we ate them - I can't find a single one ANYWHERE, or even a mention... Have a free Terrypic instead. He's all chocolate colour and sweet.

The Cherry Truffle on the other hand... This feels weighty, it looks like an old school chocolate, classy and heavy and dark, having reused the Cherry Kirsch shell from the Christmas boxes. It smells dark too, potent and deep cocoa richness. The shell is black and powdery tasting high quality chocolate, fine and bittersweet with a pervading, dense flavour. It tempers the truffle and calms the exciting cherry flavour of the sauce inside which, quite frankly, was a genius move. Thick and sweet, this powerful liquid sauce makes the whole chocolate bind in flavour, the gritty truffle providing a sensational, contradictory mouth feel and lightens the tone of that potentially overpowering shell. Bravo boys, that's a truly smooth move. "It was a good chocolate." (Img: Chocablog.com)