Gone Chocco

 

 

In addition to Newman’s Pleasure Society ‘Selections’ and ‘Fruit and Nut’ boxes, they have these two upright boxes, which don’t really match the earlier couple but look rather classy.

I’ve said it before though and I’ll say it again. *sigh* Newman’s packaging is all over the shop and they need a clearer line of packaging so that the average consumer recognises all of their products as belonging to the same brand. As you find below, not only their boxes differ in size and shape with each flavour but so does the wrapping…

Rant over. Time to try the chocolate, with the larger ‘Pleasures’ box up for tasting first.

Sorry, the rant – or mild whinge – isn’t really over yet. The box is lovely but this plastic bag full of what looks like cheap Christmas lollies isn’t. Clearly they’ve decided to spend the majority of their packaging budget on the box, so here’s hoping that the actual chocolates make up for how they look when the box is opened and cast aside.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When unwrapped they remind me of most of us humans in front of a bathroom mirror: when nude, we ain’t pretty.

Thankfully these taste a darn sight better than they look, but on closer inspection the shell is thick in some areas and thin in others, and the coconut flavoured one (top right in the photo below) is just blended with the chocolate and not a separate filling. Think of these as Newman’s version of ‘Cadbury Roses’ but with some slightly different flavours and you’re on the right track.

 

 

 

 

Now for the Liqueurs.  I know that like marzipan and ginger, liqueur chocolates are those that people either love or loathe so these aren’t likely to convert any loathers. Luckily, I adore liqueur-filled chocolates and even snatch up some of the dodgy Eastern-bloc $2 cherry liqueurs found in Cheap-as-Chips bargain shops from time to time.

The packaging here is different to the blue box – no big plastic bag enclosing them but just loose and in different wrappers.

When naked, they’re as battered and bruised as those from the blue ‘Pleasures’ box, with the dark coffee one already oozing.

The flavours include Limoncello, Butterscotch, Coffee, Blood Orange and Vanilla. ALL of them are delicious and I was surprised by the strength of the vanilla centre. Normally I can barely detect the flavour, but considering this was a ‘liqueur’ Mr Newman must have poured the whole bottle of essence into the mix so it’s potent – which gets a tick from me, but might not from those who like their essence on the undetectable side. The coffee is dark and strong (tick), limoncello has a disconcertingly fluorescent snot colour to it but has a lovely citrus punch (tick), the blood orange is suitably orangey/grand marniery (tick) and the butterscotch is a thin caramel that oozes everywhere and looks very pale but tastes divine (tick tick tick).

Yes, they all taste good. Delicious, even. And the wallpaper-inspired boxes are gorgeous. Inside it’s another story – a bit of a dogs’ breakfast in terms of presentation but, as my mother would say, “they only end up getting chewed up and churned inside your gut anyway.”  Then again, she was referring to her infamous ’stew’ that she’d serve up to us in the 1970s!

 

I think most of us who’ve been in Coles or Woolworths lately have seen these bags lurking near the checkouts. Caramello is the other flavour on offer as well as some really large milk buttons which to me just seems like the seven thousandth way that they’ve re-packaged plain Dairy Milk chocolate, so I chose the ‘Clusters of crunchy flakes and juicy raisins tumbled in scrumptious Cadbury milk chocolate.’

Chocolate that is put into these ‘pouch bags’ (and there’s a few chocolate companies that do it) seem to be indicating that it’s better than a bog-standard block, but not as good as a box of chocolates. This doesn’t really seem like it’s going to be a long term success in my opinion because if you want to scoff something in the privacy of your own home you’ll choose the cheaper blocks and if you want to impress someone with a gift, you’ll buy a box so as not to be considered a cheapskate.

When opened, they’re not pretty. Rolling around in a pouch all the way from Germany (yes, they’re made in Germany – why not here, or shouldn’t I care?) means they’re a bit crumbly and turd – sorry ‘tired’ looking.

Still, they seemed like a good way to get in some fibre via the Sultana bran that I never eat for breakfast. Why not have some at morning coffee time, covered in chocolate? Who wouldn’t be excited about fibre intake then?

And that’s exactly what they taste like. Sultana bran!

The ingredients and nutrition panel don’t bother to mention fibre content and chocolate makes up 70% of the clusters, so it was sadly apparent that my bowels weren’t going to benefit any time soon.

Raisins comprise 18% and cornflakes the remaining12%. The three of us at Chocco Lockett scoffed these in a few minutes, so fifty grams gave us 11 grams of fat (16% RDI), 6.8 grams saturated fat (28% RDI) and 31.4 grams of sugar (34% RDI) each.

They are more-ish and the chocolate has 29% cocoa solids (here in Australia it’s usually 26%), but I’m not sure that they worth the $3 I paid for them.

What do you think? Has anyone tried the crunchie-flavoured ones?

And only two more sleeps until the Lindt Chocolate Ball – but plenty of sleeps to donate to a worthy cause:

 

Diamond Creek is where Chocolatier first started. The three Grisold brothers – David, John and Mark – bought the small chocolate company back in the mid-1980s and learned their craft there and now, twenty five years later, they’ve revamped the brand and want to share them with you.

I remember seeing a large and flat gold box with ‘Diamond Creek’ on it for a crazy $5 markdown at K-Mart several years ago, and John Grisold confirmed that I hadn’t imagined it. “Yes, we were trying to work out if we should relaunch the brand or not,” he said, “but it didn’t get the impetus it needed at the time.”

Now they’re trying again but this time they’re only available at Woolworth’s supermarkets who have bought the entire stock.

I’ll be honest and say that the cardboard box and the individually-wrapped chocolates that are thrown together inside don’t scream ‘quality’ or ’something you can give as a gift’, but then again, it’s the first-born of the now successful and respected Chocolatier company, so it’s not going to be crap to eat, is it?

Each box contains  four flavours that all cleverly reference the ‘diamond’ of the company. The Brilliant Milk box has Brilliance (strawberry), Marquise (hazelnut praline); Solitaire (coffee) and Empress (caramel). When they’re out of their plastic wrappers they look rather pretty, don’t they?

At the top is the Marquise. This is a milk chocolate that contains a pretty decent hazelnut praline that has tiny chips of caramelised hazelnuts inside for something a bit extra. Hazelnut praline fans will find plenty to enjoy in this unassuming little square. Or diamond, depending on which way you look at it.

The Solitaire, on the right, has a white chocolate layer on top infused with tiny specks of ground coffee. Inside is a milk chocolate ganache with a coffee infusion. All elements worked perfectly and went down a treat with my hot morning cup of coffee. This could form a speciality box (or block?) all on its own.

Brilliance, on the left, is Chocolatier’s Strawberry Delice; one of their most popular chocolates. It smells distinctively of strawberries with a white chocolate ‘pink’ top covering a fruity milk chocolate ganache underneath. No wonder it’s one of John Grisold’s favourites as well.

At the forefront, the Empress has a dark chocolate top with a firm caramel underneath. ‘Firm’ in the sense that it’s not super-chewy and likely to yank your fillings out like a Fantail, nor is it super-dribbly like a too-warm Caramello; but like a beautiful, burnt-sugar toffee with a ganache texture. I love it when dark chocolate and caramel work this well together.

The Assorted Box has two of the same flavours inside – Empress and Marquise respectively – and two new ones, both in dark chocolate.

Excelsior – at the forefront-  is a delightful berry and coconut creation. The clear flavour of coconut is evident at first with sweet and creamy berry thrills appearing soon after. I could eat box after box after box of just these little beauties.

Crystal – seen here at the top – has a dark chocolate shell with a white top rendered slightly greenish due to the tiny shards of mint chips mixed in with it. When you bite into the ‘fun’ top, there’s a lovely surprise: a dark chocolate, mint-infused soft toffee underneath. Delicious!

The presentation is clearly done to make them affordable and underneath the indifferent packaging, they most certainly are worth it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And don’t forget the Lindt Chocolate Ball on Friday 6th August, to help fund a cure for FSHD. Frock up and have fun, or just donate to a very worthy cause!