Gone Chocco

 

I fell in love with Wild Chocolates ’Wild About You’ range of truffles a few months ago when they were given to me by my father-in-law who’d purchased them on his way through from Melbourne airport.  They sat in the fridge for a couple of months before I tried them and were a sensation, featuring a variety of Aussie bush foods.

In fact they left me so impressed I tracked down the manufacturer and spoke to Adele who sadly told me that the range is not currently being made any more because it has a short shelf life and weren’t always being stored properly in shops. I kid you not when I say that we both sighed at the same time!

“We have a different range we can show you now though,” she offered. The Wild Chocolates website doesn’t exist yet, but their chocolates certainly do.

And here’s the first, in a gorgeous box, enticingly described on the back as ‘Luscious, fresh and meltingly soft white chocolate eucalyptus truffle centres made with real creamy chocolate and a splash of eucalyptus leaf oil….for a sublime combination of texture and flavour.’

This is the first time I’ve seen eucalyptus featured as a chocolate flavour and am pretty sure that they’ll be more fun than sucking on a honey-and-eucalytpus throat lozenge after a coughing fit….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The green sprinkles on the top are just chocolate but add to the overal impact, don’t they? Sapphire and I both said, “Oooh, wow, so pretty….” as the lid was lifted, but Love Chunks passed by and sniffed, “Oh the packaging’s a bit bright, isn’t it?” so one-third of the reviewing panel prefers their packaging colours on the more traditional side.

The pale green-coloured ganache provided a lovely creamy and sweet hint of eucalyptus. It wasn’t overpowering like the oils you squirt up your nose during a case of the sniffles or sloosh around your loo bowl during housework sessions but was distinct, unusual and utterly delicious.

Sapphire and I adored them and I regret not letting her have three of them. There are eight in the box, so we adults had three each, and she two.

Love Chunks wasn’t impressed with them – “It’s like eating Vaporub, erk,” but I could have eaten all eight on my own. As could Sapphire, if I’d let her. Maybe next time we’ll get ourselves a box each and not tell Love Chunks…..

Ask me nicely and I’ll tell you where you can find them outside of Melbourne, but for those of you with postcodes start with a 3 and a 0, try:

Icons Australia: Shop RM09, Mezzanine Level, Qantas Domestic Terminal Melbourne Airport 3045
Swords Chill: 348 Queens Pde, Clifton Hill
Sweet Ports: 175 Bay St, Port Melbourne
Brighton Chocolates & Baskets: 334 Bay Street,Brighton

And TONIGHT is the  Lindt Chocolate Ball in Melbourne! You can still donate to a very worthy cause, even if you can’t frock up and rock up. Click on the link below:

 

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!

 

Finally I made it to Monsieur Truffe’s shop in Collingwood. Having heard several friends rave about his chocolate truffles and buying his gorgeous picture framed selection of chocolate it was high time to visit the actual origin of the magic.

The funny thing is, I tend to go all shy when I walk into places that have already been discovered and revered, wondering if I’m ‘worthy’ enough or something. Dressing like a dag probably doesn’t help either, but no sooner was I gazing with interest at the blocks on the shelves, than Monsieur Truffe himself – or Thibault Fregoni, popped over to ask if I needed help.

Now, this humble site might be chocolate-related but I must share with you that  Thibault is rather easy on the eye and when you factor in his French accent, the divine smells of freshly ground coffee and truffles in the store and the fact that he reminded me a tiny bit of the ‘Perfect’ guy in the cheese ads on TV, then you’ll understand why my first response was “Uaoghdmfuflk.”

A few minutes later I walked out of the store with a box of his famous truffles and a few blocks I could scarcely remember choosing, but more on those another time.

The box hints at their hand made status (which is a GOOD thing regarding truffles) and Thibault stresses that he searches for the very best chocolate around the world in both flavour and ethics.

…..cocoa dust on the inner lining was also a very good sign….

 

 

 

  ….. before revealing the fifteen beautiful little treasures inside: 

 

 

Should I be worried that when I’m given a dark block, a milk block and really-extra ultra-uber milky chocolate block to try, that it’s the really-extra ultra-uber milky chocolate that blows me away the most?

Let me explain before you insist that I quit this job and spend the rest of my days with 85% Criollo being pumped intravenously. The irrepressible Oliver from Premier Food and Beverages emailed me to say, tauntingly, “I’ve just found my most favourite chocolate ever – Camille Bloch’s Extra Milk mousse.”

Now that’s a pretty serious claim, to select the so-called ‘weakest’ chocolate in terms of cocoa content and then practically dare me to try it…..

Unwrapped and put together like Willy Wonka’s idea of industrial non-slip flooring tiles, I was reminded of Dr Who’s daleks, but it would be me doing the exterminating.  They all smelled delicious.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Camille Bloch is a Swiss chocolate company that has been around for over 75 years and are most famous for their Ragusa and Torino chocolates, eaten by many homesick Swiss and German folk living in Australia.

At the moment though, they’re most proud of their mousse blocks, which have been revamped since I first tried them a bit over a year ago.

The dark chocolate mousse pictured here has an instantly-melty dark chocolate that contains 60% minimum cocoa solids, with a mousse inside. Yes, that’s bleeding obvious and it’s why they call it a mousse - but how often have you come across a chocolate shell actually containing something that you could in all honesty scoop out and identify as being as soft, creamy and fluffy as a real mousse? Well you can here and it’s going to give Lindt’s Petit desserts chocolate mousse block a very serious run for its money. 

To my surprise the milk (’lait’) is even better. The percentage of cocoa solids isn’t mentioned and when the list of ingredients are compared they’re the same except in slightly different order (and therefore, volume).

This is milk chocolate – and mousse – done to perfection. Sapphire and Love Chunks tried all three with me, and this was both of their stand-out favourite. You know that a chocolatier has made a winner when the most sense you can get from a taster is a bit of ecstatic eye-rolling and nothing more eloquent than, “Mmmmmm. Oh yeah…Mmmmmm.”

Finally it was the Lait Extra Milch’s turn.

I’ve gotta say, the anaemic look of the chocolate didn’t feel me with enthusiasm, especially when compared to the other two beauties we’d just enjoyed.

But…. or should I say ‘butt’ in reference to the amounts of it I now dream of consuming without regard to health, body shape and dignity……. Oliver was right. It is the best of the three. Even though the intelligent sector (not a very large part, admittedly) of my brain said, “But hey, the first three ingredients are sugar, milk powder and the always-marvellous vegetable fat before cocoa gets a look in,” I didn’t care.

Dreamy, creamy, swoon-worthy chocolate and mousse done to a previously untasted perfection. So soft and light it nearly floated across my palate… it’s wonderful! Milk comprises a hefty 28% of these eight orbs of heaven, so it aint one for lactose intolerant people; more’s the pity for them. Keep your eyes peeled for these three (esp the Lait Extra Milch) at IGAs owned by smart and sophisticated managers and whoever else stocks Camille Bloch chocolates.

 

 

 

 

 

 

With packaging, less is most often more.  The less it screams out at you, the more confidence in itself it presents; the more class it promises within.  Chocolatier’s dark brown box sits firmly within the ‘No need to shout, it’ll soon be found out’ category.

The box itself is heavy, not flimsy, which makes me even more optimistic that what is hidden inside is worth discovering.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The little ribbon pulls the drawer open and …..

…. after the protective plastic covering is removed …..

…. it reveals THESE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My friend Helen was over for a morning coffee and despite being self-proclaimed arty farty types fond of a poncy word or three all we could utter at the sight and smell of them was “Ooooooh.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before trying them our one quibble was with the plastic tray the chocolates were sitting in.  Being such an elegant box, couldn’t a bit more attention be given to placing these chocolate cuties on paper or thin cardboard or foil?

No matter.  There are six flavours and all of them deserve their place in this selection.  Each are generously coated in dark chocolate (53% minimum cocoa solids) that absolutely perfectly complements each flavour, namely: Grand Marnier Noir, Caribbean (spiced rum and raisins), Hazelnut Gateau (praline centre), Pure Dark (with cocoa nibs), Fruits of Passion (raspberry liqueur and cream centre) and Short  Black (coffee infused).

Each flavour was distinct.  Sure, they’re all flavours we’ve heard of before, but here these classic combinations are done extremely well.  All centres were soft and melted with or alongside the fudgy richness of the dark chocolate, enhancing all flavour notes and lingering tastes. 

There is no way that Helen or I could decide which chocolate we liked best.  She kept turning the lid of the box over, saying, “Where can I get these?  These beat anything that Lindt has in their boxed range, how come I haven’t seen them before?”

And would she notice this dark box on her supermarket shelf?  “YES. It’s dark, elegant and I know that it’s going to give me something that’s top quality.”

Chocolatier is Australian owned-and-run and this selection should confidently hold its own against the world’s best.  Yes, the world’s best.  Too many fools reach for Godiva because it’s expensive and they’ve heard of it when they’d be wiser and smarter to reach for these.  As Molly used to say, do yourself a favour and find a box.

 

 

 

 

 

Click here for stockists.