I love surprises. Especially chocolate surprises. Mr Cake brought me this surprise when he came home from work today:
How spoiled am I?
Mmm, chocolate! Just what a gal needs on a Friday night after a looong working week. ;-) Let the sampling begin!
The first one we tried was the brandy truffle. It was a bit alcoholic for me - the chocolate was really nice but I stopped liking it when the brandy came through. Mr Cake thought it was fantastic, though - and it looks pretty cool.
The marzipan strawberry looked really cute (Mr Cake professed that it was the reason he chose this particular selection). It was sugary and almondy and marzipan-y and good. I'm not a die-hard marzipan fan but I don't mind it and this was pretty tasty - and pretty pretty!
The champagne truffle was next on the hit-list. I really liked this one, though I couldn't taste champagne. Mr Cake was not so keen but it's pretty hard to please him with white chocolate.
The praline cream was tasty, very distinct hazelnut flavour and very rich, bittersweet. I would have liked more crunch but the nut on top was good. And the filling was very decadent!
This was an interesting one - balsamic vinegar and honey ganache. I was slightly dubious (I'm all for interesting flavours but I have tasted some pretty poorly flavoured chocolates in my time) but it was really nice. The honey made it sweet and smooth and gave it depth of flavour and then the balsamic vinegar cut through but without taking over.
Raspberry ganache is (at least for me) pretty much always a win. And this was an amaaaaazing chocolate - the raspberry flavour was really strong and tangy and combined beautifully with the dark chocolate. Definitely a winner!
This one is caramel and passionfruit, and was filled with a smooth, flowing caramel. The passionfruit didn't pop out at me but it added an extra dimension - and the caramel was beautiful, slightly bitter but also sweet.
Last, but definitely not least (in fact, my favourite) was the strawberry ganache. The strawberry flavour was very prominent, and went perfectly with the white chocolate. The base was milk chocolate to mitigate the sweetness a bit, and the total effect was divine... Mr Cake's verdict was "Too white chocolatey" but I beg to differ. Can I have another?
Bohemien is located at 109 Featherston Street, Wellington, and is open 9am-6pm, Monday to Friday, and 10am-4pm Saturday, www.bohemein.co.nz
Hi! I'm Rosa, a.k.a. Mrs Cake, and I live in Wellington, New Zealand. I love food in all its forms, my fabulous family, and a bit of good old-fashioned Kiwi DIY. This blog started around food but has evolved to include some other bits and pieces - I hope you'll join me for the journey!
You most certainly can not, you pig! But feel free to send some my way :P They look divine!!!!
ReplyDeleteAww, Michelle, so mean! They are pretty good, though. One day when I'm rich and famous I'll send you a giant box of them. ;-p
ReplyDeleteFunny, as I'm reading this I'm eating some divine chocolates, from Paul A Young.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.paulayoung.co.uk/
Too hungry to take photos, I've already scoffed a Marmite truffle (delish) and a white choc and pink peppercorn (crunchy). To go I have a white choc with saffron, honey and something (can't remember the third ingredient!), it's got brightly coloured marbled swirls on it which is cool. And I'm saving for last a basil ganache, which I've had before, it tastes like fresh basil.
Mmm, white chocolate and pink peppercorn sounds good! I have heard of those chocolates - probably on chocoblog, I think. Have you tried Hotel Chocolat stuff? It always looks so amazing, and Hamish got a friend to send some over for me last Christmas - this big slab with caramelised milk chocolate. Soooo good! http://www.hotelchocolat.co.uk/cid/IVPYTEPUFBDJ15IR5C4ZX9CBWDVW66DN/caramel-and-chocolate-P1663/
ReplyDeleteHaven't tried Hotel du Chocolat, but Paul A Young is recognised as one of the best chocolatiers in the world and he's been extremely generous to me in the past, so I like to spread the word when I can! Just ate my basil chocolate though and it wasn't as strong as the first time I tried one, hmm. But the white chocolate with saffron, honey and thyme (third ingredient was thyme! and very strong too) was incredible.
ReplyDeleteMmm, how do I convince world-renowned chocolatiers to be kind to me, I wonder. ;-)
ReplyDelete