Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Milk Chocolate Eggs (and a Carrot)

These are the most beautifully packaged chocolates I've yet to see:

Each of the eggs is slightly larger than life size and the color Mylar wrapping is tied with a golden cord:




I found them at Williams-Sonoma and they are Florentine Chocolate Eggs. They even have their own little plastic pedestal!



They were hollow and I find it hard to compare hollow chocolate to solid chocolate. I know - it shouldn't matter, but the thinner pieces let so much air get in and the smooth surface changes the texture. This is a wonderful silky milk chocolate - I'd place it between Lindt and Neuhaus (see below). Not quite as earthy as Neuhaus, but wonderful and delicious.

I found these Madelaine chocolates in Kohl's of all places (chocolate is everywhere - life is good!):



I really like these springy, tropical foil wrappers - they just scream aloha!



This is a solid milk chocolate. Good.


They also made these large solid milk chocolate eggs:





Very pretty, very good.


Isn't chocolate a beautiful thing?

These Hershey's Bliss eggs (in the stolen Cadbury packaging) are pretty good:



Mostly because of the "meltaway center":

It gives them a smooth, creamy richness. I really liked these.

Palmer has an egg assortment (we already reviewed caramel and peanut butter). This one is fudge:


Because it's more like a truffle with the fudge filling than their solid egg (below) it's better, but it's still got the outer waxy mockolate shell. These are just too sugary sweet and not chocolately enough. But the assortment was fun overall.


Palmer's regular solid mockolate eggs are just plain bad:


So waxy and just awful. Not worth the calories. Not even close.

I got this carrot which was originally $4.95 for 47 cents. I couldn't say no to it.





I'm showing you the back because I thought it was interesting to see all the drizzle marks:

This carrot was made by Seattle Gourmet Foods and was richer and creamier than both the Madelaine and the Harry and David Milk Chocolate Easter Eggs (I see why it was originally $4.95 - it was very good. I think they didn't sell because it was a carrot. No one wants to think about carrots when they are indulging in chocolate). The H & D Milk Chocolate Eggs:





In fact, I couldn't tell this one and the Madelaine eggs apart. They tasted exactly the same to me.

These are sooooo cute! They are a little bit smaller than all the other eggs:



Lindt has some great packaging - this is a little tin box:







These blew all the others out of the water. You just can't beat that super smooth and creamy Lindt chocolate. And this smaller size is great! Very poppable! (And thus very dangerous. Thank God they have the foil wrappers to slow you down.)

These are mini Lindor truffle eggs in the Lindt trademark golden bunny (I reviewed the little bunny that was in the middle in an earlier post - yep, he's gone):



But not forgotten!

Of course, they are fabulously creamy and delicious:



And the larger eggs? Need I even say anything?



So rich, so creamy, so decadent - I don't see how Godiva can stay in business with Lindt out there. There is just no comparison! These truffles are transcendent!

Speaking of Godiva:



I hate to say it, but these milk chocolate eggs are pretty good. They are not as good as Lindt, but they are better than H & D and Madeline.

But yet again, the ultimate winner is Neuhaus - at least in the solid milk chocolate category:





What makes these so good is they really taste like chocolate - that wonderful earthy, complex, rich taste. They aren't overly sweet or cloying. They are just about the chocolate.

You know, I'm really starting to get the hang of this chocolate thing. I see why Palmer is so bad and Neuhaus so good. But I had to pare it down to the essentials - i.e. no peanut butter or caramel confusing things. You really do have to try a lot of different things to figure out what works best for you. And you have to be brave enough to say - I've tried them all and I still like the Snickers bar! If you don't try different things though, you really can't know. That's what the journey is all about - trying things, exploring and figuring how who you really are.

Thanks for taking this chocolate journey with me! And let me know what you think or what you'd like me to review. Kris - coconut is still coming, I promise!!!!!

8 comments:

Food Makes Fun Fuel said...

Delicious! If you can find Lake Champlain eggs, those are also mighty tasty. But they make them hard to find the day after Easter :-/

jeff said...

Gotta tell you, Denise, I love me some melt-away center. That, and of course, any woman who can effectively use the word "cloying."

Jeff

Kris, in New England said...

Isn't chocolate a beautiful thing?

Honey -that is all there is. Chocolate is nature's perfect food and therefore it is the most beautiful thing on the entire planet.

Thereby reinforcing the wisdom of the magnet - Save the Earth, it's the only planet with Chocolate.

I have to say I adore Lindt and it is a fave but...I also adore the Godiva chocolate. I turn to Lindt more often because of the cost of Godiva (obscene really though it is chocolate after all).

Then again, a simple Reese's or KitKat or Mounds will suit me just fine.

It is all about knowing what you like and what's good for you and you alone.

And speaking of Mounds and all things dark chocolate and coconut...ahem...bionic (by association) foot tapping rather impatiently...

Denise Ryan said...

Evan - it's always good to hear from the healthiest human alive! I love Lake Champlain chocolates - good call!

Denise Ryan said...

Jeff - great to hear from you!!! You are so damn hilarious!!!! Thanks for the comment!

Denise Ryan said...

Kris - I know, I know - I have all the pictures shot and it will be more than one blog, I promise!! : )

Have you joined Godiva's rewards program? At least they give you a free chocolate a month. But they really are crazy expensive.

Oh - I read about Whiff - can't wait to check it out!!

Kris, in New England said...

Denise - are you seriously going to try Le Whif? My god you are one brave or crazy woman.

Perhaps both - which is a compliment believe me.

Denise Ryan said...

Ha, ha - if I find it, I'll try it - probably only once. How can it even come close to the real thing? But it will be fun or scary or both! : )