Thursday, March 25, 2010

Cocoa Dolce's Quick Fix

Recently, I had the opportunity to try some of Cocoa Dolce's truffles and assorted selections, which I'll be popping into review over the course of a few weeks. Starting off the review is the "Quick Fix" selection, which, I might add, came packaged along with the other chocolates in the cutest presentation I have ever been privy to receiving.I could flee the country with this suitcase and nobody would miss me.

It came with boarding passes and a map of the chocolates, and it was adorable. It was definitely one of the most original ideas I've ever seen. I loved how, instead of just packing some extra chocolate selections, they chose to include the airline boarding passes as gift certificates and let me pick them out online. It was a really adorable selection, and the box was very classy, with a wax seal and raffia ribbon.Anyhow, onto the signature truffles. I got a special selection that you'll all come to expect, but for now, the Cocoa Dolce Quick Fix. Not to be consumed in an airline bathroom while humping a stranger. Since this is a selection, I'll rate them all on a scale of 1-10, and then average that number for an overall rating.(Left to right, starting at the top: Mayan, carmello noce, lemon, strawberry, cinnamon orange, champagne, mocha, gianduia, and raspberry)

The first one we ate was a raspberry truffle. We liked the pink dots on it, and thought it was a very cute truffle, but the taste didn't deliver. It didn't taste fresh and the ganache was blended with raspberry rather than separate jelly, and it was unimpressive. 5

The next one was the lemon truffle, and we were unanimous in our agreement that this was the prettiest of the truffles. The flavor was really creamy and went extremely well with the white chocolate, and it was tart, like a lemon meringue pie, but was offset by the milkiness of the chocolate. We liked it a lot. 8

The strawberry champagne had an interesting texture. It was coated in sugar, which was, like I said, interesting texturally, but the sugar made the entire truffle too sweet. The strawberry, which was billed as organic, had an artificial flavor and completely overpowered the chocolate. We weren't pleased. 3

The mocha truffle was very tall and regal and presented itself well. One interesting aspect was the espresso bean, which nobody really wanted after dinner because then we'd all have to bounce off the walls, was actually fake- it was made of chocolate! So once we figured that out, we whacked the truffle up. The ganache inside was semi-liquid and fluid, and slightly grainy. It was very strong and really tasty. I normally don't like coffee, but the dark flavors of the ganache and the coffee went really well together. Erik and my father liked this the best. 9

After that, we tried the champagne chocolate truffle. This one was the booziest of all, and definitely tasted like some kind of alcohol, but not necessarily a discernible champagne. The chocolate cut the strong alcoholic flavor, and so did the sugar, but it was still a little sharp on the palate. 4

The next one was my personal favorite, the cinnamon orange. It was warm and rich, and the chocolate was a nice, and thin shell that just barely melted on my tongue, and along with it came the sensation of the cinnamon. The orange ganache reminded me of a Terry's chocolate orange, one of my favorite childhood treats, and the zest really provided a good, fresh contrast to the richness of the chocolate. 10

Coming up a close second was the gianduia, but mainly because of my affinity- (okay, lust) need-(okay, addiction) problem with Nutella. I mean, this was basically Nutella in a gorgeous ball of chocolate. The nuts added some good contrast and a nice crunch, and the goo on the inside was sweet without burning my throat. And it was just like gourmet Nutella. NOM. 9

We then tried a carmello noce, which was caramel cream wrapped in chocolate with a pecan on top. I liked the dichotomy of the pecan and caramel cream, like a soft, less chewy turtle, but thought that a little more nut might have worked out better. 8

The last truffle was a mayan truffle, and I have to applaud the ingenuity on this one. The ganache was balanced really well with the flavors of honey and vanilla, chili and cinnamon, and although we tasted more of the sweet than the savory, we really did think that this was a keeper in our books. 10

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