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February 2007

Monday, February 5, 2007

Valentine’s Week Inventory

So here’s what’s up for this week (so far):

Ferrero Rocher
Ferrero Mon Cheri
Elmer’s Chocolates - Heart Box
(2.4 ounces)
Nestle’s Crunch Dark Chocolate Heart (1 ounce)
Spongebob Squarepants Heart with Yogurt Covered Raisins
Junior Mints Hearts
Russell Stovers’ Heart Box
(1.8 ounces)
Dove Jewels
Frankford Marshmallow Hearts
Russell Stovers’ Dark Chocolate Coconut Heart
Chocolove 70% Dark Chocolate Bar
Au’some Candy Beads
SweeTarts Hearts

I’ll also have some brief reviews & photos of these upscale boxed chocolates: CocoaVino, Leonidas, Theo Chocolates, The Chocolate Box Cafe, Christopher Norman, Boule, Fauchon and Richart.

Yes, it looks like there will likely be two reviews per day (otherwise I’ll never get done before Valentine’s Day!).

Here’s a photo preview of what’s to come!

UPDATE: 2/11/07 - Looks like I didn’t make it all the way through the list, but 15 reviews in one week ain’t bad! Maybe I’ll have more this week.

POSTED BY Cybele AT 7:47 am     CandyValentinesFun Stuff

Ferrero Rocher

One of the more familiar candies that’s marketed for Valentine’s Day would be the Ferrero Rocher. They’re pretty candies all year round but during the season for lovers they’re placed in clear plastic heart-shaped domes of varying sizes.

image

I picked up a 3 pack because I was cheap and didn’t really want another heart-shaped box. It’s what’s inside that counts, right? 

Ferrero is an Italian company that makes all sorts of hazelnut confections, some under the Ferrero name and others under the Kinder name. Their best known, perhaps, is Nutella, but they also make the Kinder Eggs, Tronky, Pocket Coffee, Kinder Bueno, Kinder Happy Hippos and Tic Tacs. The Ferrero Rocher wasn’t introduced until 1982 and didn’t make it to the US until 1985 but it has quickly filled a niche in the confectionery market as an upscale chocolate available at drug stores and grocers in more than 100 countries.

imageBut what is a Ferrero Rocher? At its center is a whole hazelnut, surrounded by a chocolate hazelnut paste filling which is inside a light chocolate wafer sphere covered in more chocolate and crushed nuts. 

These were nice and fresh and had a wonderful sweet chocolatey aroma mixed with the smell of hazelnuts. They’re a bit big, but can fit in your mouth as one bite, though I usually do it in two (to see if I get the whole hazenut in the first or the second). They’re very nutty which helps to keep them from being too sweet. They’re much better, as far as I’m concerned, than Tronky, Happy Hippos or Kinder Bueno. I think it’s that the hazelnuts are so strongly featured. The packaging is also quite smart and classic. If you see them on sale after Valentine’s, this is an excellent product to pick up.

Their caloric density is rather high (169 calories per ounce) so it’s a good indulgence for a special occasion or in moderation. There are no trans fats in them.

Related Candies

  1. Ferrero Raffaello & Rondnoir
  2. KitKat Temptations: Hazelnut & Coconut
  3. Ferrero Mon Cheri
  4. Baci Bar
  5. Kinder Bueno
Name: Ferrero Rocher
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Ferrero
Place Purchased: Walgreen's (Echo Park)
Price: $1.39
Size: 1.3 ounces
Calories per ounce: 169
Categories: Chocolate, Nuts, Cookie, Canada, Ferrero

POSTED BY Cybele AT 6:01 am    

Sunday, February 4, 2007

Ferrero Mon Cheri

The companion product to the Ferrero Rocher is the Mon Cheri. For a long time I though these had something to do with cherries, so I avoided them. But it turns out that only the European versions are cherry ... the American ones are simply a milk chocolate shell over a whole hazelnut surrounded by hazelnut paste and crushed hazelnuts.

image

These little morsels are the same size and shape as Ferrero’s devious little Pocket Coffee (well, the little lines on the top of the chocolate are diagonal on the Pocket Coffee).

imageDuring Valentine’s Mon Cheri are sold in all sorts of different heart shaped boxes but still not as prevalent as the Ferrero Rocher. But come on, the name alone means it doesn’t need special packaging! I did see a few assortments at the drug store that included Mon Cheri, Raphaello (an almond paste with crushed almonds in a cookie sphere covered with coconut and white chocolate) and, of course, Rochers.

I’m not quite as keen on these as I am on the Rochers, probably because it’s milk chocolate. If anything, they’re a milk chocolate version of Perugina’s Baci.

However, create a heart shaped box with a mix of these, Pocket Coffee and Rochers ... now we’re talking!

Note: though these are very high in calories and fat (44% of your RDA of saturated fat in every serving!) they also have 9% of your RDA of calcium and 5% of your RDA of iron.

UPDATE 2/15/2011: For those of you who miss the discontinued Ferrero Mon Cheri in the United States.

Ferrero Kusschen

In Europe there is a candy made by Ferrero called Kusschen that is basically the same thing. They’re available in both milk and dark chocolate versions. See my update on this here with the review of a selection of Ferrero dark chocolate items, including the cherry version of the Mon Cheri.

Name: Mon Cheri
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Ferrero
Place Purchased: Walgreen's (Echo Park)
Price: $1.39
Size: 1.5 ounces
Calories per ounce: 173
Categories: Chocolate, Italy, Ferrero, nuts

POSTED BY Cybele AT 9:28 pm    

January Search Strings

Take out last month’s holiday searches and this month’s search strings are remarkably similar. Folks are looking for info abou Reese’s, Kissables, Butterfingers and Rockaleta.

1. reeses
2. butterfinger
3. kissables
4. razzles
5. choxie
6. lemonheads
7. bonkers candy
8. japanese candy
9. pecan log roll
10. rockaleta

I think the biggest surprise after being Farked over the weekend is that KitKat isn’t on the list (and hasn’t even made it into the top 20 before).

POSTED BY Cybele AT 3:20 pm     CandySearch StringsFun Stuff

Friday, February 2, 2007

Hershey’s Cacao Reserve Truffles

I picked up some more of the Cacao Reserve line at the 7-11. I figured it would be interesting to give them a try after my chocolate overload at the Fancy Food Show (and fancy should not always be confused with gourmet or even good).

I’ve already tried two of the Cacao Reserve bars, the Hazelnut in Milk Chocolate and 65% Dark Nibby Bar. And they were pretty good. I know that there are some folks who turn up their nose at Hershey’s attempt at upscale chocolate, but I don’t call this upscale ... it’s simply better quality. If I’m stuck making a chocolate choice at 7-11, I’m going to go for the Cacao Reserve Nibby bar over the waxy Ghirardelli every time.

image

The little tin is quite fun. It’s the same size as an Altoids tin. Yes, there are eight truffles in that wee little box. You know how they fit them in there? They’re wee truffles!

They look all homespun and enrobed/dipped but don’t be fooled, these are molded truffles. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Appearance accounts for a lot in candy and these are nice looking little chocolates.

Each is an easy single bite or two very small bites. The chocolate coating is a bit sweet and has a light acidic tang to it. It’s not terribly complex in the flavor area, just smooth and a bit on the smoky side with a mild dry finish. The truffle filling is rather bland, not as creamy as I would like but has a light salt hit in it that sets it apart from the shell.

The tin is a nice idea, an easy way to carry the little truffles without smashing them in some sort of wonky plastic tray. The price was a little steep, however. At $2.99 for the little tin that holds 1.8 ounces, that means a full pound purchased this way is $26.58. (Compare that with See’s selling a little 4 ounce Valentine’s heart for $5.25 a box which would mean the chocolate is going for $21 a pound.) Of course I wouldn’t go into 7-11 and buy things for the price, I’m sure these are available for quite a bit less at drug stores or mega-marts.

Overall, I wasn’t that impressed with this effort into high end chocolates. The centers were not smooth and creamy enough for my tastes when it comes to a truffle indulgence. However, this has not put me off from my curiosity about the other bars in the Cacao Reserve line.

Name: Cacao Reserve Premium Dark Chocolate Truffles
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Cacao Reserve (Hershey's)
Place Purchased: 7-11 (Hollywood)
Price: $2.99
Size: 1.8 ounces
Calories per ounce: 161
Categories: Chocolate, United States, Hershey, Kosher

POSTED BY Cybele AT 7:08 am    

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