Chocolataria Equador, Lisbon

Sadly the Caramel and the Praline & Jamaican Pepper bonbons had sold out, but with what I had chosen I wasn't too setback 

Chocolataria Equador works with lots of different and enticing flavours with chocolate, and all in different forms; from bars to bonbons to sardines (not real sardines, but they are something of a Portuguese icon) to truffles

Paul A Young Fine Chocolates Selection

Visiting Paul A Young's Soho store was paramount to me when in London. From the shop, I had an Aztec-style hot chocolate made with quality chocolate and Muscovado sugar and a chosen spice of cardamom. I also bought a bar of his bean-to-bar Madagascar 63%, though I'm kicking myself for not buying a bar of Duffy's chocolate. And of course I couldn't have left without a few of Paul's fresh, handmade chocolates! The question is, would I pay £7 for 4 of his chocolates again? 

Dark Sugars Chocolate Selection

Dark Sugars was jam packed, even on the Sunday, but that's the charm of Brick Lane. It's a street defined by diverse cultures, street food, antique, arty markets, vintage shops, cafés, cupcakes, bagels; it's no surprise a chocolate shop, as hip as this, would attract a crowd. The atmosphere in the shop was buzzing, with the smell of chocolate and the old school hip hop playing, it felt real cool. But it was difficult to stay focused. I cannot believe I didn't pick up a cherry chocolate or a caramel or the cognac truffle, and did I miss the Infused Havana Tobacco truffle? Hey - there's always next time!

Putting a cocoa dusted truffle in with a bag of white chocolates? School boy error. But I guess it's not about how they look, rather how they taste! It was £7 for 100g, and with 6 chocolates in my bag it came to just £4.90

Digby's Fine Chocolates

I always wonder whether to write up on a selection of chocolates as an ensemble or not, but the enjoyment I get of looking at each chocolate alone rules my decision; for chocolates are a work of art after all

The Chocolate Tasting Club Classic Selection

Finally, after weeks of waiting, I received my Chocolate Tasting Club selection box. I was torn between choosing the Classic or the Rabot selection (a showcase of nuanced flavours of rare cocoa), but I ambivalently chose the classic

I'll give my tasting notes on each chocolate...

Booja Booja Banoffee Toffee Chocolate Truffles

After being somewhat underwhelmed by Booja Booja's Hazelnut Crunch Truffles, I thought I'd tackle some of their other truffles... after all the good reviews I've read of Booja Booja; I just wanted to be wowed

The idea of banana and toffee, banoffee, sounded interesting- banana being one of my favourite foods I went straight for this flavour and also because I knew that as it was from Booja Booja it wouldn't taste artificial; unlike every other banana chocolate/confectionary

The truffles smelt kinda boozy and even tasted so too. If I had blind tasted these I would never have guessed banana... nor toffee for that matter, maybe a rum and raisin concoction instead?

A light, soft texture with a dark, rich taste. The texture contrasts were excellent; the scattered caramelised banana jewels feeling quite juicy and moist. These truffles didn't taste cheap, rather high quality; this making them possibly the best truffles I've ever had yet

The chocolate used contained only 3 ingredients; superb - and 55% cocoa solids. The ganache was made with chocolate and organic coconut oil, then inside the ganache was caramelised banana (banana and cane sugar) and banana toffee (banana and cane sugar), and then to finish; these truffles were lightly dusted with cocoa powder

These are an indulgence that shouldn't make you feel guilty

Thorntons Irresistibles: Smooth Coconut & Belgian Truffle

Impressive packaging. I liked the dark colours and contrasting font, overall looking fairly seductive. I must admit that I wasn't overly excited to try these chocolates as neither of them really appealed to me. As I work in a chocolate shop that sells handmade Belgian chocolates, I've found myself to have less interest in industrialised chocolates. Of course I still love them but the quality certainly cannot compete

Smooth Coconut Melts

note: 'Coconut Melts' alone sounds better 

The milk chocolate coating tasted nice, it was creamy and slow melting. After the coating had melted, this then lead to the coconut flavour being exposed. The coconut filling was creamy but tasted artifical and completely overwhelmed the chocolate flavour

The more I had, though, the more I enjoyed. But this is the general rule with anything edible and sweet. It was nice to see that cocoa butter was used in the coconut centre, however the coconut element was just too sweet

"Transport yourself to a beautiful beach on a Caribbean island" - I guess this went without saying, as the tropical flavour made me have a taste of piña colada and summer. Oo a rum twist would have been interesting... 

"drenched in dreamy milk chocolate" - I don't think drenched seems the most appealing adjective that Thorntons could have used. Have they run out of their enticing adjectives? Nevertheless, the milk chocolate definitely was dreamy

Belgian Truffles

I was quite horrified by these truffles. Vegetable fats, no cocoa butter... oh Thorntons, why not use your signature chocolate and simply stir up a ganache? 

The smell and taste was so cheap and woeful; not irresistible at all. It did not taste of chocolate. The vegetable oils used were so powerful in taste. And to top it off, a poor tasting cocoa powder heavily dusted on top. Words cannot describe how disappointed I was with these low quality truffles

I will say one nice thing about these truffles though, they looked better than the droplet appearance of ASDA's Marc de Champagne truffles. I also thought they were of a good size... just a shame about that ghastly taste

Booja Booja Hazelnut Crunch Chocolate Truffles

I had heard of and seen Booja-Booja chocolate truffles before, the company priding themselves as being dairy, soya and gluten free as well as being all organic! Winning many awards, specifically their Hazelnut Crunch Chocolate Truffles (of which I have here) are winners of 2 Great Taste Awards! At a retail price of £6.99, they're slightly more expensive than your average truffles

Looking at the ingredients list I was quite impressed, with chocolate (cocoa solids min. 50%), hazelnuts, coconut oil and further cocoa powder dusting... all being organically grown ingredients. I liked knowing that these truffles were all handmade

When opening the gold plastic bag the truffles were encased in, I was instantly hit with a strong cocoa aroma. I thought the truffles looked cute, tightly packed together in their little casings. They looked very soft but when cutting through the truffle it was in-fact quite hard. There was a clear distinction between the chocolate coating and truffle filling

The texture was light and smooth, with a surprising buttery-like texture (this sounds like a contradiction)

I must admit, I wasn't overly impressed with the taste of these truffles... I think I set my expectations too high! The back packaging states to keep them in the fridge, so maybe I should have done that as it could have offered a completely different experience. But I don't think that would of changed the fact that I didn't taste the darker and richer chocolate that I was hoping for. Actually, the chocolate flavour was very weak... These truffles needs to be much more intense! 

For what these truffles are though - organic, dairy free etc. - I think they're great! I just missed the absence of a creamy texture and flavour. This is only my taste preference, and me not being a huge hazelnut lover, I should have tried a different flavour: the raspberry or ginger or banana one for example

I will praise Booja-Booja though, as I did enjoy these truffles but I think that's only because I knew of the ethics behind the company; taste alone I just wasn't wowed

Asda's Extra Special Belgian Marc de Champagne Truffles

Winning a confectionary Own Label Award: Asda's Extra Special Belgian Marc de Champagne Truffles

This specific packaging design is fairly popular with other supermarkets too when selling their own speciality truffles. Inside was a light purple tissue paper placed on top of a golden coloured bag which carried the truffles

The Marc de Champagne was surprisingly strong. It possibly tasted as strong as it did due to it being milk chocolate rather than dark, so initially it's lacking the intensity of cocoa to focus on the alcohol

I was not so keen on the teardrop appearance of the truffles. A harder coating of chocolate would have been more interesting, as I found the coating and ganache filling to merge together. I must admit that at first I did not like these truffles. That may have been because I hadn't cleansed my palate as when returning to these chocolates just days later, I found the taste to be much more enjoyable. I found them easy to eat and they weren't messy. I found myself eating them one after another

At £2 these truffles are certainly worth it. I'm surprised that they were only £2... I think Asda could definitely get away with raising up the price, but of course I'd never encourage that. I felt the quality of the milk chocolate was something to brag about (from Asda's perspective), as I absolutely loved letting the truffle melt on the tongue. It had a lovely smooth texture as well as tasting great

Charbonnel et Walker Dark Marc de Champagne Truffles

I received these Charbonnel et Walker Dark Marc de Champagne Truffles as a Christmas gift. The fancy packaging is very traditional and distinct of Charbonnel, "Purveyors of fine English chocolates since 1875" parading their prominence... especially with the gold embossed font

When opening the packaging I was greeted with a fine alcoholic aroma and 8 truffles! They were far from small, but only having 8 suggested quality over quantity

Each truffle looked and smelt luxurious in their petit four cases. The perfectly spherical truffles were lightly dusted with cocoa powder. I loved the hard chocolate coating contrast with the truffle filling. The coating had a nice thickness too however that made it a little challenging to eat. The ganache filling was creamy, smooth and not as dark as I was expecting which was a nice surprise

The dark chocolate was of 77% cocoa solids. The ingredients of these truffles were quite minimal (to an extent) which was reassuring of the quality, but also I saw that a little white rum was infused into them

Overall, the taste of the Marc de Champagne is subtle, dominated by the dark chocolate. The aroma, on the other hand, was a lot louder when it came to the alcohol which paired superbly with the high cocoa content

My favourite thing about these truffles would be the feel of the bite. Also, the fact that the added flavours (Marc de Champagne, vanilla & white rum) didn't give an artificial taste