Leonidas Dark Chocolate Assortment Part 4

Oh no!! Very sadly (for me) it's the final four chocolates from the Leonidas Dark Chocolate Assortment Box. Part One, Two and Three have to be some of the tastiest chocolates I've eaten and this is certainly the best box of chocolates I've had in a very long time.

I know my normal modus operandi is to eat worst to best but I couldn't help myself with the chocolates in part three so I was left with four that while I knew they'd be good, if I had to share some, would probably have been the four I'd give up. 

I Love You

Awww, I love you too Leonidas! I'm not sure what lemon, a normally quite sharp and bitter taste has to do with love but what do I know? If you're up to date with my Leonidas posts you'll know citrus flavours aren't usually my cup of tea but Leonidas aren't playing by my rules so far.

It seems I might not have left the worst, in fact this could be one of the best! I did not expect to taste a delicious sweet lemon, I'd assumed a sharp tart flavour but it wasn't at all. The sweet fruity flavour was the perfect accompaniment to the rich dark chocolate.  

Tosca

As well as citrus flavours, I usually eat around the alcoholic ones too. Way back in part one there was a rum filled chocolate which I loved although there have been a few since then with the familiar harsh alcohol flavour I'm not too keen on. 

The chocolate casing seemed thicker than of late and was just as good as ever, a nice strong flavour until the Brandy kicked in. Wow, it's strong although maybe a little too authentic for me. It's very tasty and it's not that I disliked it, its just so... 'real' tasting that I think it'd need a proper Brandy fan to truly appreciate it. 

Mosaique

Cranberry is a fruit I shy away from, not because of a dislike but because it makes me think of things that do not need to be written about on a food blog thank you very much! 

The crispy praline is wonderful, a soft thick filling with crisp crunchy pieces dotted throughout. The flavours were good too, it tasted a lot sweeter overall than the vast majority of the other chocolates. One negative (or positive depending on where you stand) is that the flavour all came from the sweetened praline, not due to any cranberry. To tell you the truth I couldn't see, let alone taste any cranberry pieces but regardless it was good. 

Cerise Emballee

The very last chocolate in my whole box is the only wrapped one. 

I usually prefer my cherry to be of the sour variety, covered in sugar and in gummy form but I'll eat it in chocolate, if I have to... The attention to detail in the whole box has been lovely, from chocolates shaped like coffee beans to Greek characters embossed on top, they've thought of it all and the very last is the cherry on top...

..Literally! I can't go any further without saying, just look at that! If you read the description on the menu you might be thinking "that doesn't look like cherry liqueur cream?" And you'd be right, because I ate it. It was nice but nothing compared to what you can see above. 

The runny, sweet juices came from the whole Morello Cherry sitting nicely inside. Its large, juicy, a little chewy and sweet with the most vibrant cherry flavour. The liqueur cream left a very boozey aftertaste behind, but the good kind and I'll admit - I literally licked the plate clean afterwards. Incredible. 

Rating:

What a box of chocolates! There were lots of flavours I assumed I'd hate and some I thought I'd love. Some I was on the money and others surprised me but what I can say about every single chocolate is that what really shines through is the quality of the ingredients. Even if it was a flavour I normally hate, there was no denying the stuff's good.

 It's my birthday in a few months Mr.1T - I'll try the milk next time please!!

9/10

Leonidas Dark Chocolate Assortment Part 3

Today's post is the third from the Leonidas Dark Chocolate Assortment I got for Valentines Day.

Part One and Two have got things off to a very impressive start. 

I'd made a serious dent in the assortment already, eating 7 each time and these were all doubles which Mr.1T very "helpfully" tried with me. This left me with 10 singles in the 550g box, don't get me wrong I was surprised with just how many little chocolates were included but there was no way on Earth he was trying any of the singles I had left! 

Alexandre Le Grand

Moving away from flavoured creams and pralines for a moment the first I tried this time round was a caramel. Caramel is seen as a bit of a fail-safe and done well it can be amazing but it it so easy to ruin too. 

The chocolate shell was very crisp with a decent snap and the same rich dark chocolate flavour I'd enjoyed in every other chocolate. The caramel inside was gorgeous; thick and almost gritty with a wonderful caramel flavour, it was extremely sweet - especially compared to the deeper darker flavours of the rest of the assortment but balanced beautifully against the outer chocolate. A caramel well done! 

Marron

The box included very common flavours, found in most boxes of chocolates but they all have a slightly different twist on them.

Although it doesn't look it, the chocolate seemed much thicker on the Marron, giving a much more intense dark chocolate flavour. The praliné had a delicious hazelnut flavour and included small crunchy (what I'm guessing were) hazelnut pieces. Lovely. 

Bretagne 

I mentioned this specific chocolate previously without realising I actually had one in my box. Salted Caramel - sure, I don't think I've tried a salty butter flavoured caramel though! 

The outer chocolate seemed quite thin so it didn't take much for the runny caramel to ooze out. Of course, this is a dark chocolate box but I couldn't have cared less what it was all encased in - the caramel was incredible. It's thick and sticky and has a deliciously buttery flavour, I didn't taste any salt but I really didn't care. Quite possibly the nicest caramel I've ever eaten. 

Noisette Masquee

You may be aware of my enjoyment of nuts... So I was pleased to find a couple of chocolates which included whole hazelnuts. Stick a hazelnut or an almond in it and I'm pleased! 

The chocolate had suffered a slight bloom but it hadn't affected the delicious flavour at all. The praline was very thick, smooth and almost like a mousse. I'm not sure if it was supposed to but it had a very slight hazelnut flavour to it as well. The hazelnut on top was the icing on the cake, very crunchy and I was surprised to find I actually noticed the individual flavour of the nut - too often small, crappy nuts are used more for texture than flavour but it was clear and very tasty in the Noisette Masquee. 

Eve 

Oh yes!! Another butter cream chocolate - if you've read the previous two reviews you'll see they went down very well. Mr.1T exceeded my expectations with the Dark Chocolate Assortment but I'm debating buying myself a Milk Chocolate box now just to try that version of the Eve - Banana butter cream, yes please! 

I knew the second I read the description this would be a winner. In all seriousness in my top 3 things I've ever eaten in my life number 1 is Kobe Beef, number 2 is a Risotto I had in Greece of all places and number 3 is the vanilla butter cream inside this chocolate. It's sweet, very rich and creamy and has a super strong vanilla flavour - but proper vanilla none of this artificial crap. Incredible. I actually forgot about the chocolate but I'm sure it was just fine!! 

Manon Cafe Dark

I struggled finding this chocolate as the photos on the menu only show the white varieties but the last chocolate in this sitting was the Manon Café Dark. 

I'd done well with the other chocolates, considering Mr.1T had had them delivered for me they were all in a pretty good condition and this one was the only one that had taken a bit of a battering. 

Included once again was that butter cream, supposedly coffee flavour this time round. In all fairness it is described as a light coffee but against the rich dark chocolate I didn't notice it at all. It still had the creamy flavour of the actual butter cream so I was more than happy and that with the thick dark chocolate and crunchy hazelnut was still lovely but I'd have liked a stronger coffee flavour. 

So far, the only moan I have with the box is that two of the coffee flavours weren't as intense as the first I tried! Out of 34 chocolates I don't think that's bad going at all! 

Leonidas Dark Chocolate Assortment Part 2

Following on from last weeks review, today's is another 7 chocolates from my Leonidas Dark Chocolate Assortment. 

Confession time, I might be putting the review up a week later but I only managed to hold out 24 hours before going back for more, my excuse - they're made with fresh cream, they might go off if I don't eat them all. Now. 

It was difficult choosing which ones to have, I knew from experience that about 7 would be my limit before they became too rich and the menu provided has literally every single product Leonidas sell, not only what is included in the box in front of me. Donning my tin foil hat, I'm telling you it's a conspiracy, now I can see what else they sell I just know that I'll be buying some more before this box is polished off!! 

Floranger 

This chocolate was nearly identical to the Noir De Noir from last weeks review, right down to the Leonidas moulded in the chocolate. The only difference is the slightly curved edges of the Floranger so a word of advice to anyone with a mixed assortment like this - look very carefully, especially if you have allergies or are avoiding particular ingredients. 

I purposely went for the Floranger first as chocolate orange is far down my list of preferred flavours however this isn't orange flavoured as we know it. The chocolate uses orange blossom which is a far more delicate and subtle flavour, so subtle in fact I could only just about taste it. The ganache feels almost like jelly and the texture paired with the light flavour went well with the rich chocolate. 

Fine Orange

I went for another orange flavoured next, figuring I'd get rid of the ones I least wanted to eat first. This chocolate is one of the best looking in the box and is one of Leonidas "Pearl Truffles". 

The centre is made with chocolate cream and orange flavoured praline and the combination made for a very thick texture. It was softer than I expected, almost runny like a caramel but thick enough to scoop out like a Creme Egg if I'd been feeling particularly skanky! 

The orange flavour is much stronger and I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. The chocolate has the same rich, dark tones as all the others previously but the white drizzle sweetens things up just a little. Lovely. 

Poesie 

Alcoholic chocolates are another I'm not keen on, preferring to actually drink my booze rather than disguise it in chocolate and keeping with the theme of the previous 2 chocolates the Poesie contains ganache and Cointreau - an orange flavoured liqueur. 

The chocolate shell was noticeably thinner than the last few and snapped away quite easily leaving the gooey sticky centre poking out. Because of the thickness the ganache filling was the stronger flavour and unlike the rum filled chocolate of last week this tasted extremely alcoholic. I didn't notice any specific orange flavour but it had the familiar alcohol taste which normally I'm not keen on but it worked really well with this particular chocolate. Surprisingly nice. 

Palet D'or

Now this is more my type of chocolate, one of the very few in the box containing any colour other than almost black. I had to Google Sao Tomé, apparently it's an African island country who were once a leading cocoa producer. There aren't any details on this particular chocolate but I'll go out on a limb and guess this is where the chocolate used comes from. 

The chocolate shell was a little thicker and I'm unsure if its confirmation bias but the chocolate itself did have a slightly different flavour to the rest. That also could have been down to the thick ganache filling, it's soft and mousse like with a very slight bitter edge to it but the good kind of bitter! 

Louise

The U.K could learn a thing or two from Belgium. This is only the 2nd caramel flavour in my assortment so far and not a hint of salted caramel anywhere! Looking on the menu they have a salty buttered flavour caramel and a green tea flavoured caramed (?!?) But no salted, it's nice to have a break! 

The chocolate was as good as ever but the praline centre was incredible. Quite possibly the most delicious caramel flavour I've eaten in a long time. Caramel centres usually have a more liquid feel to them but this was thick and much more solid. I didn't feel any nut shards but there was a hazelnut flavour blended in that was subtle at first but became stronger. Amazing. 

Mystere 

When I first glanced over the menu I thought this would be a sort of roulette mystery chocolate but it's not.. Leonidas are far too grown up for that! It was the only chocolate so far where the picture on the menu didn't match up to real life, but the reality was much more what I'd expect from the description. 

The photo truly doesn't do justice to how green the pistachio centre is! Initially I couldn't taste the pistachio but my God it didn't matter. The fresh butter cream filling is ridiculously good. I'm beginning to understand why these are so expensive now! It is so soft and light, fluffy with a whipped like texture, the fact a delicious pistachio flavour soon appeared was just a bonus. Delicious. 

Lingot

I was blown away by the espresso flavoured chocolate in last weeks review so I left what I thought would be the best till last this time round. The flavour is coffee rather than espresso so I didn't expect it to be as strong but the first had set the bar high. 

Once again a fresh butter cream is used but it is mixed in with a praliné so it wasn't quite the same as the Mystere filling. It's still heavenly though, in fact I've decided if I'm ever on death row my last meal request is bowls and bowls of fresh butter cream. Sadly this was the first chocolate that I was somewhat disappointed by, it's not that it wasn't good - trust me, it was - it's just that after having a coffee flavoured chocolate that not only met my ridiculously high expectations previously but exceeded them, this was a bit of a damp squib. The coffee flavour just wasn't strong enough for my liking. 

I've not got many left and I'm going to try and take my time with them but I have a feeling they aren't going to last much longer! 

Leonidas Dark Chocolate Assortment

How is it that I've been blogging for about three years now and I've not posted about these yet. 

Leonidas. 

A Belgian chocolate company that are over 100 years old, have 1250 shops world wide, are actually Belgium's (which is surely the chocolate capital of the world) most popular chocolate and were recently named as official supplier to the court by King Phillipe of Belgium. The company use quality ingredients including fresh butter and cream and my dark chocolate box is made using 100% cocoa butter. Impressive stuff!

A Valentines present from my lovely husband, who himself received his traditional present of a packet of Haribo and a big bottle of Lucozade - started years ago thanks to a particularly nasty hangover! 

I'm glad he bought these for me, they've been on my wishlist for the longest time but they're rather expensive to treat myself to just to munch on in front of the telly. 

The box looked superior, there was also a silk bow but I got a bit carried away.. 

It's a tiny golden Tardis - roughly the same size as a small box of Ferrero Roche but weighed a whacking 550g! Inside was a random variety of all dark gorgeous smelling and looking creams, truffles, pralines and more. There are so many that these will take a while to get through so bear with me! 

My first venture into the treasure chest saw me munching 7 little chocolates and for the first time in my life it was enough, my chocolate cravings were fully satisfied! 

Casaleo

I don't think the chocolate is supposed to have that kind of off look to it, though out of the whole box there were two of these and they were both the only ones that had a slight bloom to them

The dark chocolate shell was delicious, a very rich dark chocolate flavour. The praliné centre was thick and smooth and the puffed rice were wickedly crunchy. Like a grown up Double Decker, amazing. 

Noir De Noir 

One of the least interesting looking in the box but the flavour did not disappoint. 

The chocolate shell was slightly thicker and it resulted in a darker, deeper chocolate flavour. The ganache centre only intensifies this as its slightly sweeter yet still has a darker chocolate flavour. The ganache has a thick soft mousse like texture that felt like velvet against the firmer chocolate wrapped around it. Lovely. 

Josephine

I love that the chocolate looked like a coffee bean! 

Without a doubt the most incredible coffee chocolate I've eaten. Ever. The chocolate was as delicious as the previous two but the rich, gooey centre was so runny it was practically a liquid. The espresso flavour is so intense it's almost bitter but is countered by the sweeter caramel. More now please! 

Dark Chocolate Conch Praline 

There wasn't as much marbling on this chocolate as on the menu, but I was impressed with how much all of the chocolates looked like they were supposed to even though they were all loose in the box, no plastic packaging to hold any in place. 

The chocolate was quite thin and so the sweetness from the cream praline centre was slightly more noticeable. There was still a dark chocolate flavour but combined with the sweetness it tasted far more like a mass produced British Dark Chocolate (albeit a higher end one, like Hotel Chocolat) than the unique flavour of the rest of the box. It's still nice enough that it would have warranted a 9/10 on its own though! 

Buche Praline 

Another praliné, Belgian praliné is slightly different to European praline. Wikipedia has a bit more info on that, but these are fresh cream based pralinés. 

They may seem near enough identical to the seashell shaped praliné but the ratios are slightly different. The praliné is as sweet and tasty as before but where the chocolate is much thicker on the Buche it retains the rich dark flavours much better. Delicious! 

Carre Croquant

This is much the same as the Casaleo above, though for some reason this is a crisped rice filling and that was a puffed rice filling. The difference between the two seems to be that puffed rice is steamed and crisped rice is cooked in an oven or in oil. 

Whatever the difference is between the two, I didn't really notice it! The flavour was much the same as the Casaleo and even with an increased amount of praliné filling the dark chocolate was just as enjoyable and just as lovely. 

Europe

The one I thought I'd better get out of the way as I don't usually enjoy rum. 

The first flavour I noticed was that of the thick dark chocolate shell. The quality of all of the chocolates was just as good in the first as the last and the flavour really is amazing. The thick creamy ganache was next and was just as gorgeous and lastly came the rum. The delicious tasting rum! What?! I know, very unlike me but paired with the rich chocolate and slightly sweeter ganache it was beautiful and had a wonderful rum flavour without any of the harsh alcohol taste. 

Well they were the first 7, I can't wait to get into the rest!