Charbonnel et Walker ‘Delectables’

Charbonnel et Walker kindly sent us some chocolates from their ‘Delectables‘ range to review. They come in a very posh-looking and sturdy upright box.

First for me to try were the 70% Dark Batons. £12 for a 125g box they’re not cheap BUT, they are a very good quality name and as I said, they are well presented so make an ideal gift and I always find the standard of Charbonnel et Walker chocolates very consistent.

On opening the box the batons are wrapped inside a cellophane bag and sealed with tape to keep them fresh. The best-before-date was until March 2014! But I think these aren’t going to last quite that long – perhaps only a few days as they are quite yummy.

There are certainly plenty of batons inside the box and of course, once you open the cellophane you get the lovely rich chocolate aroma bursting out and making your mouth water.

The batons are about 3 inches in length and have three indentations – making it easy to bite into – each at around an inch, so 3 good bite sizes. They are glossy and smooth.

I must say that I had two and wanted more. My mouth is already watering at the though of them. For 70% cocoa solids they melted very nicely in the mouth.

Now, I’m not a lover of orange peel. If I have an orange at home all the pith and peel needs to come off. And I’m not a fan of it inside fruit cakes either. In fact I leave it out whenever I’m making one. So I wasn’t sure I was going to like these Dark chocolate enrobed orange sticks very much.

Again, these were very well wrapped. They are also priced at £12 for a 125g box.

When opening the wrapper I could smell the dark chocolate certainly, but not the orange yet. The orange sticks are between 1.5 – 2 inches in length, not all the same and some a little curved, not uniformally straight and the same sizes as the batons were.

As soon as I bit into the stick I had the smell and taste of the orange straight away. They are fairly hard and a little chewy. I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised that I liked these! How funny. I tried sucking the chocolate off of one and the chocolate melts nicely and then bit off the chocolate from  another leaving behind the orange peel to see if I would still like it. Again, they were very nice. And of course, dark chocolate goes very nicely with orange. The chocolate on the sticks are 60% cocoa solids, so only a little less than the batons.

Well, if you read our other reviews of Charbonnel et Walkers chocolates and truffles (Velvet Chocolate also make lovely truffles, click here for our review of theirs) you’ll see that we are quite a fan of their chocolates and rightly so. They are always very well presented so they make a nice gift or just a great treat for yourself. I wonder if one day I’ll find something of theirs I don’t like. For more reviews on Charbonnel et Walker chocolates and truffles click here & here or put ‘Charbonnel in our search bar on the right of the page.

Living life, loving cake – and Charbonnel et Walker!

A x