The Good: Good taste, Decent quantity, Generally natural ingredients
The Bad: Somewhat expensive, Not as dark as I would prefer.
The Basics: Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate & Raspberry Filling chocolate squares are one of the surprise success flavors of Ghirardelli chocolate squares!
As we near the holidays, many, many people are getting a lot of candy and other sweets. Already, my wife and I had our first holiday-related fight when she spent a whole day baking. I felt bad on one level, but her sudden obsession with filling the kitchen with baked goods made me cringe, not because they are bad, but because I have already put on my holiday pounds . . . and I still haven’t gotten all of last year’s winter weight off yet! But back to the task at hand. Many people will give and get chocolate this holiday season. With that thought, I sat down to review the Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate & Raspberry Filling chocolate squares because the holidays seem to be a time people splurge on Ghirardelli.
The Dark & Raspberry chocolate squares are worth splurging on for anyone who likes the slightly sour, very sweet flavor of raspberries and a mild dark chocolate.
Basics
Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate & Raspberry Filling chocolate squares are one and a half inch squares of chocolate that are about three-eighths inches thick. Each of the squares comes individually wrapped in a pink and bronze wrapper. It is worth noting that while I usually rail against the environmental impact of such things, it is hard to imagine Ghirardelli chocolate squares not wrapped. This keeps each one clean, unmelted and intact.
Each chocolate square is a seamless square that is essentially a chocolate envelope sealing in a thin layer of dark purple raspberry paste which is just delightful. In this form, the 5.32 oz. bag, the individually-wrapped chocolate squares are packaged together in a thick foil paper bag. This size has approximately eleven squares and the thick foil paper bag does little to protect the squares. The bag is not resealable, though this matters very little considering that the chocolate squares do not go bad as they are individually wrapped.
One of these bags tends to run in the $5.00 range. These are not cheap candies!
Ease Of Preparation
These are candy, so preparing them is as simple as opening the bag and then opening one of the foil wrappers around the actual chocolate square one wishes to eat. There is no grand secret to eating Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate & Raspberry Filling chocolate squares. I have, however, noticed that this particular flavor is a little better when served at room temperature.
Taste
The Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate & Raspberry squares have a delightful aroma. Opening up the plastic of the package, one is immediately presented with the sweet, faintly tart aroma of raspberries. To Ghirardelli’s credit, the scent is not the manufactured raspberry scent, but a very pure, very true scent of fresh, wild raspberries! This made me immediately want to bite into the chocolate.
The name of the candy adequately prepares the consumer for what happens when they place the chocolate on their tongue. The chocolate is dry and slightly dark. This is not an especially bold dark chocolate, but it is darker than milk chocolate and it lacks the sweetness of more manufactured-tasting chocolates.
As the hard dark chocolate melts away, the tongue encounters the sweet raspberry filling. Tasting like a very standard raspberry jam, the filling flows over the tongue to break up the dry, dark exterior. Blending the candy in one’s mouth, the Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate & Raspberry chocolate square takes on a delicious flavor that nicely mixes the sweet and the bold flavors.
Nutrition
These are candy, so they are not particularly healthy. The Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate & Raspberry chocolate squares are not nearly as bad as they could be. The primary ingredients are sugar, unsweetened chocolate, and high fructose corn syrup. There is nothing unpronounable in these candies and everything in these could be readily identified by me.
A serving of the Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate & Raspberry Filling chocolate squares is considered three squares. From three squares, one takes in 210 calories, including 12 grams of fat. There is 1 mg cholesterol, no sodium, and 2 g protein, but no vitamins (save 4% RDA of Vitamin C) in these chocolate squares. There is, surprisingly enough, 10% of one's daily iron in three squares, so that is a plus.
These are not Vegan-compliant, nor are they recommended for anyone with a nut allergy as they are produced on the same equipment that peanuts pass over. They are, however, kosher.
Storage/Clean-up
The bags of these Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate & Raspberry Filling chocolate squares remain fresh for quite some time. I could not find any expiration date on the bag. One assumes that if they are kept in a cool, dry environment they will not melt or go bad. Given that they are individually wrapped in a very sealed package, it is hard to imagine just what it would take for these to go bad outside melting and refreezing.
As for cleanup, I applaud those who actually throw the wrappers away in socially appropriate places, as opposed to litter. Outside that, there is no real cleanup needed, unless one is eating them in a hot environment. In that case, it is likely one would need to wash their hands. If these chocolate squares melt into most fabrics, they will stain. Getting them to melt is surprisingly easy.
Overall
Despite how expensive Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate & Raspberry Filling chocolate squares are, these make a great gift for those who like dark chocolate, but not the seriously dark chocolate that is excruciating to eat. He blend of sweet, sour and bitter makes for an intriguing taste sensation that anyone who likes candy will want to try.
For other Ghirardelli chocolate squares reviews, please check out:
Milk Chocolate With Peanut Butter Filling
Dark Chocolate with white mint filling
Milk & Pumpkin Spice Caramel chocolate squares
8/10
For other food and drink reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!
© 2011 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |
No comments:
Post a Comment