Thursday, November 19, 2015

Delightful, But Not Quite Balanced, Godiva Caramel Nut Brownie Dessert Truffles Are Still Worth Trying!


The Good: Wonderful flavor, Good ingredients, Affordable!
The Bad: Caramel flavor doesn't pop, I'm not a huge fan of nuts . . .
The Basics: Godiva has a good execution of their Caramel Nut Brownie Dessert Truffle, even for those not partial to nuts!


As a courtesy to my wife, I'm no longer referencing her in my reviews. That comes as the result of a long, heartfelt conversation we had the other night. So, today, I was out at Target and after I got home, somehow - mysteriously - a package of Godiva Caramel Nut Brownie Dessert Truffles appeared in my home. Incidentally, someone was in my home proclaiming their love for me, but She Who Shall Not Be Referenced shall not be given credit for the wonderful gift that, I'm told, she got on sale at Target as a gift for me.

I'm not a huge fan of nuts in my chocolate, but She Who Shall Not Be Referenced guessed correctly that I would love a good chocolate brownie truffle. And my wife was absolutely right about that!

Basics

Godiva, of course, is the famous fancy chocolatier that is most known for their gold-wrapped boxes of chocolates that are most frequently used by men to bribe women to get them out of whatever trouble they have gotten themselves into. They make high-end chocolates, but in recent years, Godiva has been marketing a line geared toward Target shoppers and their individually wrapped, bagged, truffles, seem to be the lynch-pin. In recent years, it appears Godiva has stepped up to use better ingredients, even in their mass market chocolates.

The Caramel Nut Brownie Dessert Truffles come in a 4.4 oz. bag, which puts it in direct competition with Lindt and Ghirardelli products on Target's shelves. The bag has twelve truffles in it, which represents three servings. Each truffle is individually wrapped within the bag in a reddish-brown wrapper. Unwrapping foil wrapper reveals the 1 3/8” in diameter by 3/4" tall dome of chocolate that is the truffle.

Ease Of Preparation

Eating Godiva Caramel Nut Brownie Dessert Truffles is not a real challenge. After opening the bag, simply pull out a truffle, unwrap it and stick it in your mouth. There is no particularly complicated equation to eating these chocolates. The unwrapping of each truffle before consuming it is pretty important, though.

Taste

Unwrapping the truffle reveals the strong aroma that fades fairly quickly. The scent is immediately recognizable as cocoa and those who love dark chocolate will be drawn in by the aroma for as long as it lasts.

On the tongue, the Godiva Caramel Nut Brownie Dessert Truffle is delightfully dark, without any hint of being bitter. The sweetness might mute the chocolate enough to be noticeable to those who adore the darkest chocolates, but those who love milk chocolate will find these truffles forceful and a concentrated burst of rich chocolate that overwhelms the taste buds. As the chocolate melts away, the sweetness of the chocolate takes over until the surface of the truffle cracks open. Then, the center of the truffle erupts outward with a texture and flavor of rich, chocolatey brownies and walnuts (they are actually hazelnuts in these truffles, but they taste like walnuts the way the brownie-flavored center overwhelms them).

The Godiva Caramel Nut Brownie Dessert Truffle does not quite land the caramel flavor. For sure, there is an initial burst of sweetness as the shell breaks, before the brownie and nut center completely overwhelms the tongue, but the flavor does not hold its own against the onslaught of dark chocolate surrounding and brownie-chocolate inside the truffle.

These truffles have a very minor, very sweet, aftertaste that lingers for about two minutes on the tongue.

Nutrition

Godiva chocolates are intended as a dessert product, so anyone attempting to live off them has another thing coming! These twelve truffles represent three full servings of the chocolates and those looking for real nutrition will have to look elsewhere. Made primarily of sugar, heavy cream and corn syrup, these are pretty high-quality chocolates. This is not an all-natural food product and these truffles were produced on equipment that forces them to add a disclaimer about peanuts, wheat and other tree nuts.

In addition to no ingredients I cannot readily pronounce, Godiva’s Caramel Nut Brownie Dessert Truffles have 190 calories for each four truffle serving, with 90 of the calories from fat. A full four truffle serving represents 30% of one’s RDA of saturated fat and 3% of the RDA of cholesterol. Surprisingly, they are fairly low in sodium with only 45 mg per serving and there is a gram of protein to be had by eating a full serving. These are not a significant source of vitamins or minerals, though the serving does provide 8% of one's RDA of Iron and 2 grams of dietary fiber.

Storage/Cleanup

As a chocolate, Godiva Gems’ Caramel Nut Brownie Dessert Truffles are fine as long as they are stored in their bag and wrappers at a cool, dry temperature. My wife picked these up for me today and they have an expiration date of June 2016, so they do have a decent shelf life. If they melt, they will stain. Otherwise, cleanup is simply throwing the foil wrapper away and recycling the paper bag the truffles come in.

Overall

Godiva Caramel Nut Brownie Dessert Truffles might not be perfect, but until Godiva comes out with a Dark Chocolate Caramel Brownie Truffle, these are easily one of the best, most affordable and intriguing truffles my loving wife has ever found for me!

For other Godiva chocolate reviews, please check out:
Godiva White Chocolate Vanilla Bean bar
Godiva Vanilla Sundae in Dark Chocolate Truffle Bar
Godiva Dark Chocolate Mint Truffles

7.5/10

For other food and drink reviews, please visit my Food And Drink Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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