Ghirardelli Strawberry Bark Is Fun!

The Good: Good flavor, Decent ingredients
The Bad: Not exactly nutritious.
The Basics: Ghirardelli Strawberry Bark is a flavorful limited edition chocolate square worth trying and makes the consumer wish it was around year round!


I am not, honestly, a huge fan of chocolate and fruit flavors. That said, every now and then I pick something up that is fruit-flavored and chocolate and it turns out to be wonderful and I love it. Ghirardelli Strawberry Bark chocolate squares are one of those products!

Ghirardelli Strawberry Bark is pretty delicious and is a limited edition flavor of Ghirardelli chocolate that Ghirardelli released for Valentine's Day.

Basics

Ghirardelli Strawberry Bark 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 white and pink foil wrapper with hearts on it. 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 patty which has milk chocolate on the bottom and white chocolate with Strawberry flakes in it on the upper half of the confection. In this form, the 5.4 oz. bag, the individually-wrapped chocolate squares are packaged together in a thick foil paper bag. This size has thirteen 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, even with only thirteen squares, tends to run in the $6.00 range, before the end-of-the-season sales.

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 Strawberry Bark chocolate squares.

Taste

The Ghirardelli Strawberry Bark smells powerfully of strawberry. The scent is strong and inviting. There is no hint of chocolate in the bouquet of these chocolate squares.

The Strawberry Bark tastes sweet and chocolatey. The fruit flavor actually dominates the chocolate squares. The strawberry flavor is delicious and plays off the chocolate better than something like chocolate covered strawberries; there is no sourness to these chocolates, like can happen with real strawberries. The white chocolate portion of the Strawberry Bark is incredibly mild. The strawberry flavor holds its own with the milk chocolate in these chocolate squares and these taste delightful as a result.

The Strawberry Bark has a slight, very sweet, aftertaste to it that does not endure in the mouth very long after the last of these are consumed.

Nutrition

These are candy, so it is tough to look at these for something nutritious and then blame them for not being healthy. Ghirardelli chocolate squares are surprisingly good, though, which is probably why they are more expensive than many mass-produced chocolates. The primary ingredients are sugar, cocoa butter and whole milk powder. Still, there is nothing unpronounceable in these candies.

A serving of the Ghirardelli Strawberry Bark chocolate squares is one square. From a single square, one takes in 70 calories, with 4.5 grams of fat. There is no cholesterol and subtle amounts of sodium, Potassium and Iron. Honestly, these are candy and anyone looking to them for actual nutrition needs to get a reality check. 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 Strawberry Bark chocolate squares remain fresh for quite some time. The package I bought on clearance after Valentine's Day would not have expired until Halloween, had I not eaten them first. Given that it is chocolate, 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, though, is quite a task.

Overall

Ghirardelli Strawberry Bark is a pleasant combination of chocolate and strawberry flavoring that manages to land . . . even with someone like me, who is much more of a fan of dark chocolate and mint flavors.

For other Ghirardelli products, please check out my reviews of:
Ghirardelli White Chocolate Creme Brulee Chocolate Squares
Dark Chocolate With Sea Salt Caramel Chocolate Squares
Intense Dark Cabernet Matinee

7/10

For other food and drink reviews, please visit my Food Review Index Page!

© 2018 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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