I don’t know about you but whenever I hear Guylian I think chocolate seahorses and shells. I was trying to look at the chocolates in the queue at T.K.Maxx but unfortunately the lady on the till assumed I was in the queue – and that’s the honest reason why I ended up buying them! Thanks awkward politeness! I ended up with two bags of dried fruits covered in “Artisanal Belgian Chocolate” apparently.
Cranberries in Belgian Dark Chocolate
They’ve somehow managed to produce something that’s even uglier than raisins! Bravo Guylian.
That artisanal Belgian chocolate isn’t as dark as I’d hoped for at 52% and it smelt more like the plain chocolate that most American companies call dark, than the richer deeper dark chocolate I love. Although they look similar to chocolate raisins the textures are quite different, they’re still soft and chewy but they have a weird little crunch to them too, which I couldn’t be sure where it was coming from – the cranberry itself or the thick chocolate casing.
The cranberries have a strong bold flavour, they’re sweet but still quite sharp and are juicy and fresh tasting. The chocolate goes well with the fruit center but as I knew from the scent, it wasn’t quite as dark as I’d have liked. The cranberries are so vibrant that they could have gone quite a bit darker and still pulled it off.
Still, they were tasty and made a nice change from chocolate raisins but I wasn’t blown away enough by the chocolate to pay the full R.R.P (£3.99)
Raisins in Belgian Milk Chocolate
Do you know what worries me? The fact the packet so proudly states “MADE WITH REAL FRUIT”. Really America? I’d hate to see what all the other bags of raisins are made with!
There are a minimum of 30% cocoa solids in the milk chocolate, not that much less than in the dark in the grand scheme of things, and a minimum of 21% milk solids. Just like the bag beforehand it’s made in Belgium for what looks like largely a US market.
Opening up the bag released a sweet milky chocolate scent and revealed not very many raisins at all! I find I usually get a handful of large chocolate raisins and then lots of baby ones but these were some of the biggest I’ve ever had with no tiny stragglers at the bottom at all.
The texture was perfect and just as soft and chewy as you’d expect. The raisins had a strong and sweet flavor and were complimented (not overpowered) by the delicious chocolate.
The coating is fairly sweet but delightfuly milky and has a surprisingly strong cocoa flavor. Although I could taste the raisins throughout the chocolate reigned supreme. I questioned with the dark whether the flavor matched the price – the milk chocolate tastes every bit as luxurious as the extortionate (sale!!) price suggests.
Probably the best quality chocolate covered raisins I’ve had.
Rating: 7/10
