The very first Valentine’s Day candy I got this year were these delicious samples from See’s Candies. They are very festive, with a large, heart shaped Milk Bordeaux and a Sweetheart box. They use lots of red and pink, plus the heart shaped which make them perfect for Valentines Day. I was super excited to receive these samples, as See’s candies are favorites of mine, and I adore trying their seasonal fare.

If you’ve never had a See’s Bordeaux, well, let me just say it’s a little slice of heaven. It’s a mix of brown sugar and butter cream, so it’s rich and smooth, which being a little grainy and sweet. So, terribly addictive. This one for Valentines Day comes in a little box, but don’t let it fool you. It’s still a large Bordeaux even if it’s not a whole pound of them from their chocolates counter.

It’s very sweet looking, in the shape of a heart, with two frosted hearts in the center: one red and one white.

The way this candy melts in your mouth is an absolute pleasure. You get waves of sweetness that are buttery and have a richness that is hard to explain. The texture is smooth and thick, as if a square of fudge just melted on your tongue. It doesn’t dissipate too quickly and it leaves you moth feeling clean. No greasy aftertaste or grit. It’s pure bliss.

Everyone I’ve shared pieces of this Bordeaux with, cause for it was was that big, absolutely loved it. My fiance posture relaxed as he looked at me and said “Wow, that is really good”. The Bordeaux is one of my favorite See’s, and it will firmly remain there.

The Sweetheart Box is a lovely collection of some of See’s best truffles. This box, though, is the oly boxed assortment that has their Peanut Butter Pattie and P-Nut Crunch (tm) in it. Both are perfect for any lover of peanut butter, so this assortment is a good bet if your Valentine loves that flavor. There’s a nice assortment of other chocolate, nougats and nut-brittle in here, so your taste buds certainly won’t get bored. To add to its festive feeling, not only is the box beautifully decorated, there’s solid red foil wrapped heart candies in here that complete the feeling.

I am smitten with these chocolates and especially that Milk Bordeaux heart. I’d have a constant stash of those in my kitchen in an ideal world. If your sweetheart is into rich chocolates and sweet fillings, See’s is a great option for your Valentines Day gift giving.

Rating: Hoard

Links See’s Candies Website

I found this Tea Room Midnight Mocha along with the Pina Colada bar the other day in Cost Plus World Market. I’ll say again, I love that store! It’s a candy adventure every time I go in there. I was impressed to see that this is the first chocolate bar by the tea room to not have tea, but instead coffee, in it. Regardless, I was really excited to see a new flavor to try from them.

This bar is described to have 72% dark chocolate, yum! The wrapper is just gorgeous. It has rich tones of purple accented by bright pinks. Opening the bar it smells, deep, and earthy with a nice chocolate and coffee aroma.

The flavor is not acidic at all, which is a pleasant surprise. The flavpr starts off sweet and mild, with an excellent hint of chocolate. then the coffee flavor blooms with nice earthy tones kissed with cherries. It’s a wonderful mix. The texture is smooth and silky, thankfully not gritty as some coffee chocolates are. The flavor blends beautifully and is a wonderful pairing. I was worried the mixture of dark chocolate and coffee would be too acidic. The flavor comes of rich and delicious, with excellent notes of both the coffee and the chocolate.

Coffee and chocolate are a winning combination no matter how you cut it, and this bar is a beautiful example of how a coffee chocolate bar should be. The flavor isn’t acidic, the texture is silky (not gritty like some bars are) and the overall all balance of flavors is heavenly. One again The Tea Room hits another home run.

Rating: Will Buy Again

Links The Tea Room Website

Today is the second Michel & Augustin Petits Carres bar that I bought at the Grove Farmer’s Market. I recall them having a few varieties. If I bought all they had I clearly don’t remember. My sister just chose a few for me and I went with them. I didn’t care enough to make sure if I was trying all the varieties or just some of them.

This is the Hazelnut Dark Chocolate flavor, which, I am hoping will be a bit more flavorful than the plain dark chocolate. Time will tell though.

The first thing that had me bummed about this bar was it has overcooked cookie base. Not just darker than the last, no. It has inconsistent coloring all over and in some parts it was a dark as the chocolate was. Not good. The flavor is not as strong or yummy as Nutella is, which I found disappointing. The filling is only slightly nutty and just comes across as bland. Sadly there’s no saltiness in the cookies base. Just a bland sweetness and a rock hard texture which made it even more difficult to separate and eat as the Dark Chocolate variety.

So this one was disappointing. I was hoping it’d improve my thoughts about this candy, but instead it just made me think worse of it. If I wanted to eat flavorless burnt cookies I’d make some myself, as it’s easy to leave a batch in the oven too long. I mean, it didn’t taste terrible but it wasn’t great either. Especially since I paid about $4 for this, imported from France no less. Fool me once….

Rating: Might Eat Again

Links Michel & Augustin Webpage (French)

I came across this Michel & Augustin Petits Carres: Dark Chocolate at the same trip to the Grove Farmer’s Market down in Los Angeles on 3rd and Fairfax. The stores there carry and amazing array of items, and these bars from France are one of many. It was actually my sister who noticed them at first and kept picking them up to look at the packaging. The purist that I am, I was more interested in the huge bars of Felchin and Dolfin chocolates. It wasn’t until I she came over and tugged on my sleeves suggesting that these would be great to review on my blog. “Look at how unique these are!” she exclaimed. That line of reasoning was exactly why I bought them.

This is a candy bar that I have never seen before. This isn’t because it’s French and I just haven’t seen it on shelves here in the USA. No, I mean by the fact that this style of candy bar is completely new to me. Usually you see instead is a bar that is similar; where cookie bits are crumbled into the chocolate, or the chocolate is put into the cookie and it sold as a…well, a cookie. So this idea of a molded cookie base and chocolate interior which is a candy bar is very new to me.

I shall start with the first flavor: Dark Chocolate.

So these bare have butter biscuit as the bottom with a chocolate filling pressed into “wells” in the top. The bar is broke into six biscuit sections, two wide and three tall. Out of the wrapper it’s pretty to look at. Kind of like a stained glass cookie. Also though, due to the denseness of the cookie bottom, the sections are kinda hard to break. Everyone single one of them gave me a difficult time.

The bar is 73g in size/weight. I admit I wasn’t quite sure if this was a candy or a cookie. But, one seldom sees a 73g cookies wrapped like a candy bar. Much less from France.

The butter biscuit bottom is soft and crumbly. It doesn’t require a lot of chewing to make it break apart. The flavor is very sweet and buttery, with nice notes that aren’t too sweet. It’s a nice butter shortbread. I was surprised by it’s intense salty aftertaste, which was strange at first then ended up being the part I looked forward to most. The chocolate filling is soft and gooey, but solid. When I opened the wrapper it stuck to it and came out as a solid whole. Which is…odd. The flavor is sweet but very…flat. It reminds me of creamy cocoa powder. The flavor gets stronger,  but it’s not very sweet and it has a very flat chocolate flavor.

So this is ...meh. I’ve had chocolate bars that are better and cookies that are better. I just can’t help but feeling that this is better off as a cookies, as opposed to packaged like a candy bar.

Rating: Might Eat Again

Links Michel & Augustin Webpage (French)

I am always super excited when limited edition flavors come out for the holiday season. It’s like a treasure hunt for me, to go around to all the different stores trying to find what is new and unique. The idea of items having a “season” is fun to me, especially since we humans used to eat foods in that way. We’d consume what fruit and vegetables were in season, so in a way these candies that come around only once a year reflect those times. Once I am lucky enough to locate them I then take my bounty home to photograph and taste it for the blog. For this year, See’s was kind enough to offer me samples of their special Thanksgiving flavors and saved me a trip to the store. The cranberry orange truffle is one of the two I have ready to review for you.

This truffle is included in a “Seasonal Pie Truffles” collection they offer each year at Thanksgiving. There’s a set of four flavors including Cranberry Orange, Pecan Pie, Apple Pie and Pumpkin Pie. The chocolates all sound really appealing, it must be hard to decided which to taste first. The cranberry orange is easy to pick out, it’s round and tall, decorated with lines of drizzled chocolate. It’s made with dark chocolate, so the color is very deep and inviting.

The truffle smells bright and zesty of oranges. You get a little sweetness form the chocolate, but it’s really the orange that steals the show here. The first bite is filled with orange, complimented by cranberry followed by the rich dark chocolate tones with an edge of cherry and cream. Taking a peek at the truffle’s interior, you can see the pale pink filling with actual bits of cranberry in it. No wonder if it’s so flavorful!  The chocolate is fruity too, so it’s bright red notes of cherries and currants compliments the filling beautifully. The orange notes are bright and zesty, as they’re extremely fresh. The cranberries and a fresh tartness to it, and in a way I’m reminded of a creamy cranberry sauce. It’s very flavorful and delicious.

I really liked this truffle, as the flavors were beautifully balanced with the chocolate, not to mention being yummy! It really makes me eager to buy the “Seasonal Pie Collection” and try the Apple Pie and Pumpkin Pie flavors it includes. The flavors are just so tempting! Especially since fall flavors are a big favorite of mine. If this truffle is any hint of what the overall collection is like, and knowing See’s I feel safe in assuming that it is, I’m sure it’s a extremely delicious treat which is worthy of replacing the pies it mimics.

Rating: Will Buy Again

Links See’s Candies Website