Back when I was doing the Great Chocolate Experiments, I tried a few unusual combinations of chocolate and fruits like sun-dried tomato and dried mango. But chocolate and kiwi is a new one on me, so I was intrigued when I received this Whittaker’s Kiwi Fruit chocolate bar from a friend (the same friend who was my Research Assistant for the Great Chocolate Experiments, if anyone’s keeping score). My friend’s brother left her with a few too many edible souvenirs from his trip to New Zealand, so I was happy to take this one off her hands – for the good of this website, of course.
Described on the package as “A New Zealand Favourite,†this paperback-sized block of milk chocolate (a whole 250 grams, or around half a pound) is divided into tiny bite-sized squares. Break one off, and you’ll find it’s studded with little green chunks. Dried kiwi? Not according to the ingredients, which contain only kiwi fruit and apple purees, making it more likely that the green bits are a jelly formed from dried fruit puree – fruit leather, in other words. (Chocolate-covered fruit leather – why didn’t I think of that?)
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It’s a new year, and don’t you think it’s time to try a dark chocolate from New Zealand? Of course you do. I noticed this black package with a silhouetted girl whispering into a man’s ear. The motto on the front reads: “The Best Secrets are Like Chocolate, Dark and Only Shared with Someone You Can Trust.†Dark Secrets is made by Bloomsberry & Co., and the label describes this bar as being “infused with a delectable sense of humor and superior ingredients.â€
I’m not sure I know what a sense of humor tastes like, but I’m willing to learn.
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This month, I’ve decided to combine two months’ worth of Licorice of the Month Club fare into one big happy post. The reason for this is twofold – first of all, with the holidays I’ve been absurdly busy, and second, the two candies I’m profiling are red versions of black licorice I absolutely love.
First up is Black Opal Real Australian Raspberry Licorice. As I’ve mentioned before, I love Black Opal’s black licorice. The raspberry, however, is a different beast all together. Like its black brethren, this candy is very soft and not at all sticky, but there the similarities end. Where the black licorice has a fairly mild yet intriguing taste, the red seems to scream “I am raspberry, hear me roar!”
To be entirely honest, I’m not sure how true to an actual raspberry taste it is; I’ve avoided the fresh berry ever since I was a kid and had a mild allergic reaction to them. However, I can tell you it’s very sweet, almost to the point of overpowering. It doesn’t have that icky waxiness so endemic to Twizzlers and other such candy, though, so if you really like red licorice, this would probably be right up your alley.
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