Frequent Chocolate Flyer Programs

As I've mentioned earlier, I am a sucker for coupons. And I am the dream shopper for the designers of frequent flyer programs for chocolate lovers.

But, I gotta tell you, Lindt's program is WAY better than Godiva's. For example, today I stopped by Godiva because after my big expenditure at Easter I got a free two piece box and my free chocolate (you get one a month).

Of course, their plan works well, because I usually buy something when I'm in there. This is my free stuff (gold box and heart marzipan) and the stuff I bought for $10:

A lot of their new spring flavors are fruit - mango and peach and pear, and I just didn't want to try them. I did get some new ones I'll review soon though. I was glad to hear that they thought the best Godiva egg was the almond butter - that's the one I liked so much. Always nice to have some back-up!

Then I went to Lindt and look at this haul!!! The entire back row - the giant bag of assorted Lindor truffles, the two bags of assorted Fiorettos (pralines with either a caramel, cappuccino or hazelnut nougat filling wrapped in crunchy crisp and Lindt milk chocolate), and one of the bars were free! Now THAT'S a rewards program! Get on this, chocolate lovers! Also Lindt gives you free samples just for going in - Godiva gives you one a month if you have their rewards card. I got all this for $37. I LOVE LINDT!!!

That's a bag full of those hazelnut filled ladybugs on the left and behind it is another bag with ten pieces of assorted chocolates. Who's my daddy? Lindt!!


Since we just reviewed every chocolate cherry thing under the sun - I thought I'd review their cherry bar:



This was good, but not as good as my fav, the Perugina chocolate covered cherry. I like it when there's some cherry in there, not just the liquid.

But damn, I love that chocolate!!!!!

And remember marzipan, which for the most part I didn't like? Well, this is marzipan as it should be done from Godiva:

The dark chocolate was thick enough to really enhance the flavor and this marzipan was good - has a rich almond flavor with no weird after taste. I gotta give Godiva credit for this one - completely delicious.

Oh - those little Lindt eggs in pistachio and amaretto and mandorla that I loved? All sold out very fast - they were a huge hit. So I'm doing pretty good at picking the winners! Of course, I'm sure I've picked a few dogs only I love. ; )

I can't tell you how much fun I have with the Lindt employees at Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh - they are so much fun every time I go in and are so excited about their products. Joy and enthusiasm and fun really are contagious - make sure you're a carrier! And sign up for these rewards programs - there's free chocolate waiting for you!

http://www.lindtusa.com/

http://www.godiva.com/

Milk Chocolate Eggs (and a Carrot)

These are the most beautifully packaged chocolates I've yet to see:

Each of the eggs is slightly larger than life size and the color Mylar wrapping is tied with a golden cord:

I found them at Williams-Sonoma and they are Florentine Chocolate Eggs. They even have their own little plastic pedestal!

They were hollow and I find it hard to compare hollow chocolate to solid chocolate. I know - it shouldn't matter, but the thinner pieces let so much air get in and the smooth surface changes the texture. This is a wonderful silky milk chocolate - I'd place it between Lindt and Neuhaus (see below). Not quite as earthy as Neuhaus, but wonderful and delicious.

I found these Madelaine chocolates in Kohl's of all places (chocolate is everywhere - life is good!):

I really like these springy, tropical foil wrappers - they just scream aloha!

This is a solid milk chocolate. Good.

They also made these large solid milk chocolate eggs:

Very pretty, very good.

Isn't chocolate a beautiful thing?

These Hershey's Bliss eggs (in the stolen Cadbury packaging) are pretty good:

Mostly because of the "meltaway center":

It gives them a smooth, creamy richness. I really liked these.

Palmer has an egg assortment (we already reviewed caramel and peanut butter). This one is fudge:

Because it's more like a truffle with the fudge filling than their solid egg (below) it's better, but it's still got the outer waxy mockolate shell. These are just too sugary sweet and not chocolately enough. But the assortment was fun overall.

Palmer's regular solid mockolate eggs are just plain bad:

So waxy and just awful. Not worth the calories. Not even close.

I got this carrot which was originally $4.95 for 47 cents. I couldn't say no to it.

I'm showing you the back because I thought it was interesting to see all the drizzle marks:

This carrot was made by Seattle Gourmet Foods and was richer and creamier than both the Madelaine and the Harry and David Milk Chocolate Easter Eggs (I see why it was originally $4.95 - it was very good. I think they didn't sell because it was a carrot. No one wants to think about carrots when they are indulging in chocolate). The H & D Milk Chocolate Eggs:

In fact, I couldn't tell this one and the Madelaine eggs apart. They tasted exactly the same to me.

These are sooooo cute! They are a little bit smaller than all the other eggs:

Lindt has some great packaging - this is a little tin box:

These blew all the others out of the water. You just can't beat that super smooth and creamy Lindt chocolate. And this smaller size is great! Very poppable! (And thus very dangerous. Thank God they have the foil wrappers to slow you down.)

These are mini Lindor truffle eggs in the Lindt trademark golden bunny (I reviewed the little bunny that was in the middle in an earlier post - yep, he's gone):

But not forgotten!

Of course, they are fabulously creamy and delicious:

And the larger eggs? Need I even say anything?

So rich, so creamy, so decadent - I don't see how Godiva can stay in business with Lindt out there. There is just no comparison! These truffles are transcendent!

Speaking of Godiva:

I hate to say it, but these milk chocolate eggs are pretty good. They are not as good as Lindt, but they are better than H & D and Madeline.

But yet again, the ultimate winner is Neuhaus - at least in the solid milk chocolate category:

What makes these so good is they really taste like chocolate - that wonderful earthy, complex, rich taste. They aren't overly sweet or cloying. They are just about the chocolate.

You know, I'm really starting to get the hang of this chocolate thing. I see why Palmer is so bad and Neuhaus so good. But I had to pare it down to the essentials - i.e. no peanut butter or caramel confusing things. You really do have to try a lot of different things to figure out what works best for you. And you have to be brave enough to say - I've tried them all and I still like the Snickers bar! If you don't try different things though, you really can't know. That's what the journey is all about - trying things, exploring and figuring how who you really are.

Thanks for taking this chocolate journey with me! And let me know what you think or what you'd like me to review. Kris - coconut is still coming, I promise!!!!!

More Easter Eggs - Candy Coated & Dark

Hi Gang! Are you loving the spring weather? I had to take a few days off from blogging to recovered from the great cake pig out. Good grief. But I won't be parted from sugar, fat and chocolate for long!

These candy coated chocolate Easter eggs are a great spring celebration - like M & M's but with more chocolate - what could be better than that?

Cadbury Mini-Eggs are my favorite of these:




This was the first year I saw the tube packaging:



Here they are:

They have a more powdery candy coating (more matte, less smooth and shiny) than the Hershey's version (below) and are a little smaller, but the chocolate is better.

Here's Hershey's:

They look great and chocolaty, but Cadbury's taste better.

Brach's offered these life-size milk chocolate robin eggs:

Wow - too sweet! Too much sugar - closer to Palmer in the sugar content - wow!! Sugar lovers rejoice!

Harry and David tries to compete with M & Ms with their Chocolate Gems (and I have to admit, I was skeptical):

While I love these crazy bright spring colors from M & M:

Harry and Davis wins this contest easily:

They have a much smoother and better taste. There really is a big difference - I was surprised at how much better the Gems were! Once again my preconceptions are dead wrong. Big advertising budgets do not mean quality. Market domination does not equal excellence.

I found these Italian Chocolate Truffle Eggs at A Southern Season and they really are different than most of these. They have the candy coating:

But they have a rich, creamy, truffle filling and there is definitely some hazelnut flavor here.

These are extraordinary! This is a creamy dark chocolate - more on the sweet side of dark and the hazelnut is what really makes them fabulous. It's really not fair to compare them to the others. Holy candy coating, Eggman!

I hadn't see the dark chocolate Cadbury mini-eggs before:

and they are good, but I like the milk chocolate ones better. But this is really a matter of personal preference - dark chocolate lovers will probably love these!

I picked these up at Harry and David. I love this line - Glimmers:

Also in dark chocolate, I thought these were about a million times better than the Cadbury Eggs. I like the Glimmer coating - it's soft, not crunchy and does a much better job of enhancing the chocolate. Delish!!

Milk chocolate still seems to be more popular than dark chocolate (just judging by the fact that there are so may more milk chocolate Easter offerings than dark chocolate ones). But I found a few!

See's had some dark chocolate eggs:

These were my least favorite - a little less creamy than the others. Also less of that fabulous dark chocolate taste:

Dove's pretty pink dark chocolate Elegant Eggs were better:

But not quite as good as Godiva's:

Godiva's dark chocolate had more depth and a richer flavor than the other two.

But the best of all was Neuhaus' dark:

This had the richest, deepest flavor and was smoother than Godiva and less sugary. If you love dark chocolate, this will put you in a state of ecstacy.

Lindt made their famous Lindor truffles in egg shapes for Easter:

(We already reviewed the peanut butter ones) - the dark blue foil eggs are dark chocolate:

Again, it's not fair to compare a truffle with a solid - that delicious creamy filling is sooooo wonderful! It should probably be illegal.

My chocolate adventures keep teaching me the same lessons:

Keep an open mind - what you think you know isn't always right.

Just because everybody likes something (or believes something or does something) doesn't mean it's right or the best or what you should do. The hardest voice to hear in this life is your own.

Candy is fun! Are you giving yourself permission to have any fun?