Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Cowgirl Chocolates; A Concert of Taste and Texture.

The Last Bite recently received a small box of unique and delicious sweet chocolaty treats from Cowgirl Chocolates. The eclectic flavors were divided into two categories; spicy and mild. Included are flavors such as Spicy Double Dark Chocolate, Raspberry Lemon, and Habanero Caramel.

While I love chocolates and spicy foods I gathered a group of four tasters so as not to put myself into a diabetic coma. We found that the common thread amongst all the delicious flavors was the super creamy and rich texture of the truffle centers and the crisp sweet chocolate shells.
On the mild side the flavors are Double Dark Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, Ivory Orange, and Raspberry Lemon.

The spicy side of the box was filled with flavors such as Raspberry Dark Chocolate, Double Dark Chocolate, Hazelnut Milk Chocolate, Cappuccino, Habanero Dark Chocolate, and Habanero Caramel.

The presentation of these fine chocolate screams of quality and makes you want to devour them immediately upon receipt. Once you tear open the red paper and remove the ribbons, a myriad of shiny colored foil wrappers entice you with their hidden secrets.

As a group we pretty much agreed on the favorites. While we loved them all, there were definitely standouts in the bunch. We all enjoyed the Ivory Orange Truffle; crisp white chocolate encases a velvety milk chocolate spiked with tangy orange essence. Chocolate and orange is a classic combination, but the ivory white chocolate elevates this truffle beyond the ordinary.
Removal of the aqua colored foil reveals a favorite flavor of chocolate lovers, the Double Dark Chocolate truffle. The dark bittersweet shell is filled with creamy dark bittersweet ganache. What more could you want from a tasty chocolate morsel; more of them.

The spicy side of sweet brings a whole new perspective to chocolates. I’ve had spicy chocolates that were ok, and some that were not good at all. The spicy treats in this little red box were nothing short of greatness. The spiciness was well balanced in all the various flavors. The favorite of the spicy menu was definitely the Habanero Caramel. While there was no chocolate on this one it was one of the most remarkable caramels I have ever tasted. The caramel itself was buttery and had sweet vanilla undertones. There were several layers of flavor before the spiciness of the habanero pepper beat its way to your taste buds. The sweetness of the creamy caramel offset the heat of the habanero enough to let you enjoy the caramel without too much pain, but enough of the habanero comes through to make sweat a bit. It was the perfect combination of pain and pleasure.

The other standout on the spicy side was the Cappuccino Truffle. It had the added element of texture; as if the spiciness was not enough to wow your taste buds the outer shell of cappuccino truffle had a crystallized coffee crunch to it. Combined with the rich sweet cappuccino crème center and the ever so present spiciness this chocolate bite was certainly a concert of taste and texture.

All of us at The Last Bite thank the people at Cowgirl Chocolates and Foodbuzz for the opportunity to sample and report on this awesome taste of Fine Chocolates!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Wow! That looks so good! That habanero chocolate is something I cant wait to try!

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