When I hear the words "Deepest, Darkest...." , I can only think of one thing: chocolate! My whole family loves chocolate, and my husband is a confirmed chocoholic, especially dark chocolate (or plain chocolate as they say in England). And with all these studies touting the benefits of the antioxidants in dark chocolate, his chocolate fix has become almost a guilt-free pleasure. At least the way he eats it is ok: just one square of deep, silky dark chocolate per day. Just a 1/2 inch square. I don't know how he does it, I can't stop till I eat the whole bar.
Anyway, just for fun, I thought I'd share with everyone some of our family's favorite chocolate treats. Before I start, it must be noted that we are not gourmet chocolate connoisseurs. No doubt serious critics would laugh at this list; it's just the stuff we find the yummiest.
Also, our experience is mainly limited to US and English chocolates. Unfortunately we don't have the opportunity to sample Belgian, Dutch, Swiss or other European chocolate very often, so we can barely recall their names, much less rate them. (But we have eaten enough to say that Europeans and English take the business of chocolate a lot more seriously than the US). OK, on to the deep, dark stuff...
Presenting the Bongga Awards for Best Chocolate:
Best all-around chocolate maker: Cadbury's chocolate -- but it must be genuine English chocolate because Cadbury's chocolate made in the US actually wins our award for worst chocolate!
Best drugstore chocolate candy: There are so many, it's hard to say!!! It would have to be a tie between Cadbury's Turkish Delight, Nestle Aero, Galaxy, Ritter Sport dark chocolate hazelnut, and of course, good ol' Twix! Honorable mention goes to Trader Joe's for making a great economy sized and priced slab of chocolate.
Best chocolate ice cream: Haagen Dazs. Runner-up, Dreyer's.
Best chocolate truffle: Champagne truffles and port truffles from Anette's chocolates . Runner-up, Champagne truffles from Joseph Schmidt.
Best chocolate baked treat: Mrs. Fields (or any moist, chewy) chocolate chip cookie. Runners-up, any chocolate-covered biscuit such as McVitie's plain chocolate Digestives, plain chocolate Hobnobs, or Cadbury's fingers (again, it must be genuine English Cadbury's!).
Best guilt-free chocolate treat: Melted strawberries dipped in dark chocolate. Runners-up, Jello sugar-free chocolate pudding or sugar-free/ fat-free Fudgsicle pops.
Presenting the Bongga Awards for Best Chocolate:
Best all-around chocolate maker: Cadbury's chocolate -- but it must be genuine English chocolate because Cadbury's chocolate made in the US actually wins our award for worst chocolate!
Best drugstore chocolate candy: There are so many, it's hard to say!!! It would have to be a tie between Cadbury's Turkish Delight, Nestle Aero, Galaxy, Ritter Sport dark chocolate hazelnut, and of course, good ol' Twix! Honorable mention goes to Trader Joe's for making a great economy sized and priced slab of chocolate.
Best chocolate ice cream: Haagen Dazs. Runner-up, Dreyer's.
Best chocolate truffle: Champagne truffles and port truffles from Anette's chocolates . Runner-up, Champagne truffles from Joseph Schmidt.
Best chocolate baked treat: Mrs. Fields (or any moist, chewy) chocolate chip cookie. Runners-up, any chocolate-covered biscuit such as McVitie's plain chocolate Digestives, plain chocolate Hobnobs, or Cadbury's fingers (again, it must be genuine English Cadbury's!).
Best guilt-free chocolate treat: Melted strawberries dipped in dark chocolate. Runners-up, Jello sugar-free chocolate pudding or sugar-free/ fat-free Fudgsicle pops.
Mmmm.... all this talk of chocolate has made me want to drive over to the nearest British foods store! So tell me, what's your favorite deep, dark chocolate indulgence?
For more things deep and dark, click here.
17 comments:
Kitkat still the best. Taste is just right, not too strong not too weak. And Kitkat from London is really good!
love it! i'm sure a light hearted twist on the prompt, but it totally made my day! i used to work for a chocolate store, so i'm pretty partial. mrs. cavanaugh's chocolates, you can only buy them in utah or online; but they are so worth it. no waxy additives just plain cream, butter, sugar, and cocoa. can it get any better? http://www.mrscavanaughs.com/
i loved working there because we had to do "random" quality testing... which mostly amounted to eating whatever we wanted for the day.
oh what a brilliant deep and dark
yummo
i agree re your cadburys - when visiting the states - i had no idea it would be different from ours here in aus - blah !!!
Yum, Cadbury Easter eggs!
Nice take on the prompt !
I never realised there was so much difference between English and American versions of the same brand.
From the treats you list, my favourite has to be the McVities chocolate digestives (which always bring to mind Hugh Grant in "Love Actually" asking who he has to screw to get tea and chocolate biscuits).
Otherwise, I like my chocolate dark as can be (75% is really a minimum) and there are loads of tablets with different cocoa beans so we can sample the world of chocolate (can you tell I live in Europe ?).
As a treat, I like dark chocolate with red pepper in it (something I have been doing with my chocolate mousse for 12 years) It's got a nice kick to it. And red pepper is also an anti depressant (like chocolate) so they can live happily forever after together.
Nathalie
Maya Gold is my favourite, organic fair traded dark chocolate with a touch of orange and spices. It's the tastiest and you can eat it with a clear conscience too...
Yummy post! I almost wrote about dark chocolate - lucky I changed course!
This was certainly a yummy take on the prompt! I love chocolate, too and we have a little specialty store down here that sells the most amazing choco. covered pretzels- dark of course! I'm hungry!
I am so hungry for chocolate right now!
Great post!
I highly encourage you to order some foreign chocolate off the internet. It'll open your eyes to a whole new level of chocolate adoration!
Mmmm ... such a yummy post. I haven't even had breakfast yet so this post certainly makes my tummy yearn for a chocolate treat later.
My favorite chocolate is Reece's PBC. :)
Yes, yes...darkest chocolate lover here! Even my toddler turns her nose up at the milk stuff. ;)
Mmmm chocolate! there's some great chocolatiers in New Zealand too, which you must try should you ever visit!
Galaxy Minstrels. Best chocolate hands-down. Very difficult to get in the U.S., though. U.S. chocolate is horrid in comparison.
Nice piece.
Great picks but I can't take my eyes off your little cherub. :)
I too cannot keep away from plain dark chocolates. Great chocolatey post.
The chocolate that I had in Italy was sooooo incredible. I dream of it. Especially with hazelnuts. The organic, fair trade chocolates are the best I've found in the US. Can't eat the other stuff anymore, just tastes sugary.
Post a Comment