Thorntons 'Snowman & The Snowdog' Chocolate Truffle

I was browsing the Christmas products in Waitrose when these cute 'snowman' themed chocolates caught my eye. As I grew up watching the Raymond Briggs classic, and it remains one of the festive traditions that makes up part of my Christmas Eve, I felt impervious to resist.

'Milk chocolate with a white chocolate truffle centre' 

I purchased them for the reasonable price of 2 for £1. Unwrapping my truffle I was happy to discover that the chocolate had a pleasing resemblance to both characters (they've clearly got more advanced moulds than the Reese's Christmas Trees!) As you can see from the photo below, the chocolate was very glossy, which I thought was unusual and oddly off-putting.

It tasted as waxy as it looked, with a horribly cheap and chalky flavour meaning that it wasn't as smooth as I'd have liked -or expected- from what was once considered a luxury brand*. The centre was disappointingly lacklustre, completely devoid of white chocolate's characteristic creaminess, and I couldn't even really determine it against the milk chocolate. Texturally the truffle was very close and only marginally softer than it's covering.

I think these are beautiful little chocolates, and I think they would make children smile -if they pause long enough to look at them before munching them that is! As an adult however I'm a bit despondent at the lack of taste quality.

5/10




*It must be noted  that I don't eat a tremendous amount of Thorntons, so admittedly my taste buds are more accustomed to Galaxy or Dairy Milk

NEW Thorntons Chocolate 'Fabulous Fudge' Pots

Thorntons released their new Fabulous Fudge pot desserts into Tesco stores last month in three different flavours- Toffee, Vanilla and Chocolate. Both Lucy and Kev reviewed the Toffee variety and were impressed by Thornton's venture into the fresh dessert sector, so when they came on offer last week I decided it was time to try them out for myself. I deliberated between the Toffee and Chocolate flavours, but the Chocolate (of course) won out in the end.

The pots are tiny at only 65g each, and are described as 'Fudge mousse with a layer of chocolate dessert.' I was praying that the mousse would be much better than the disastrous Cadbury Bubbles of Joy Duo desserts that I reviewed last month.

I needn't have worried because Thorntons didn't disappoint- the chocolate topping was similar both in flavour and texture to velvety ganache. The fudge layer had a rich caramel flavour and was thicker than most commercial mousses which added to the impression of luxury. 

It's a delicious dessert but I felt that it was just too small. I also believe that it would benefit from a third layer that could introduce some texture. I have to admit that I actually prefer the Caramellionaire Desserts I reviewed at the beginning of October.

8/10