For some people tea solves everything. For me it's chocolate. I can't go without my daily fix and have had the pleasure of discovering some utterly fabulous British chocolatiers since starting this blog. One such organisation is The Grown Up Chocolate company - the people behind the wickedly good White Chocolate Praline Wonder Bar and Fruit & Nut Hunky Dory. If you haven't had the pleasure of trying their chocolate, you're missing out. Their mission is to reinvent nostalgic chocolate bars, exaggerating their deliciousness by using luxury ingredients and adding extra indulgences. Unfortunately nowhere locally stocks their bars anymore, so you can just imagine my excitement when The Grown Up Chocolate Company contacted me and asked if I'd like to try some of their new products. Hell yes. Ahem. I mean yes please! The new range deviates from the chocolatier's usual bar format with a selection of different filled cups, and they all sounded delicious...
Gorgeousely Gooey Caramel Truffle Cups
"Six chocolate cups filled with a mini caramel truffle and soft runny caramel in praline."
Two types of caramel in one chocolate? The Grown Up Chocolate Company know how to spoil us. Oof. It was an ingenious combination too- I mean just check out that inside shot...
The caramel was deliciously rich and silky, oozing out of its cup in an enticing fashion. The salt crystals on top heightened the taste sensation too, ramping up the flavours by juxtaposition. I was tempted to eat all six in one go, but I also desperately want to eek out the pleasure of enjoying the cups. I'll be savouring these. My only complaint is that it wasn't easy to distinguish a flavour difference between the caramel truffle and runny caramel.
9/10
Heavenly Whole Hazelnut Praline Cups
Praline is difficult to beat. The combination of hazelnuts and chocolate is one of my absolute favourites and so I was looking forward to these cups. The only problem was that they each contained a whole hazelnut; and as I've mentioned before, I'm not a huge chunky nuts in chocolate fan.
"Six deliciously smooth praline cups with whole hazelnut and crispy rice crunch."
Slicing the cup in half revealed the hazelnut as promised, surrounded by the praline layer, followed by the crispies, all surrounded by chocolate.
The quality was undeniable; the chocolate silky and praline rich. I wasn't particularly keen on the extra crunchiness from the rice crisps though, the praline was delicious by itself, and I thought the crips overcomplicated things slightly. I also thought that a white chocolate coating would have provided something a little different in this milk chocolate range. My complaints make it sound like I didn't like these cups, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I adored the flavours, it's just the texture that wasn't quite spot on for me.
7/10
Spectacular Speculicious Praline Cups
How many times have I banged on about my love for the spiced biscuits recently? I must be boring you by now, but I hope that some of you share my love for all things Speculoos. Spiced chocolate is something of a rarity though and I was beside myself with excitement about the creation of something so utterly scrumptious sounding.
"Six spectacular cups filled with sumptuous warm spice praline encased in creamy milk chocolate."
I had imagined that the praline would taste predominantly of cinnamon (like Biscoff spread or biscuits) when in actual fact it contained a combination of mixed spices including cinnamon, ginger and cloves - making the flavour more similar to what you might expect in mince pies or hot cross buns. At first this confused my tastebuds, but I soon started to appreciate the harmony of spices with the milk chocolate and the depth of flavour this provided. Again, I think white chocolate would've provided a more interesting palate but perhaps it would've made the cups too sickly. Either way, the speculicious cups are unusual, moreish, and a must try for spice lovers.
8/10.
Perfectly Buttery Peanut Cups
Jeez Louise. Just the idea of souped-up Reese's is enough to get me drooling. You guys know how much I love the American brand but I think we can all agree that their products are not exactly the best quality. Could the Grown Up Chocolate Company reinvent one of my all time favourite wheels?
"Building on our most popular bar the Superb Salted Peanut Caramel this pack has six perfect peanut praline and caramel cups decorated with sea salt, enrobed in rich milk chocolate."
I'm trying very hard not to swear here. Shall we say "sit the bed" instead? Honest to god, these were mouthfuls of heaven. Remember how much I enjoyed the Kingdom peanut butter bar and the Montezuma's Eggs? Well the praline was just as delicious in these Grown Up Chocolate's cups... but the inclusion of a separate layer of liquid treasure elevated them to the next level. Somehow the caramel didn't overtake the peanut butter (as is so often the case) but rather complimented it. The salt crystals on top were a wonderful addition, breaking through the sweetness in the most welcome of ways. Does chocolate get any better than this?
10/10.
Thank you to The Grown Up Chocolate Company for the scrumdiddlyumptious samples. You can order their new cups directly from their website for £1.99 each, otherwise many of their products are available to buy from Ocado, Booths and selected BP garages. You can find your nearest stockist here. Review to follow of the salted peanut caramel bar.
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