Rhubarb and strawberry is a combination that is utterly underrated in the UK. In fact I hadn't really come across it until I was in hospital a couple of years ago and was served a steaming bowl of rhubarb and strawberry crumble with custard. I could've cried with delight at how good it tasted. Admittedly that might have been down to the fact that NHS grub is normally pretty damn awful, but I have made said dessert from scratch on many an occasion since -and still love it.
It was this connection with the flavour combo that made me jump for joy when I spotted this new white chocolate bar in ALDI. The vows I had made to not buy any more food until I'd got through at least some of my recent snack hauls were instantly forgotten, and into my basket it went. The 100g bar cost 99p, and for your information there is also a forest fruits version.
As soon as I unwrapped the foil I was greeted with the strong scent of freeze dried strawberries. The bar snapped easily and I noticed that it was starting to melt slightly.
Oh. What a disappointment! The chocolate was chalky and cheap tasting -worlds apart from the glorious Madagascan Vanilla Moser Roth bar. To make matters worse, the strawberry that I could smell totally overpowered any hints of rhubarb, that may or may not have been there. I expected there to be some balance of sweetness but instead the chocolate was super-sweet and very sickly. Gah.
The bar was edible, but nowhere near as good as I've experienced previously with Moser Roth chocolate. I certainly won't buy it again.
4/10
Today's review is courtesy of a reader request. One of my lovely followers on twitter has mentioned to me on a number of occasions about how she had heard great things about ALDI's Moser Roth white chocolate. I promised to buy some and review it when I next visited the supermarket, but this year seems to have rushed by, and months passed before I got the chance to make the trip. Well folks, the time is upon us and I finally have my hands on the long awaited white chocolate -let's hope it's good!
The box contained 5 mini 25g bars of white chocolate, which I guess is handy if you're watching your weight but need that chocolate fix. I can't remember the exact price I paid, but think it was around £1.25.
"Finest Madagascan Vanilla Chocolate from Moser Roth is a delicious treat for connoisseurs of sophisticated gourmet chocolate. This chocolate is made with the finest quality ingredient, carefully prepared to a classic recipe. The delicate flavour of Bourbon Vanilla combines perfectly with smooth white chocolate to create an unforgettable eating experience."
I'll gladly admit that I am no chocolate connoisseur. Give me Galaxy, Reese's or Milkybar and I'm one happy girl. That just means I'm ready to be educated, right?
The speckled vanilla seeds and embossed Moser Roth branding certainly attributed to the bar's luxurious quality. A sweet aroma immediately begun to effuse from the chocolate: sheer sugary pleasure.
The Moser Roth was every bit as perfect as it promised. Indescribably smooth, it lacked the graininess of Nestle's MilkyBar and was much more delicate in flavour. The vanilla worked well with the white chocolate, resulting in a treat that was utterly moreish. It's a good job they come in individual wrappers, otherwise I imagine it would be all too easy to polish off the entire 125g in one evening.
Thank you to the lovely lady who pointed these out to me. If you have any suggestions of products that you would like me to review, please either leave me a comment, tweet me (@seeksnewtreats) or drop me an email: amyseeksnewtreats@gmail.com
10/10
Bless my Dad. I'm sure he's a secret ambassador for ALDI. He's been telling me for years about their fabulousness, long before the recession turned it into a rather more fashionable place to shop. He's been buying my (now-slightly-addicted) sister their Moser Roth chocolate for years, and I shamefully admitted to him recently that I'd never tried any of it.
Well, when it came to opening my Christmas Stocking, my Dad did good -he filled it with a good selection of ALDI's chocolate. Of course I've eaten most of it now, but I can highly recommend their winter truffle collection if they sell it again in 2016 -truly scrumptious.
In amongst my selection was this pack, which contained 5 mini 25g bars of the Moser Roth Orange and Almond Dark Chocolate. As far as I know it's not a seasonal product, so I thought I'd review it -just in case you too are an Aldi chocolate virgin.
I'll start out by admitting that I'll eat dark chocolate, but I am no means its biggest fan, much preferring the milky sweetness of milk and white chocolate (70% is my limit, although I am in awe of those who enjoy 85%+!). It was this disdain towards the dark-side that led me to neglect the bars at the back of my fridge until they called to me at the beginning of February -the last of my Christmas hoard.
The bars were very slim, which resulted in an easily snappable chocolate. The chocolate was full-bodied, with a balanced intensity that prevented it from becoming too bitter. As you can see from the photo below, the almonds were flaked instead of chopped, and were in plentiful abundance, meaning that every nibble guaranteed nuttiness. The orange element came as a surprise -I imagined the flavour to be blended into the chocolate like a Terry's Chocolate Orange- but instead it came from little bits that were dotted throughout the bars. This method resulted in a far more subtle citrus flavour than I expected, but it did give the chocolate a more luxurious, artisanal quality.
Dark will never be my number one chocolate of choice, but I have to admit that I enjoyed these bars far more than I expected too. I'm hoping that this recent dalliance with ALDI's chocolate is a representation of the quality of their entire range -in any case I'm heading down to my local store in the not too distant future to find out.
8/10
