Sunday, May 8, 2011

Are you a fan of raspberry-flavoured chocolate? Or how about a Mom with a love of truffles? Whichever you are, today is the perfect day to treat yourself...

Since it is Mother's Day, I thought today was a great day to indulge in chocolate truffles.  Or more specifically, gorge on dark chocolate and raspberry truffles first thing in the morning before my daughter wakes up and while I still have quiet time to myself.  Hey, I'm a mother (who's expecting another), so why not?

For Easter, I was given a box of Godiva Truffles from one family member, and a box of Harry & David Raspberry Truffles from another family member.  Since the Godiva box contained one raspberry-flavoured truffle, I thought it was a good one to save for a comparison to taste against the Harry & David Truffles. And since today is my special day, it was a great day for this comparison tasting.
The first thing I noticed was: there is no strong raspberry smell when you unwrap the Godiva truffle. Its raspberry flavour is not in your face, like the strong (artificial) flavour of the Harry & David truffle.  Godiva's offers a subtle flavour created from real raspberries. With Harry David's, the artificial flavouring wears off as you start to eat the truffle, so by the time you finish one, you are ready for a second.  But later, long after the  truffle has melted away, that artificial raspberry flavour still lingers in your mouth.
The Godiva is smoother and creamier, but there are noticeable raspberry seeds in it.  The heavy cream listed in the ingredients gives it that softer centre.  I believe the coconut oil used for the Harry & David truffle is why it is nearly solidified, similar to the centre of a Lindor (by Lindt) truffle. Godiva also has a thicker shell (it is a double-coated truffle) in comparison to the single coating of the Harry & David truffle.  That makes Harry & David's the easier one to bite into to enjoy the truffle centre without chunks of chocolate in the way, as is the case with the Godiva shell.
Neither truffle is made completely with natural ingredients: the Harry & David Truffles use artificial flavouring and the Godiva Truffles use partially hydrogenated palm kernel oil and some artificial colour.  So I guess it is up to you:  if you like smooth, dense truffles (like Lindor) that are seedless and have strong (artificial) raspberry flavour, then you will like the Harry & David.  If you prefer real raspberries with subtle flavour, a creamier centre, a thicker shell and you don’t mind the seeds, then you will like the Godiva raspberry truffles better.  I am not sure which one I like better.  I am just happy to be blissfully eating truffles in peace!
Well, I've eaten enough truffles for one Mother's Day.  If you are a Mother, I hope you enjoying a similar indulgence today. After all, you spend every other day thinking about how you can treat your kids with snacks that they love, so today just think about the snacks that you love and enjoy!
Here are the details on the Harry & David Truffles that I tasted today:
Harry and David, Medford, OR (USA)
Ingredients: Dark Chocolate (chocolate liquor, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla, vanillin, milk ingredients), coconut oil, white chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, milk, vanillin) natural and artificial flavours with canola oil, cocoa butter, soy lecithin.

1 comment:

  1. 3 Researches PROVE How Coconut Oil Kills Belly Fat.

    This means that you literally burn fat by eating coconut fat (also coconut milk, coconut cream and coconut oil).

    These 3 researches from major medical magazines are sure to turn the conventional nutrition world upside down!

    ReplyDelete