(Real Raspberries + Real Chocolate) x Real Intensity = REAL TASTE

Today I am tasting something that I believe is extraordinary: dark chocolate covered freeze-dried raspberries. We've all tried the common as apple pie, you-see-them-every-where-you-go chocolate-covered stuff, like chocolate-covered almonds, peanuts, espresso beans, cranberries, cherries and blueberries.  But chocolate-covered raspberries are unusual. Although I normally prefer to eat chocolate bars, I can never resist a good chocolate/raspberry combination, so when I saw these at a local cafe, I just had to have them. They are called Dufflet Dark Chocolate Morsels and are sold in a 180 gram (6 oz) box.  I paid $7.95 for them, but I have a feeling that prices vary depending where you buy them.

One of the reasons I bought this product was because the ingredients were natural (i.e. no artificial flavours or colours, hydrogenated oils or modified corn starch, etc.), and the raspberries did not have added sugar or oils. Often fruit that is covered in chocolate, like cherries, blueberries and cranberries, have added sugar and oils. So this was an unusual find.

As for overall taste, the morsels are very bitter.  Since the chocolate is bitter-sweet and the raspberries are unsweetened, the flavour is quite intense.  However, this is not a bad thing.  I like bitter-flavoured chocolate treats.  It makes me feel less guilty about indulging. Plus I just like the taste of bitter chocolate and rich-yet-bitter desserts.  Also, the flavour is very real; just raspberries, dark chocolate and nothing else. I believe that real flavour is the best flavour.

The only down-side (for people who have problems with their teeth) is that the seeds may bother you.  However, seeds are the best way to tell that a raspberry-flavoured chocolate is made with real raspberries. The only other criticism I can offer is that I wish they would have put the percentage (%) of cocoa solids on the package. It's always a "nice-to-know" for people who are picky about the type of chocolate they eat.

Cool thing: these chocolate covered raspberries taste very similar to the Raspberry Dark Chocolate Truffle Cake that I make, so just for fun, I decorated a cake with the Dufflet raspberry chocolate morsels.

Below are the package details, if you are interested in Dufflet and its chocolate morsels. Dufflet has cafe's in Toronto, but check out their website's "Where to Buy" page for a list of online retailers.


Dufflet Small Indulgences Pure & Sweet Dark Chocolate Morsels (raspberries), 180g (6.0oz)

Dufflet Small Indulgences Inc. (Toronto, Canada)

Product of Canada

http://www.dufflet.com/

Ingredients: Belgian Dark Chocolate (unsweetened chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, natural flavour) freeze dried raspberries. May contain traces of peanuts and/or other nuts.