The Choclatique Holiday Boutique
The 8-piece Holiday collection features five flavors strongly associated with the winter holidays (cinnamon, peppermint, eggnog, pumpkin, and gingerbread) and three basic chocolate flavors. An 8-piece Holiday box sells for $20 on their website, and is available from November 1 - December 31.One of my favorite chocolates was the Cinnamon Bun Bun, featuring a creamy cinnamon ganache encased in white chocolate. The ganache had a strong cinnamon flavor that nicely complimented the sweetness of the white chocolate. I loved how the ganache and the white chocolate both seemed to melt together in my mouth at the same time--the mouthfeel was very smooth and luxurious. I also enjoyed the Peppermint Heart, which was a minty pink ganache inside a white chocolate heart, decorated with red stripes. The candy had a bit of a crunch, as if it contained very finely ground peppermint candies in the center. I found this piece addicting, and think that a box of these would make an excellent Christmas gift.
The Perfect Pumpkin Pie piece featured lots of spicy notes. The flavors of cinnamon and ginger came through strongest, and balanced out the sweet white chocolate. The pumpkin flavor wasn’t as strong as I would have liked, but it was still a nicely spiced candy that reminded me of autumn. In contrast, I wished that the Old World Gingerbread candy had a little more spiciness to it. I like my gingerbread cookies to be quite assertive, so I was a little disappointed to not get more ginger and molasses flavor from this candy. I did like that it was paired with milk chocolate, as opposed to the white chocolate of most of the other Holiday collection pieces.
Due to my particular taste preferences, I didn’t care for the Holiday Eggnog truffle. I’ve never liked eggnog, so I didn’t really expect to like an eggnog-flavored candy. I can say that the Holiday Eggnog piece had the distinctive, nutmeg-tinged taste of eggnog, which may be an endorsement for eggnog-lovers. The white chocolate coating seemed very thick and waxy in this candy, but it may have been more noticeable because I didn’t like the taste.
I found the milk chocolate and dark chocolate butterflies to be pleasant, but a little less exciting in comparison to the ganache-filled candies. However, I loved the final non-seasonal piece in the Holiday box, the chocolate caramel in dark chocolate. This is described as one of Choclatique’s signature items. It features a nicely textured chocolate caramel in a bittersweet dark chocolate, topped with a sprinkling of gold powder. The caramel had a divine, silky smooth texture, and a deep sweetness that paired perfectly with the smoky dark chocolate. I would have liked the caramel to have a bit more of a burnt sugar taste, but still, it was a delicious blend of textures and flavors.
