Lick The Spoon: Milk Filigree Egg
Ah, delayed gratification! When my wife gave me this Easter egg, along with a number of other Lick The Spoon goodies I’ve already reviewed, my first urge was to tuck in immediately. But it looked so good nestling in its elegant packaging, that I made myself save the best until last.
Incidentally, the broken base visible in the photograph was not due to rough handling on my part, but rather that of Royal Mail, who played pass the parcel (not to mention “parcel, what parcel?”) for about a week before my wife finally received the delights she’d ordered for me. Lick The Spoon were very apologetic, though it wasn’t their fault! - and sent an extra bag of their gorgeous sea salt pralines, gratis. Lovely people!
The egg, weighing in at a generously thick 200g, is made from Lick The Spoon’s richly creamy 39% Ecuadorian Arriba milk chocolate, and is beautifully decorated with a filigree design of chocolate swirls. Inside the base, rather than inside the egg, are 100g of their Sea Salt Pralines. These are chunky cubes of a smooth, melting praline, covered in more of that wonderful milk chocolate. Taking their cue from the current vogue for sea salt caramels, the praline is sparsely dotted with small salt crystals. I was a bit dubious about this initially, but the occasional little salty explosions work terrifically well, really accentuating the hazelnutty flavours of the praline. It’s easy to see why these were awarded Gold in the 2010 Taste Of The West awards.
A beautifully presented, delicious and satisfying egg from one of my favourite chocolatiers - a perfect Easter present. Roll on next Easter!
Lick The Spoon: Milk Chocolate Honeycomb
The shards are just the right size, ranging from small enough to eat in one piece, to two-bite sized, and only about half an inch thick, so no jaw-breaking exercises required, as is often the case with some thicker brands of cinder toffee.
The honeycomb itself is crunchy and light, just as it should be. A real treat, and also available covered in single-origin 73.5% Venezuelan chocolate.
Aztec Gold from Lick The Spoon
My wife certainly knows how to spread a little Easter happiness! This was one of three Easter treats she obtained from the wonderful Lick The Spoon in Corsham.
These little beauties, Aztec Gold, are generously-sized domes of excellent 70% Saint Domingue chocolate, containing a lime and chilli ganache.
Each dome is coated with a swirling sheen of red cocoa butter and edible gold - they shine like jewels and it almost seems a shame to eat them - but eat them we must, *sigh*…
Inside is a beautifully rich ganache made with fresh lime juice and a hint of chilli. They’re perfectly fine for non-fire-eaters, since the chilli is really very subtle - just enough to provide a slight tickle if you eat several in succession, which it’s very tempting to do!
It’s a few years since I last sampled Lick The Spoon’s wares, and it’s good to see they’re still on top form. I really can’t recommend these highly enough!
