Hotel Chocolat Christmas Gingerbread Chocolate Spread

If you're a regular reader of my blog then you'll know that I'm a fan of the growing popularity of gingerbread inspired products this Christmas. On a recent visit to Hotel Chocolat I discovered that they had a few gingerbread treats available this year too. The most appealing of which was this Limited Edition Christmas Chocolate Spread - it's described as a warming blend of a 50% milk chocolate hazelnut praline spread, and gingerbread spices. 

Each pot is 150g which Hotel Chocolat estimate provides 10 servings. The ingredients give a lovely festive twist to the classic hazelnut chocolate spread and include; 50% minimum cocoa solids milk chocolate, hazelnuts, cinnamon, nutmeg and and ginger powder. 

The Hotel Chocolat Gingerbread Chocolate Spread has quite a thick texture, but it's refreshing to see a chocolate spread that is not all slick and greasy. I decided to try the Christmas spread on a croissant and, despite the slightly dense texture, it was still easy to spread. I haven't actually tried a Hotel Chocolat chocolate spread before, and I found the base chocolate flavour here incredibly rich and intense, without being too sweet or too bitter. It's clearly a high quality chocolate being used and it makes all the difference to the base flavour. The added gingerbread spices are robust and complex, adding a lovely depth of warming flavours to the indulgent hazelnut chocolate, especially from the ginger and cinnamon. A little goes a long way with this spread, as the spiced flavours are all quite strong, and I'm sure I will get more than 10 servings from one pot. It's a real festive treat and I think it would make a unique gift for anyone who's a fan of gingerbread and Christmas spices. 

I actually bought this Christmas chocolate spread as part of a gingerbread themed hamper that I made for Mr. Grocery Gems' birthday this week. Aswell as some gingerbread coffee syrup and gingerbread cakes, I also included the Hotel Chocolat Christmas Drinking Chocolate with Gingerbread Spice and a pack of the Hotel Chocolat Gingerbread Chocolate Truffles. It's an expensive selection but well worth it in my opinion for a special present. We haven't had a chance to try the Hotel Chocolat Christmas Drinking Chocolate or Gingerbread Truffles yet, but do leave a comments below if you would like me to review those too. 

Grocery Gems Verdict: Hotel Chocolat Christmas Chocolate Spread

RATING: 10 out of 10 - a gorgeous blend of high quality chocolate and warming spice.
Buy them again?: Yes.
Purchased: Hotel Chocolat.
Price: £6.00p.

Hotel Chocolat Cocoa Juvenate Revive Body Butter Review

Many thanks to Kev from Kev's Snack Review who kindly nominated me to receive this Hotel Chocolate Cocoa Juvenate Revive Body Butter as part of their Mother's Day campaign last month. I was so excited when the Revive Body Butter arrived last week, all perfectly packaged in an elegant gift bag. It's part of a luscious range of premium beauty gifts which are available from Hotel Chocolat.

The Cocoa Juvenate range uses cocoa to create beauty products that are rich in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. The Revive Body Butter combines the Hotel Chocolate fine cocoa with premium natural ingredients, such as organic West Indian cocoa butter and Morroccan argan oil.

The first thing I noticed when I opened the tub was the wonderfully zesty floral fragrance. It's a scent inspired by freshly cut cocoa pods with notes of bergamot, green tea, lime, exotic florals and warm sandalwood. For me, the citrus notes of the lime come through strongly with a lovely sweet edge from the floral background. It's a unique fragrance which leaves a light scent that lingers on the skin. The actual body butter itself looked luxuriously thick but was actually very velvety and easily absorbed into the skin. There was no heaviness at all, just a wonderfully silky smooth feeling. I have very dry skin and I've already noticed a difference, my skin is much softer without any dry patches.

Overall this is an indulgent treat and a gorgeous gift idea, one that I'm sure any mum would be thrilled to receive. It would definitely make a very special alternative Easter gift, and one that would last a lot longer than an Easter egg! 

A big thanks again to Kev for nominating me - check out his original review here:

Grocery Gems Verdict: Hotel Chocolat Revive Body Butter

Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition: Not edible! :)
Purchased: Available from Hotel Chocolat online HERE
Price: £21.00.

Hotel Chocolat Choc Cross Buns

I bought these Choc Cross Buns from Hotel Chocolat as an Easter present for my husband. They were £6.50 for a box of six chocolate (although they are now in the half price Hotel Chocolat Easter sale for £3.25). As I've said before my husband hates raisins, although he does loves cinnamon and mixed spice, so it's a shame that he can't (or won't!) eat traditional hot cross buns.

I wasn't going to buy these Hotel Chocolat Choc Cross Buns. Chocolate Mission's review of these last year showed that each chocolate had a vanilla mousse with a raisin inside. This year it seems Hotel Chocolat have updated the recipe and made the chocolates raisin free. Even though this makes the chocolates less representative of an actual hot cross bun, I for one was glad to see the raisins being ditched! The chocolates themselves look fantastic and just like a chocolate version of a hot cross bun - I loved the white chocolate cross decoration on top.

They're described as a "smooth hazelnut praline, with cinnamon and seasonal spices". The praline is quite dense to the point of being slightly crumbly. It has a richly spiced flavour that fans of cinnamon will love. I couldn't really taste any hazelnut in the praline as the cinnamon is the real star of the show. It completely dominates the rest of the flavours with it's depth and warmth. As with any Hotel Chocolat product the 40% cocoa solids milk chocolate is top notch, with a full cocoa flavour that is not too sweet.

We all enjoyed this chocolate version of a hot cross bun, and I hope Hotel Chocolat bring back this raisin free version next year too.

Grocery Gems Verdict: Hotel Chocolat Choc Cross Buns

Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition (3 chocolates): 260 calories. 3g protein, 20g carbs, 19g sugar, 18g fat.
Purchased: Hotel Chocolat.
Price: £6.50 - but half price now at £3.25.
Vegetarian?: Yes.

Hotel Chocolat Zebra Beastie Egg Review

Image: Hotel Chocolat

When Hotel Chocolat offered to send me their Zebra Beastie Eggs I was eager to give it a try. Their Beastie Egg range is described as a "striking range of Easter Eggs for those who like their eggs wildly stylish". The eggs have been printed with an all natural cocoa butter transfer on the outside. There are three eggs available in the range: Cow Beastie Egg, Beau Bunny Beastie Egg and the one I have for review - the Zebra Beastie Egg.

The egg comes wrapped in cellophane and tied with a Hotel Chocolat ribbon. I loved the overall presentation - I immediately wanted to pull on the bow and open it up! Under the wrapping, there is a large hollow egg with a zebra print design and six smaller "Egglets" included.

The main egg has a super glossy outer surface which makes the zebra print design really stand out. It might look from the outside that this egg is partly made with dark chocolate, but it is in fact a completely milk chocolate egg.

I loved that this chocolate egg is quite thick and solid, making it possible to break off a piece cleanly with a satisfying "snap". The milk chocolate is absolutely delicious: sweet and creamy enough to satisfy all family members (this egg is part of the kids range after all), but still rich in cocoa intensity to keep chocolate lovers happy too. It's made with a minimum of 40% cocoa solids.

The Hotel Chocolat Zebra Beastie Egg also comes with six mini eggs; three filled with salted caramel and three with hazelnut praline.

The salted caramel were my absolute favourite of the two; the smooth and rich outer milk chocolate is filled with an extremely buttery caramel that has the perfect salty edge to it. Not everyone in my family is keen on salted caramel as a flavour, my husband especially, but that just left more of these little eggs for me!

The mini hazelnut praline eggs were also delicious, and these were much more to my husband's liking. For lovers of hazelnut flavours these are hard to beat. The filling has a rich buttery texture that melts away to reveal a silky smooth nutty praline. They're just gorgeous.

Salted Caramel eggs (orange peak), Hazelnut Praline eggs (pink and white peak)

Overall this is a fabulous Easter Egg that I would highly recommend, especially for fans of milk chocolate and salted caramel. The interesting outer design also gives these Hotel Chocolat Beastie Eggs a fun and unique look.

Hotel Chocolat kindly sent me this product for an honest review and all views expressed are my own.

Grocery Gems Verdict: Hotel Chocolat Zebra Beastie Egg

RATING: 9 out of 10
Buy them again?: Yes, it's a very impressive looking egg that tastes fantastic.
Nutrition (per 47g serving): 260 calories, 5g protein, 22g carbs (20g sugars), 18g fat.
Purchased: Available from Hotel Chocolat
Price: £15.00.

Hotel Chocolat Halloween Bites Box (The H-Box)

Of all the many Halloween themed food products in the shops at the moment this Halloween Bites selection box from Hotel Chocolat has to be the best looking. Just for the pumpkin shaped chocolates alone this box is unbeatable.

Inside the box you get three Zombie Eye Truffles, four Praline Pumpkins, four Dark Soft Caramels, three Gianduja Bombs and one Crystal Skull. The chocolates all look thoroughly fantastic and live up to the description of "A hair-raising collection for spooky parties and nights behind the sofa".

The stars of the show are undoubtedly the Praline Pumpkins.They look first-rate with a superb shape and colour. Let's cut to the chase though because when it comes to adorable chocolate pumpkins it's the insides that count.

They look just as wonderful on the inside, revealing a delicious hazelnut praline. They taste fantastic and were my favourite out of the whole selection. Hazelnut and chocolate is a match made in heaven anyway but here it is done to perfection. It's a masterclass in chocolate hazelnut praline. I hope next year Hotel Chocolat does a box with these Pumpkin Pralines alone.

No gags please. Next up we have the Zombie Eye Truffles which also look brilliant. These red coloured eyeballs are described as being "white chocolate with blood curdingly tangy raspberry ganache". Enough description though, I know you just want to see the insides of a zombie's eyeballs.

The raspberry filling is extremely tangy bordering on sour. The white chocolate has a lovely sweetness to counterbalance the sour flavour of the ganache but I still found the overall flavour a bit too sharp. The fruity raspberry flavouring however is fantastic.

Next up we have the ones I like to call "The Other Two". They are a bit boring compared to the rest of the Halloween awesomeness going on in this selection box, but as we all know you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket, or in this case, all of your bestsellers in one box.

The Dark Soft Caramel lives up to it's plainly descriptive name. It delivers a strong dark chocolate and a sweet caramel oozy centre. Delicious for dark chocolate fans. The Gianduja Bomb is a smooth hazelnut praline wrapped in dark chocolate. The inner truffle is delicious but I found the dark chocolate had a slightly bitter aftertaste.

Last up we have the largest chocolate in the box, The Crystal Skull. He's a mightily ugly dude, and whereas the other Halloween themed chocolates in this box are still quite "cute", this skull is genuinely monstrous.

The Crystal Skull was my second favourite in taste, after the Praline Pumpkins. It has a deliciously sweet milk chocolate filled with cherry crystals. These crystals give a lovely fine crunchy texture to the chocolate but only the barest hint of cherry which was a bit disappointing. Overall the Crystal Skull was still absolutely divine and luckily it is big enough to break in half and share with your nearest and dearest.

Unfortunately this box of Halloween Bites is already sold out online but Hotel chocolate still has boxes of the Zombie Eyeballs and lots of other Halloween treats available.

New Halloween Products Mega Post

Hotel Chocolat

To celebrate the Halloween makeover of Grocery Gems I thought I would do a post dedicated to some new Halloween products that have hit the supermarkets. In the US Halloween usually means Pumpkin Spice flavouring and more Pumpkin Spice flavouring. Here in the UK we like to do things a bit differently so let's say hello to anything with orange and green food colouring or packaging!

Here's a brief round up of some of the best Halloween products I have seen, they might have caught my eye because of the packaging or because of the new flavours. I will be reviewing most of these over the coming days!

Hula Hoops Sour Scream & Chive variety. See what they did there? Scream not cream, classic. Not a new flavour but I'm loving the dark green bags with shadowy spooky houses and witches. £1 in Sainsbury's.

Asda Halloween Gingerbread House Kit. A fabulous looking kit which is only £1 at the moment, instore at Asda. Such a great idea to take the Christmas gingerbread house and make it spooky! It comes with everything you need to make one haunted house. I know I'm going to have lots of fun with this one!

Frankie Fizz by Swizzel's Matlow. Sachets of Orange Flavour Fizz Dip with a Blackcurrant Flavour Lolly. These will turn your tongue black! £1.99 in TK Maxx.

Is it sensible to buy a product just based on it's shape? These Penn State Limited Edition Pretzels come in a Devil's Flame Roasted Chipotle Chilli flavouring which doesn't really appeal to me (I'm not a huge fan of chilli) but screw that, they are pretzels shaped like cobwebs!! How could I resist? Kudos to Penn State for eschewing the orange or green packaging and going for a regal purple cobweb look. Fantastic stuff. £1 at Asda.

The Fabulous Bakin' Boys 12 Slimey Limey Mini Cupcakes. With little Halloween decorations to cut out at the back of the box to decorate your cupcakes.  Also available in Spooky Choccy Orange flavour. £1 in most supermarkets.

Mr Kipling Shock & Orange slices. Also available from Mr. Kipling this Halloween; Frankenstein Fancies - they're green. Mr Kipling Fiendish Fancies -they're orange. Available at Tesco's.

Pom-Bear Pickled Onion Potato Snacks with a special Halloween pack. They are still teddy bear shaped but the super cute packaging is perfect for little kids.

 

And lastly for the gourmets amongst us I love the look of the Halloween range from Hotel Chocolat, Halloween Bites H-Box Selection £12.00 pictured. Fantastic pumpkin and eye ball shaped chocolates!

What do you think of the Halloween ranges out there, have you seen anything that is a must-buy?