Today’s review is of two Dove chocolates with names that are each a mouthful: Dove’s Silky Smooth Dark Chocolate Promises and Dark Chocolate Mint Flavored Caramel Promises. Dove Promises are individually foil-wrapped squares with a “Promise” written on the inside of the foil, sort of a fortune cookie-type gimmick. Mine came from Candy Yum Yum’s Dove Chocolate Giveaway. First up, the Silky Smooth Dark Chocolate Promises.
I used to have fond memories of Dove chocolates being wonderfully creamy and smooth – silky, in fact. Sadly, the package that I received from Dove contained old, bloomed chocolate, and the bloom really adversely affected the texture. My “silky smooth” Promises were dry and brittle. I know I didn’t pay for the chocolate, and beggars can’t be choosers, but you’d think Dove would try a little harder if they’re giving away chocolate as a promotion.
The Promises are at least nicely sized for chocolate tasting. You can pop the whole thing in your mouth and let it melt on your tongue, or you can chomp it up in two bites. Because mine had bloomed, it didn’t melt very well, so I wasn’t really able to get a nice tongue-coating tasting melt. It tasted mostly of cocoa with a slightly sweet finish. An O.
My Dark Chocolate Mint Flavored Caramel Promises were also bloomed. Sigh. In their case, however, the bloom can’t bear all the blame for the negative review. Why make caramel mint flavored? And then why cover all that weirdness in chocolate? That combination just didn’t work for me. The mint wasn’t very strong, and it was just odd when combined with the sweet caramel. To top it all off, the whole thing left an unpleasant aftertaste. Another O. You can read Cybele’s similar take on them here.
My favorite part about the chocolates were the Promises. I happened to get two rather salacious ones in my tasting: “Naughty can be nice” and “Temptation is fun… giving in is even better.” Dove should gather all of their slightly scandalous Promises and market them for Valentine’s Day or something. If there was a way to tell what the Promises were before you unwrapped them, I could’ve used those chocolates to pick up boys. Then again, the chocolates weren’t that great, so maybe not.
Everyone “loves the quotes” on the inside of the Dove Promises. I get as excited about them as I did about Cracker Jack prizes when I was a kid. Visit my blog for the latest Dove Chocolate News. By the way, I like your writing style!
That is a shame that the Dove Chocolate was not stored properly. The “bloom” was either caused by exposure to high temperture or moisture.
If it was high temperture, then the cocoa butter in the chocolate separated and looked like white swirls because it rose to the surface of the chocolate. This is not pretty to look at but the taste usually isn’t affected.
If it was moisture, then the sugars were “pulled” from the chocolate as the moisture evaporated. The crystals remain on the surface of the chocolate. The Chocolate Bar probably had a grainy feel as you ate it.
STORING: Chocolate should be stored in a cool (60 – 70 degrees F) (15 – 21 degrees C), dry, dark place.
If stored properly, dark chocolate and cocoa will last for years. White and milk chocolate can only be stored for about 10 months.
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Carrie Mott Geyer
I tried the Dark Chocolate Promises w/ Mint Caramel for the first time this weekend. I think they taste amazing. idk about the promo ones you received but I paid $1.29 for a box at my local 99 cent store on Saturday and I had finished it by yesterday evening. I love that the mint flavor isn’t too strong but just right. And it although it didn’t sound too appetizing when I purchased it, it’s absolutely delightful. The only taste I had afterwards was a taste for more.