I got to have a nice chat with the folks at Dorval at their booth at Sweets and Snacks. Even though my swag bag already had a box of their orange chocolate thins, they gave me a second box of hazelnut thins at their booth.
The chocolates came in a gold tray with three wells that each contained 6 of the flat, oval thins, and the whole thing was sealed in a clear cellophane bag for freshness. I was impressed at how well the packaging protected the thins – not a single one broke, despite being banged around in my carry-on luggage all the way from Chicago to Durham.
The thins certainly lived up to their name. Each was about 2 inches across at their longer diameter and probably no more than about a quarter centimeter thick at their thickest point.
The chocolate ovals were liberally dotted with little rice crisps that brought a wheaty, toasty crunch. They had a sort of stale texture, so more like puffed rice.
The orange thins reminded me of Terry’s chocolate oranges, with a creamy orange oil flavor. I found it a little artificial and on the edge of cloying, but the low chocolate to crisp ratio helped keep that in check.
The hazelnut crisps were more to my liking. There the chocolate was creamy with mocha notes to the finish and a nice nuttiness that complimented the chocolate in an understated way.
As far as I could tell, the hazelnut was a flavor addition to the chocolate. I didn’t notice the texture of any actual bits of nuts.
I especially liked the natural portion control of these – it feels like a large amount of chocolate on the tongue but is so thin that it isn’t too much.?An?O?for the orange and an?OM?for the hazelnut.
Varsha