Holdsworth Mini Sea Salted Caramel Eggs

A big thankyou to Holdsworth Chocolates for today's review, they sent me this lovely box of their Sea Salted Caramel Eggs some time ago now and I absolutely loved them. Just a heads up - I will be doing a competition with Holdsworth soon, so you'll be able to win a hamper of some of their delicious chocolates - stay tuned! In the meantime do check out their lovely range online.

You can find Holdsworth Chocolates from John Lewis stores or buy them online. Their chocolates are handmade in Derbyshire using only quality ingredients, and all I've tried so far have been top notch! (FYI they do some amazing looking Peanut Butter Caramel Truffles!).

These Salted Caramel Mini Eggs come in a lovely box complete with a fun bunny design - it made me chuckle quite a bit. They would make a fantastic gift.

Opening the wrapper the eggs looked like typical mini chocolate eggs and had a lovely milky aroma. The salted caramel is in two halves inside the eggs - I tried to split one open to get a shot but it proved a little tricky!

They tasted AH-MAH-ZING. The chocolate is creamy and rich and clearly good quality (33% cocoa solids). The soft caramel too is great quality - it tastes homemade and authentic, soft, buttery, sweet, salty, and very very moreish! I loved these eggs, they're quite rich and satisfying so you won't want to eat too many at once, and are definitely worth the money. The caramel is also probably one of the best I've had in terms of sweet and salty balance - it was just right.

Overall, I think these are fantastic mini eggs and would make a great gift for anyone who likes good quality chocolates. If you need a last minute gift for a special someone you can't go wrong with a box of these this Easter.

9 out of 10.

I'll be doing a competition to win a hamper of Holdsworth Chocolates very soon - do stay tuned via my Instagram and Twitter feeds for that!

Holdsworth Fiery Stem Ginger Dark Chocolates

A huge thankyou to the lovely Holdsworths Chocolates for today's review; they kindly sent me some of their delicious handmade chocolate range recently including milk and dark varieties. I thought I'd start with the "Fiery Stem Ginger enrobed in Dark Chocolate" first since I'd been avoiding dairy for a while - these contain no dairy and are suitable for vegans. Described as "The finest crystallised stem ginger enrobed in dark chocolate - a spicy exotic treat coupled with the secret powers of ginger", they are available direct from Holdsworths website or from department stores like John Lewis. I believe Waitrose also stock some of their range.

So what sets these apart from other chocolate gingers? Are they worth going out of your way for?

Firstly I have to say I do love the pack design, it looks premium and makes the chocolates feel extra special indeed. These would definitely make a lovely gift, whether for a loved one or all to yourself! The gingers are wrapped in a plastic inner bag, which I carefully opened.

Right away I could tell these were better quality than your average chocolate gingers; the chocolate actually smells like a good quality dark chocolate. I cut one of them open (above) so you get an idea of the ratio of chocolate to ginger.

Taking a bite, I was actually surprised how good these tasted! I usually think of chocolate gingers as an overly sweet snack only suitable at Christmastime, but these proved me very wrong, the ginger tastes warm and spicy but isn't overly sugary like most. It's just sweet enough to be moreish, and paired with the flavoursome dark chocolate it's the perfect balance. A few of these make for a very satisfying and indulgent little snack! And they're warming on a cold, wet day (which we've been having a lot of lately it seems), so you can eat them "for medicinal purposes" if you need an excuse to indluge ;)

As my introduction to Holdsworths Chocolates I have to say I was very impressed with these. The quality is excellent and they taste superb. Are they worth the extra money compared to cheaper brands? Yes, definitely! They're also worth going out of your way for - not only are you supporting a smaller local business, but you will get more enjoyment from these than a cheaper version. Highly recommended especially if you're dairy-free or vegan and need some chocolate variation!

Available from http://www.holdsworthchocolates.co.uk, as well as John Lewis.

Ingredients: Dark chocolate 55% (cocoa mass, cocoa butter, emulsifier soya lecithin, natural vanilla), Ginger 45% (sugar, preservative sulphur dioxide). Cocoa solids 60% minimum. 

8.5 out of 10.