Hotel Chocolate Christmas Selection: Gianduja Truffle and Praline Pancake

That cute little holiday selection from Hotel Chocolat had four chocolates in it, and I only got around to discussing two of them yesterday. Not one to leave y’all hanging, here’s the lowdown on the gianduja truffle, which features a thick, dark chocolate shell.

The whole creation is rolled in coarse sugar and cocoa powder; this offers an interesting flavor and texture contrast to the smooth dark chocolate, which has a great melt and is about as sweet as a semi-sweet chocolate.

The gianduja inside is thick, and actually a tad dry, but has a pleasing sweet flavor. The shell takes up most of this confection, and I would prefer a higher gianduja to couverture ratio, even with the slightly dry gianduja. That aside, the juxtaposition of the sweet gianduja interior, dark chocolate shell, and coarse sugar coating offers a good balance of sweetness and chocolate. While I had no difficulties finishing this truffle and enjoyed it, the flavor simply isn’t anything outstanding, and I would have preferred another cinnamon praline instead of this truffle.

The last creation in the box was a praline pancake, which is garnished with a cute little dark and white chocolate Santa hat.

The exterior features a soft, creamy milk chocolate that is sweet, but simple in flavor.

Fortunately, that coating yields seamlessly to the interior praline, making the treat easy to bite into and enjoy. The praline features sparsely scattered bits of pancake (cookie), which intriguingly remain quite crisp in the creamy praline, which also features a sweet, nutty flavor. The entire confection is nice and tender, with the crispy pancake bits offering just the right amount of texture contrast. While the chocolate flavor is not very intense, those who love their sweets, like me, will want more of this treat.

Do you prefer thick or thin shells on truffles and pralines?