Sunday, September 4, 2011

Eclat: Dark Chocolate with Caramelized Hazelnuts

It turns out that the salted pretzel bar is not the only genius creation coming out of Eclat’s West Chester, PA shop. They also offer the Reu bar, a 65% cocoa dark chocolate bar with bits of caramelized hazelnuts.

The bar has a woody aroma with a hint of caramel, and is molded beautifully.

A smooth melt – as creamy as many top-notch white chocolates – is the most notable quality of this bar at first, as the flavor is quite slow to develop. Once developed, the chocolate flavor is weak, with slight coffee and vanilla flavors, with a slight hint of cream, an oddity in a dark chocolate. The nuts are the centerpiece of the bar, as the crunchy hazelnuts are nicely caramelized to create an effect similar to that of a bar with toffee bits, and a subtle hazelnut flavor permeates the bar.

Though I did enjoy the well-chopped, well-distributed hazelnuts, the flavor in the bar was lacking a bit, and I’ll have to examine Eclat’s selections for more flavorful chocolates.

Do you like caramelized nuts?

2 comments:

  1. Yep, even better when salted and caramelized!

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  2. That's some lovely molding indeed. Yum to caramelized hazelnuts!

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