Monday, January 10, 2011

Vosges Bars: Blood Orange Caramel

Today’s post brings you something monumental: the conclusion of my reviews of the 2010-2011 Vosges holiday bars. This was no small feat, as there were eight bars. Yes, I consumed eight of these guys.

Actually more than eight, because I became good friends with the Gingerbread Toffee bar. Very good friends. But that newfound love aside, I also reviewed the Peppermint Candy Cane, Marzipan, Bapchi’s Caramel Toffee, Cherry Rooibos, Black Salt Caramel, and Amalfi bars in the past month. Today, I finish it out by reviewing the Blood Orange Caramel bar.

The base for this caramel bar is a 70% cacao chocolate that is exceptionally smooth with an intense flavor that carries some coffee notes.

Unfortunately, it’s also quite firm and doesn’t meld to the slightly-runny blood-orange caramel very well, and the entire bar breaks and crumbles quite easily. The good news is that the intense chocolate is a perfect contrast to the tart-but-sweet caramel with a very strong citrus note. While the taste combination is just about perfect, I would prefer a softer chocolate and a firmer caramel to make this bar easier to nibble on.

Perhaps the solution is to melt it down and eat it as a sauce.

Not that I’m suggesting such things.

Do you enjoy caramel that is more liquid or more chewy?

12 comments:

  1. I like a chewy caramel if I 'm going to eat any at all. This bar looks good, though! Congrats on reviewing all of the bars! It is a tough job but somebody has to do it. =P

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've been digging the chocolate-orange combination recently; it's been a nice diversion from plain 'ole chocolate.

    I will put in my vote for a more liquid caramel. Caramel's my second favorite sweet flavor next to chocolate, but I can't stand it getting stuck in my teeth!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Liquid! Just like Mary, I cannot stand stuff that gets stuck in my teeth.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I like liquid for the same reasons as the above commenters. The whole stickiness factor of chewy caramel really bothers me.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I like liquid caramel melting in my mouth.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Awesome! Finally, a chocolate review I don't have to be crazy-envious of at all. Icky icky orange! :P

    ReplyDelete
  7. @fitchocoholic I know, what a tough job I had! But I stuck it out.

    ReplyDelete
  8. @Mary at n00bcakes This is definitely a great flavor combination - Vosges got a nice tart caramel.

    ReplyDelete
  9. @Ana Hehe, I don't like the super-chewy stuff either, but I like it when the chocolate and caramel are well-matched.

    ReplyDelete
  10. @Alina Interesting consensus we've got going here. I prefer a little firmer, or perhaps I prefer a softer chocolate.

    ReplyDelete
  11. @lolzthatswim This caramel is definitely a melter. You'd love it.

    ReplyDelete
  12. @Hannah Ha! You're going to love a batch of cookies I'm posting about in the near future.

    ReplyDelete