Chocolate(s) of the Day
Laderach Chocolatier Suisse
Assorted Pralines Dark
1.) Pistachio - Good ++
2.) Hazelnut - Good ++
Weight: .766 oz. (21.6 g.) / 4.6 oz. (130 g.) in total box of 12 pieces
Calories: 120 calories in 2 pralines
Cost: N/A - gift from friends (Thank you Milo and family!)
Purchased from: N/A - gift from friends
Welcome to Day #8 of Chocolate and Nuts Theme Week.
Today's Assorted Pralines Dark was manufactured by Laderach (Schweiz) AG (Ennenda (in the canton of Glarus), Switzerland). The Swiss chocolatier and confectionery maker was founded by Rudolf Laderach in 1962.
This very attractive 12-piece assortment (2 each of 6 flavors) was elegantly designed and packaged. Each piece had appealing details. Since this is a week featuring chocolate and nuts, I focused on the two "nuttiest" praline flavors: pistachio and hazelnut.
Pistachio
Aroma notes for this Pistachio praline included: chocolate, cream/butter, faint lemon-herb (oxalis), and very faint nut.
It was topped with a perfect, green, lightly sugared, whole pistachio nut; and inside this confection had a pretty, bi-colored (green and caramel brown colored, layered interior).
A smooth dark chocolate shell enveloped a dual center: a nutty creamy-crunchy layer atop a green pistachio marzipan-style layer. In the finish there was a brief flavor glimmer of green tea chocolate.
Hazelnut
The hazelnut praline had very similar aroma notes: chocolate, cream/butter, faint lemon-herb (oxalis), and very faint nut.
An open cup of creamy chocolate was brimming with an artful piped-in buttery swirl of sweet, creamy chocolate ganache. Further down in the chocolate cup were more layers: creamy chocolate and crunchy bits of hazelnut, and sweet creamy chocolate with vanilla and caramel notes.
I am a sucker for layered flavors like this, even if they are a bit on the sweeter side for me. The nuts helped balance the sweetness.
Both these well-executed confections had great texture and flavors, and exemplified sophisticated chocolate architectural design and style.
Ingredients: Sugar, Cocoa Paste, Cocoa Butter, Glucose, Butter (Milk), Hazelnuts, Sorbitol, Cream (Milk), Almonds, Pistachios, Vegetable Oils (Palm Kernel, Palm, Coconut), Clarified Butter (Milk), Soy Lecithin, Fructose, Invert Sugar Syrup, Caramel, Natural Flavors, Salt (Fleur de Sel), Skimmed Milk Powder, Ground Vanilla, Sunflower Lecithin, Gum Arabic, Maltodextrin, Vegetable Fats (Palm Kernel, Palm, Coconut), Coloring (Turmeric Oleoresin, Carmine, Annatto Extract)
Allergen-related information: "Contains: Milk, Nuts, Soy. May Contain Egg, Other Gluten (Inclu. Wheat), Other Nuts."
