Chocolate(s) of the Day
Gather Chocolate
1.) Sour Cherry - Good +
2.) Cashew Caramel - Good - Good +
Weight: 1.16 oz. (33 g.) / 9 1/4 oz. (262 g.) in total box of 24 pieces
Calories: 160 calories in 3 pieces
Cost: $39.00 for 1 box of 24 pieces
Purchased from: Harbor Sweets, online order
Welcome to Day #6 of Chocolate and Honey Theme Week.
Today's two Gather Chocolate confections were part of a larger, 6-flavor assortment box from Harbor Sweets (Salem, MA). The honeycomb (hexagon)-shaped gold and brown box held six different flavors, all containing dark chocolate and "a touch of local honey."
Sour Cherry
Aroma notes included: dark chocolate and very faint fruit, and even fainter pie and citrus herb (oxalis*).
A smooth (textured and flavored) dark 70% chocolate shell surrounded a silken, slightly honeyed, ganache filling atop an authentic tasting sour cherry on the bottom.
I liked that the 70% dark chocolate balanced the inherent sweetness of these confections. and the layered flavors. The cherry felt and tasted like a real cherry.
Cashew Caramel
Aroma notes included: chocolate; nutty, sweet nuanced caramel; and faint caramel and cashew shortbread cookie.
Dark chocolate covered a dual-layered filling: crunchy cashew pieces on top and a smooth, hearty honeyed caramel layer on the bottom. There was a very faint (tart lemon-green/herbal) oxalis-like note in the otherwise, chocolate-y 70% cacao couverture.
I also liked the smaller size of the pieces in this assortment. It made it easier to share the chocolates with others.
Note: Ingredients listed below applied to all the chocolates in this 6-flavor assortment box. (There was no separate list of ingredients for individual flavors
Ingredients: Chocolate (Chocolate Liquor, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Soy Lecithin, Vanilla), Cream (Cream [Milk], Carrageenan, Mono and Diglycerides, Polysorbate 80), Sugar, Honey, Vegetable Glycerin, Butter, Cashews (Cashews, Salt), Semi-Sweet Chocolate (Sugar, Unsweetened Chocolate with Alkali, Unsweetened Chocolate, Cocoa Butter, Butterfat, Soy Lecithin, Natural Flavor), Coconut Milk (Coconut Milk [Water, Coconut Cream], Calcium Phosphate, Guar Gum, Xanthan Gum, Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D2, Selenium, Zinc Oxide, Folic Acid, Vitamin B12), Dried Coconut Flakes, Contains Less Than 2% of Brown Sugar, Dried Tart Cherries (Cherries, Sugar, Sunflower Oil), Concentrated Pomegranate Juice, Sunflower Kernels (Sunflower Kernels, Salt), Sesame Seeds (Sesame Seeds, Salt), Natural Flavors, Peanuts (Peanuts, Salt), Pureed Dried Coconut, Pomegranate Powder, Salt, Pepitas (Pepitas, Salt), Lemon Juice, Soy Lecithin, Baking Soda.
Allergen-related information: "Contains Milk, Peanut, Soy, Coconut, Cashews and Sesame." "This product is prepared in a facility that handles soy, milk, peanuts, wheat, tree nuts and sesame."
*Oxalic acid is present in cacao/dark chocolate (as well as other plants/greens that have a slightly lemony-green tart flavor, like oxalis (sour grass), spinach, Swiss chard, beet greens and rhubarb. You may see these produce items cited as containing high levels of oxalates, which some people (e.g. with kidney issues) may want to avoid. Typically you'd have to worry more about spinach than chocolate in this area, but moderation in all things is often good advice.
