Australian Homemade Daydreamers

Australian Daydreamers. Sounds wonderful, right? Well, they're not.

The company itself is a bit iffy. They have franchises, but apparently not much real web presence. The "Australian" part is apparently someone's grandmother or maybe some other relative, because it seems the company started in either The Netherlands or Belgium.

They also had a controversy at one point about the images they print on the chocolates, with the objections stemming from Australian aborigines themselves.

In any case, we bought some of the chocolates. I've tasted and tasted several different flavors, but they are simply bad. Not a good chocolate flavor and even worse fillings.

Reviewed: Australian Homemade Daydreamers

Personality: Flat and boring

How to enjoy: Skip it altogether. Maybe their ice cream is better.

Rating:

1: Better than sex

2: Little bites of heaven

3: Share with your best friend

4: Will do in a pinch

5: Halloween candy

Where to buy:

Don't bother, but they have some 70 franchise stores

Pear Chocolate Mousse Cake

Today Baecker Bauer had an irresistable cake, a Birnen Torte. It's a lovely layered creation, made primarily from chocolate mousse, pears, and sponge cake.

Here's how our neighborhood bakers put it together (looking from left to right in the picture):

1. There's a shortcrust on the bottom of the cake, basically to give the design some stability. Since most of the cake is made from mousse, and German sponge cake has very little flour, it can be a fragile construction.


2. Then comes a layer of sponge cake made with cocoa instead of flour. It's almost like eating air, it's so light and fluffy.


3. Pear slices are laid on top of the cocoa sponge. It's a good year for pears, every one is so juicy and delicious. Optionally they've sprinkled the cake with Williams Christ pear liquer.


4. A thick layer of mousse follows. This one has been made with Milka chocolate, whipped cream and egg whites, as opposed to a dark chocolate and only whipped cream.


5. On top of the first layer of mousse comes a white sponge, made with flour.


6. Another layer of mousse, then a slice of cocoa sponge, and topped off with a last generous layer of mousse.


7. Decorations are done with pieces of Milka, mousse rosettes and slices of pear.

This is a wonderful cake, with plenty of chocolate. A delightful treat for a fall day, even if I did crush the slice on my way home from the bakery. It was a bit difficult to prevent, balancing the cake on top of the nice rye sourdough we bought for the week's sandwiches.

Feodora Mocca's and Mocca's Orange

This may be a problem. It's not often that I find a chocolate that I cannot resist, but these Mocca's chocolate coffee beans from Feodora may well be one of those. Just take a look at that cup above. A cup of chocolate flavored with coffee. It's good chocolate. Really good chocolate, like when you find really good chocolate chips, and you can't stop eating out of the bag.
After you start really enjoying the chocolate, the coffee kicks in, taking the flavor up a notch. Wow.
The packaging is also special. Feodora is producing a limited edition metal box with the coffee flavored candies. It's about the size of a package of cigarettes, and pops open like a Marlboro cigarette box. Inside the metal box is a same-shaped cardbard box, which nicely keeps the chocolates fresh. Kinda irrelevant in my house.
The orange flavor adds a little interest, but it's not really necessary. The orange has both coffee and orange flavor.
Definitely a problem chocolate. Too good to resist. I bought a box for a friend who doesn't arrive in Germany until October 3. The Mocca's might not survive that long.


OH THE AGONY!!!! I was putting the finishing touches on this blog entry, when my husband casually picked up the metal box, poured ALL OF THE REST into his hand, and tossed them into his mouth. At once.
Is taking the last of the chocolate grounds for divorce in Germany?

Reviewed: Feodora Mocca's
Personality: Seductive
How to enjoy: Make up some invisible friends so you can buy Mocca's for them, but keep them all for yourself. Probably wouldn't hurt to be single, either.
Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy
Where to buy:
US: The German Deli and Belgian Chocolate online
Germany: Many larger groceries, like REAL.
UK: chocolatz

Tootsie Rolls

On vacation last August, my daughter and I went to Jeffersonville, Indiana, among other places, to renew some childhood memories. When you pass through Louisville, Kentucky, one not-to-be-missed place is Schimpff's Candy in Jeffersonville.

They make truffles, and sell nostalgic candy in their charming soda shop. While their chocolate is good, their real claim to fame is homemade Red Hots candy. In contrast to the more commonly known Red Hots from Ferrara Pan, these are fabulous hard candies. Schimpff's red hots also came long before Ferrara Pan's.

Back when Jeffersonville had a movie theater downtown, my mother would go to the Saturday
matinee for 5 cents, stopping by Schimpff's for a bag of red hots, which would last as long as the movies did. My personal experience, while, not as nostalgic, is still filled with memories of spicy red hots at Christmas, enjoying the memories as well as the flavors.

However, red hots aren't chocolate. Schimpff's also has truffles, which while tasty, didn't exactly last long enough to write areview here in this blog, so I'm left with the only chocolate-ly thing I brought back from Schimpff's, Tootsie Rolls. While not strictly chocolate, this cocoa-based caramel type candy is a bit of chocolate flavor on a budget.

Good, nostalgic, but not extraordinary. Still worth the trip down memory lane.
Reviewed: Tootsie Roll
Personality: Just like watching a Saturday matinee
How to enjoy: Get the ones in paper and unwrap each one slowly

Rating:
1: Better than sex
2: Little bites of heaven
3: Share with your best friend. I did! DH and I each ate one.
4: Will do in a pinch
5: Halloween candy

Where to buy:
US: pretty much anywhere
Germany: http://www.american-food.com/

Chocolate Wars: Smarties versus M&Ms

Even after living in Germany for five years, I'd never bothered to try Smarties. M&Ms aren't really on my list of "must-eat" chocolates, but they're nice enough when I'm in the mood. So it took five years before I got in the mood, ok? The chocolate in Germany is that good.

When I was in the US recently, I noticed that my daughter grabbed quickly for a bag of Mini M&Ms. Right next to that I saw a bag of Dark M&Ms and decided to try them. Then, yesterday at the grocery store back here in Germany, I saw this cute hexagonal package of Smarties, I knew it was time to compare the candies.

The Results

M&M Minis
Smell: nothing special
Color: Classic bright M&M colors
Smoothness: smooth with the typically M&M crisp crunch.
Aftertaste: The expected extra-sweet M&Ms chocolate taste.

M&M Dark

Smell: nothing special

Color: Classic bright M&M colors

Smoothness: smooth chocolate with the typically M&M crisp crunch.

Aftertaste: Still the M&Ms chocolate taste, but much tastier than regular M&Ms.

Smarties

Smell: a little fruity

Color: Lighter colors than M&Ms, but made with vegetable colors. Nice to look at, but not as intense as M&M colors.

Smoothness: very smooth chocolate, and the coating is not as crunchy as M&Ms

Aftertaste: The Smarties have a fruity taste on the shell and a smoother milk chocolate than M&Ms

And the winner is: M&Ms Dark! The minis are addictive because of their size, and the Smarties are nicer to crunch, but the dark chocolate wins me over. One other thing I did prefer about the Smarties is that they didn't get hard and bumpy when you suck on them til the candy shell melts. I presume that the M&Ms bumps are just undissolved sugar, and since they also eventually dissolve, I feel safe in eating them.

Stainer Peperoncino Schotch Bonnet Con Rum

That's a mouthful, isn't it? "Stainer Peperoncino Schotch Bonnet Con Rum" There's a nice typo on the front cover, since I"ve only ever heard of Scotch Bonnet, not Schotch.

Andrea Stainer is an Italian chocolatier, and this is an awesome chocolate. Strong rum and strong hot pepper. Not make-you-sweat hot, but plenty hot for me.

Out of all the flavored chocolates I've tasted recently, I generally prefer the chocolates with pepper. There's something about the combination of dark chocolate and hot pepper that appeals to me, more than, say, chocolate and melon.

Located in Pontremoli, Stainer is another one of those great chocolatiers in Tuscany. When I do manage a visit to Tuscany, I'll have to plan time to visit several of these place, Stainer included.

Reviewed: Stainer Peperoncino Schotch Bonnet Con Rum
Personality: Not much to look at, but definitely worth getting to know

How to enjoy: With a glass of water. These flavors deserve individual attention

Rating:

1: Better than sex

2: Little bites of heaven

3: Share with your best friend

4: Will do in a pinch

5: Halloween candy

Where to buy:

Germany http://www.salonducacao.de/

USA: http://e-anticabottega.com/index.asp

UK: http://www.harrods.com/