Dark chocolate bars
Wholefoods
Amelia Rope Dark Edition 02
100g, £5.69
Round flavours with a note of citrus. Good quality chocolate to follow a nice meal.
★★★★
Natoora
Original Beans Cru Virunga 70%
70g, £3.50
The flavour is a bit short and limited for my liking. It's pleasant, with overtones of berry, but tastes of high street chocolate.
★★★
Fortnum and Mason
Q by Samantha Aquim 65%
50g, £9.95
Fruity, but I'm struggling to get excited about it. Once again, the flavour doesn't have enough length for my liking.
★★★
Prestat
Dark & Rich Chocolate 71%
75g, £2.50
Sticky on the palate and too sweet. There's a liquorice note, and I don't like liquorice, so I'm not a fan of this.
★★
Brownies
Harrods
Chocolate brownie with sea salt caramel and fudge
£1.60 each
Very bling! The gold leaf makes it look decadent, as do the blobs of caramel. Balanced with a touch of salt. Superior ingredients.
★★★★
Gail's
Gail's Brownie
£2.80 each
Pecans give this a nice texture but I'm not convinced by the quality of chocolate used.
★★★
Sainsbury's
Mini Chocolate Brownie Bites
£1.55 for 16
An average brownie – the sweetness and quality of chocolate are OK but it's a bit dry and nondescript.
★★
Paul A Young
Classic Fudge Brownie
£3.95 each
Too much. It's incredibly dense, buttery and should be about half the size. I like a wee bit of crust, which this lacks.
★
Salted caramels
Paul A Young
Salted Caramel Truffles
£2 each
The caramel is beautifully buttery and the chocolate outstanding. Lovely delicate shell lining but the base is too thick.
★★★★
Marks and Spencer
Collection Salted Caramel Truffles
120g, £5
Pleasant but they are too small. Not enough caramel and the chocolate is rather underwhelming.
★★★
Tesco
Finest* Salted Caramel Truffles
140g, £7
The caramel has nice body to it but it's far too salty. The quality of the chocolate is good and has rich tobacco flavours.
★★★
Harrods
Couverture Sea Salt Caramel Truffles
140g, £13.95
Extremely thick shell and very light caramel. The chocolate seems to be midway between dark and milk, which is strange.
★
Truffles
Beas of Bloomsbury
Champagne Truffles
450g, £20
Good quality dark chocolate. I like the rustic look but they are a bit big.
★★★
The Co-operative
Truly Irresistible Fairtrade Belgian Champagne Truffles
145g, £4
Very claggy, sweet ganache inside a thick milk chocolate shell.
★★★
Fortnum and Mason
Marc de Champagne Truffles
500g, £28
Nice, smooth ganache but flavours feel artificial. Beautifully packaged.
★★
Tesco
Finest* Marc de Champagne Truffles
140g, £7
The appearance makes me nervous: a cream-coloured ganache. I'm just eating sugar.
★
Boxes under £20
Marks and Spencer
The Amazing Collection of Fabulous Personalities
220g, £15
Good presentation. The chocolates have a shiny finish and there's a nice range of varieties like florentines and ganaches.
★★★
Tesco
Jewellery Box Chocolate Assortment
460g, £20
Presentation gets 4* – it's well thought out and good value – but the quality of the chocolate isn't up to scratch for a precious chocolatier like me!
★★★
Waitrose
Waitrose Belgian Chocolate Assortment
315g, £10
Lots of milk and white varieties made in a Belgian style. If you like sugar, you're going to be happy with this selection.
★★
The Co-operative
Truly Irresistible Fairtrade Gift Wrapped Chocolates
170g, £5
These look and taste like they've been made on a machine – uniform, consistent but cheap.
★★
Boxes over £20
Pierre Marcolini (from Selfridges)
Plumier Decouvert
34 pieces for £26.90
Beautiful ganaches and a great variety of styles and flavours. But I'm Scottish, so I'm afraid I don't hand out 5*.
★★★★
Paul A Young
Selection box
16 pieces for £26
Handmade chocolate with lovely fillings. I don't like the prefabricated moulds, but otherwise, I can't knock 'em.
★★★★
Paul Wayne Gregory
Christmas Chocolates
120g, £20.95
I love the geometrical presentation and uniformity, and that they are all dark chocolates. Well made.
★★★★
Fortnum and Mason
Christmas Cherub Box of Chocolates
1.2kg, £100
Big box of chocolates that are, for the most part, overly sweet and bland.
★
