ThanksGiving - Reese's Milk Chocolate PeanutButter Cup

First of all, Chocolicious wishes all American's a very Happy Thanks Giving - warm wishes, Chocolate Critic xxx 

One of the most simple but exciting bite which you could taste is the Reese's Milk Chocolate PeanutButter Cups. Sweet but salty all in one! As you take your first bite its soft and you can't really taste the chocolate side of the snack however, as you chew you way through the appetising cup, the peanut butter remains strong with the addition of the subtle yet noticeable milk chocolate which brings the flavour together as one. As you nearly finish chewing you are left with a little lump of chocolate which rounds of the after taste; however, it still leaves this very strong peanut butter taste which is particularly salty and if you don't like peanut butter, salt or nuts, this one isn't for you! 

This cheeky snack leaves you wanting more and is the perfect size for roughly about 5 bites. Its not too rich with flavour, but just right although if I wanted to be picky; it could do with being a little less salty, as it puts you off the feeling of wanting more once you know the amount of salt in it! In your mouth at first, its quite solid until you chew and the peanut butter dough starts evolving and becomes less solid. The peanut butter adds a special flavour all together and leaves you not too thirsty and not too full! 

Leaving you wanting more the peanut butter cups are a perfect size which are not too rich, with the perfect combination of the peanut butter dough and the milk chocolate, however mainly chocolate. The wrapper is sweet, as it makes it look like its been made with care with a bright packaging! 

This is perfectly DELICIOUS! 

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*please note that this chocolate contains nuts

Cadbury Flake

If you are prepared for mess - this ones for you! 
As you take your first bite, it is hard, the chocolate almost 'bursts out' and 'flakes everywhere!' Every little crumb makes it that extra bit yummier... however it is still very rich in flavour and the taste is slightly different to the original Dairy Milk, although its still the same old rich flavour. The flake makes you very thirsty but and not wanting more, until you have a good drink of water, however after that, you want more and more! 
A chocolate bar which definitely makes you full as ever.
If you suck it, chew it, munch it, nibble it... the flavour pours out the same. Its the same rich intense flavour, as if every little crumb has been carefully made to be delicious!
The smell of the chocolate bar doesn't entice you to eat it, but the design of the chocolate bar does. The packaging looks fancy and vintage like, and its when you fancy something more special than a chocolate bar. Its more of a fancy type of chocolate bar, and not the same old usual one. The adventure is simple but with a better charm than any other.
The advert and the slogan on the packaging sums this chocolate bar up as a whole beautifully - 'The Crumbliest Flakiest Milk Chocolate.' For sure its crumbly, (proven from the state of my bowl and my mouth), for sure its the Flakiest and is definitely Milk Chocolate! 
Click below to watch one of my favourite adverts out of all the Chocolate Bar Advertisements... its definitely a famous one too! 

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Chocolate Week 2012 - Final Day of Chocolate Week

Sadly, Chocolate Week has come to an end! With our sweet tooth, we are all full from all the chocolates we have eaten over the past week! 
Even though Chocolate Week is over, it doesn't mean we can't talk about it or enjoy and eat chocolate as much as we want!
Chocolicous are still going to be rating different chocolates... look out for some special edition chocolates on Halloween, Bonfire Night, Christmas and many more later on in the year of 2013! 
Its 'au-revior' to 'Chocolate Week 2012' till next year in 2013 - Chocolicoious can't wait already! 

Chocolate Week 2012 - The World Biggest Chocolate Sculpture

Chocolate-lovers need look no further for a place to pay homage to their favourite treat after chocolatiers created a mouth-watering edible sculpture of an ancient Mayan temple. 
Chocolatiers have broken the world record for the largest chocolate sculpture after building a replica of the Kukulcan pyramid based in Chichen Itza in Mexico weighing an incredible 18,239lb - the equivalent of two adult elephants. 
It smashes the previous record for the world's largest chocolate creation set in Italy in 2010 which weighed just 10,736.5lb!

Chocolate Week 2012 - Some Fun Facts About Chocolate!

1.The name chocolate comes from the Aztec word xocalati meaning bitter water. Not surprising, considering they made a drink, by mixing cacao beans with chillies, achiote, cornmeal, and some reports suggest the inclusion hallucinogenic Mushrooms (probably helped to get over the taste).


2. One chocolate chip provides enough food energy for an adult to walk 150 feet. Therefore, it takes about 35 chocolate chips to walk a mile or 875,000 to get you around the world.

3. Terry's of York will produce over 350 million segments of chocolate orange per year and 28,000 Terrys Chocolate Oranges are made from 5 tonnes of chocolate.

4. 17,000 people in Belgium work in the chocolate industry!

5. More than 7 billion chocolate chips are eaten annually and one chocolate chip provides enough food energy for an adult to walk 150 feet. Therefore, it takes about 35 chocolate chips to walk a mile or 875,000 to get you around the world.

6. Chocolate in a blue wrapper won’t sell in Shanghai or Hong Kong, because the Chinese associate blue with death.

7. If the number of Toblerones sold in one year were laid end to end, they would equate to 62,000 Km – equivalent to the circumference of the Earth.

8. Napoleon always carried chocolate with him, which he ate as a pick-me-up 

whenever he needed an energy boost!

9. Almost half the world's chocolate is consumed in America and dark chocolate has more antioxidants than green tea and just as many as blueberries.

10. Chocolate contains over 300 mineral properties that are beneficial to your health.

11. White chocolate really isn't chocolate. It's made from cocoa butter, the substance you get by pressing cocoa beans. Cocoa butter is absent of the cocoa solids used to make chocolate.

12. Dark chocolate has more antioxidants than green tea and just as many as blueberries.

Chocolate Week 2012 - Chocolate Lip Gloss/Balm

Most people see 'Chocolate' as just a Chocolate Bar, but actually, Chocolate can be used in many different ways. 'Hot Chocolate' - melted Chocolate with added milk, 'Chocolate Milk-Shake' - blending chocolate bars, with milk and ice and even Chocolate ICE-CREAM! As well as this, there is also such thing as a Chocolate Lip Balm! In the pictures above, there is a rich chocolate in colour lip balm ready to smother all over your lips. 
As you open the packaging, you can even get (as in the picture on the right hand side) the design of the lip balm outside is incredibly well designed, placed in chocolate place holders (like when you purchase real chocolate at a chocolatier!) 
All of the LipBalms which the Chocolate Addict has tried has made the lips look shiny and gleaming!

As in the picture above, the first lip-balm to try is 'Mocha Choca' which when you open, you get an instant smell of strong coffee beans, almost as if you've walked into a Coffee Shop! The substance is slightly sparkly which I guess is to make your lips look sparkly and a very warm chocolate colour. As you put more on, you can start to taste a weak taste of the coffee beans in your mouth and the substance on your lips feels nice and smooth, and not to thick and strong. However, if you don't like Chocolate Coffee, this flavour lip balm is not for you!
The second lip balm to try is 'Praline Princess' and as you open it you smell an extremely rich smell of dark chocolate. As you put this flavour on your lips you can instantly taste it in your mouth, with a taste of pure chocolate, however is not as nicer feeling as to when you put in on your lips! As you rub in further into your lips eventually it becomes a little bit bitty, but maybe that is because is not a professionally made lip gloss, and was only made for the chocolate effect! The third lip balm flavour is 'Vanilla Fancy', smelling of pure vanilla, very sweet and enticing! Its much thicker than the other substances however when you taste it, it tastes very ordinary like any usual lip balm, which lets me down a little. Although it has a nicer substance Chocolicious is all about the taste!
The fourth flavour is 'Rose Swirl' smells delightful. Flowers and roses, however not chocolate? This one sadly also tastes unlike chocolate, although is extremely tasteful of strawberries! 
Not all Chocolicious but most definitely all of them are DELICIOUS! 

Chocolate Week 2012 - The Health of Chocolate

Most people LOVE chocolate, and for sure Chocolicious certainly does, but is chocolate as bad as everyone says it seems to be? Is it JUST making you gain weight? 

Yes its true, Chocolate which is high in cocoa solids (70% or more) is now recognised as having many qualities that are beneficial to health: 

• Chocolate contains essential trace elements and nutrients such as iron, calcium and potassium, and vitamins A, B1, C, D, and E. 
• Cocoa is also the highest natural source for Magnesium. Magnesium deficiency is linked with hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, joint problems and pre-menstrual tension (PMT or PMS). 

There are benefits in Chocolate for both men and women:

• The high Magnesium content of Chocolate is beneficial for the Cardiovascular System and hypertension.
• It's a pre-menstrual drop in progesterone levels which is responsible for the violent mood swings familiar to so many women (and their families), adding magnesium to a sufferers diet has been proved to increase pre-menstrual progesterone levels, thus helping alleviate the symptoms. 

• Researchers found eating 100g of dark chocolate each day for 15 days lowered blood pressure in the 15 person-study.
• The University of L'Aquila team also found the body's ability to metabolise sugar - a problem for people with diabetes - was improved. But eating the same quantities of white chocolate did not have an effect, the researchers said.
• Dark chocolate contains antioxidants, but also a lot of fat and calories."People who want to add some chocolate to their diet need to subtract an equivalents amount of calories by cutting back on other foods to avoid weight gain."
• He said other foods containing flavanols, such as tea and wine, have a similar effect on blood pressure.
• People with diabetes can eat dark chocolate like everyone else in moderation.

"However, we would still recommend a balanced low fat, salt and sugar diet that includes starchy carbohydrates and plenty of fruit and vegetables combined with regular exercise to help people with diabetes control their condition.
The benefits of eating chocolate are likely to be outweighed by the disadvantages as chocolate is high in sugar and fat."

Chocolate is made from plants, which means it contains many of the health benefits of dark vegetables. These benefits are from flavonoids, which act as antioxidants. Antioxidants protect the body from aging caused by free radicals, which can cause damage that leads to heart disease. Dark chocolate contains a large number of antioxidants (nearly 8 times the number found in strawberries). Flavonoids also help relax blood pressure through the production of nitric oxide, and balance certain hormones in the body.

Wow!! Chocolate can be good for you after all.... HEALTHY AND CHOCOLICIOUS!! 

Chocolate Week 2012 - The Worlds Biggest Chocolate Bar in the World!

The Grand Candy factory in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, the tiny country sandwiched between Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran and Georgia has just produced the World's biggest Chocolate Bar. The bar contains all natural ingredients and 70% is coco beans from Ghana. The Chocolate Bar is 224inches, 110 inches wide, 10inches thick and weighs the grand total of 9,702 pounds! 
The factory owner, Karen Vardanyan said that the chocolate bar was produced to mark the 10th anniversary of the company and said it will be divided up and handed out on Tuesday 16th October! The thought of tasting the massive record breaking chocolate bar makes is unimaginable! 
Would it be 'Chocolicious?' 

Watch this video below to find out some more information and to watch it being made!

Chocolate Week 2012

For Chocoholics and for everyone who adores chocolate, this week is specially dedicated to chocolate... its 'Chocolate Week 2012' from Monday 8th October until Sunday 14th October! Throughout the week there is different types of exciting event happening to celebrate. From learning how to prepare your own chocolate, learning how to taste chocolate, demonstrations of making chocolate in York (where Rowntree's, Terry's Chocolate Orange, Smarties and KitKat originally came from), visiting 'Chocolate Unwrapped' in Covent Garden or even special deals to visit Cadbury's Chocolate World in Birmingham! As well as this, Salon Du Chocolat in Paris are hosting a 'chocolate-themed fashion show' while listening to music of live performances and gorging to the world's finest chocolates.

For more information, check out the 'Chocolate Week 2012' website by clicking on the link below:

http://www.chocolateweek.co.uk/

In addition to all of this excitement, Chocolicious is going to be celebrating too! Keep an eye on the Chocolicious Blog as there will be some interesting daily updates, which will include unusual facts about chocolate, the history of chocolate and even some videos! 

Next week is definitely going to be thrilling, yummy and CHOCOLICIOUS! 

Cadbury's Crunchie Chocolate

One of the unique style of Cadburys Chocolate Bar is the sensation of the chocolate at the first bite. As you take your first bite, it is clean with no crumbles and then as it progresses deeper into the chocolate bar the honeycomb melts and crumbles into your mouth. It seems to crackle into your mouth as the honeycomb melts and washes around your mouth with the taste of the original Cadburys Chocolate surrounding it. 
The smell of the honeycomb stands out very well as you are smelling it, with an after smell of dark chocolate, even though it doesn’t contain it! Although, it still has the delicious smell of the original Cadburys bar, but as the honeycomb is buried underneath it, you can smell almost two different smells at the same time! 
As you are 'CRUNCHING' your way through the chocolate bar, the flavors are tumbling in your mouth, only if there was just a little more honeycomb it would make it EVEN better, but as the way it is, the combination is ok. The honeycomb is not too sticky that is sticks to your teeth, and neither too weak that you can hardly taste it, and your after taste is strongly honeycomb, which is a good thing! Everyone likes and after taste of honeycomb! 
The vibrant, stylish, bright packaging makes you want to grab it from the shelf, even if it's the only thing you can buy. It entices you into buying it and if you ever get the moments when your standing in the chocolate shop debating between two chocolate bars making a fool out of yourself, which I surely do myself - I have your answer, Crunchie should definitely win, all the time and every time! The packaging makes it look like its a proper chocolate bar, with a sense of ‘crunchiness in it,’ not just a lousy one.
A little nibble of the honey comb alone however does taste like normal honeycomb. It just absorbs into your mouth and STILL has the taste of the chocolate even though its honeycomb alone! 
Another unique point about the Crunchie is that the advertising for once, is just what it looks like on the inside! As you bite further into the chocolate bar, the crunchiness remains but it just gets stronger and stronger as you chew, and soon the chocolate texture swirls out again. 
The Cadburys Crunchie Chocolate Bar is very indulging and is not that sickly... its perfect for a lunch box or a snack a tea time and is definitely not too rich. 

Me, The Chocolate Critic has decided, Crunchie is perfect for someone who likes the taste that is not TOO chocolatey and not TOO bland and tasteless but JUST right in the middle with some surprise of crunchiness added too! 

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Cadburys Dairy Milk Chocolate

One of the classic originals, of Cadbury’s creations, Cadburys Dairy Milk. A simple chocolate bar which smells indulging, with a sense of a slight richness wafting up your nose. The combination is JUST right and the richness is not too rich, to the extent of it tingling up your nose.

From the outside of the wrapper, it looks appealing although not as good as the taste inside! As you open the chocolate bar, there is no stickiness or melting texture in sight, and with the embossing of ‘Cadbury’, I could not wait to get my hands on it to take a bite! Some flakes of the chocolate bar fell out as I opened it, but I guess that is to be expected when opening a high quality made chocolate bar.

Does a bite of hardness appeal to you in a chocolate bar, evolving into a melting sensation? - Then this chocolate bar is just right for you!

The first bite has a texture of hardness and a few flakes sprinkle into your mouth at the same time. As it starts melting, a boost of sweetness occurs and the taste starts to evolve at the same time, and it becomes softer and much more appealing to eat. To finish, it leaves a chocolate smudged ring around your wet lips! (I think a sign that you’ve enjoyed it!)

No sign of goo or bitterness, however the after taste is not rich but moreish... once you start eating the bar, you want it ALL! Although, you can get unlucky and get a very sickly after taste after the 5th/6th bar of it, or if you’re lucky a very soft taste.

As you work your way through the bar you will eventually find you have eaten it all! Yes - its one of those bars which you just cannot resist eating.... bite after bite your mouth sweetens and the chocolate bar seems to get softer, less rich and becomes a tasteful mouthwatering bar of delicious chocolate.

Simple but definitely... CHOCOLICIOUS! 

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