Biscuiterie de l'Abbaye - Le Petit Normand Chocolat au Lait

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Le Petit Normand - Chocolat au Lait biscuits
Main ingredients are wheat flour 34%, milk chocolate 30% (sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder...), sugar 14.5%, butter 14%, oat flakes, whole milk 4%, whole milk powder 2%.
Cocoa content: not stated

Manufacturer

Biscuiterie de l'Abbaye S.A.S., Route du Val, 617000 Lonlay l'Abbaye, France

Packaging

The biscuits are in a plastic tray, wrapped and sealed plastic wrap and packed in a cardboard box.

Look

The chocolate is light brown and the biscuits lightly browned yellow.

Sound

The biscuits break with clear crumbly sounds.

Smell

There is clear smell of butter and dough from the biscuits as soon as the plastic seal is opened.

Mouthfeel

The biscuits are very crunchy and maintain this throughout. The chocolate is smooth and dissolves quickly as the biscuit is being eaten.

Taste

The chocolate has a milky taste with some sweetness. The biscuits have an intense butter taste that mixes nicely with the chocolate.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste is mainly the baked butter of the biscuits and some hints of the milky chocolate.

Summary

The biscuits have a crunchy structure and a rich buttery flavour which mixes nicely with the milk chocolate.

Verdict

The biscuits are rich in flavour and structure. The milky chocolate mixes nicely but the chocolate tastes mainly of milk and sugar and could deserve a bit more attention. 4 Stars.

Dates

Lot number: 6060, best before 28/02/2017, tasted 10/04/2016

Helwa - Gaufrettes praliné noisette

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Gaufrettes fourrées au praliné noisette
Main ingredients are palm fat, wheat flour, sugar, hazelnut praline paste (19%, made of hazelnut and sugar), egg yolk, emulsifier.

Manufacturer

Helwa Wafelbakkerij B.V, BP / P.O. Box 18, 9074 ZL Hallum, The Netherlands

Packaging

The 110g waffles are arrayed on a cardboard tray which is sealed by a printed plastic wrap.

Look

The waffles are very light brown and the filling is similarly lightly coloured.

Sound

The waffles break with clear, very crisp sounds.

Smell

The smell is mainly of baked/roasted dough from the waffles. There is no noticeable smell of the filling.

Mouthfeel

The waffles are very crunchy and airy. The crunch remains present throughout the experience. The waffles do not stick to the tongue as much as with other products. The filling is soft, slightly grainy and floury.

Taste

The initial contact with the waffles elicits roast flavours of the waffle dough. Tasted as a whole, the flavour of the filling is almost undetectable apart from a distinct sweetness and a hint of hazelnuts. Tasted on its own, the filling still has a very intense sugary sweetness but also some very noticeable notes of hazelnuts.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste is mainly sweetness at the centre of the mouth. There is a hint of waffle and hazelnut flavour towards the rear.

Summary

These waffles are very airy and crisp. Their flavour is mainly sweet but comes with notes of roasted waffle dough and hazelnuts.

Verdict

The waffles have a nice crunch that they maintain throughout the process. They also have hints of roast aroma and hazelnuts but this is combined with an intense sugary sweetness. 2 Stars.

Dates

Lot number: 5266 11:51, best before 09-2016, tasted 20/03/2016

Wernli - Jura Waffel-Gaufrette

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Jura Waffel-Gaufrette
Main ingredients are sugar, vegetable fat, wheat flour, low fat cocoa powder (5.7%), dextrose, dried milk products, wheat starch, corn starch, cocoa mass (1%)
Cocoa content: estimated to 6.7% cocoa

Manufacturer

Wernli AG, 4632 Trimbach, Solothurn, Switzerland

Packaging

The little waffle cubes are arrayed into a larger cube, set in a cardboard tray and sealed in plastic wrap with a handy opener.

Look

The cocoa waffles are light brown which is darker than typical ice cream waffles. The filling is dark to middle brown.

Sound

Breaking or biting the waffles makes very loud crunch sound.

Smell

The waffles have a warm smell of roasted hazelnuts and nougat.

Mouthfeel

The waffles feel light and crunchy. The thin waffle coating immediately starts melting and sticks to the tongue. Nevertheless, they maintain crunch and lightness throughout.

Taste

The initial taste is of the airy baked waffles. After the first waffle layer, the filling tastes like sugary sweetness with flavours of nougat.

Aftertaste

The aftertaste is most strongly perceived at the front of the tongue as sugary sweetness but it also includes some roasted hazelnut flavours at the rear of the mouth.

Summary

These waffles are very airy and light, have nice warm smell of roasted nuts. They are crunchy but their flavour is mainly sugary sweetness.

Verdict

The crunch and the smell of the waffles is very promising but their flavour does not live up to that as it is mainly plain sugary sweetness. 1 Star.

Dates

Best before 13/06/2016, tasted 06/03/2016

Whittard of Chelsea - Cantucci biscuits with figs & almonds

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Cantucci biscuits with figs & almonds
Main ingredients are wheat flour, sugar, dried figs (18%), eggs, almonds (10%)

Manufacturer

Manufactured by Amari in Carmignano s.a.s., Via Guido Rossa, 81-83, 59015, CARMIGNANO PO, Italy for: Whittard of Chelsea (Whittard Trading Limited), Windrush House, Windrush Industrial Park, WITNEY, Oxfordshire, OX29 7DX, United Kingdom

Packaging

The 200g load of biscuits is sealed in plastic. A cardboard label is attached above the seal.

Look

The biscuits are dark yellow with a light brown crust. Whole almonds and figs are visible in the fluffy dough.

Sound

The biscuits are hard as cantucci should be. They make a thud sound when broken and are especially soft around the figs.

Smell

The biscuits smell like sweetened eggs and vanilla with a very strong fruity aroma and a light hint of roast.

Mouthfeel

These biscuits are light and crisp. After chewing the first bits, the crunchiness is lost but the dough is still light.

Taste

The initial taste is a sweet biscuit dough with butter and egg flavours, and some vanilla notes. The almonds are lightly roasted supporting their flavour. The figs come with a flavour of dark molasses combined with ripened plum and a little tartly and peaty note.

Aftertaste

The biscuits have a sweet aftertaste with a light buttery and egg-ish note.

Summary

These biscuits are crisp and sweet with a nice butter and egg flavour with lightly roasted almonds and richly flavoured figs.

Verdict

These are nice cantucci style biscuits. In particular, the baked figs add an interesting and rich flavour to them. However, their moisture makes it very difficult to have a crunchy cantucci. These biscuits are less crunchy than possible and they have a little a bit more dough.

Dates

Lot number: 151115, best before 04 October 2016, tasted 06 February 2016

Dallmayr - Cantucci al Cacao e Nocciola

The tasting notes reflect my personal opinion.

Name

Cantucci al Cacao e Nocciola - Hazelnut and cocoa biscuits
Main ingredients are wheat, sugar, hazelnuts (23%), eggs, margarine, butter
Cocoa content: 4%

Manufacturer

Manufactured in Italy (hand made according to label) for: Alois Dallmayr KG, 80331 München, Germany

Packaging

The 250g load of biscuits is sealed in plastic. A cardboard label is attached above the seal.

Look

The biscuits are dark brown with a few sprinkles of sugar on the sides. Whole hazelnuts are visible in the fluffy dough.

Sound

The biscuits are hard as cantucci should be. They make a loud "crack" sound when broken.

Smell

The biscuits have a warm hazelnut and cocoa smell.

Mouthfeel

These biscuits are very crunchy. After chewing the first bits, the dough still feels light.

Taste

The initial taste is very sweet when you feel the sugar on the outside. When crunching through the biscuits, they develop cocoa and roasted hazelnut flavours.

Aftertaste

The biscuits have a light cocoa aftertaste with a mild roasted note from the hazelnuts.

Summary

These biscuits are crunchy and sweet with a nicely balanced, mild flavour of cocoa and hazelnut.

Verdict

These are well-executed cantucci style biscuits. They come with solid crunch from start to finish and are nicely balanced between sweetness, cocoa and warming hazelnut flavours.

Dates

Lot number: 070815, best before 07 April 2016, tasted 24 January 2016