Monday 18 May 2015

Bonieri Chocolates now at Selfridges ... and The Madhouse ! (review)


Last month, Bonieri’s unique selection of gianduja pralines and other Italian specialities launched in Selfridges. Up until then, they had been exclusively stocked in Harrod's. To mark the occasion, they sent me through some of their beautifully presented delicacies to sample.


Don't they look pretty?  They pride themselves on being manufactured and packaged with true Italian passion and style, and I can imagine how at home they must look nestled on the shelves of the revamped Selfridges confectionery hall and Harrod's food hall. The Selfridges range includes large 440g and smaller 250g boxes of mixed flavour gianduiotti and other gianduja pralines, as well as 100g bags of their award winning Cremini. Ribboned bags include the traditional ‘CriCri’ a dark chocolate covered whole Piedmont hazelnut coated in sugar balls, and their 300 year old recipe hazelnut nougat, coated in dark chocolate.


The first thing that we tucked into was the bag on the right in the picture above, the Dark Chocolate Crumbly Hazelnut Nougat. This nougat is made using traditional methods and an original recipe dating back to 1883. The nougat (called 'torrone') is uncoated, worked by hand rather than a machine, and is made using fresh egg whites, Piedmont hazelnuts (IGP) and a particular Piedmont clear coloured “Millefiori” honey. I was very impressed to learn just how much work goes into making them. On their website, they explain : "The nougat itself is steamed for seven hours, removed with wooden paddles to retain the heat and shaped by hand into beech moulds. It is then cut and placed on marble tables to cool for at least a day. The steam process does not affect the taste of the honey and gives its unique ‘crumbly’ texture. Once cooled, the nougat is coated in rich dark chocolate." It is totally delicious - you get a lovely background taste of delicate honey, a surprising crumbly texture and a rich chocolate coating to finish it off. Exquisite and definitely FAR too good to share with the kids ! (RRP £14.95 for 250g)


Next we moved on to the Delice - Chocolate Covered Gianduja Praline with Whole Hazelnut Centre. These are delicious and very sophisticated too. The crunch of the whole nut combines beautifully with the smooth, velvety hazelnut praline and a crisp dark chocolate shell. The individual shiny wrappers add an extra touch of elegance and indulgence. (RRP £6.95 for 100g)


The final product we'd received was the Bonieri Chocolate Box, beautifully presented with a big pink bow. It was Madhouse Daddy's lucky day as this is the Bella Box Caffe (RRP £17.95 for 170g) and, as I don't like coffee, he got to eat them all ! He declared them all delicious and tried to tempt me to taste one several times ! Non coffee-lovers need not despair though - there are other boxes available including Chocolate Orange, Cremini, Gemme and Gold, so nobody needs to miss out !
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If you want a taste of luxury for a truly indulgent treat or a special gift, they are absolutely ideal.

for more information : http://bonieri.com/

Disclosure : We received the products in order to write an honest review.

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