Recently, I received another care package from my friend living in England. Inside were a number of really tasty items, and I decided to pair two of them together to see how they matched up.
The first item is a box of Thomas Fudge’s Salted Caramel Florentines.
This treat comes in a box of eight pieces, and they look very fancy through the cellophane on the top.
The Salted Caramel Florentines are described as being a combination of fruits, almonds, and salted caramel that sure sounded like a very tasty combination.
I took the package out of the box, and it struck me as a little strange that some of them were what appeared to be upside-down!
I opened the package and took three out of the plastic tray and arranged them on a plate.
Next, I took a look at the next box, the Gold Chocolate and Caramelised Hazelnut Latte.
From Nescafe, this box also contains eight packages.
The instructions for the Gold Chocolate and Caramelised Hazelnut Latte is to add 200 milliletres of water then stir, wait twenty seconds, and then stir again.
I opened a package and poured some into a mug.
The kettle didn’t take long to boil, and then I added some water to the package mix.
I have to say, it sure did look impressive having all the items laid out on the counter!
Finally, it was time to try the treats and see how they tasted.
First, I took a bit of the Salted Caramel Florentines from Thomas Fudge’s.
The initial bite had a very heavy fruit taste, almost like cherries, which was interesting because there is no almond extract listed in the ingredients. I do wonder if perhaps because the almonds were a bit older that the flavour had changed.
The raisins on top were a bit chewy, and the chocolate was creamy, smooth, and sweet.
The best bites though were when you could really notice the sea salt flavours. When a bite contained the salty and sweet flavours, then I was absolutely stunned by the taste. Sadly, the salt flavours were not present in every bite.
That being said, the Salted Caramel Florentines were nice.
Next, I tried the Gold Chocolate and Caramelised Hazelnut Latte. This drink was very sweet, and interestingly, none of the flavours really stood out. There was no coffee taste to it, very little chocolate taste, and just a bit of hazelnut in the background. Rather, the Gold Chocolate and Caramelised Hazelnut Latte tasted mostly like sweetened warm milk.
The pairing of the Gold Chocolate and Caramelised Hazelnut Latte and the Salted Caramel Florentines was fine, but I think a much darker coffee would work better with such a sweet, flavourful dessert, or even better, a cup of tea. Perhaps this is the way the Salted Caramel Florentines were meant to be eaten.
Sadly, the pairing of the two was overpowering in the sweetness department, although I think that the Gold Chocolate and Caramelised Hazelnut Latte might be nice on its own.