Truffe au praline – praline ganache enrobed in dark chocolate and cocoa powder.  The lack lustre chocolate covering the smooth, almost liquid praline ganache was not a favourite of mine.  The chocolate itself was most of the disappointment with a dark bitter flavour common in over roasted bean chocolate and not the Amedei I love.  The flavour then went slightly sweet as though the ganache or chocolate had some added sugar which has not blended.  Yuck.

Truffe au Chocolat au Lait and The Vert Matcha – milk chocolate and matcha green tea ganache, roasted pistachios, covered in milk chocolate and pistachio powder.  I like matcha green tea – I learned about it when I was visiting Japan and learned about the tea ceremony and was honoured to be able to take part in one as the tea mixer (that’s the only part I was trusted to do).  The pistachio was a mistake.  It made the outside too powdery and unpleasant.  It masked the chocolate itself which was yummy.  I would suggest scraping the exterior off and eating the chocolate like that but really – why bother when other suppliers have a more pleasant chocolate.

Truffe Intense – bitter chocolate ganache enrobed in dark chocolate and cocoa powder.  The saving grace of the lot, it was not fantastic with a slightly sour taste and an odd aftertaste, it was at least edible and I did eat the whole thing.  I think it is lovely to create something unique and different but when creating it, I believe it is necessary to create it with good chocolate and the harsh bitter flavour with strange sweet aftertaste tells me that this chocolate is not best.

Each chocolate is covered in powdered sugar on the outside.  Biting through the think chocolate shell you bite in to a lovely, almost liquid centre of the champagne ganache.

This truffle is very sweet – from the powdered sugar outside through the sugary chocolate, it is sweet all the way down.  Too sweet for me.  The chocolate as well is not the highest quality but it is firmly better than some other chocolate shops.  The trade off between high quality chocolate and shelf life has been measured and weighed and balanced as carefully as possible, meaning Prestat seem to have worked to create a transportable great quality chocolate.

A special treat, it is likely to be enjoyed by everyone and the beautiful box is extremely sturdy so it’ll survive being moved – if there are any left to be moved once the box is opened!

There’s something about champagne truffles that makes them wonderfully special no matter what.  These have earned a firmly wonderful place in the “great” chocolate section.

It was a bit of a surprise when I discovered just how good these Belgian chocolate truffles were.  They are dark chocolate lightly dusted with cocoa powder and as you can see, they aren’t the best looking chocolates.  Bite in to one and you’ll know why they made it to my GOOD chocolate list.

They are smooth to melt in your mouth with a slightly fatty texture but not unpleasant flavour.  The chocolate itself is not top notch but is a pleasant rich chocolaty flavour which is almost like an intense hit of high quality hot chocolate in a truffle.

There is no shell to this truffle and no inner ganache filling but it is the kind of chocolate you need just one of and the chocolate flavour remains in the mouth, making you feel satisfied for longer.

Dissecting the chocolate itself into flavour notes is like trying to sift through mud – no one note of the flavour stands out and it just all mixes together in the mouth which does not make it unpleasant but does not make the chocolate outstanding.

I use this chocolate as a way of showing other people how mass market chocolate can be good.  It is a great bridging chocolate that is unassuming and not intimidating.

Stubbe chocolates creates some of the best chocolates by pairing good quality chocolate they create themselves in the back of the shop with both traditional and non-traditional flavours.  The one chocolate which stood out for me was the blood orange chocolate which has a slightly sharp tang without being sour.

The special milk chocolate truffle had a unique sugar fronting which I thought would make the chocolate far too sweet but in fact was perfect when savouring or chewing the chocolate.

The cappuccino was a triumph of coffee flavouring, which was for once not overpowered by the sweetness of the chocolate.  The white chocolate was used masterfully here to sweeten the coffee without it tasting of nothing but sugar the covered in a beautifully balances dark chocolate.

I wish I could get these chocolates more regularly but have to settle for my annual trips to Toronto.

I highly recommend this chocolate shop and would be confidant buying any chocolates from here as a special gift.