BlackForest Chocolates - part deux

The stash!

BlackForest Chocolates seems to be becoming a Chocosophy staple! Look what I got sent by chocolatier Shilpi Chawla to taste and review. After I raved about her Sugar-free Fresh Apple Cinnamon chocolate in the first review, Chawla decided I ought to taste her sugar-free Belgian dark chocolates and rochers among other things. So the chocolates and some lovely cupcakes made their way to me a few days ago for a review - part deux!

White chocolate cupcakes

The cupcakes were part of Shilpi's cupcake activity that was held at Out of the Blue, Powai on July 14, 2013. This first colourful one was the egg-less white chocolate cupcake, decorated with blue and yellow frosting, some edible glitter and Gems! While I'm not a fan of food colour, these soft, moist and sweet cupcakes may be lovely things to serve at a kiddie birthday party, don't you think?

RATING: 2.5/5

Egg-less chocolate mini cupcakes

The next thing to try from the BlackForest Chocolates' oven were the egg-less min chocolate cupcakes. Because I'm partial to chocolate, I found these better than the white larger ones. The edible sugar embellishments gave them a great look (and my son picked and ate them all up), but again, I would have been happier without them. The cupcake itself was chocolaty and spongy and would I eat them again? Yes.

RATING: 3/5

Sugar-free Belgian dark chocolates

Coming to the chocolates, Chawla sent me the sugar-free Belgian dark chocolates in two shapes - one was shaped like an ice cream cone mounted on a stick (like a lollipop!) and the other was of a regular cylindrical shape. The first was without nuts while the second had some almonds. The chocolate was reasonably aromatic and flavourful as far as sugar-free products go. However, I found them to be a little grainy and they could probably do with a little more tempering. But, they'd make a good option for diabetic or weight-watching chocolate lovers.

RATING: 3/5

Belgian Rochers

The star of this batch of products from BlackForest Chocolates was definitely the Belgian Rochers. I'm guessing, by Rochers, Chawla means nut and rice crisp-filled chocolates, much like the famous Ferrero Rocher. These milk chocolates were delightfully smooth and crispy and Chawla would make a killing if she were to market them well. I absolutely adored them and they're easily one of the best homemade chocolates I've ever sampled.

RATING: 4/5

Visit www.blackforestchocolates.com to know more and place orders.

Deliciae Patisserie

The first week of April was a week of many firsts for Chocosophy. After reviewing my first exclusive chocolate store, I went on to review my first patisserie. It was the dessert cafe of the now-famous Out of the Blue restaurant at Carter Road in Bandra, Mumbai. While not much of an establishment by itself, Deliciae Patisserie can hold its own with a varied menu and offerings.

Out of the Blue is one of the more popular eateries amidst the throng that lines Carter Road. Their off beat menu has made a name for itself, and going by Deliciae's standards, the desserts are going to be talked about very soon too. The tiny patisserie/ dessert counter if you will, is placed near the entrance of the Le Sutra Hotel building (where OOTB is by the way) and unmissable with its colourful selection displayed in the showcase.

The showcase is quite arresting with cupcakes, mousses, cakes, pastries, tarts and pies calling out to sweet-toothed customers. Some of the sexy things on their menu include Blueberry cheesecake, Tiramisu, Frozen Mud Pie, Meringue and Chocolate Truffle among other things. There is a wide enough selection for pukka vegetarians too with things like Banoffee, Blueberry Lemon Flan, Broadway Brownie, and Choco Cherry Mudcake.

Among savouries, I spotted only sandwiches and what looked like quiches. But who cares for savouries in a patisserie, right? A few chairs are also placed opposite the showcase for those who are looking to quickly dig into a dessert and not go in for a full meal at the restaurant.

My eyes, however, were glued to the showcase, wondering which of these beauties I should sample. I decided upon one egg-based dessert and one eggless variety based on their most popular items. Their highest selling offerings are Death by Chocolate (egg) and the Belgian Chocolate pastry (eggless).

When the first dessert arrived (served with ice cream no less!), I must have looked like the cat that got the cream. :D Who would not want desserts for dinner, afterall!? Death by Chocolate is a heavenly combination of mousse, chocolate, meringue and cake. And if my tastebuds weren't lying to me, there was some awesome liqueur in it too. The rosette on top was made of mousse and tasted like pure heaven. When contrasted and combined with the slightly chewy meringue and soft cake, it flooded my mouth with delightfully varied textures. As if these weren't enough, I scooped in some vanilla ice cream too. The mildly bitter chocolate and the basic sweet of the vanilla took it to another level.

Next up was the eggless (almost sounds racist, no?) Belgian Chocolate pastry, which looked as promising, if not more with dark, sinful chocolate flowing right into my heart and yeah, the waistline. This one came with a scoop of vanilla too and looked like a more fitting complement. I tucked into its creamy richness and nearly died of pleasure at the sight of its gooey insides. Soft, melting dark Belgian chocolate can kill, okay? So, that was a 10 on 10 for texture. The taste was great too, despite the egglessness, but it was one dimensional.

Perhaps, it seemed that way because Death By Chocolate was such a profusion of flavours. But since no mad person will eat these two desserts one after the other like I did, there is no scope for disappointments by comparison.

So, I was saying, don't go overboard like your friendly neighbourhood queen of cacao excesses, but definitely try the desserts at Deliciae. They're ace.

Deliciae also makes customised cakes for weddings, birthdays and all such.

They can be contacted on:

Email: info@deliciaecakes.com

Website: www.deliciaecakes.com

Phone: 9029023000

FB: facebook.com/deliciaecakes