Dark spreadable creams: taste test

2023 Author: Cody Thornton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-24 11:20

It is the snack that every child dreams of, in spite of palm oil. Bread and [we let you insert the first hazelnut cream that comes to mind, so you can't say we're biased]

If children are allowed to be greedy, adults are a little less so. Tastes may change, but bread & chocolate remains one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself to get out of a gray or tiring day unscathed.

This will be the reason why more and more companies are experimenting with chocolate spreads dedicated to an adult target.

The problem then becomes the excessive sweetness of milk or hazelnut chocolate, which can even be cloying for more "grown-up" palates. Meeting their tastes is the reason why the dark cream is born.

For our weekly tasting test we have chosen six of the most popular dark chocolate spreads.

CONTENDENTS

Slips - Gianera

Pernigotti - Black Gianduia

Luca Montersino - Greedy for health. Dark Gianduja Cream

Caffarel - I Love Fondente

Venchi - Supreme

Domori - Extra dark gianduja cream

JUDGMENT CRITERIA

Packaging

Ingrediants

Gustatory Analysis

Consistency

The test was carried out blindly, tasting the creams at room temperature.

# 6 Caffarel - I Love Fondente

Judgment: a cream that immediately appeared very inviting to me, one in which you would like to indecorously dip your index finger. The color is also the right one for a dark product. Expectations that, after tasting, remained unsatisfied.

Packaging: isn't it a bit too minimal?

Ingrediants: sugar, low-fat cocoa powder (15%), vegetable oil (sunflower, safflower and rice in varying proportions), vegetable fat (palm, safflower, illipe and shea in varying proportions), hazelnuts, whole milk powder, almonds, emulsifier: lecithins (from soy), vanilla extract.

Taste analysis: undoubtedly, when I taste it I have a chocolate in my mouth that satisfies my sweet tooth. However, the sweetness is really excessive, especially if we are talking about a dark product.

Consistency: very creamy, even if definitely oily.

Price: € 32.86 / kg

In short: and I thought I had bought a dark chocolate

VOTE: 5 ½

# 5 Pernigotti - Black Gianduia

Judgment: to the eye, the color is more reminiscent of gianduja chocolate than dark chocolate. In fact, when tasting we wonder where the bitter has gone. An easy product, which certainly satisfies a large slice of the public, but not me, who are looking for the perfect dark chocolate.

Packaging: beautiful and elegant. I also like the use of a jar with a sinuous shape.

Ingrediants: Gianduja hazelnut chocolate (42%: sugar, low-fat cocoa powder, hazelnuts, emulsifier: soy lecithin. Cocoa: 33% min.), Hazelnuts (21%), sugar, anhydrous milk butter, emulsifier: soy lecithin, natural flavors.

Taste analysis: upon tasting, I struggle to recognize the typical bitterness of dark chocolate. On the other hand, I find the flavor of hazelnuts and sugar very present.

Consistency of the dough: very creamy, perfect for spreading. Slightly too oily.

Price: 12 € / kg

In short: More than black, nutty

VOTE: 6

# 4 Luca Montersino - Greedy for health. Dark Gianduja Cream

Judgment: if I choose a dark chocolate spread, it's probably because I love that bitter taste typical of cocoa. Flavor that I do not clearly recognize in this contender, which is also much clearer than the others.

Packaging: I have some doubts. The signature, first of all: it is correct to personalize, but the consumer may not necessarily be able to read. Then, the use of the word "health" always refers a little to prohibition, and on a chocolate cream it fails to convince me that I am dealing with a greedy product.

Ingrediants: tonda gentile trilobata hazelnut (43%), dark chocolate (43%) (cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, emulsifier: soy lecithin, vanilla extract), butter, rice oil, cocoa powder.

Taste analysis: a cream that is a little oily in the mouth, despite a not very creamy consistency that would suggest greater dryness. A taste that I find slightly unbalanced towards sweet and little tending to the flavor of dark chocolate. The taste of hazelnut is recognized, very pleasant.

Consistency: very compact, it almost looks like a spreadable cream kept in the fridge.

Price: 31, 60 € / Kg

In short: More than greedy for health, we are greedy for dark chocolate

VOTE: 6, 5

# 3 Slitti - Gianera

Judgment: Andrea Slitti is undoubtedly a name in the artisan chocolate of large numbers. His Gianera is certainly an interesting product, but in which again I do not find the dark taste I am looking for.

Packaging: craftsmanship is fine, but the graphics can be more elegant.

Ingrediants: hazelnuts "tonda gentile delle Langhe", sugar, cocoa mass, low-fat cocoa powder, cocoa butter. Emulsifier: sunflower lecithin.

Taste analysis: a chocolate with a round flavor, which definitely fills the mouth. The prevailing flavor is that of hazelnut, and a bit of bitterness is felt only towards the end.

Consistency: Interesting. Not too oily, it feels like it was made for spreading.

Price: 38, 80 € / kg

In short: enveloping

VOTE: 7

# 2 Domori - Extra dark gianduja cream

Judgment: finally, with this contender we really enter the world of dark chocolate. Unbelievable that it was so difficult to find a spread with the bitter note I was looking for. A product with an important price, which however has a satisfying taste. Too bad for the consistency a little too compact, which makes it a bit difficult to spread.

Packaging: simple, minimal, elegant

Ingrediants: cane sugar, Piedmont IGP hazelnut (26%), cocoa powder (13%), cocoa mass, cocoa butter. Emulsifier: soy lecithin, salt.

Taste analysis: upon tasting I immediately recognize the typical bitterness of dark chocolate, with a nutty aftertaste that balances the flavor without being opaque.

Consistency: of all the contenders, it is the most compact and least oily cream.

Price: € 54.50 / kg

In short: to eat in spoonfuls, rather than spread

VOTE: 7 ½

# 1 Venchi - Supreme

Judgment: here it is, the cream I was looking for. Definitely dark, perfect for spreading but also for eating with a spoon. All this, with an excellent quality-price ratio.

Packaging: on the front, a little less information would reduce the confusion effect.

Ingrediants: Piedmont hazelnut paste I. G. P., extra dark chocolate (cocoa powder, sugar, cocoa butter, Cocoa: 64% min.), olive oil, sugar, low-fat cocoa powder, emulsifier: soy lecithin, natural vanilla flavor.

Taste analysis: the bitter taste of dark chocolate is clearly recognizable. A cream with a pleasant and persistent but not intrusive taste.

Consistency: slightly oily, the consistency is what we are looking for in a spread.

Price: € 29.33 / kg

In short: we merge

VOTE: 8 +

WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED

I was right, to say that we are always children after all. If you think that in this test I have limited myself to tasting the contenders teaspoon after teaspoon, think again, trying to imagine stabbing chocolate spread on the bread.

Here, the "spreadability" (a term that I take the liberty of inventing but that I promise to use only on this occasion).

In general, many of the creams we tried seemed too compact and not very spreadable.

But the sore point that has united almost all the contenders (except for the first two classified) is the not being able to dare with the dark chocolate. Now, we understand that not everyone likes excessively bitter cocoa. But you understand that if I'm looking for a hazelnut cream, I already know where to go.

If you write "dark", I want "dark". For this we have decided to reward the bold.

And now, let me go, I have to clean my chocolate mustache.