A Dove Chocolate Valentine's Day

Here on The Chocolate Cult we appreciate every offering that is sent our way and we treat each with identical respect in terms of our sampling and review process.  Acolytes follow my guidelines and know that we need to use and then describe what all five of our senses experienced so you, the reader, can learn more and determine what you might want to try.  However, I must confess that when a big name chocolatier or company sends us something I get an extra thrill.  So I was delighted when Dove Chocolate sent us two offerings for Valentine's Day.

Today your Chocolate Priestess will look at one of these two products so that you have time to go out and see if your local stores have them available. This is the Dove Silky Smooth Select Chocolates in a heart shaped box you see in this photo.  Inside are five milk chocolate creamy caramels, seven silky smooth dark chocolate truffle hearts, and eight silky smooth milk chocolate peanut butter truffle hearts.  That's a total of 20 individual chocolates.  I love this box, the brick red with black accents plus the box is easily reusable.  The shape itself isn't the traditional heart either but leans a bit toward the right as you are looking at it.  Just removing the plastic wrap over the box after taking off the lid allowed a wave of cocoa fragrance to hit me.  When I lift a piece out underneath is the Dove logo plus a short romantic expression though I note these are slightly off center so a letter is covered a bit in several cases.

We'll start with the caramels that are almost round measuring about 1.25 inches across the bottom with a wavy pattern of milk chocolate over the top.  These have a definite caramel and chocolate scent.  Cutting one in half reveals very sticky caramel inside a good thick shell that makes a slight snap as it oozes open.  The tangy sweet of the caramel now overpowers the milk chocolate scent but when I eat one half the two flavors blend in a good balance, the creamy cocoa and the tart caramel never stop being combine even as an aftertaste.  Be forewarned if you have any dental work that the caramel is very sticky.

I wait a while and rinse out my mouth repeatedly before trying the milk chocolate peanut butter truffle next.  This heart shaped candy is about 1 3/8th inches at it's width part and about that long from the tip to the hump of the heart.   This has a light peanut butter scent as well as the milk chocolate before I even cut on open to show to you. It makes a slight snap when I press down on the knife.  The peanut butter is mostly solid and has a strong roasted fragrance.  The peanut butter competes with the milk chocolate after a few chews and becomes the primary aftertaste though the milky chocolate never fades completely. Definitely the choice for the peanut butter lover that isn't one of those sweet peanut butter fans but a hearty, roasted, earthy essence kind of beloved.

Finally we'll try the dark chocolate truffles.  These are clearly different from the milk chocolate hearts in terms of their color but also their scent.  These have only a nice cocoa essence that doesn't change once I cut one in half which produces a soft snapping soft.  As you can see the truffle inside is lighter in color by the fragrance is the same.  This piece actually starts to melt in my mouth before I even have time to take a bite.  As we've learned here in The Chocolate Cult if you can let chocolate melt it increases the buzz of the chocolate and these hearts definitely deliver our wanted rush whether you chew or let it melt.  It was bitter as I expect from darker chocolate but also very creamy at the same time making this an interesting taste experience.

Dove began as a true American business founded by immigrants and now part of Mars, also a family owned business.  From that early candy store to ice cream bars, Dove should be a familiar name to you.  Not only is this good chocolate but the company started promoting substainable agriculture.  The products they sent us came in recyclable materials and the metal box has nothing on it to indicate Dove or Mars so you can reuse it easily if you want to make your own treats.  For all this reasons, this Valentine's Day box from Dove earns the title of Worthy Sacrament.