Lindt Classic Recipe Bars Revealed

From the Lindt R.S.V.P. program, Amy Sue Lambermont sent us a huge selection of programs that are offered by any of the consultants who work with the home-sell and online business.  We've looked at many of these since the 2011 Christmas season and we are in our final stretch of featuring her offerings for you all, Sisters and Brothers.  Remember if you think these sound good, use the links to her site to make your purchases as a "thank you" for her sending us the samples.  Today we are going to reveal the Classic Recipe 4.4 oz bar set she sent our way that included a Milk Chocolate, a Milk Chocolate with almonds, and two White Chocolate bars.

Some chocolates taste interchangeable meaning that only a true expert would be able to tell them apart based on solely their five senses.  However some recipes and some manufacturing techniques result in very unique flavors that almost anyone should be able to identify once they have had it and taken the time to fully appreciate the chocolate.  The Lindt Milk Chocolate is one of the unique chocolates out there.  The scent once I tear open the foil wrapper is very light and very sweet.  The milk chocolate is a very light color, bordering on more tan than brown side of the chocolate spectrum.  Biting into it didn't make much of a sound though snapping it apart produced a soft snip.  It felt cool in my fingers and didn't start to melt for a few seconds though it melted very smoothly in the microwave.  The chocolate attempts to stick to my tongue as I ate it straight from the bar but even more so once melted; I'll talk about this in the next paragraph.  The flavor is the truly unique flavor.  There is a high cream and sweet ratio compared to the chocolate but also this essence that reminded me of a ice cream shop.  Then I looked at the ingredients: barley malt powder is listed and it clicked "this is what I'm tasting, it's like a malted milk".  There is also cocoa butter and chocolate in the ingredients but before the chocolate there is also sugar and milk and then more milk as well as artificial flavor.  To be blunt: This is not a milk chocolate I can really say I liked and given the ingredients it is less than ideal for The Chocolate Cult.

Sadly the wrapper is difficult to open so you can reuse it because one of these 4.4 oz bars is three servings.  So I just used all these bars in recipes.  For this Milk Chocolate I melted it over walnuts for three meals after tasting one of the rectangles that you can see are scored into the bar in the previous photo above.  This is basically how I can eat tree nuts in my house -- alone and not in anything others might want to share because of allergies.  The unique flavor mixed really well with these walnuts that I had for breakfast for three days.  Sometimes a fiber bar or a slice of toast and some eggs just won't do it for me and this allowed me to have a special morning on my own for a while.

I was sent two White Classic bars to use and I did so in two different ways.

First I melted one bar to use as a frosting on some brownies.  I used a springform pan for this and the Ghirardelli brownie mix that I found on sale and had a coupon for.  Why spend more money for a fun and lovely treat?

Melting them was very easy, they melted very smoothly.  Just break it up, add tablespoon of milk, heat it on medium power in the microwave at 20 second pops, stirring between each, and it was smooth and easy.

Pour the melted mixture onto the top of the brownies while they are still in the springform pan and still warm.  This keeps the white chocolate mixture melted and lets it melt into the top layer of the brownie.  That's why the white chocolate topping does not look like solid chocolate, it isn't, it's melted a bit into the brownie and taken on some of the cakelike characteristics.  I cut the entire thing into eight pieces and shared it with a group of friends who all like it.

The second way I used the White Classic bars was to just try one by itself.  Now as you may recall, Sisters and Brothers, I'm not a huge fan of white chocolate but since the next bar didn't really seem usable in a recipe, you'll read why in a moment, I decided it was a good comparison to try this part alone as well.  Even though the photo is a touch dark, this white chocolate isn't white nor should it be.  If you have seen cocoa butter it isn't white, much of the whiteness we see in many white chocolate products is added color or from the edition of milk and milk solids; when melted it does seem whiter in color.  This has a very creamy scent, a very soft feeling in my hands and it melts quickly in my mouth, coating my tongue with creaminess and a touch of tanginess.  There are added unspecified flavors on the ingredients list but otherwise this is pure for white chocolate.

The Classic Milk with Almond bars do not seem like bars to use in recipes, I mean if you melt off the chocolate the almonds simply get mixed into the rest of the recipe.  I suppose if you wanted almonds that would be great but why use this bar then and not just milk chocolate bars with your own nuts added?  A good part of this bar is the nuts which are in smaller pieces that the stiff paper package shows.  Because the Lindt Classic Recipe Milk Chocolate Bar is basically the same here, this has that malted sort of flavor which is very interesting when combined with the almonds, adds an unexpected kick the flavor and of course an extra crunchy texture.

The Classic Recipes from Lindt are not my favorite Lindt product by a long shot.  The milk chocolate is definitely unique and the white chocolate is excellent for baking or cooking, the almond version, well, depends on if you like a bit of malt with your almonds.  But millions of you are probably big fans of these bars so I say give Amy Sue a look up and order through her as a way to say "thank you again, Amy Sue, for sending all these products to reveal to everyone".