For one final featured review, we turn again to
PastaCheese before Easter for a lovely selection of holiday chocolates. Your Chocolate Priestess lived in Italy from August 1990 to May 1991, my junior year of college, and my spring break was right before Easter; just like this year though I don't have spring break any more. I don't recall seeing chocolate bunnies when I wandered around Sicily during my spring break or as I went out and about in Roma itself but I did see these amazing, huge, hollow Easter Eggs; I bought one, cared for it and brought it home to my parents at the end of my year abroad. See even before The Chocolate Cult I could save chocolate for a purpose though we devoured it within a few days once I did get home. No huge egg to reveal to you today but I do have this Venchi Milk Chocolate Bunny to show you. We've looked at Venchi chocolate before so I won't repeat information on that company in this feature.
This bunny can stand the trip from Italy to your house because it is enclosed in a tough plastic case that fits the form perfectly. My first fear when I saw this was: "Great, now I'll need help opening it" but that wasn't true. See the indent on the left side of the bunny's head. The sides of the plastic case open very easily at that point and a similar point on top, it pops up and then you can pop it closed again to seal it away. That's what I did so that I could save what I didn't need for this feature for Easter itself. This casing is also very strong; I tested it by dropping it as you see in the photo on the counter, on the floor, and finally I threw it hard onto the floor a few times.
Why did I do that to this poor defenseless 100 grams chocolate bunny? To test the casing but also so I could break it just enough to show you that it is a hollow bunny. Hollow bunnies are very common in the Midwest where I grew up. You can also see a little seam along the top of the bunny that goes all the way around him. That's where the two molded sections were put together and the result when you do this type of mold is generally hollow or you then fill it with something. If an Italian Easter bunny was filled with anything, I'd be willing to bet it was hazelnuts; they have them everywhere! I'm glad it was simply hollow.
Obviously I took this final photo before I broke it, so here you can see the Venchi bunny freed only to be eaten by me and later my friends and family at Easter time. I like that you can see the tiny tail, all four feet, a hint of fur pattern, and that the ears are separate. I think it looks adorable... I'm a cold hearted person who broke it up and tried it for you all any way. The bunny is about 5 inches tall at it's highest, 2.25 inches at it's widest, and weighs 100g. Note that I didn't take photos of both sides but they are not identical, on the one you can see the hunch is slightly more prominent while on the other side the chest is a bit larger. That's a nice detail too but what do my other sense reveal? It has a very creamy fragrance with a strong scent of vanilla and cocoa under all of that. It has no added oils, only cocoa butter, cocoa mass, sugar (the first ingredient), whole milk powder, soy lecithin, natural vanilla. The bunny is cool in my fingers and does not melt enough though our weather is unusually warm. The ear that I broke off makes a soft snap when I take a bite. The first flavor I get is this creamy sweetness but as I chew more of the cocoa comes out. Letting it melt in my mouth pulls out more of the vanilla but once more the cocoa's nature grows stronger over time. To maximize the chocolate's cocoaness, let it melt, don't chew it; this will also make it last longer.
Right on the front page of
PastaCheese you'll see a special for their chocolates which oddly does not include this little Italian bunny but does include these huge Easter eggs I remember from my year in Roma. Why a company would send us a product to feature that you can't buy, Sisters and Brothers, I have no idea. I can't recall the brand of Easter egg I bought when I was in Italy, so I can't say those on their site would be good now. I wish this Venchi bunny was there; if it were available in dark chocolate that would be even better. Let me know if you find this little guy anywhere at all.
Check out
PastaCheese if you like because I can say that so far everything they have sent us was very good Italian chocolates.
Comments
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Post a Comment
Do NOT leave a url link in your comments. Leaving such links will result in deletion of your comment. If you have a product you would like featured on The Chocolate Cult contact us and we will tell you how. We charge nothing beyond the product to be tested and written about.
Comments containing insults to other commenters, to companies or brands, or which attempt to insult or denigrate any group of people may be removed by the website editor. Think about how you would like to be treated and treat everyone with respect on The Chocolate Cult.