Make Your Valentine's a Fairytale Part 2

What kind of fairytale? Brownies and Cookies and chocolate, chocolate, chocolate, of course! Today we are checking out the Valentine's Day gift box from Fairytale Brownies and if it sounds delicious to you, there is still time to order yours so follow our links. Because this gift box contained so many treats -- 24 pieces covering their Bars, Cookies, and Sprite lines of products -- we're splitting this into two feature articles to try and cut down on the amount of scrolling you need to do in order to read this article. If you want to see what was in the box whose cover you see on the right, you can read the first half of this review here. We were sent the Valentine Deluxe Bar, Sprite & Cookie Combo for free to test out and write about for our readers; no other form of compensation was received for our honest description of our experience with these treats.

We split this feature article because the gift box also contained a dozen Fairytale Sprites. The "Sprites" are snack-size brownies, one of three brownie sizes that Fairytale Brownies sells. I've already mentioned the two coffee flavored ones so let's turn our attention to the other 11 flavors. No, I didn't eat every single one of these, I shared them out or in one case gave them to a flavor lover I know can appreciate and judge more fairly. As you can see the Sprites are wrapped in brown foil with purple and silver. Their delightful baker logo is on the wrapper, too. Normally I wouldn't rehash old flavors but these are not the same full-size brownies we covered back in 2011 and some flavors are new so I'm going to lay them all out again for you. All of the Sprites measure 3 X 1.5 X 0.75 inches.

We start with the Original Sprite -- a basic chocolate brownie. Did you know that sometimes your Chocolate Priestess has chocolate brownies for her birthday instead of cake? It is true, I do love my brownies. This is made with unsweetened Belgian chocolate. It certainly looks like a lovely brownie -- lighter color top that appears crispy and a darker, denser inside. It has a sweet light cocoa fragrance. When I take a bite I discover that, yes, the top has the wonderful crust that are common with brownies but the inside is very soft and slightly chewy as is the bottom. The flavor is cocoa with a sweet and flour backing it up. There is also a buttery flavor in the fudgy center. but the cocoa flavor stays solid with each chew and its scent fills my nose as I take each bite. Yummy!

White Chocolate Sprite has real white chocolate chips made with cocoa butter and the brownie is made with unsweetened Belgian chocolate. When I opened up the wrapper I was surprised to see the white chocolate drizzle over the top because I was only expecting white chocolate chips inside, possibly visible from the sides or bottom, too, based on the ingredients list. I'm also surprised that this has the same scent as the Original did. Let's see if this has white chocolate chip inside. I break off a section but no chips however this drops off some of the drizzle so I taste that alone and this is the white chocolate, sweet and creamy. The top is crispy, the inside soft and fudgy, a touch chewy. The cocoa flavor is immediately overshined by the white chocolate drizzle but as I keep chewing the chocolate brownie fights back and becomes the dominant flavor. This was a surprise in so many ways and even though your Chocolate Priestess is not a white chocolate fan, I loved this Sprite!

The Chocolate Chip Sprite is next. This has semi-sweet chocolate chips made with chocolate liquor and cocoa but as well as unsweetened Belgian chocolate. This smells intense, almost dark chocolate with the combined chips and the brownie, and I am in love! The top has a good crust and the inside is more fudgie than the previous Sprites I've tested. This is sweeter than I thought it might be but it is definitely very chocolatey because I start to have a cocoa buzz which for me means that my eyes dilate and the world becomes brighter. That is not something that many people can experience with chocolate at all and I find it rare with baked goods so this Sprite in and of itself, earns Sacrament status! Because this is made with chocolate and not cocoa powder it also does not have the mouth drying effect you can get with some dark baked goods so that's a win, too. I think I may be in love with this Sprite.

Now we start looking at the more complex brownie flavors beginning with Mint Chocolate. Like the Chocolate chip variety this has unsweetened Belgian chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chips. The "mint" is oil of peppermint. This has a strong peppermint fragrance with an undercurrent of chocolate. When I cut off a section some of the drizzle falls off so I get to taste it solo and the peppermint flavor is there as well; the drizzle also melts against my fingertips. I'm not seeing or feeling any chocolate chips but maybe they were melted for the drizzle? The crust on the top is nice and crisp, the inside is soft and a touch fudgie, the chocolate is the first flavor then the peppermint comes out but they two flavors balance well thought the cooling mint sensation lingers for several minutes after I'm done chewing.

Caramel Sprite is next and the caramel on the ingredients list comes well before the unsweetened Belgian chocolate. As you can see the crust is on the top, a layer of darker and fudgie layer next, a clear caramel layer, and then more of the fudgie layer on the bottom. I don't get the caramel sweetness or tang, just the chocolate when I take deep whiff of it. Biting into it, I discover that the caramel is sticky and on the sweeter side of caramel. The fudgie quality of the brownie is a bit too wet for me, probably because of the caramel, but this snack-sized brownie is still chocolatey just not as much as the earlier varieties were.

I wonder if the Cream Cheese Sprite will be more cheesecake or brownie like but the unsweetened Belgian chocolate comes right before the cream cheese on the ingredients list. The cream cheese looks like it was swirled into the top of the brownie and then baked; it has sank in a little but and I note that the inside of the brownie is very sticky when I cut off a section along the long side. The scent is very chocolate with a hint of sweet. The inside is very soft but not sticky like cutting the bar suggested. The section of the Sprite without the cream cheese tastes like the Original variety. With the cream cheese there is hit of that sour sweetness that I associate with basic vanilla cream cheesecake but the chocolate flavor is the first and final flavor of each bite I take so I'm pleased. If you are huge cheesecake or simply cream cheese fan this is good choice for you.

Raspberry Swirl Sprite should tickle our Raspberry lover's fancy. As you can see in our photo, the swirl part on top is a wave pattern, not a spiral pattern. The chocolate ingredients include unsweetened Belgian Chocolate. He gave it a try and this is what he reported: I can definitely smell both chocolate and raspberry; they are in balance. In my hands it feels soft and a little bit sticky. It makes almost no sound because it is very soft but it does have a hint of the crunch that brownies have. It has a chewy and soft (texture) with a bit of crunch like brownies have and then a little bit of stickiness from the raspberry. The first taste is the brownie taste, the chocolate. The raspberry is really very much on top, the swirly pattern does not extend into the brownie itself but I think if it wasn't that way then the raspberry flavor would be too much, too intense. Although the smell was very much chocolate and raspberry, the flavor is chocolate with a raspberry accent.  I like it very much; I'd eat a lot of these.

Finally, we turn to the tree nut flavors beginning with the basic Walnut Sprite. As you can see in our photo these are large walnut pieces on the top of this brownie. We can see a crispy crust on the top, too but the sides and bottom ad darker and fudgy looking. The unsweetened Belgian chocolate in this Sprite is the dominant scent, I barely get a hint of the walnuts even though it is covered in them. I break off a piece and find it is very soft and easy to do. Whenever I bite into a walnut it makes a crunch but otherwise this is fudgie and soft. The chocolate flavor is very strong but I love when I encounter the walnuts and two flavors combine. Walnuts tend to enhance not outpower cocoa and chocolate which is one of the reasons I love those tree nuts with any type of chocolate treat. This Sprite is a winner! I have to control myself and not eat it all.
Moderation and Purposefulness, remember?

The Pecan Sprite is another delightful surprise. It has full sized pecans on the top of it! In fact, it looks like these were baked in a much bigger batch and then sliced if you noticed the smaller sections of the pecans along the edges. Once more we see the crispy crust on top and I testify that there is the darker fudgie look beneath that and on the bottom that most folks want in a brownie. Again the tree nut's scent not as strong as the chocolate which is a good testament to the power of the unsweetened Belgian chocolate used in these Sprites. I break off one of the side sections. The pecans are not as hard as the walnuts were but they do have their lovely pecan flavor that builds up with each chew. However, the chocolate is the dominant flavor as it should be in our opinion here on The Chocolate Cult cult. Between this and the Walnut variety I'm torn so I have to say they are equally good and require the same amount of self control to just try out a couple of bites.

Their Toffee Crunch Sprite uses almonds making it real toffee not just the hardened buttery substitute some places label "toffee." In fact, these almonds are roasted in cocoa butter and/or sunflower oil so that's a second use of our Sacred Substance. The brownie uses unsweetened Belgian chocolate. There are rectangles of sticky something on the top of this brownie, not what I was expecting with "crunch" in the title. How do I know it is sticky? I touched it with a fingertip after breaking off a section of the brownie. The fragrance of this Sprite is very toffee-like with a bit of the chocolate essence, too. When I take a bite into one of these sections I discover that beneath the sticky surface is a crunch and a burst of toffee flavor. The cocoa competes well and the result is a balanced brownie flavor that settles into a tangy sweetness with a bitter chocolate edge at the end. The brownie is lightly crispy on the top but chewy and soft inside.

That then covers all of the treats that were in the Fairytale Brownies Valentine's Day gift. If these sound like a delightful gift to give to your loved one(s) or to show love for yourself, you can still order them or other loving brownies gifts by checking out this link to all their Valentine's Day offerings or just check out their website for other holidays or year round goodies.