Duel Brand Valentine Treats

ticket and Le Grand Valentine Treats

Have you thought about Valentine's Day at all yet? I know that 2020 and the start of 2021 has been incredibly rough for all of us yet I find finding ways to celebrate all of the holidays, religious and secular, is a good way to feel grounded and to find some joy amidst the daily fears and depression that holds many of us close. A few years back my entire family decided to stop trying to go out for Valentine's Day and to instead make it a household celebration. That means we can do pretty much what we'd do any year this year. If you looking for ideas for gifts to help you celebrate this 2021 Valentine's Day, I have a couple of treats from two brands made by the same company that may be what you are looking for. We were sent both products for free from TICKET Chocolate in exchange for testing them and writing about them today; no other form of compensation was received for sharing our experiences with the items.

Let's start with something that almost anyone you love might enjoy: Valentine's French Truffle Hot Chocolate on a Stick with Conversation Heart. 

ticket French Vanilla Hot Chocolate on a Stick

As you can see, the conversation hearts on the one we were sent say "Maybe" and "Kiss Me" on the top of the chunk of chocolate next to the stick. This is real chocolate with no added fats or oils. The chocolate is 1.5 inches tall and 1.25 inches square on the top but narrows down just slightly to 1 inch square on the bottom. The instructions say to warm up 6-8 ounces of milk and then stir in the chocolate until it is melted. Give the size of the chocolate section, I went with 8 ounces and a soup cup so I had room to stir. Remember, the chocolate is going to displace the milk until it is melted and fully blended in with it. You want your milk on the verge of but not boiling, that will help the chocolate melt faster but avoid a milky skin on the top of the liquid. I used skim milk because that is what we use in my house. So with the milk, this hot chocolate drink was 320 calories, or the size of what my lunch normally is. As the directions claimed, it took about 2 minutes of stirring for the entire chocolate and most of the heart pieces to melt. It had a strong dark chocolate flavor and a hint of vanilla that did have that deeper flavor that you get from "French" versus regular vanilla; no there are no eggs in this! The stick was great to keep stirring while I drink sips of it. I really liked it a lot.

Le Grand Confectionary is also a brand from TICKET Chocolate. They have three options of their Red Velvet Heart Truffle Gift Box for this Valentine's Season.

Le Grand 5-piece Truffle Heart

We were sent the 5 piece box but they also have three and eight truffle options. Based on the tag's list of flavors and cross-checking with the Le Grand Confectionary website, I think the truffles are (from left top then clockwise): Cherry Cheesecake, Sea Salt Caramel, Chocolate Caramel, Hazelnut, and Milk Chocolate. I did not have time to ask any of our specialist to consult on this sample since it arrived so late but I will try to do my best with these flavors. As you can see from my photos, I tried to cut each truffle open before testing them, each dome make a sharp sound as I sliced through them. Doing that also let me taste the dark and milk chocolate domes on their own; I found that the chocolate in each case was what I hope from milk and dark chocolate in terms of the balance between chocolate and sweetness.

Le Grand Cherry Cheesecake Truffle

Cherry Cheesecake is a smooth milk chocolate dome with just a dot of cherry at the very top. Inside was a white chocolate truffle center that had a very sweet scent and was semi-soft with a strong cherry fragrance. Eating half of the truffle revealed that it was quite creamy, with a tart sweet cherry flavor, but I found that both of those flavors overwhelmed the milk chocolate except at the very end when it came through. It did taste like cherry cheesecake.

Le Grand Sea Salt Caramel Truffle

Sea Salt Caramel is a smooth dark chocolate dome with a slightly sunken top of salty flakes at the top. The scent was primarily a light chocolate with just a hint of salt. Inside was a semi-soft lighter brown truffle center with a fruity scent. The center is creamy with a touch of tanginess in the flavor and a lot of milk chocolate. When the darker shell with the sea salt was eaten with that truffle center, the caramel tang came out more stronger but so did the darker chocolate particularly after several chews. I let the other half of this truffle melt in my mouth which resulted in a rolling flavors of salt, tangy caramel, sweetness, milk chocolate, and finally dark chocolate. I really liked this one.

Le Grand Chocolate Caramel Truffle

Chocolate Caramel is a smooth milk chocolate dome with a light tan dot on the top. Given that this is all milk chocolate and no sea salt, I imagine that the caramel flavor will dominate but let's find out. The caramel has a buttery and tangy scent. Inside the truffle center is firmer than the previous truffles. It is very sweet, tangy, creamy chocolate, and then ends on the tangy caramel flavor. For caramel lovers, this will be an excellent choice. I apologize to everyone for the blurry inside truffle photo above; I took it the exact same way as the others but it would not come out clearer.

Le Grand Hazelnut Truffle

Hazelnut is a smooth dark chocolate dome with drizzles of milk chocolate over the top reaching from the bottom and over the top in a few arcs. The truffle center inside has a slightly reddish tone to it that I don't think comes through great on my photo. The fragrance is primarily dark chocolate with only a hint of hazelnut. Eating half of the truffle reveals the dark chocolate first then a creamy chocolate hazelnut, and finally a return to the dark chocolate. Letting the other half of the truffle in my mouth blended the chocolate flavors together but weakened the hazelnut. This was a wonderful truffle and I'd be happy to have nothing but this and the Sea Salt Caramel truffles in a Valentine's gift I was given.

Le Grand Milk Chocolate Truffle

Milk Chocolate is a smooth dome of milk chocolate with drizzles of milk chocolate and dot of slightly recessed dot on the top that is a bit difficult to see. The cut truffle has a strong sweet scent and the center is firmer than the previous four which helped this one cut the smoothest of them all. The milk chocolate center and shell both have a slight citrus flavor to them that turns a bit tangy by the end; that was surprising. For a milk chocolate lover who likes the sweeter chocolates, this would be a great choice. For me, it was good but I'd love to taste a dark on dark truffle from Le Grand Confectionary because based on the other five flavors, I think that would please me a lot.

Of the two Valentine's Day products from TICKET Chocolate and Le Grand Confectionary, My favorite is the chocolate heart-shaped box. Not only is it themed romantically but if you take the time to pick the truffles that you know your partner will love, it will be a huge hit. Given that I loved some of the flavors and that this real chocolate, both products win our Sacrament status here on The Chocolate Cult. Hurry if you want to order some yourself here.