Hotel Chocolat 50% Island Growers Gianduja

Gianduja, for the uninitiated, is a mixture of chocolate and hazelnut paste. It’s sometimes sold in blocks (great for creating delicious desserts), used as a filling for individual chocolates, or as in this case, simply cut into small squares and served in its pure, unadulterated form.

These individual gianduja squares are made from Piedmont hazelnuts and Hotel Chocolat’s 50% Island Growers “Dash of Milk” chocolate which Simon has already reviewed and loved.

As you can see, they’re very simple looking affairs. As with the rest of The Purist range, the emphasis on the quality of ingredients, rather than weird and wonderful presentation.

Cut through one of the squares with a knife and you’ll see that this is simply a solid block of gianduja. It’s soft and smooth all the way through.

And it tastes wonderful. I’m not the world’s greatest fan of hazelnut, but this I really enjoyed. The texture is incredibly soft and smooth (particularly on a warm July day), and the flavours are perfect. The initial creamy, nutty flavour soon gives way to a more intense chocolate hit.

Even though these little blocks are 45% hazelnut paste, all the chocolate flavours still come through strongly. If anything, the texture of the gianduja enhances the flavour of the chocolate, as it melts much more quickly and evenly in the mouth. This stuff is Nutella for grown-ups. Highly recommended.

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