Chocolates From Grandma Peaks Homemade Sweets
Published On Thursday 21 Sep 2017 by Sticky Beak
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I have always considered myself to be blessed with the wonderful friends I have, but this has recently become even more evident as they’ve rallied round whilst I’ve been recuperating. There have been several recurring themes for gifts coming my way, one of which has been chocolate. My closest friend made the considerable journey to see me and presented me with a rather nifty bottle of Gin (yay!) and a gorgeous, ribbon-bound box of handmade chocolates from a friend’s mum who has recently started a business making chocolates and sweets.
As you know I like to champion small businesses where possible, and have been extending my reach outside of our beloved county’s border. Grandma Peaks Homemade Sweets is a Lincolnshire based business; now, Lincolnshire is where I grew up and did my schooling, so I have a bit of a soft spot for it (even though it is largely flat and bland scenery-wise).
Anyhow, I decided to wait until a day later after receiving them to scoff said sweet morsels for a couple of reasons; one, it’s mine and The Man Birds’ wedding anniversary today and two, Chickadee has (yet again) deserted us to it was only going to be a two way split of the goodies :)
The selection of White Chocolates comes in a presentation box bound, in this case, in purple ribbon complete with identity card. There is a little lady bird decal on the box too which I thought was a nice individual touch.Our first chocolate was the lovely looking Blackberry Mound. It had two layers to it; one was a gorgeous blackberry tone, the other retained the natural cream colour of the white chocolate. On the top was a delicate berry hued mottling that gave it visual interest. When bitten into it had a nice creamy note of the white chocolate and a wonderful sweet hint of Blackberry to it; even better, it wasn’t at all cloying as can be the case with white chocolate. This was a solid chocolate with a dense, but not hard, texture that also had a nice bit of crumbliness to it.
Vanilla Rose was up next and this rose-shaped beauty had been dusted with a peachy, rose gold iridescent powder so that it shimmered gently in the light. Beautiful to behold. The warm note of the vanilla was easily discernible and became even more apparent as the chocolate melted in our mouths. Again, this was a solid-centred chocolate that yielded nicely in the warmth of our mouths.
The final chocolate for this first session (we had decided to try them in four sets of three so that our palates wouldn’t get bamboozled) was the Lemon Bonbon. This delight was a pink flower decorated round and we were both looking forward to trying it. It had a wonderful natural Lemon flavour that was the perfect balance of zingy-yet-mellow, and the just-soft centre was a nice surprise to bite into.
After a brief interlude in the garden by His Nibs, I was a good wifey and put the kettle on to make him a well earned cuppa which signalled the start of session two. We kicked off with the exquisite Peppermint Shell, which just as its name suggests had been moulded into a perfect seashell shape. This was quite crumbly in texture and melted quickly in the mouth. We both loved the amount of Peppermint Oil in this chocolate; it was perfect when it could’ve so easily been harsh and over-powering.
Fifth in the marvellous line up was the Strawberry Mound, another two layer delight. The bottom, pink layer had pieces of preserved Strawberry in it and the upper layer was the warm natural colour of the white chocolate. This was as yummy as the previous chocolates we’d tried and it was as if a bowl of Strawberries and Cream had been condensed into the form of a chocolate; super.
The Pineapple Heart was our final contender in this session and the pieces of dried Pineapple within it gave this chocolate a lovely textural element in the mouth combined with the dense centre as it slowly softened.
Part three of this confectionary odyssey began with the Ginger Mound. As we bit into this The Boy Wonder and I just looked at each other and said “oh my word!”; it was our favourite so far. The crispy outer shell had been filled with a glorious Ginger ganache that oozed with the spices’ signature warmth. Just superb.The fantastically named Raspberry Explosion was next on our list to try, so without any ceremony whatsoever we kicked on. Visually, this was a very striking chocolate as the cream hued ball had been topped with pink chocolate and sprinkles. When we bit into it we got the crunch from the sprinkles and a lovely fruity burst of Raspberry, so it was real treat for the mouth sensory-wise.
At this point it was time to try the Peanut Butter Heart. Now, The Man Bird doesn’t like Peanut Butter so I’m sure you can imagine how heart-broken I was to have to have this chocolate all..to..myself ;) . I absolutely love Peanut Butter, especially when slathered on top of hot toast and partnered with Marmalade (trust me, it’s good), so the idea of having it with white chocolate got me excited beyond belief. The white chocolate shell had a generous centre of Peanut Butter that coated my tongue in the glorious way that it does, and all I can say is that if you love PB and you love white chocolate then this will be your idea of paradise.
I had to interrupt our journey of discovery to do some preparation for our anniversary dinner ,which provided our palates with another breather. Chocolate number 10 on the list was probably the prettiest of the chocolates in the box, the Kirsch Cherry Bonbon. This treasure had been fashioned as a white chocolate-dipped Cherry, complete with Angelica stalk (so cute!). A Kirsch soaked Cherry was suspended inside the nicely soft white chocolate ganache centre and the booze was perfectly balanced so as to be discernible alongside the fruit and chocolate elements.
Mango Madness was our penultimate chocolate from the box and this was a simple round ball comprised of two colour layers; the natural white chocolate shade and a delicate mango toned hue. Inside lay a solid middle that held pieces of dried Mango within it, which when bitten into was very satisfying.
All too soon our sweet treats were coming to an end with the Salted Caramel Parcel heralding their final swan-song. The saying “save the best until last” never rang truer as we bit into what I can only describe as an absolute belter of a chocolate. His Nibs declared this to be his out-and-out favourite and I judged it to be my joint favourite, sharing its crown with the Ginger mound. This parcel shaped, white chocolate outer contained a staggeringly good Salted Caramel centre; the Caramel had an incredibly rich taste to it that was very satisfying on the palate. The smoky yet sweet notes were perfectly assuaged by the salt element and I have to say it’s one of the nicest Salted Caramels either of us has had.
Grandma Peaks Homemade Sweets has their own Facebook Page, so please go along and have a look. As well as White chocolates, she does Milk and Dark chocolates as well as some delicious sounding fudges; I may have to beg for some of that to try in the not-too-distant future. My friend has told me that the Nutella and Chocolate Fudge is amazeballs. Hot Wings deserved for this talented lady who clearly pours her heart and soul into her wonderful looking, and tasting, delights.
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