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Ten miles north of York sits the quaint village of Sheriff Hutton, home to Guppy's Chocolates, a small chocolate business that started life in a small garage back in 2010. The company has moved several times since then, and currently resides in a industrial unit. They specialise in hot chocolate, chocolate bars and pouches of chocolate shards, many of which end up in gift hampers and arrangements produced by other companies.
I found a 90g bag of milk chocolate shards with fudge and biscuit pieces included in a chocolate hamper I was sent from a close friend as a gift. I couldn't miss an opportunity to digitally pen my thoughts, so decided to review it here.
Packaging
The Belgian milk chocolate shards are presented in a clear plastic bag which is capped with a glossy piece of card. The front of the packaging shines in a rich hue of purple, with the Guppies logo at the top above the 'Fudge Biscuit Shards' product name. A decorative swirling-patterned fish (a guppy, no less) sits at the base.
On the rear, you'll find the ingredients list and nutritional information for this 90g bag.
Guppy's Chocolates Fudge & Biscuit Milk Chocolate Shards ingredients:
Sugar, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, cocoa mass, emulsifier (soya lecithin), natural vanilla, fudge pieces (sugar, sweetened condensed milk, glucose syrup, butter, clotted cream (2%) , invert sugar syrup, emulsifier (soya lecithin), salt), cookie granules (wheat flour, sugar, butter, cocoa powder, margarine, vegetable oils and fat (palm, sunflower), glucose syrup, natural colour (E153), salt, raising agent (ammonium bicarbonate E503ii). Cocoa solids: 33% minimum. Milk solids: 20.8% minimum.
This chocolate may contain traces of nuts. Expect a sweet hit as it packs a punch at 50.6% sugars.
Guppy's Chocolates Fudge & Biscuit Milk Chocolate Shards Review
Inside the bag sits five shards of varying sizes and thicknesses. The pale brown milk chocolate slabs are studded with small fudge pieces and biscuit crumbs, that remind me of Oreo's in colour.
If you have tasted Belgian milk chocolate before, you will instantly recognise the sweet, creamy, caramel notes that release from this bag as soon as you open it. Belgian chocolate isn't known for its nuanced flavours, but it does at least deliver a general chocolatey base upon which to build flavours and textures.
The shards themselves are an assortment of shapes and sizes and thicknesses. Some segments are wafer thin (with no inclusions to be seen) while others are generously chunky. The shards are littered with scuffs and scrapes, but that is expected given the type of packaging used here.
There are plenty of lumps and bumps on each other shards which is a result of the inclusions. In this particular variety of product, we have both fudge pieces and chocolate biscuit crumbs. The company also produces Shards that incorporates salted caramel, honeycomb, orange, raspberry, peanut butter, peppermint and ginger flavours as well.
The taste of the Fudge and Biscuit Shards delivers exactly what you'd expect from the Belgian chocolate. It is sweet creamy and there is a helping of caramel notes in there too, without any bitterness and without more than a vague chocolate flavour. That's not a problem here, as the inclusions add flavour and texture, right?
Unfortunately the inclusions let these chocolate shards down. The tiny fudge cubes behave more like rock solid toffee, giving your teeth an excellent workout. Look away now if your gnashers can't handle toffee. Meanwhile, the biscuit crumbs have absorbed moisture from the air and the chocolate, so have become relatively soft and soggy in texture. Personally, I would rather seen soft, chewy fudge pieces and flecks of crunchy biscuit in these shards instead. There's a good chance it started off this way too, but for whatever reason, that's not the result now.
This aside, it's still an incredibly easy-to-eat treat, and you’ll fail to notice how much you have gorged upon whilst watching the telly until you reach the bottom of the bag. Obviously, kids will love this too, as it combines several sweet treats into one.
Guppy's Chocolates Fudge & Biscuit Milk Chocolate Shards Review
RRP: £2.45 | Guppy's Chocolates | Shop now
Here we have irregular shards of sweet and creamy Belgian milk chocolate, studded with chocolate biscuit crumbs and fudge cubes. I found the fudge pieces too hard and chewy and the biscuit crumbs too saturated. Both these issues are poles apart from what I expected to discover, which was soft creamy fudge and crunchy biscuit pieces. Overall, it was enjoyable enough, but I would have liked to see different textures.
Where to Buy Online
The 90g pouch of milk chocolate shards can be purchased directly from Guppy's Chocolates here (£2.45). They also sell larger 150g bags (£4), as well as a wide variety of shards with different chocolate bases and toppings.
Elsewhere, you'll typically find Guppy's Chocolates in delicatessens and garden centres. The Mile Farm Shop, for instance, stocks these shards (£2.50).
These pouches also feature in a number of chocolate hampers online too.
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Chocolate shards or chocolate bars - which do you prefer? Let me know in a comment below.
