My friends must hate buying me chocolate, knowing full well I'll grab any opportunity to review their purchases here for you guys with both hands. My family must hate me as I insist on taking photos of pretty much every chocolate that enters the house before eating it.
This latest gift from a friend of a box of Lily O'Brien's Petit Desserts Collection is a perfect example of this. It's a gift-wrapped 24-piece chocolate selection box that screams ideal birthday gift or Christmas present for neighbours, friends, and family. But what's it like and is it worth buying?
Packaging
Impact matters when it comes to gifting, so first impressions count. This factory gift-wrapped box of chocolates doesn't disappoint, with the "O" logo motif repeated to form the print on the cream and gold gift wrapping paper. A pretty pink bow is affixed to the front with a menu card gift tag. It certainly looks giftworthy and better still, nobody had to wrestle with wrapping paper and sticky tape in the process!
A sticker on the rear lists the ingredients and nutritional information of this chocolate assortment box. It's quite a lengthy list of ingredients but that's often the case in selection boxes.
Lily O'Brien's Petit Desserts Collection ingredients:
Milk chocolate (sugar, whole milk powder, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, emulsifier (soya lecithin), natural vanilla flavouring), dark chocolate (cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter, emulsifier (soya lecithin), natural vanilla flavouring), white chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, white milk powder, emulsifier (soya lecithin), natural vanilla flavouring), sticky toffee caramel (glucose, sugar, water, sweetened condensed milk, coconut oil, cocoa butter, invert sugar syrup, emulsifier (soya lecithin), salt, natural flavouring), glucose syrup, milk chocolate filling (vegetable oil (palm), sugar, whole milk powder, cocoa butter, milk fat, cocoa mass, emulsifier (soya lecithin), natural vanilla flavouring), white chocolate filling (vegetable oil (palm), sugar, whole milk powder, cocoa butter, milk fat, emulsifier (soya lecithin), natural vanilla flavouring), sugar, vegetable oil, water, hazelnuts, invert sugar syrup, butter, freeze-dried passion banana pieces (concentrated passion fruit juice, banana puree), natural flavour, citric acid, emulsifiers (soya lecithin, mono and diglycerides of fatty acids). Cocoa solids: 30% minimum (milk chocolate); 55% minimum (dark chocolate). Milk solids: 20% minimum (milk chocolate).
On average, the sugar content of these chocolates sits at just shy of 49%. The chocolates are free from artificial colours and flavours, notes the packaging. The gift box is suitable for vegetarians.
Beneath the gift wrap is a simple cream coloured thin board box, with the "O" emblem on the lid and the Lily O'Brien's logo on the side. It's a little anticlimactic after seeing the outer wrapping, as I was expecting to find a brightly coloured box.
Lily O'Brien's Petit Desserts Collection Review
Lifting the lid to this double-layer box, there's a mixture of sweet smells. Each black plastic tier is topped with a cushion pad. A loose menu card is also supplied in the box, so if you're sharing these chocolates with your partner or best friend in front of the telly, you can each have your own list of what's in the box.
The first thing to notice here is the small size of the chocolate bites. These dainty little nibbles are indeed "petit".
Lily O'Brien's states on its website that its inspiration for this range is "some of the world's favourite dessert recipes." The menu card reads like the dessert menu at a fancy restaurant: Raspberry Infusion; Key Limey Pie; Crème Brûlée; Passion Fruit Posset; Hazelnut Torte; and Banoffee Pie. Each make use of either a dark, milk, or white chocolate shell in a variety of shapes and finishes.
- Raspberry Infusion: A raspberry chocolate truffle inside a dark and white chocolate shell.
- Key Limey Pie: A dark chocolate heart with a lime truffle centre.
- Crème Brûlée: A vanilla custard centred with a layer of caramel on top, encased in a milk chocolate shell.
- Passion Fruit Posset: A passion fruit white chocolate truffle inside a milk chocolate shell with white chocolate decoration.
- Hazelnut Torte: A dark chocolate filling inside a white chocolate cup, topped with hazelnut pieces.
- Banoffee Pie: A banana caramel inside a milk chocolate heart-shaped shell.
In terms of taste, I found the Raspberry Infusion, Passion Fruit Posset, and Key Limey Pie chocolates had relatively low levels of sweetness compared to the Crème Brûlée, Hazelnut Torte, and Banoffee Pie chocolates, which were too sweet for me.
Chocolate shell thicknesses varied from one piece to another, with the Raspberry Infusion and Crème Brûlée bites showcasing the thickest shells. I liked the cup shape and decoration of the Hazelnut Torte chocolate.
Flavours across the board were very mild, to the point that they were pretty hard to detect. I craved a little more zip and zing from the flavoured centres as well as from the cocoa in the chocolate shells. The Crème Brûlée and Passion Fruit Posset bites are perhaps the best examples of where the flavours could benefit from being more impactful as these two were very difficult to identify, were it not for the menu card.
The Raspberry Infusion was one of my favourites, thanks in part to its flavour that instantly made me think of Jamesons Raspberry Ruffles°. The flavour was mild but it wasn't overly sweet, although I'd have loved to taste more of the raspberry flavour. The Banoffee Pie nibble featured a very sweet caramel with a clear banana flavour, but tasted more like Barratt Foam Bananas° than fresh banana, not that that's a bad thing. I was just expecting a different type of banana-toffee flavour that better matched the classic pudding.
The Key Limey Pie chocolate deserves a mention for its balance of a tart lime flavour in the beginning with a mildly bitter chocolatey finish. While it could benefit from a stronger lime flavour, this one's nicely balanced in terms of flavours and sweetness.
Overall, this is a beautifully presented box of assorted chocolates that likely contains something for everyone. This box is ideal for nibbling through in front of the telly or as a sweet treat along with a cup of tea or coffee. Kids will love these as much as adults.
Lily O'Brien's Petit Desserts Collection Review
RRP: £8.00 | Lily O'Brien's | Shop now°
A nicely-presented two-tier gift box of assorted chocolates. I wished the flavours of both the chocolates and centres were a lot more pronounced that they were. These are very easy to polish off in front of the telly.
Where to Buy Online
Lily O'Brien's Petit Desserts Collection is available online via their website (£8°). It's also available in many supermarkets, including Tesco, Sainsbury's, and Iceland.
Save 20% on your chocolate gifts. Exclusions apply. Use code LSZ20 at the checkout. Shop at Lily O'Brien's°
Ends on Thursday 27th August 2026. Terms and exclusions may apply. See website for details.
The next size up is the 48-piece Desserts Hat Box (£30°). This circular box isn't pre-wrapped but boasts more chocolates and a bright pink box design.
Do you have a favourite pudding that's been mortalised in chocolate? Tantalise my taste buds in a comment below.
