Imagine the aroma of black forest gateau. Condense this into a chocolate bar and hey presto, you've got yourself the E. Wedel Dark Chocolate with Cherry Filling 100 gram bar.
While the translation of the product name from Polish to English could be refined somewhat, it's the bar I'm most interested in.
Packaging
The bar is packaged inside the "resealable" film that is now widely used amongst industrial producers. If you can resist animalistically ripping the film off, it's designed to seal closed again after initially being opened, so you can save some chocolate for later. Mine refused to do so, so I needed to decant it to a container.
The blue packaging shows a selection of juicy red cherries, together with a couple of pieces of the chocolate bar, positively oozing with rich cherry sauce.
The reverse of the packaging shows the nutritional information together with the ingredients list in English and Polish.
E. Wedel Dark Chocolate with Cherry Filling ingredients:
Dark Chocolate 50% (Sugar, Cocoa Mass, Fat-Reduced Cocoa Powder, Cocoa Butter, Milk Fat, Emulsifiers: Soya Lecithin and E476, Salt, Flavouring), Sugar, Vegetable Fat (Palm), Concentrated Apple Pulp, Cherry Preparation (Sugar, Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Cherry Puree, Modified Starch, Cherry Puree Concentrate, Acid: Citric Acid, Stabiliser: Pectins, Flavouring, Colour: Carmines), Dried Whole Milk, Dried Whey (from Milk), Humectant (Sorbitols), Alcohol (0.3%), Flavourings, Emulsifier (Soya Lecithin), Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid). Dark Chocolate: Cocoa Solids 50% minimum. Contains 1.3% of Cherry Puree.
E. Wedel Dark Chocolate with Cherry Filling Review
Opening the packet that black forest gateau aroma hits you hard. It's tainted with a moderate bitterness from the dark chocolate. My bar had broken in two, and there was a very light bloom to the bar.
The bar is portioned into 10 pieces, each one stamped with "E Wedel". A cherry flavour fondant is enrobed with a generously thick layer of dark chocolate. Atop of the fondant layer sits a squirt of cherry purée which more resembles a jelly than a jam.
As for flavour, the dark chocolate is used mainly as a vehicle here. It's the black forest gateau flavour that unapologetically dominates. As we all know, a good black forest gateau is not complete without shards of dark chocolate, so the combination is a time-tested classic.
Overall, the bar is very sweet, despite the dark chocolate. I can't quite place the flavour of the fondant and guess from the ingredients list that it is designed more so as a filler made of sugar, milk powder, and palm oil to balance out the tartness of the cherry filling and to temper the bitterness of the dark chocolate.
And the taste? I like it, but mostly as it tastes like a black forest gateau condensed into a bar. It's a cheap bar of chocolate that's great as a cheeky snack. I'm also reassured that the dark chocolate is the dominant ingredient in the bar. Mind you, even with 50% minimum cocoa solids, don't expect a depth to the chocolate as you devour the bar.
The domineering cherry notes follow through to the aftertaste. The slight bitterness of the dark chocolate helps weigh the overall taste back down from otherwise sweet heights.
Make no mistake, cherry is the dominant flavour here, and it works well. But this isn't an example of the finest cherries in the world lovingly blended into a ganache and enrobed by a single estate dark chocolate. So it's not one for the chocolate snobs - but it is ideal for nibbling on with a coffee, or for a pick me up. Kids will undoubtedly love it thanks to the 53% sugar content (although bear in mind the alcohol).
E. Wedel Dark Chocolate with Cherry Filling Review Review
RRP: £1.00 | E. Wedel | Shop now
A cheap and cheerful chocolate bar with a thin dark chocolate shell and a cherry flavour filling inside. It's sweet, cherry is the dominant flavour, and it is ideal for snacking on in front of the telly.
Where to Buy Online
This bar is a supermarket find, so you'll likely find it on the shelves of Asda and Morrisons, as well as Home Bargains which is where I purchased this bar. It's also available on Amazon°.
Have you tried this black forest chocolate bar by E. Wedel? What did you think? Let me know in the comments below.
