What’s frequently overlooked in chocolate is how important piece-size is. I can appreciate thoroughbred thinness in super-high-cocoa chocolate, as anyone who has tried to wrestle a segment from a 70% plus bar will testify: you want it to snap easily. But who can resist the shameless confidence of chunky chocolate?
I was particularly excited by the newish Tony’s Chocolonely. The retro-wrapped bars are gloriously weighty (180g, £3.98), and there’s a truly admirable ethos behind the company. I had high hopes for the 51% Dark Almond Sea Salt, but I have come to hate salt in chocolate; the first bite is wonderful, but thereafter tiring and confusing. But others declared it some of the best chocolate they’d eaten, and the Milk (32%) is sweet, creamy and could easily replace a more famous milk chocolate. Be warned, the thumb-thick pieces are not uniform: a nightmare for a dispensing parent.
Two chunky bars which I ate whole were Venchi’s Nocciolata (100g, £6): milk chocolate with whole Piedmont hazelnuts, but maltitol instead of sugar. I was appalled I liked it so much (not a fan of artificial sweeteners).
Hotel Chocolat’s Corn Flakes & Milk (90g, £3.95) was my nemesis. It is the perfect everything: one small slab, thick enough to feel indulgent without threatening dental displacement. With no piece demarcations to navigate, you have to eat the whole damn thing, and the malty flavour owns you; if you’ve grown out of Maltesers, look at this.
