It’s always a mistake to get out of the fixed waistbands and into elasticated ones. I warned of this almost two decades ago in these pages; did anyone listen? I sure didn’t.
So welcome to a whole new year and while I will not advocate, as I said last week, any sort of dieting or detoxing to achieve a looser sartorial fit, I will tell you about these rather delicious chocolate bonbons by Aurosó that are so low in sugar – just over a gram per bonbon – you can really enjoy them without worry.
If you’ve been stuffing yourself with high-sugar chocolate all Christmas, then these can seem a bit stern to begin with, but I promise you’ll get used to them – and then you get all taste and no horrible self-loathing, nor does it turn your dopamine receptors into insatiable monsters. Each is a perfect, beautiful shell of 90% Madagascan chocolate containing variously flavoured ganaches all with honey as a common factor. So, although the chocolates are dairy free they are not vegan friendly.
The shine is so high on them, they look like marbles. With the Solitaire box, £49, which houses 32 chocolates (370g; eight each of the four flavours) you can actually play solitaire with them. But there are also cute little boxes, £10 for six, which are a wonderful treat. My favourite was Apricot Morvenna Rum – it had a wonderful warm kick followed by a highlight of apricot. But you can choose Mandarin Balsamic, Lemongrass Ginger and Blackcurrant Verbena. All are handmade in Oxfordshire in small batches using ethical chocolate.
