Wild Sweets is a “new to me” chocolatier that I stumbled on, once again, in Urban Fare. I was looking for my usual favourite salted caramel bar and when it was sold out, I thought I would give this Cinnamon Caramel Hazelnuts and Smoked Salt bar a try (that’s mouthful in its own right!). I was surprised to learn that Wild Sweets is actually a local company based out of Richmond. There website seems to be rather out of date so I wasn’t able to find any info out on this specific bar, unfortunately.
The bar is actually packaged in a box and has quite a heft when you pick it up. It weighs in at 65g (2.3oz) and is made from 95% organic blended chocolate (72% dark and 37% milk)I thought for sure that it was going to be a caramel filled bar but to my surprise, it wasn’t. The caramel is blended with the chocolate and the hazlenuts are so finely chopped you almost can’t feel them in the texture with is very creamy.
When you eat chocolate, do you let it melt in your mouth slowly, or do you chew it very fast (sounds like a commercial jingle… ;-))? I do both. I also keep it in the freezer, which I’m sure some people think is sacrilege but I like how it heightens the flavours.
My first piece I let melt on my tongue and this is a very complex bar. The first thing I noticed was that it reminded me of Mexican hot chocolate (the punch from the cinnamon) but with a milkier flavour. Then I got the warm feel of the salt melting and then after it was all gone, I could taste the cinnamon flavour. What I coudn’t taste was the hazlenuts (and I don’t particularly enjoy hazlenuts so that’s something I usually notice immediately), and the caramel.
The next piece I ate was frozen and I chewed it quickly – doing this made the chocolate flavour more apparent and the cinnamon was definitely an aftertaste.
The bar had a good solid snap to it and once I got over my initial disappointment of not having a caramel filling, it was very satisfying. I only needed a piece or two at a time. I liked the blend of the milk and the dark as I didn’t find it as bitter as some dark chocolate but not so sweet as milk chocolate. It was a nice balance. The cinnamon was a great touch and it wasn’t overly prominent. And of course, I love salt with anything sweet!
The only real disappointment was not tasting any caramel. I always find caramel blended bars lacking and I wish it stated somewhere on the bar whether it was caramel filled or not. If hazlenuts are your thing, you might be disappointed as well. But other than the caramel, I definitely enjoyed this bar and would buy it again!
I love the look of it. It reminds me of chocolate Lego! I always love your chocolate review posts, I am constantly on the look-out for interesting artisanal bars!
I also keep chocolate in my freezer, but it’s more of an “out of sight, out of mind” thing since I’ve been known to mindlessly inhale the stuff. 🙂 I’m very partial to your chocolate photos and I’ll have to make a list and see if I can find some of these bars out east!
It’s a very different looking bar. I can imagine the cinnamon is a nice gentle kick but I would prefer the hazelnuts to be larger. I’d let the bar melt in my mouth and then chew up the hazelnuts 🙂