Varda Chocolatier I discovered on a recent Japan Airlines flight, although they aren't actually based in Japan, the shop is right outside NYC.
"We use only the finest dark (semi-sweet) milk and white Belgian (Callebaut) chocolate and natural ingredients to create our truffles, pralines, squares, roll bars, coins, signature boxes, holiday gifts, baskets and much more."Varda makes a slew of different types of chocolates, including coins, truffles (round chocolates filled with all sorts of fillings and decorated on top), and pralines (mostly square and flat, also with fillings, but with printed on designs on the flat top). I'm still not entirely sure what the difference is between the truffle and praline designation though, as I always thought of pralines as containing nuts, and these didn't.
I don't have much more to share about Varda, as their website is very limited, and so I wasn't able to learn much more to share with you. It seems they mostly sell gift sets online, and other than that, distribute to airlines, cruise ships, hotels, etc.
What I can tell you is that I enjoyed their chocolate and would gladly have more.
The duo of pralines came in a small gold box, shiny, blingy, and tied up with a gold string. They offer similar packaging in silver or white.
The packaging warns that the chocolates require refrigeration, but need to be served at room temperature, so you have to pull them out 2 hours before serving, minimum. I'm not entirely sure why they require refrigeration? These are high maintenance chocolates.
"Dark filling with a hint of Irish Cream in Dark or Milk Chocolate".
What I can tell you is that I enjoyed their chocolate and would gladly have more.
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| Box of Mini Pralines. |
"Mini Pralines packed in a Gold Ballotine Box."
The packaging warns that the chocolates require refrigeration, but need to be served at room temperature, so you have to pull them out 2 hours before serving, minimum. I'm not entirely sure why they require refrigeration? These are high maintenance chocolates.
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| Cosmos Pralines. |
Inside was two chocolates (which they call pralines), each with pretty decorations, inspired by the cosmos - suns, moons, stars, planets, etc.
The milk chocolate is on the left with the white cosmos, the dark on the right with gold.
The milk chocolate one I tried first.
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| Milk Chocolate Cosmos. |
The milk chocolate shell was creamy and decent. Inside was a smooth chocolate filling, that tasted to me more like a soft caramel than just chocolate.
I didn't know they were Irish Cream flavored until I looked them up, but I did detect a flavor to it that I couldn't quite figure out. That must have been it?
Overall, it was fine, but not remarkable. ***.
Next up was dark chocolate.
This one I really enjoyed.
The dark shell had the perfect snap, and although it was a sweeter dark chocolate, I still liked it.
Inside was creamy smooth dark chocolate, again, a sweeter style, but a good one. I'd gladly have more of these. ****.
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| Dark Chocolate Cosmos. |
This one I really enjoyed.
The dark shell had the perfect snap, and although it was a sweeter dark chocolate, I still liked it.
Inside was creamy smooth dark chocolate, again, a sweeter style, but a good one. I'd gladly have more of these. ****.
Hi Julie! I've loved your blog for years, thanks for the great reviews.
ReplyDeleteIn regard to the difference in types of chocolates:
1. Chocolate truffles are soft-centered chocolates made of a ganache filling.
2. American chocolate pralines are have various types of sweet fillings (such as creams, caramels, nuts or a combination) enclosed in a hard chocolate shell. Only certain varieties contain nuts, based on the desired flavor.
3. European chocolate pralines typically feature a combination of roasted or caramelized nuts mixed with creamy centers or chocolate fillings, which are then coated in a chocolate shell.
Hope this helps!
Thank you Tracey! It was the connection that American and European pralines are different that I was missing. This is great to know :)
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