I’m a huge chocolate nut. There is nothing better than hearing that ’snap’ and letting it melt slowly in your mouth. Recently I’ve been cutting down a bit because I realised that on some days I was using up about a 1/4 of my recommended daily intake of calories by eating this delicious delicacy. That’s right, a delicacy. The Mayans used to use it as currency (if you don’t believe me, please see recent Cadbury ad, haha. Do you like my sources?) and even had a Chocolate God – Ek Chuah! So, something so revered really shouldn’t be gobbled down mindlessly while staring at a computer screen. It should be eaten with respect!
With that in mind, last weekend my sister, Mum and I went on a road trip up to Mt Tamborine, and it turned into a Chocolate-Shop Crawl! We partook in a number of chocolate…. delicacies. OK, so I did buy a fair bit of chocolate, but I didn’t eat it all then and there… most of it’s still in the fridge! Honest!
First stop was the Darrell Lea Chocolate Factory Outlet in Logan. The stand out was the Rocklea Road Espresso Crunch, a limited edition bar with Coffee flavoured marshmallow, coconut, peanuts and crushed espresso coffee beans, which gives the chocolate a satisfiying CRUNCH when you bite through it.
Next was the Mt Tamborine Winery, where you wouldn’t expect to find chocolatey-goodness. We found it in the guise of port. Their Chocolate Port has a decidedly chocolatey scent, then when you sip it, a firm port flavour, then you get hit again with an alluring chocolate aftertaste. Very nice. Mum picked up a bottle of that for $25. Bargain!
http://www.mttamborinewinery.com/
Off to the next stop was “The Chocolate Gallery” where they sell handcrafted chocolate delights for a pretty packet. They create their own marshmallow, turkish delight and caramels. I tried the Turkish Delight in Dark Chocolate, The Banana Caramel Bomb, and Milk Chocolate Chili. The Turkish Delight was thick and rich, made with cornflour instead of gelatin. The Bomb was decadent and made me swoon! The Chili packed a punch, nice and hot, but not so much as to mask the chocolate flavour.
The Chocolate Gallery
140 Long Road, “Gallery Walk”
Eagle Heights Qld 4272
Phone: (07) 5545 0548
We skipped over the road to another Chocolate Shop (didn’t get the name, but it’s right across the road from the Chocolate Gallery… I’m still getting the hang of this reporting thing!) where we had a fresh chocolate-dipped strawberry for $2. We ended off the day with some healthy fruit! Aren’t we good!
So, if you’re in the mood for a chocolate feast… in moderation of course, head to Mt Tamborine!
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