Chocolate-coated Caramelised Nuts by Dean & Deluca

These are the last of the Dean & Deluca nut chocolates with a twist. They're both apparently "caramelised" before being coated with chocolate.

White Chocolate Caramelised Cashews
Dusty brown white chocolate caramelised cashews.Dean & Deluca's label and packaging.
I was expecting to taste some rich or burnt caramel flavour in these, and the burnt, dusted look of the white chocolate made me think that the chocolate coating was itself caramel-flavoured.

But the effect was quite different from what I'd expected... they were just like crunchy honey roasted cashews coated with white chocolate. When I say honey roasted, I mean like the commercially-available honey roasted cashews... they usually coat it with sugar, salt and honey, and they have a crunch to them, probably due to the sugar. This one was exactly like that, even down to the salty taste. The brown and dusted look of the white chocolate had no bearing on its actual taste.

At first, I was slightly disappointed due to the wrong initial impression I had. But if you ignore the name on the label, and the colour of the white chocolate coating, it's actually very nice. The extra crunch and saltiness made for an amazing gustatory experience by complementing the smoothness of the white chocolate and the cashew nut.

And, if not for my misconception, the dusty and burnt brown of the white chocolate was actually a pleasant nice visual effect.

It's easy to finish one entire packet of these in a single sitting, and it would make a lovely gift!

Dark Chocolate Caramelised Pistachios
Cocoa dust covered the chocolated-coated pistachios.Dean & Deluca's label and packaging.
By the time I tried this, I had wisened up, so I wasn't expecting any real burnt caramel taste. As a result, I enjoyed this much more. The crunch of the sugars and the slight saltiness balanced out the dominant, smooth dark chocolate and rich pistachio texture, so even though it was pretty thick dark chocolate, I could just keep popping these into my mouth without feeling like it was too heavy on the palate.

The cocoa powder dusted onto the chocolate coating also gave this product a very refined and premium look, so the presentation was very nice too, although not as conspicuous as the cashews.

Found this chocolate interesting? Check out other unusual chocolates here.

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