I remember last year, when Fazer launched their winter edition chocolate in early September (well, it's chocolate, of course I remember!). That was the dark chocolate, apple & caramel one, and I'm thrilled to see it's available this year too! Anyway, as it happens, another new winter edition chocolate from Fazer came out this September. Yes, that seems rather early... but I'm certainly not going to complain: it's a new chocolate flavour and a perfect
The wrapping is rather Christmassy, what with the snow flakes and red cranberries and all, but that's hardly a bad thing. Very suitable for "winter edition" chocolate, I would say. Inside we have a nice 200 g tabled divided into the usual pieces of a typical Fazer tablet. The scent is sweet and a little spicy - it's a very warm scent, which is just perfect for those long, dark winter evenings.
This one is milk chocolate and the quality I've come to expect from Fazer - in fact, one of my favourite milk chocolates ever; silky, smooth, and not at all sugary. The chocolate contains almond pieces, dried cranberries and "Christmas spices". The almond pieces are crunchy and go very well with the chocolate. The tart cranberries provide a lively, delicious contrast to the sweet milk chocolate. I wish there'd been more of them! A closer inspection of the list of ingredients reveals that the "Christmas spices" include cardamom, clove, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg - that's quite a list! However, though you can definitely taste the spices here, their aromas aren't overwhelming. They give the chocolate a flavour reminiscent of mulled/spiced wine... which is just perfect for winter edition chocolate!
From experience gained during a couple of tasting sessions, I can say that this is a delicious treat on darkening autumn evenings, and I'd bet it will also work in winter. If I were to organise a small pre-Yule party ("pikkujoulut" in Finnish), I would definitely serve this!
