Schmerling's of Switzerland Rosemarie: Harmony

Product name: Schmerling’s of Switzerland Rosemarie: Harmony
Purchase details: £2.45 for a 100g bar (Tesco)
Calories: 237 per 40g serving (593 per bar)
Country of origin: Switzerland 

When walking past Tesco’s Foods of the World section, yesterday, I spotted this new (to Tesco) Schmerling’s bar of ‘praline filled Swiss white chocolate’. At £2.45, I wouldn’t normally pay so much for a single bar (particularly for a brand I’d previously not heard of or tried), but since it contained two my favourite things, I just had to give it a go. In fact, I don’t think I’d ever had white chocolate and praline together before.

The foil-wrapped bar was made by Maestrani Swiss Chocolates Ltd and came in a cardboard sleeve that contained illustrations of two pieces of the chocolate inside, as well as a chocolate that looked more like a truffle. What I particularly loved about the packaging was how its cream colour reflected the colour of the chocolate and was swirled in a way that made it look like molten chocolate on the right-hand side of the box.

I was a little disappointed with how weak this product’s smell was. The nutty aroma was slightly stronger than the chocolate one but neither aspect was as powerful as I’d hoped. Its appearance, though, was as expected from the packaging. The chocolate was a very pale yellow/cream colour and it was possible to see the brown of the praline through the top of the bar, whilst the base looked like uninterrupted, solid chocolate. The bar was divided into twelve pieces that each contained a simple bumpy design and breaking this apart revealed a pale, slightly powdery-looking praline centre that was sandwiched between the top and bottom layers of white chocolate.

The chocolate (containing a minimum of 34% cocoa solids and 28% milk solids) was lovely and creamy and, despite taking a few seconds before beginning to melt, it did then merge smoothly with the nutty praline. Whilst the chocolate was sweeter than milk chocolate would have been, the flavours worked well together, with the prominent flavour coming from the hazelnuts. These contributed to 14% of the product and, whilst delicious, wasn’t the richest praline I’ve ever had. The praline also contained almonds but I struggled to detect their specific taste.

Considering the soft filling, I’d been surprised at just how hard the chocolate snapped apart, but this turned out to be a positive since, when chewing the chocolate, the outer shell provided a crunchy surface before reaching the smooth, soft praline. Whilst I’d thought the bar had been creamy when melting, it really did reach new levels when chewing – beautiful!

This Schmerling’s of Switzerland Rosemarie: Harmony chocolate was very enjoyable and it was a great twist having a praline-filled white chocolate. However, whilst I’d happily eat this again, I wouldn’t pay as much as I did on this occasion. 

Appearance: 7.5/10
Aroma: 6/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 8.5/10
Overall score: 7.5/10