Gordon Ramsay

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Advantages:	Edible .  .  .
Disadvantages:	Expensive, Over - hyped, Poor Quality Ingredients

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no

Full review

Gordon Ramsay's Just Desserts

Just Desserts? Well, the clue was in the title all along, I suppose. Gordon Ramsay, celebrity chef, made this dubious contribution to the glutted chocolate market in 2003, hot on the heels of his other nefarious activities in the Celebrity Chef spectrum. I for one succumbed to the hype…and suffice to say I got my 'Just Desserts'!

To clear up any confusion from the outset, these aren't actually desserts at all, in fact they're 'just' chocolates. Although chocolates could presumably constitute a 'dessert' if taken in sufficient quantities, I certainly wouldn't recommend eating these in large quantities, unless you're a glutton... for punishment.

The packaging is a neat, purple & silvery affair that frankly resembles a book cover more than a box of chocolates, with an 'Arial' type font & Gordon's elaborate signature writ large across the top. On the back, there is a list of ingredients, a verbose little paragraph extolling the virtues of the contents, in which such terms as 'irresistible', 'cutting edge' and 'excellence' predominate, and a heavily-airbrushed, non-pock marked image of Gordon, gazing laughingly to the side. Opening the box, a sneaky interior band around the edge is revealed, which means that the area holding the actual chocolates in fact significantly smaller than it appeared from the outside. All in all, I'm tempted to conclude that it's a triumph of style over substance, but then again, it isn't really all that stylish, either.

Peeling back the tissue paper and removing the ubiquitous little quilted paper blanket reveals sixteen Just Desserts in their individual, silvery coffins. A small silver & purple card outlines the 'dramatis chocolatae'…which are as follows;

1) Strawberry Bombe: Described as 'A white chocolate truffle with real strawberry juice and strawberry pieces.'

My Verdict: the 'Strawberry bombe' is instantly recognisable from its mug shot, being one of only two white chocolates in the selection. It is disconcertingly off-white in colour, almost yellowish, and is covered in a pernicious rash of pink spots, which emerge alarmingly through the chocolate coating. These are presumably the 'strawberry pieces'. And whilst the chocolate looks pretty awful, it actually tastes even worse. The white chocolate outer shell of the truffle is of an indifferent quality, and the chewy 'strawberry pieces' scattered through it resemble those desiccated berries you sometimes find scattered through breakfast cereals. The inside filling is a mucky, beige-coloured stodge that sticks unpleasantly to the roof of the mouth. It tastes of cocoa butter adulterated with an artificial approximation of strawberries. Talk about an unpromising start.

2) Pistachio Truffle: Described as a 'white chocolate and pistachio centre coated in Belgian milk chocolate and ground pistachios.

MyVerdict: Almost unrecognisable from the display image due to a decided lack of the promised 'ground pistachios' on the coating, the chocolate itself is otherwise unremarkable in appearance. Once again, the outer shell (in this case milk chocolate) is not of an especially good quality, Belgian or otherwise. Frankly, 'Belgian chocolate' strikes me as a rather meaningless descriptive, and one that ranks alongside 'French champagne' for sheer pointlessness and potential for misrepresentation. Not all Belgian chocolate is good! As to the filling, it is rich, sickly, only very vaguely flavoured with pistachios, and the colour most closely approximates that of well-washed army fatigues.

3) Salted Fudge and Honeycomb: Described as a 'Rich butter fudge coated in a double layer of Belgian dark chocolate with honeycomb pieces.

My Verdict: Appearance-wise, this is a rather untidy-looking dark blob. The dark chocolate of which the outer layer is comprised seems to be pretty ordinary, and is a trifle too bitter for my palate. It doesn't melt in the mouth as it ought to, and it leaves a rather unpleasant aftertaste. Frankly, I've tasted better cooking chocolate. The honeycomb is detectable, but only just. As to the 'salted butter fudge' filling, it is actually quite pleasant, with a fresh butterscotch flavour, although not, in my opinion, displaying any evidence of having been 'salted'.

4) Orange and Cardamom: Described as a 'white chocolate truffle with orange pieces and natural cardamom flavour in Belgian milk chocolate'.

My Verdict: This lumpy, misshapen little truffle bears virtually no resemblance to the display picture, which is presented as a neat and cylindrical looking confection with a tidy zig-zagging of white chocolate across the top. Oh well, on to the tasting... I shant be dwelling upon the outer layer, as I've already addressed that earlier, and I'm loathe to repeat myself. The filling however, certainly deserves its own mention. It is cream-coloured, and of a chalky, crumbly consistency. It rather resembles compressed, desiccated coconut. The taste is certainly redolent of oranges, but the bitter pith, as opposed to the fruit. It is almost indigestibly rich, and once again, does not melt, but rather glues itself uncomfortably to the insides of the mouth. Of cardamom there was no discernible trace… Curious about this, I consulted the (comprehensive) list of ingredients on the underside of the box, scattering half the chocolates in the process. Sure enough 'Cardamom' was conspicuous by its absence. Make of this what you will.

5) Almond & Amaretto: Described as a 'white chocolate truffle with roasted almonds and Italian Amaretto liqeur.'

My Verdict: I'm quite keen on 'Italian' Amaretto (is there any other sort?) so I rather liked the sound of this one. Alas, it just proved to be yet another joyless specimen. The white outer shell was too thick, and dominated the overall flavour of the truffle. Something is seriously amiss if the flavour of white chocolate can dominate the taste of Amaretto, but in this case it did. Overall, the filling tasted of little more than a sickly melange of poor quality cocoa butter and ground almonds. It tasted rich, but not in a decadent sense, more in a battered, deep-fried, lardy, sickening sense. At this point I was beginning to feel like an overfull eight year old at a child's birthday party. I simply didn't have the heart (or rather, the stomach) to subject myself to the rest of them. However, the final three items in the selection are;

6) Cappuccino Brulee: Described as a 'soft coffee centre covered with Belgian dark chocolate and sprinkled in mixed chocolate pieces.'

7) Blossom Honey: Described as a 'rich chocolate mousse with a hint of blossom honey in Belgian dark chocolate.

8) Nut Cluster: Rich hazelnut praline with roasted almond pieces covered in Belgian milk chocolate.

Gordon Ramsay's 'Just Desserts' are manufactured by the Ashbury Confectionery Group. Their website states that the chocolates have been 'created with Gordon himself'. It goes on to claim that 'Retailers and consumers have praised the product that truly reflects an excellent quality of chocolates with a real point of difference, at an every day price.' The 'point of difference' is certainly there, albeit arguably for all the wrong reasons. The 'every day price' claim is at best debatable, and £5.99 for 16 chocolates hardly represents good value. As to the 'excellent quality', well, in my opinion nothing could be further from the truth. The chocolates are certainly not inedible, but they do fall a good distance short of 'excellence'.

Gordon Ramsay is perhaps best known for his belligerence, and in my opinion, these 'Just Desserts' are simply the latest in a long line of Ramsay's insults!

http://www.ashbury.co.uk/products/branded