Tag: Irish chocolate

Lily O’Briens Chocolate Luxury Collection

Birthday Gifts, Children, chocolate, Christmas, Family Life, Food & Drink, Gifts for Her, Gifts for teachers, secret santa, Stocking Fillers

Disclaimer – We have received this item for free or on a loan basis for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Lily O’Brien’s is an Irish chocolate company. You wouldn’t think that most of the ingredients are locally sourced but Mary Ann O’Brien, who started the company in the 1990s, wants to keep it as local and indigenous to Ireland as possible.

The Chocolate Luxury Collection box is a firm favourite of chocolate lovers and available all year round, but especially at Christmas. The box contains the flavours Zesty Lemon, Crispy Biscuit Crunch, Dart & White Duet, Gianduja, Truffle Decadence, Coffee &Almond Biscotti, Rapturous Raspberry, Sea Salted Caramel and Caramelised Biscuit Bliss. 

As a family, we can all enjoy this box because it has such a range of flavours but they’re also child friendly.  The Sea Salt Caramel flavour is a particular favourite of mine because of the flavour, but I also like the Zesty Lemon, which has the texture of the little lemon meringue pieces on top, which pop in your mouth as you eat them!  You can taste the quality of the chocolate as you eat them, they’re very more-ish and easy to eat, but not too rich that you can’t enjoy more than a few at a time.  You may find that you are fighting with other family members over them though…

Available for £12.50: https://lilyobriens.co.uk/luxury-collection-270g

Lily O’Brien’s Christmas Chocolate Selections

Birthday Gifts, chocolate, Christmas, Family Life, Gifts for Her, Gifts for Him, Gifts for teachers, Stocking Fillers

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

We love Christmas chocolates and Lily O’Brien chocolates are no exception. Throughout the year there are selections of Lily O’Brien chocolates in the shops but at Christmas time, they bring out the special limited edition varieties to tempt you into the world of after dinner dessert chocolates. We were sent a box of dessert chocolates (which are already in the shops) and a box of Limited Edition Dessert Chocolates in time for the feasting to happen. We were not disappointed…

Made with only the best ingredients, we opened the 312 gram (11oz) big box of Christmas Dessert Chocolates first. These are a real treat because they contain 9 different flavours;

  • Crème Brulée
  • Banoffee Pie
  • Lemon Posset
  • Spiced Latte
  • Raspberry Infusion
  • Hazelnut Torte 
  • Dark Orange 
  • Berry Eton Mess
  • Tripe Chocolate Shot

These flavours are not what you would normally find in boxes but reflect the time of year with the seasonal addition of favourite desserts and indulgent chocolate.  I particularly liked the Berry Eton Bess with the dried berries, tiny meringue pieces and white chocolate in a milk chocolate cup, and the Dark Orange which is a ganache filling with pieces of dried orange. These were particularly reminiscent of Christmas with their specific spiced flavours and perfect for after dinner, or sitting down with a hot drink to catch up with friends.

The second box was the favourite Dessert Collection. This contains 6 flavours, some of which were found in the Christmas Limited Edition Box:

  • Lemon Posset
  • Banoffee Pie
  • Crème Brulée 
  • Raspberry Infusion
  • Key Lime Pie
  • Hazelnut Torte

My favourite here was the Key Lime Pie with the citrus lemon curd and lime infused truffle in dark chocolate, which has always been my best of chocolates. With both boxes, the chocolate is smooth and generous with the rich flavours being very overpowering, hence they work well as dessert chocolates and you may only need 1 or 2 after a meal to give you the chocolate sweetness or that dessert flavour you crave. This 210 gram box (7.4oz) is handy for stockings or Secret Santa as it’s a bit smaller and more affordable, but both of the boxes have such a mixture of flavours and different chocolates that anyone can dive in and enjoy them!

Lily O’Brien Dessert Chocolates from £7.50: https://groceries.morrisons.com/products/lily-o-briens-desserts-591089011

Lily O’Brien Limited Edition Christmas Dessert Chocolates available later in the year at £12 from Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Tesco.