Koko Black - Summer Specials, Carlton

Being mid summer, the best way to enjoy the supposed 'heat' is to have a lovely, cold, sweet dessert. I know Melbourne hasn't really had much heat but when we do, it's just unbearably nice, makes me want to go to the beach and eat ice cream!

I had heard from a friend that Koko Black is having a limited time summer special menu, consisting of refreshing fruits, sorbets and of course, chocolatey treats. Now, this summer special is only available at a few stores, the ones I know of are CBD and Carlton. I know for a fact that Chadstone and Westfield don't have the same selection of summer dessert specials, but still do have what's printed on the menu - their 'Summer Indulgence' treats which I assume are available across all their stores. The store we went to was Carlton and boy oh boy, my eyes were popping out of their sockets while gawking at the beautifully made desserts! I wished I had many many stomaches so I could have ordered one of each. :D All the special desserts are $14 each.

After a long and tough decision, i settled for the mango semifreddo - encased in marbled white chocolate, served with fresh tropical fruit and coconut sorbet. I cheated when I ordered this though, I had already had a sneak peak at what it looked like on my friend's camera and knew that this would be beautiful. Isn't it just gorgeous? :D The Coconut sorbet was subtly flavoured with coconut but not too sweet.

The fruit was actually a bit bland I thought, especially the white thing which I couldn't really figure out what it was, I think it may have been some sort of vanilla/coconut jelly? The other fruits were obviously mango, passionfruit, pineapple and I think papaya. The pineapple was very sour which I actually liked.

The mango semifreddo itself was like the Indian mango ice cream (kulfi) which is half churned and still reasonably crystallised and hard. It was slightly on the harder to eat side but was very tasty. Overall it was a very refreshing and tasty dessert which accentuates the tastes of summer.

Yuye ordered the white peach stratum - white peach creme and raspberry jelly, layered with shortbread and chocolate wafers. Served with stone fruit compote and almond crumble which also came out beautifully. In fact, it doesn't lose to the mango semifreddo in terms of presentation and taste. What I liked the most about this dessert is how it wobbled whenever it's touched. Seriously, it WOBBLES. :D Nothing can beat a dessert that is also fun to eat. :)

The almond crumble was crunchy and nutty which gave the dessert a three dimensional texture.

The fruit consisted of apples and peaches (I think that may have been all) and the highlight was obviously the white peach creme together with the raspberry jelly. They were silky, not too sweet and definitely tasty. I liked this dessert the most out of all the desserts we tried.

Arch (short for Archangel - and no that's not his real name) ordered the trip of summer raspberries - raspberry brulee tart with sparkling raspberry jelly and raspberry sorbet. I didn't like this one as much just because I'm not as big a fan of raspberry flavoured things, especially not in everything on the plate! The raspberry sorbet was nice and refreshing, the tartlet was average, like what tartlets should be and the jelly was just tasteless.

What came out as a surprise was the milk chocolate mousse dome with a strawberry coulees centre, fresh summer berries and whipped cream. It was tasty, totally stunning and Kenneth almost didn't get it! It was a last minute decision to change from the chocolate moelleux which I think would have been a good decision. :) I liked this presentation the most. Doesn't it look like a kids' slide jam packed full of summery goodies? :D Taste wise was as expected - since it's mainly just chocolate and fruit with whipped cream.

The chocolate dome had a surprise (raspberry coulis and chocolate cake)! Even the inside looked pretty. :) The dome tasted pretty nice but what can go wrong with chocolate mousse right?

Batasan ordered the classic Belgian spoil which is one of my all time favourite desserts (Yuye and I used to get it so much it made us sick). Everything's made with the ever so delicious Belgian chocolates from the store so they are very rich in flavour - a definite must try for chocolate lovers. I think Batasan did a good job finishing it by himself because it usually takes two of us to eat. :P It consisted of a chocolate ice cream, chocolate mousse, a chocolate pudding, biscuit and chocolate pieces. My favourite on that dish would be the chocolate ice cream, it's so intense I can melt with it!

Daz ordered the summer spoil which is on the summer indulgences menu (available in all Koko Black stores for limited time) and is really just a variation to the classic Belgian spoil with passionfruit sorbet, strawberry salad, orange poppyseed muffin and summer chocolates (passion and candied orange) and of course the usual chocolate mousse. It was actually quite nice, a slightly toned down version of the Belgian spoil and a bit easier to finish.

A few days later, I went with Winwin to the Chadstone store and ordered two summer indulgence iced chocolates - blood orange and passionfruit. I quite liked them - chocolate and vanilla ice creams were both included which are classics of the store and are very tasty. Coupled with blood orange and passionfruit flavoured iced chocolate blends, it was just heavenly. A tip though, I thought the ice creams were better eaten before they melted into the drink as it made it thick and too sweet afterwards.

I LOVED the Koko Black original summer specials, especially how pretty they all were! Beautiful desserts make me so happy :). Visit a Koko Black store while it's still summer but make sure you find out whether the store offers the desserts or not. Get it while its hot! :P Visit the Koko Black store for more store locations.

Koko Black Carlton
Phone: (03) 9349 2775
167 Lygon St, Carlton 3053
http://www.kokoblack.com

Did you enjoy this post? If so, why not share it with your friends?

Share |