Candy Review: Sugar-free Rich Dark Chocolates

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Candy Review: Sugar-free Rich Dark Chocolates
Thursday, October 11, 2007 - by Traci

Trying to cut sugar from your diet can get difficult when chocolate cravings hit. I had a sliver of time between work and class one night, and I stopped at Walgreens for a snack - the chocolate demon was attacking, and I had nothing to bolster my defenses. I headed for the small sugar-free section on the candy aisle and went through the internal debate - do I want real chocolate? Chocolate-flavored hard candy? Something new, or something tried and true?

I wanted something new, it seems. After about five minutes of staring down the sugar free chocolates, Dove’s latest caught my attention. The velvety brown bag with tantalizing raspberries and chocolate shavings drew my eyes in, and the adjectives in the candy’s name hooked me. Sugar Free Dove Rich Dark Chocolates with Raspberry Creme; not only is this chocolate dark, but also rich and infused with raspberry goodness.
The 3.40 ounce bag costs $3.49 and contains about two and a half servings. Each piece is individually wrapped and about the circumference of a quarter. If you’ve ever had Dove chocolates before, you may have noticed the Promises messages they print on each wrapper: my first one in the bag said “Smile. People will wonder what you’ve been up to.” True, so true.

The first thing I noticed about the chocolate was the rich, dark smell it emanates. The chocolate was espresso-brown and shiny, and when I held a piece in my hand it barely melted beneath my fingers. And when I bit into a piece, it was yielding and velvety. The shiny outside chocolate concealed a creamy chocolate filling with raspberry flavoring. The raspberry flavor was just enough to add a zing, but not so much that it overpowered what I really wanted out of this candy: intense chocolate. The combination of textures - the creamy but firm exterior along with the velvety filling - is just about perfect. This is without a doubt the best sugar-free chocolate I have ever savored.

A serving size is five luscious pieces, but even though I’m a Candy Addict, one or two does the job for me. Each piece is a mere 38 calories and contains no sugar, but the candy is decadent enough to quell my chocolate cravings with a couple of pieces. My bag would have lasted me a lot longer had I not forced my friends to try them!
This candy is sweetened with sugar alcohols, which may cause a strange aftertaste in individuals who are accustomed to eating candy with sugar in it.