Chocolate foods review

zenalasca

I love chocolate, so I want to review different chocolate products and recipes I have tried to see which ones were "worth it" or not.

Microwave chocolate cake (my recipe)

At 180 calories per serving, this recipe is very worth it! It is basically half a cup of pancake mix, a tablespoon of cocoa powder, a few sachets of stevia and hot water mixed, then zapped in the microwave in a shallow dish for a couple of minutes. I've also made low calorie microwave chocolate cakes by mixing half a cup of Devil's food cake mix with a quarter cup of coke zero (this is only 160 calories! but if there's icing included in the pack and you use it this is generally brings the calorie count up by a lot). Strawberry cake mix and sprite zero also work very well. There are many cake mix/soda combinations you can try.

Lindt Lindor

My favourite chocolate but unfortunately high in calories (70 calories per truffle). I consider this a treat and have not had one in a loong time. Same goes for any other truffles such as Cadbury Roses or Ferrero Rochers.

Lindt Excellence

The 99% cocoa variety might be interesting, but for me, the extra creamy one was nice but enough.

Rainbow Confectionary - Toastie

Had this while at school in NZ only because it was one of the cheap things in the vending machine and I was strongly craving chocolate. A toastie is just a coconut covered marshmallow bar with a very thin layer of chocolate. Definitely not worth the 200 calories, although the marshmallow managed to satisfy me at the time.

Hershey's Special Dark Candy Bar - Another thing I would get from the vending machine at school. Only 190 calories for the whole bar and like any other brand of dark chocolate.

Chocolate lamingtons - Another unfortunate Australasian combination of chocolate and coconut, this time covering a sponge cake. Generally not worth it.

Melona ice waffle with chocolate syrup

This is one of my favourite ice creams! It's a waffle in the shape of a fish with ice cream and chocolate syrup inside. Unfortunately I can't get them in Australia :sad:

Supermarket mud cakes - generally not safe or worth it. If you want that kind of thing, I would suggest mini mudcakes (the ones from Woolworths are 80 calories each, which isn't too bad considering a slice of normal mud cake is around 250 calories).

Magnum chocolate ice creams - Generally too many calories (260-300!!) and too small.

Chocolate mint biscuits - Generally 80 calories per biscuit, but I love them so much I try to make them fit somehow.

Chocolate whipped cream - I had a container in a single sitting and that was 260 calories. I've never ventured there since, however.

Chocolate candy cars - not generally worth it. I tried each one once and then moved on. And varieties of chocolate candy bars are so generic you can guess what they will taste like without even trying them.

Chocolate cookies from bakeries - at about 200 calories per cookie they are not worth it, especially when there are a whole pack of 12 to tempt you!!

Chocolate milk - depends on the brand. The worst is 200 calories per cup. You can get skim and almond chocolate milk types.

Skinny Cow - Milk Chocolate Dreamy Clusters - bland and not really worth the 120 calories IMO

Weight Watcher's Chocolate sundae - tasted bland and fake, and not worth it at 140 calories per tub

Chocolate muffins - generally 400-500 calories each. But I like them so much I don't mind calling it a meal.

Nutella/chocolate spreads - generally not worth it due to the sheer volume I consume. This is why I make my own nutella substitutes with cocoa, stevia and skim milk.

Chocolate Krave cereal - they never should have discontinued it...

Chocolate sorbet - very low calories and "creaminess" comes entirely from the cocoa (meaning it's less creamy than chocolate gelato but how cares?). And it's dairy free!

Chocolate protein bars - generally 200 calories and pretty good for me actually cause if I eat them too quickly they make me feel ill.

Dominoes chocolate sauce pot - I can't believe the whole thing is only 44 calories.

Chocolate toffees - generally 30-40 calories a pop and not worth it. Who wants to have 80 calories just from a couple of sweets?

Instant hot chocolate sachets - generally 70 calories each and very worth it!

Chocolate easter eggs (hollow) - I like them because they last a long time.

Any rich chocolate cake involving butter and melted chocolate - avoid like the plague!!!

Chocolate milkshakes - Avoid!!

Chocolate pop tarts - Only okay if I have two for breakfast and classify that as a meal.

Sugar free dark chocolate - expensive but worth it at 20 calories per square.

Diet chocolate puddings from the dairy aisle - usually 130 calories each and very worth it!!

Chocolate fondue - dark usually has about half the amount of calories as milk.