Hotel Chocolat Christmas Gingerbread Chocolate Spread

I have been absolutely dying to try this since I saw it posted on GroceryGems. I absolutely adore gingerbread - anything with cinnamon, ginger, molasses and all those warming winter spices is a winner in my eyes - and nothing is more suited to cold winters than the spicy, homely smell of gingerbread. I completely forgot about it with the run up to Christmas but luck was on my side and I found the very last jar in my local store - I practically dived on it to stop anyone else snapping it up!

I only discovered Hotel Chocolat last year but I am now such a big fan. Not only do they have the most interesting and innovative ideas and flavours, I love the fact this is 'real' chocolate. Lots of proper cocoa mass and butter without the need to bulk it out/cheapen it with sugar and weird ingredients. This is as far removed from the like of Nestle as you can imagine. High quality and for that reason I love it - you get less and it costs more - but it's worth it for the better taste and reduced sugar.

Opening up the tub, you can smell the gingerbread instantly. It's subtle but warming and makes you want to dive in with a spoon. It's a much thicker texture than I was expecting but this is likely due to the fact that it's made with hazelnut paste without the need for oils. Rather than Nutella's sticky, oily texture, it's more alike to a nut butter.

Neverthless it's really easy to spread. It melts beautifully on warm toast and oozes tantalisingly. This made the ultimate weekend breakfast. It's sweet but not overpoweringly so and not in the least sickly or sugary. The gingerbread notes work well with chocolate and is done masterfully so you can taste both the warming notes of ginerbread and the sophisticated darkness of chocolate both seperately and together. It tastes so decadent and indulgent and yet when you look at the ingredients, it's natural and actually not too bad. It utterly melts in the mouth and is so creamy.

It's utterly delicious and if you're lucky enough to spot a jar left over anywhere, I throughly recommend grabbing it before we have to wait until next Christmas.

Score: 8/10