Double Chocolate Krave, an Eclair for Ants?

I have mixed feelings about British imports. While not a fan of the epitome of British pop-culture success in the United States (the Beetles) I nevertheless am indebted to the English for NBC’s The Office, as well as those canisters of Spotted Dick in the grocery store which make me giggle every time I pass by. That British products should continue to migrate to these here Lower 48 is quite reasonable. The way I see it, we gave them half of Winston Churchill, so they owe us.

Krave is Kellogg’s latest attempt to cash in on that debt most previouse exchange of cultural gifts. Friend of the blog and cereal aficianado Rodzilla has already opined on the Crispy Chocolate Multigrain cereal with a “smooth chocolate inside,” finding it, you shall say, quite satisfactory. He, however, sampled the “Chocolate” flavor. What could be better than chocolate, praytell? Why, Double Chocolate…

Counting myself amomgst the clever and relentless chocovore’s who presumably make up the target audience of Kellogg’s latets forray into breakfastdom, I was obviously quite skeptical going in. I have met a number of chocolate cereals I like (read: do not amore), yet I’ve yet to find one which accuratly and consistantly captures the taste of cocoa butter and sugar to the point where I’d prefer it over, well, and actual bar of chocolate. That being said, currently atop the leaderboard is Kelloggs’ Forsted Mini Wheats Little Bites, so by the associative property of corporate innovation, I had reason to be hopeful.

Puns notwithstanding, the cereal’s texture is quite foreign. It’s composed of a crispy shell that flakes apart easilly. The peices are about halfway between a “mini bite” and “bite sized” Mini-Wheat. Initial reconasscaince yeilds a a slightly dull sweetness propelled by a cocoa flavor and burst — albeit quite small — of something akin to chocolate candy. Yes, I said candy. In cereal form.

Giddy with this hint of not only chocolate flavor but actual chocolate, I’ve nevertheless put off by the almost nonexistant filling, which in some peices doesn’t even seem to register. Combined with a the hollow interior texture and flaky exterior “crunch” (an overstatement), and my first few dry bites don’t live up to expectation. Almost looking for a filling reminiscant to a ruch chocolate ecclair, I’m treat to, what I think Derek Zoolander could aptly describe as “a double chocolate eclair for ANTS.”

All hope was not lost, however. Seldom one to eat cereal in milk, I nevertheless added a moderate helping of skim to my bowl (yes, skim milk; get over it). What happened next was quite unexpected, but certainly welcomed. With an unprecedented level of milk absorption that seemed to reinforce the wheat and chocolate capillaries like blood coming back into a frostbitten body (by the way, this hurts like hell), the cereal suddenly took on an element of chocolate cream. Cream might be the wrong word — and the slight taste of palm oil gives away a hint of artificiality to the chocolate — but make no mistake about it, this was chocolate. Not cocoa powder. Not chocolate flavor. There was real life, straight from Montezuma’s Hall chocolate here. It reminded me of the kind of chocolate glaze on a slow melting chocolate donut and, quite pleasantly, like the filling within an eclair. I just wish there was freaking more of it. 

Interestingly enough, the sudden burst of flavor and sweetness taken on by adding the milk element did not extend to the end-milk, instead locking itself within the individual nuggets. Fine by me, but a potential problem for parents attempting to boost their child’s calcium intake through cereal-end milk slurping. Amazingly, a mere serving of the cereal is but 120 calories and just 10 grams of sugar, allowing excessive and half-a-box mindless consumption perfectly within the realm of acceptable Saturday morning behavior.

A week into the new year, and already we have a contender for a regular rotation spot. But then again, you’d expect that from the country which gave us the second half of Winston Churchill’s genetic makeup. These guys are good, after all. Now, they just need to find a way to insert some of that Spotted Dick stuff into a chocolate shell.

•  Price: $1.99 (Safeway Stock-up sale)
• Ranking:8/10
• Chances I’d Buy Again: 75%