Barkers Cacao Nib Raspberry Coulis product reviews

I could quite honestly sum up the Barker's Cacao Nib Raspberry Coulis in one word - DELICIOUS, but that would not make a good review, nor give you any information!! With summer well and truly here, and everyone thinking about getting healthier and eating cleaner for the hot months, I was delighted to receive this to try on desserts, in muffins, and in yoghurt, as a better option to a lot of sugar-filled chocolate-y things.

Having used a great number of Barker's products over the years, I knew it was unlikely to disappoint. Barker's is a name known for quality and taste, and it lived up to its good name. The other big plus is it is New Zealand owned and made.

First of all - the packaging. I most often see Barker's things in glass jars - or like this one - a bottle. It is a cause close to my heart to reduce, reuse, recycle - and that's what will happen here when the coulis is finished. The pictures and graphics make it very distinguishable - but also very clear, so you do not pick up the wrong flavour when buying it.

It pours out beautifully as the opening is nice and big to allow the fruit and nibs to pour out. It is just right (I sound a bit like Goldilocks!) - not too runny and not too thick, and is a lovely raspberry flavour and colour. You can see the cacao nibs and raspberry within the sauce and it smells lovely and fruity. It is a really nice flavour - not too sweet or tart and the cacao nibs make it feel very fancy indeed!!

I have tried this in a variety of ways - mixed through yoghurt, on the top of ice cream, in muffins, with yoghurt on cereal, and every single way is delicious. I love that the flavour is not too overpowering, and adds that difference in texture too. Will definitely be trying other flavours of these, this one is amazing though and totally worth buying!

Raspberry and chocolate, what more could anyone want on their desserts. I have always loved raspberries so the chance to try and review the Cacao nib raspberry coulis was right up my alley. Even the kids were excited about it.

We decided to try it on some ice cream. On opening the jar I could smell a strong raspberry smell, but I could also smell a hint of chocolate. It smelt good. I poured a small amount over the hokey pokey ice cream. I took a bite and was a bit surprised. To me it had a very strong taste, a bit too strong for me. I scrapped some off to the side and continued eating. This weakened the flavour a little but it still wasnt what I was expecting. The rest of the family on the other hand loved the coulis. Only one of them noticed a chocolatey taste.

The serving size is recommended 30g or 11 serves in the bottle. We served four and only used down to the base of the neck of the bottle. I'm sure we will get more than the 11 serves. I also noticed that it contained lemon juice, carrot and black current concentrate as natural colour and flavor. Maybe this has given it the stronger taste, I'm not sure. It was good to see that there is 25% raspberries though.

The bottle is beautifully presented and clear and I think it is priced well at $4.99. I have a couple of ideas to try with the remaining coulis. I would like to try to make something like a chocolate raspberry brownie and to use it on some other dessert like maybe a cheesecake. I think these will work well and might work better for me with the rich strong taste.

I adore fresh raspberries, so I welcomed the opportunity to try Barker's new version. Although I am not a great fan of chocolate, the cacao nibs are something else. They are relatively unprocessed, and contain lots of goodies like essential minerals and antioxidants which are not always present in other chocolate products. They are also not as sweet as regular chocolate, which appeals to my food preferences. It is interesting to see this combination as I am familiar with strawberries being served with a chocolate product but would not have considered it as a complementary food for raspberries.

When we opened the bottle, all of us noticed a different effect. My daughter said the first thing she registered was a very strong chocolate smell. My son-in-law and Mr Nine thought it gave off an overwhelming and very pungent smell of raspberries. As for me, my initial response was that it smelled of oranges! We all tasted a little on a teaspoon and again everyone responded differently. Mr Nine thought it was a bit too sweet for him, and far too strongly flavoured, but his sister said it was just right and she described it as sweet with a creamy texture. My son-in-law, like Mr Nine, thought it was too sweet. My daughter and I both liked it and were pleasantly surprised to taste the tiny pieces of chocolate nibs as we had expected a coulis to be completely smooth.

I took the bottle home with me as I was going to use some of the coulis to prepare a dip to take to a potluck lunch next day. The dipping items were cooked chicken wings and potato wedges (both served hot). The dip itself consisted of a good helping of raspberry coulis, a dash each of chipotle pepper, paprika and hot sauce, and half a teaspoon of garlic salt - all to taste, of course. The result was a sweet and spicy dip with the intriguing tang of a chocolatey after-taste which caused some comment as people asked for the recipe!

Two days later I returned to my daughter's place so they could try out the rest of the product. We debated just serving it on ice-cream but there was none left. Next, we considered using it as a filling for steamed doughnuts but thought it might be too runny. So we decided to use it as a topping on semolina. This is a dessert that the children do not especially like because it does not have much flavour. We served it in bowls and added a little pool of the coulis to each one. My daughter liked the texture which was just right for pouring; it came out of the bottle easily without spattering all over the surface of the dessert. The chocolatey bits melted with the heat of the just-cooked semolina and the children delighted in swirling it around. All of us preferred the coulis this way; using it as a topping diluted the very strong initial flavour although it was still quite rich.

It seems on reflection that this coulis is more of an adult taste but, as my daughter said, the kids have plenty of options. Whereupon she opened her fridge door to display an impressive range of other Barker's products!

If there is one thing I love about desserts it is either fruit itself or a good fruit sauce so I was excited to see this new range of dessert sauce by Barkers. Having used so many of Barkers products I knew I wouldn't be dissapointed with the new sauces. Barkers products to me have both quality ingredients and a homestyle taste and feel which I love. Also being a New Zealand company I love to support the company and its products.

I love the bottle style that these sauces come in, the labelling is elegant yet simple and I love the accompaning hand drawn pictures and serving suggestions. With some products I find myself wanting to transfer the contents to a nice jug or dish to serve to guests but I am happy to serve Barkers products straight from their own bottles as they carry an appearance suitable for entertaining guests. The opening of the bottles is fairly large for someone like me using a dessert sauce is great as you can pour a generous topping easily although for someone wanting to be a bit more conservative with their pouring this does take a bit more effort in tilting the bottle just the right amount to ensure a slow small pouring of the sauce.

Raspberry coulis is a sauce I have always enjoyed I love the taste and texture of raspberries and a coullis style sauce with all the elements of the fruit itself is a delight to the tastebuds, adding a touch of cacao made this sauce a little bit special adding a bitter chocolate hint without overpowering the raspberries. Raspberry is a great flavour to have with chocolate so while the sauce with the cacao is brilliant on its own with a vanilla icecream I found it excellent to serve with a chocolate brownie dessert. The raspberry cut through the chocolate taste creating that contrast you need to not get overwhelmed by the richness of the chocolate.

My children like to bake on a sunday ready for the school week so also chose to make muffins with a dollop of this sauce as a surprise in the centre. They may of had a couple, or even a few of the muffins not make their way to the lunchboxes that week as this was such a great addition to a basic muffin recipe creating an irrestible home baked treat. In fact I am sure you could find lots of ways to use this sauce to create both desserts and sweet baked treats.

One thing I do love about the Barkers Bottles, besides the word being etched in the bottle, is the label. I find it so exciting how it has pictures as examples on how to use the sauce. It also gives all the nutrional information and informs that there is no added preservatives and its gluten free. I personally find the bottle oozes sophistication and if I was at the supermarket forced with a choice I would always go Barkers purely for the bottle itself.

I was a little wary with this flavour as I usually find Coulis over powering in restaurants, when ordering desserts. So the first time I used it I was very sparse on the serving. I quickly found out that was a mistake - so started using more per serving. I have to say huge fan on the taste it has just that right portion of sweetness. It works perfectly with meringues and ice-cream or just with cream.

The first time using I smashed some meringues up and had layers of meringue, vanilla ice-cream then some sauce (only used a tiny bit) then continued till my parfait glass was fill and topped with cream and some grated flake chocolate. Delicious and it was then I found out the sauce was a winner. The next night I made a banana split with 2 vanilla scoops of ice cream covered in this sauce followed with cream - licked the bowl clean.

I find the sauce doesn't over power the meal and just adds another element to it. It is not a punch in the face more a subtle sweetness that the whole family has enjoyed. I find the price is spot on and considering the amount I have used so far I am more than happy to purchase again. Definitely won my family over!
L

I enjoy berries, I've always liked the flavours but I have never enjoyed all the seeds and pips that come with such lovely tastes. According to the label, this bottle will give you eleven servings, of course that all depends on how much you use and what for... Giving it a sniff it smells of berry chocolate and indeed that ingredients list does state that there is 2% of cacao in this, I was surprised that there isn't more in it by the smell of it. Looking at the contents, I could see the seeds, so I was a little put off but began to think of what we could use this for.

We decided to make some jam cookies with this, it went well in the oven and tasted nice with the biscuit, my kids chowed them down and didn't leave any left. My eldest decided to add some to his ice cream but found that it didn't quite work with her first choice, mint choc chip, but when he used it on a plain vanilla ice cream, it worked well. We've used this on ice cream as well and used it to make some frosting for cupcakes, so it has proven it has multiple uses and the kids have all enjoyed it so I may well but if for them. Myself, I found it had just a tad too much hint of cacao, could have done without it and I didn't like the seeds at all.