Treats from Switzerland

Here are some treats from Switzerland. Milk chocolate is the best known Swiss chocolate type Made with Alpine milk, Swiss chocolate is famous for its heavenly creamy texture. I am a dark chocolate lover and tend to avoid milk chocolate, which is usually too sweet for me. However, Läderach's luxurious Swiss chocolate was exception. Their Mini Mousses were sophisticated chocolate-coated marshmallows. Fresh, fluffy and light marshmallow-like mousse and a creamy fresh drop, such as grand cru chocolate, caramel, coconut truffle, strawberry cream, etc, were coated with fine chocolate specifically prepared to match the creamy fresh drop inside. They were a little sweeter than my preference but amusing. 

We also bought a bag of assorted FrischSchoggi, Läderach's signature product. FrischSchoggi, or Fresh Chocolate was born from the concept that every chocolate lover receive the piece of its desired size, broken off from the large, unique fresh-chocolate platter from their chocolatiers. I saw giant chocolate bars on the counter of the store. This bag was pre-packed and contained ten kinds of fresh chocolate bars, including milk chocolate, dark chocolate and white chocolate with nuts and fruits. They were delightful. Although each bar was pretty big, the entire bag disappeared super fast. 

Bündner Nusstorte by Confiserie Rieder in Interlaken was also wonderful. It's a traditional Swiss walnut cake, also known as Engadiner Torte, originating from from the canton of Graubünden in eastern Switzerland. The crust was lovely buttery. The filling was caramelized walnuts with honey and vanilla. Yum.

The bear-shaped almond cake from Berner Mandelbärli in Bern safely arrived home with us. It was cute and tasty. 

It was at a Coop supermarket in Wengen that I saw Appenzeller Bärli-Biber. I didn't know what the brown round slightly soft baked goods were but I fell in love with the adorable pictures on the package. I guessed it was a kind of sweets because I found them next to cookies and cakes. The product could be mischievously targeted for foreign tourists. I was exactly one of them anyway. I missed a chance to buy them there as well as another Coop in Grindelwald Terminal. When we stopped by a Coop in Interlaken, I was able to obtain two finally. 

Basically they were ginger bread, but could be my new favorite ginger bread. The soft moist dough was flavored with strong honey and selected spices and then filled with the almond and apricot paste. The texture of the dough and the filling both were smooth, which was completely different from German traditional ginger bread, Lebkuchen. Appenzeller Bärli-Biber is a specialty of the Canton of Appenzell in north-east Switzerland. According to the company that has been making the genuine Appenzell Bärli-Biber through the four generations, "as early as the 16th century, resourceful Appenzellers came up with the idea of ​​combining honey dough with a nut filling and embossing the pastry." They were very tasty. Why did I buy only two?  

Then, Swiss cheese! The four cheese that J chose at a cheesemonger, Chäs Fritz in Interlaken were Eiger Bergsteiger, Habken Alpkäse 2022, Brienzer Mutschli, and Grindelwalder Kräutermutschli, which were produced in the region and not commonly available outside of Switzerland. We had a lovely cheese platter with simple baguette, Cornichons and fresh sweet cherries. Each cheese tasted distinctive and all were superb. 

We were happy to discover delicious Switzerland!