Here we have the Gubor Winter Apfel, which I discovered on a shopping trip to TK Maxx recently. They sell an array of interesting European chocolates there but this caught my eye as it looks similar to Terry's Chocolate Orange . But because of the name "Winter Apfel" I thought it might be apple flavoured. How cool would that be?! Unfortunately, it isn't. Boo hoo! In reality it is "Finest milk chocolate with hazelnut and gingerbread flavour" in the shape of an apple, and is made by German company Gubor

I loved the presentation of this. It comes in a little box similar to chocolate orange, but once opened it fans out:Looks cool, huh? It also has a little "apple leaf" decoration in the top of the "apple". For some reason this brought out the kid in me, I love novelty stuff like this! :)When I removed the wrapper I found this isn't a "solid" chocolate that needs slamming on a hard surface to break it up, like with Chocolate Orange. Instead it comes in individually separated pieces:The word "Gubor" and some little stars are imprinted onto each piece, adding to the special feel of the product. You get the sense that Gubor have put a lot of care and attention into the Winter Apfel.Onto the taste then. The chocolate is smooth and creamy and melts very easily in the mouth, which reminds me a bit of Lindt Extra Creamy. However, I wasn't too impressed with the flavour. It tasted almost exactly like Lebkuchen biscuits, which I have never really liked. Strong notes of ginger dominated the chocolate, which personally I found a bit sickly. I couldn't detect any hazelnut.This Winter Apfel set me back £2.99 at Tk Maxx which isn't cheap, but if like me you love novelty products I'm sure you'd love these. There was a chocolate and orange version which I wish I had picked up too - I'm sure it would've been more to my taste. Hopefully they're still around and reduced in price in the new year.Overall I would say this is an excellent product, both quality and novelty-wise, and would surely bring a smile to any scrooges face! Personally I would opt for the orange version next time. Now, if only they did an actual *apple* flavoured version...Have you tried the Winter Apfel before? If so what did you think?