Note: these make a nice gift for me.
For my birthday, my Mom got me a box of Hedgehogs. They’re hazlenut chocolate inside chocolate that is shaped like a little caricature of a hedgehog, which is an animal. I should know, I used to have a pet hedgehog.
This all started because I used to read books about a wonderful place called Fern Hollow, which had nice little stories and pictures of mice wearing pants, and turtles wearing bowties, and everyone had cute english accents and had small problems. There was a family, the Willowbanks, who were hedgehogs. I couldn’t pronounce “Willowbank”, bless me, so I called their son, a bit of a scoundrel, Spike Bee-a-bank.
This led to a strange fascination with hedgehogs, and at some point I became enamored with having a pygmy hedgehog as a pet. This happened, thanks to some locals who were happy to sell me one of their brood. Almost… too happy… Yes, as it turns out, hedgehogs make terrible pets. They are spikey, jumpy, fast, rude, and poopy/pee-y. Also, they sleep all day, and ram into the bars of their cage all night. That is the hedgehog way.
But when you turn a hedgehog into chocolate and shrink it down, an amazing thing happens. You can put them in a box and sell them. Then people buy them at the store, and give them to me for my birthday. And I enjoy them very slowly for the next few weeks.
CONCEPT: 4/5 – Buying me hedgehogs is nice, but I DON’T want this to turn into something that everyone does for every occasion! Not even as a joke, like “hey, let’s buy Justin chocolate because he said he didn’t want us to.” NO! Only buy it because you think it would make a good gift. That being said, I will never complain about having too many, so it’s really up to you.
INNOVATION: 2/5 – Now that I’ve taken all the surprise out of it… Speaking of surprises, they come in this triangular box that totally gives away the gift before you even open it. This marks the second time I’ve written about triangular chocolate.
SATISFACTION: 3/5 – Well, it’s hard not to be. Although I do like dark chocolate too.
EXECUTION: 3/5 – It’s hard to mess up, but you could accidentally buy a triangular box of hedgehog entrails, so we’ll have to wait and see how this pans out.
FUN FACTOR: 3/5 – They’re fun to eat. It’s like eating a small, delicious part of my disappointing childhood obsession.
OVERALL: 7/10 – They’re pretty tasty.
I love the sound of choc hedgehogs. Beware the repetitive chocolate gift though. I could only eat white chocolate for a long period and every birthday or Xmas I would get what seemed like a lifetimes supply of white chocolate in all shapes and sizes. That get’s very sickly and offputting after a very short while.
update yer site u jerk
Hedgehogs rule! I found your blog while looking for a recipe to make the chocolate hedgehogs that I saw in a catalog. I wanted to send some to my son for Christmas (he’s deployed in Afghanistan). He likes hedgehogs too and wanted to get a pet one but they are illegal to have in Arizona where he’s stationed and here in Maine, his home. They are CUTE! Anyway, the candies in the cataolg were $10. for 3! Too much, so I’m going to try and make some. I did find a recipe. If they don’t come out I’ll buy some because he’s worth it! Do you know where your Mom buys hers (yours)? Have you been inundated with other “hedgehog” gifts? I sent my son a little stuffed toy one and I think he thought it was funny. Anyway, I liked your blog, it made me smile. -Beth