Cream Nougat Bell – 5 pcs.

Cream Nougat Bell by Sawade with light cream nougat

The Cream Nougat Bell from Sawade is a bell-shaped milk chocolate praline, filled with light cream nougat and wrapped in purple foil. It is the mild variety among the house's tree ornaments that children reach for first.

Cream Nougat Bell is the mildest praline in the edible tree decoration range from Sawade in Berlin-Reinickendorf: milk chocolate on the outside, light nougat made from roasted hazelnuts and cream on the inside. We pack five bells into a cellophane bag with an ivory ribbon before they leave our premises. Each one weighs 16g and is wrapped in purple foil. The golden cord is already attached to the top so that the bell can be hung directly on the branch.

A nougat that lingers on the tongue

The milk chocolate shell gives way at the first touch, much sooner than a dark one, and underneath lies a filling that melts rather than breaks. The cream in the nougat ensures that it remains soft longer and melts more slowly than the house's dark varieties. A 16g piece therefore lasts longer than it looks.

Creamy, velvety, gently roasted – despite the cream, the hazelnut remains the star and is merely cushioned more softly. Dark chocolate would clash with this filling, but milk chocolate complements it; that is why the bell is, in the end, nougat and not filled milk chocolate. Those who find dark chocolate too bitter will find this the perfect variety, as it contains no bitterness at all.

The purple stands out clearly against the green of the branches, which is why you will immediately spot the bells between the pinecones and nuts. The crinkled foil catches every bit of candlelight and reflects it in small folds. On a gift, the golden cord replaces any bow, and on a set table, there is a bell next to every place setting.

First it's roasted, then the cream is added

For the light nougat, the hazelnuts are first put into the roaster, then into the mill, and finally onto the roller, where they are processed until they are completely smooth. Only when the mixture is fine is the cream added, turning the dark foundation into the light version. The longer it is rolled, the more velvety the filling becomes, and the less the tongue notices the hazelnut as a grain.

The bell shape offers an advantage when hanging, as it balances itself out. A pinecone spins, a sphere rolls, but a bell hangs correctly from the very first moment. The hollow body is spun in-house; after cooling, it is filled and sealed, and then a pair of hands wraps every single bell individually in its purple foil.

Borrowed from a neighbor, remained in Berlin

Ladislaus Ziemkiewicz borrowed the company name from his neighbor, Marie de Savadé, in 1880. He learned the art of praline making in Paris and opened his first shop at Unter den Linden 19. In 1885, the company was granted the right to use the royal coat of arms as a purveyor to the court, and it has remained in Berlin ever since.

There are now eight branches in the city, and the production site is on Wittestraße in Reinickendorf. Around 75 people work there, and since 2013, Berlin's oldest praline manufacturer has been owned by Melanie and Benno Hübel. The house deliberately does without artificial flavors or preservatives as well as palm oil, so what remains is the handcraft you can see in every individually wrapped piece.

There is no alcohol in these bells, so they can safely hang within reach of small hands. However, milk chocolate softens more quickly than dark chocolate, which is why no bell should be placed above a burning candle.

The bell pairs perfectly with milk coffee, cocoa, and the hand that reaches deepest into the branches. Stored in a cool, dark, and dry place, it will keep until the holiday; in the refrigerator, the milk chocolate loses its melt-in-the-mouth quality. For something more intense, try the Gold Nuts made with dark nougat, or for a caramel flavor, the Roasted Almond Pinecones. See more from Reinickendorf at Sawade Berlin, along with the Christmas selection for the rest of the tree. It doesn't ring, but it's always the first to be found.