It was a beautiful sunny day when I drove down to Henley on Thames to visit the award-winning Gorvett and Stone shop. They have recently moved to new premesis across the street from the old shop.  I don’t know why but I imagined a small dark shop, with the inside painted indigo and turquoise packed to the gills with chocolates. I found something slightly different…

I visited mere days after they had sold out of almost everything for Easter. In fact, they had also only just opened after having a new floor laid.  As such there was a lot of work happening around me, a lot of chocolate being made, cinder toffee and so much going on but Matt & Elinor still made time for me. It was amazing.

The kitchen is huge and when I arrived, I came just at the perfect time to watch the exploding flogs being made. They have a massive kitchen and they supply some exclusive names including Fortnum & Mason. Their flavours like Eaton Mess and their house truffles are extremely popular and the people of Henley beat a steady path to their door for chocolates, tea and hot chocolate.

They sell their own fresh chocolates as well as Valrhona, Michael Cluziel and other chocolate bars. They have Turkish delight and hand-made marshmallows.  The fresh cream in their truffles and ganaches comes straight from a local dairy called Lacey’s Family Farm. The dairy actually produce the cream to a precise percentage of “creaminess” so that they can make consistently awesome chocolates.

They have a series of tempering machines and are passionate about making great chocolates. They are constantly innovating and thinking about what to do next. They have a lot of chocolates already quite unique and I got to try a number of them…

The milk chocolate truffle with sea salt is made with Jivara milk chocolate with a pinch of sea salt. This bar is really interesting and has a fairly sweet flavour but rich and flavourful. I think I could have eaten a box but next I tried the delightful mint with a lovely crystallised mint leaf on top. Delicious and green and lovely – my favourite kind of mint. Then I had the house truffle. This is a solid but airy, bubbly but crumbly truffle. A different chocolate truffle with a great flavour the house was delightful but the Grand Marnier truffle had that alcohol kick with a bit of citrus.

The exploding frogs cooled and out of their moulds, they were piled high ready for packaging. I am now the proud owner of an exploding frog which I shall review later as well as a whole bag of salted caramels – YUM!

Askinosie won silver at the Academy of Chocolate awards with this bar and I think that most would agree that it was well deserved.  This dark milk chocolate bar is made with cocoa beans from Davao, Philippines and contains 62% cocoa liquor. They add organic sugar, goat’s milk powder and a touch of Fleur de Sel sea salt to create something unique.

I love Askinosie chocolate. They work *directly* with farmers and while they are doing small batches compared to Green & Blacks, they are buying a *lot* of beans from the farms direct and that means a better life for the farmers and their staff. This is miles better and way beyond fair trade – this is better than just giving farmers a slightly better price for their beans – this is giving farmers a lot more money for their beans. And the Philippines – who else is making this much stuff from cocoa from the Philippines? They do a chocolate/hazelnut spread, a few bars and more.

On the website, they have listed the tasting notes as petal, almond, hints of vanilla, creme brulee, caramel, mellow, toasted oats with a salty finish. I got creamy milk and a slight hint of what might be over roasted beans but could be toasted oats or maybe toasted oats and toasted almonds. I doubt anyone else would get that though as they would be caught up in the delicious chocolaty flavour with the unique creamy flavour.  It is a very different bar and one that I think is going to convert people from milk chocolate to dark chocolate.

By adding less sugar to the bar it is a healthier milk chocolate. By using goats milk it is safe for lots more people to eat. By making it with ethical chocolate it simply makes it the only milk chocolate you should be buying. So go off, buy a dozen bars and keep this one in your hand bag, briefcase, desk drawer, etc. and make it your milk chocolate bar of choice!

I’ve been in love with Lauden chocolates for awhile. I love the clear perspex boxes, I love the shape of the chocolate, I love the transfer and I love the flavours. As you may know, I’ve actually reviewed the two winners of the Academy of Chocolate awards, an award judged by people who specialise in chocolate and so know good chocolate when they taste it.

You can imagine my joy when I received in the post a whole box of 20 of these chocolates. I feel like I could live on these at times but the flavours are delicious and distinct. Lauden use no artificial flavourings (or preservatives) and they don’t use thickening agents meaning the lovely thick lemon, raspberry, sour cherry and other flavours are thick and lovely because of the skill Sun Trigg has in making these reductions. I have to admit, I think that at around £14.30 for a box of 20, these are really reasonably priced chocolates.

I know Sun is a perfectionist. In fact, her quest for the perfect brownie has been an obsessive one and one which does not include flour at times as the one I tried had no flour. These chocolates do demonstrate the quest for perfection both Sun and her husband Stephen are on and the many awards they have won demonstrate just how successful that quest has been.  The selection box included most flavours and was an exciting discovery of flavours.

I have already reviewed the sea salt caramel and single origin gold award winners and so I gobbled the sea salt caramel which is LUSH and focused on the other flavours.

Lychee & Rose – with bits of lychee still in the reduction, this is an amazing clocolate. The rose is delicate and not at all overpowering so there isn’t that sense of eating perfume I have experienced with some chocolates. The lychee flavour is distinct but not overpowering and the chocolate is delightful.

Marc de Champagne – I couldn’t stop myself reaching for this. Lightly flavoured chocolate ganache with marc de champagne means it is distinctly flavoured with that distinctive alcohol flavour without being overpowering.

Mediterranean Orange – this has that initial distinct flavour of the essential oil of the orange as though you had just pealed an orange and taken a piece of chocolate. Fresh and distinctive and yet fleeting, this orange chocolate is delicately flavoured and yet distinctly delicious.

Raspberry & Rose – this starts sharply sour just as I like it with a hint of rose with the raspberry and wow – just an explosion of flavours in your mouth with raspberry seeds still in there you know these flavours are real with expensive rose essential oil combining with sharp raspberry to create a single flavour. Delicious!

Sour Cherry – gosh I just love this fruit reduction! Sharp sour cherry just makes my mouth water as the chocolate and pieces of cherry combine together to make you pucker and yet are delicious with a fairly clean finish.

Lemon – a delightful lemon which is sweet and citrusy and fresh and yet not as acidic or sour as you might have expected. It is really a lot sweeter than I would have expected and yet still retains that distinctly citrus flavour which lingers.

Fresh Mint – I love the taste of fresh mint and this for me is like the ultimate After Eight. The ganache is smooth and flavoured with a lovely mint flavour with just the right amount to make it perfectly minty. Just the ultimate after dinner mind and I’d buy a box as a hostess gift (if I ever went anywhere )

Passion Fruit – I saved the best for last. This is fruity, sour, flavourful and absolutely distinctly delightful. I don’t know how she does it but from start to finish this is just the most amazing chocolate and the most amazing fruit filling. Delicious, distinct and delightful this is an absolutely delicious chocolate and Sun and her team should be proud of the flavours.

All in all this selection box is filled to the brim with absolutely delicious chocolates. I love the box itself with its clear top and sides so you can clearly see the chocolates and their decorations making it a work of art as well as delicious chocolates. No matter whether you buy a single flavour or a mixed selection, you won’t go wrong with Lauden.

I was lucky enough to be in London at the weekend and had time to go shopping. I stopped by William Curley and had a hot choc and a lovely dessert however I was gifted with some of these wonderful nostalgia treats to review.  They are unique and using Amadei chocolate along with hand-made elements means that these are some of the stars of the William Curley range.

Nostalgia Jaffa Cake – the website says “Our version of a Jaffa Cake. Genoise sponge topped with homemade seville orange marmalade and chocolate ganache, coated in Toscano 70% dark chocolate.” I have to say I’m not a huge Jaffa cake fan but holy cow was this awesome! I had promised most to husband but I found myself regretting the decision. I wanted to eat all of this delightful combination of sharply tart hand-made orange marmalade, sweet ganache and delightful sponge. The interplay of flavours was like nothing I had expected. The sharp orange came first really before the sweet ganache snuck in there. The sponge didn’t really change the flavours but helped cleanse the palette I feel after each mouthful (if which I’d say there are around four).

This take on the Jaffa Cake was like nothing I had expected and I sadly gave half of it to husband but I did have another treat up my sleeve…

Millionaire Shortbread – The William Curley website simply says “Traditional all-butter shortbread topped with sea salt caramel and coated in Toscano 66% dark chocolate” I feel like this is a missed opportunity to say something like “deeply buttery shortbread which remains stable before melting in your mouth, set off against a delightful thick and almost chewy salted caramel, making it less sweet, slathered thickly with a Toscano 66% Amadei chocolate”. Readers will know I am consistently disappointed with Amadei but likely I just get a bad bar or batch each time. The chocolate here is just a supporting act against this most amazing shortbread and delicious caramel.

Regular readers know my favourite caramel is the Paul A Young caramel with its sharply acidic chocolate shell and rich, delicious and deep salted caramel. The caramel here is chewier but a close contender for my favourite caramel.

Overall, these two chocolate delights were phenomenal. They cost £3.50 each but as I hope you can see they are sizable and they are extremely well made with high quality ingredients.

This Easter, why not forgo the usual cheap, crappy chocolate egg and invest in something that isn’t just delicious but is good for the environment!  Why not buy an egg that helps stop deforestation because for each Easter egg that you buy, 4 trees are replanted.

The amazing Virunga chocolate from the Congo is also part of a conservationist project which has proven to have drastically changed the lives of the plantation workers. From the ground-up Original Beans has developed this first-ever single-origin cacao from war-torn Eastern Congo. They have established nurseries, created many training programmes, and replanted forests to help farmers rebuild their livelihoods and communities.  This in turn helps them help to protect Virunga National Park, Africa’s oldest nature reserve and home of the last Mountain Gorillas on earth.

This 300g Egg is made entirely from Virunga chocolate (68%) from Original Beans, and is filled with 5 mini golden eggs, which are in turn, filled with Cru Virunga Water Ganache.  This chocolate develops quickly with several distinct flavours all attempting to gain prominence in your mouth. The subtle interplay just isn’t here as swirls of tobacco jostle with red fruits. The melt is moderately quick and it finishes cleanly with the lingering flavour of blackcurrant most strongly finishing off a piece in the mouth.

See that bubble wrap in chocolate? The first time I encountered bubble wrap was at the Gu puddings launch where head chef Fred Ponnavoy had created chocolate bubble wrap, chocolate masks, chocolate leaves and more. This bubble wrap is a little different and a lot more fun. There is a lovely secret inside the chocolate bubble wrap – POPPING CANDY! That’s right – you can pop the chocolate bubble wrap by letting it melt and let the popping begin!

Stop eating buy one get two free Easter eggs from supermarkets who use low quality beans, with extra sugar and oil instead of cocoa butter. Get an egg for the family this year that does environmental good, tastes amazing, has small, shareable eggs inside it and is delicious with that special secret for the kids – popping candy.

This egg though is only available for collection from places like Liberty’s that sells Damian Allsop chocolates and at the chocolate festivals one of which is happening in London on March 30 – April 1 (no joke )

I have to be the single most lucky woman in the world. I have TWO TRAYS of the world’s best mini Easter eggs from Pierre Marcolini.

Small Eggs Grand Crus – oh my goodness! Dark chocolate deliciousness in four purely desirable chocolate ganaches.  The website only makes it sound more desirable “Try an exclusive assortment of small eggs presenting various exceptional cocoa estates and regions. These are no ordinary eggs! You will be surprised by the delicacy of the butter cream and the intensity of the flavours, which will thrill your palate like a fine wine. Simplicity and great art. (Pierre Marcolini, Venezuela, Ecuador and Caribbean)”

Chuao (Venezuela) – The smell is distinct and enticing. The shell is thin and the fruity acidity of the chocolate comes immediately through as the ganache quickly melts. Red fruits just erupts through and lingers and lingers. What an absolute joy!

Pierre Marcolini – Interesting flavour with a blend of yellow fruits and a chocolate flavour, this egg melts quickly with a light brownie flavour. It finishes cleanly and leaves your palette refreshed.

Los Rios (Ecuador) – Interesting purple fruits with an almost smoky flavour heavy with ripe fruit. This is an intense flavour that assaults your palette full on and pushed that raisin flavour all over your mouth before a lingering brownie flavour coats your tongue to leave you satisfied for hours.

Cariabe -  a kind of yellow fruit flavour with the chocolate which is hints at more but settles at just a moderated chocolate flavour.

This tray is well worth getting two of!

Small Praline Eggs – I’m not the world’s biggest praline lover but as you can see there are six different ones I tried. From the red ones to the white ones and everything in-between, they were an interesting mix. The website says “Six small praline eggs to delight everyone with a soft spot for the great classics. Chocolate fans will love the subtle flavours, and appreciate the perfect balance: not to heavy, not too sweet… The pralines are made with exceptional ingredients, for a delicate sensation of sweetness and finesse. (Old-fashioned praline, double milk, nougat, coffee and pistachio nut praline)”

Well… I tried to identify them individually but just ate them instead… especially once I hit the double milk one after the nougat one…

I cannot recommend the Grand Crus highly enough and the pralines with six different flavours is just amazing. If only they didn’t go off in a month… I want to buy enough to last a year… JOY!

matcha chocolat eggs image from the Match Chocolat site

I’ve been a fan of Katie since she started down the road from my home in Oxfordshire. Her tea chocolates have evolved and while she has added more than just tea, she has also evolved the chocolate she chooses.  The chocolate she chooses and how she creates her chocolates has meant they are now simply stunning and rival some of the top chocolatiers.

This Easter, Katie has created some really awesome eggs that are meant to be enjoyed in different ways. You can either eat each side of the egg individually or eat them together. Katie has created them to work well either way and they certainly do. They are all delicious but the sea salt caramel was something really special…

The set of 12 eggs, each weighing in at 24grams, come in four distinct flavour combinations: Venezuelan Ganache /Pecan Feullantine, Tonka Bean Caramel/Venezuelan Ganache, Pistachio Ganache/Pistachio Marzipan, and Sea Salt Caramel/Hazelnut. Each one is unique and totally different. These are unique and something totally new and the flavours are totally amazing.

Venezuelan Ganache /Pecan Feullantine – beautiful iridescent blue striped egg – This is amazing! I loved the two flavours combined together but I found them individually even better, The pecan feullantine is just amazing and the flavours really spark in the mouth. The subtle, almost maple flavour of the pecan in with the crunchy feullantine against the blended chocolate is just perfect. The Venezuelan ganache was just gorgeous on its own full of red fruits and sharp acidic tang briefly flitting across your tongue before it mellows into a bold brownie flavour.

Pistachio Ganache/Pistachio Marzipan – blue speckled egg – well, I guess in the ‘something for everyone’ category, this certainly ticks the boxes. I am not a huge fan of this one but I can certainly appreciate the extremely high quality of boththe pistachio marzipan and pistachio ganache. The marzipan is perfectly created with a slight firmness and yet no wetness. It can be shaped and is perfectly flavoured for marzipan lovers and pistachio lovers alike. The Pistachio ganache perfectly complements the marzipan, pulling the flavour through to the ganache in a balanced but flavourful way. The flavour of the pistachio is distinct and yet brilliantly and expertly balanced against the chocolate itself, with neither boasting too much emphasis.

Tonka Bean Caramel/Venezuelan Ganache – iridescent pink striped egg – this is one that surprised me. The tonka bean was quite pronounced but with the ganache it calms it quite a bit with the tonka and ganache together becoming a softer floral. The chocolate here has a bit of a sharp note as it combines with the tonka but that really does surface as the dominant flavour. I’m still not 100% a tonka fan but this is certainly one I will eat. Individually I find the muscavado-like flavour of the caramel more pronounced and the tonka almost less-so. It was as though having less chocolate make the tonka flavour almost soften. The ganache on its own is still delicious and soft and silky and just as sexy as all heck.

Sea Salt Caramel/Hazelnut Feullantine – pink and red speckles – interesting….together the sea salt caramel and hazelnut feullantine create an interesting flavour in the mouth. The crunch and soft flowing caramel are delicious and a surprising combination. The flowing creamy caramel is delicious and yummy and the hazelnut just sets it off perfectly. The hazelnut feullantine on its own is interesting. I’m not getting too much hazelnut in the praline and so together with the feullantine it’s actually delicious on its own. The caramel on its own is creamy yumminess and delightful. The shell plus the creamy caramel with salt is just delicious. Getting close to Paul A Young in the running for my favourite sea salt caramel.

All in all this is an Easter egg selection you’re going to want to buy several of. One to give, one to hide and one to eat. These are absolutely worth every penny of the price and then some.  Make the choice this Easter to select high quality eggs to share with the kids or adults. Say no to crap and yes to high quality, hand made, artisan filled chocolate eggs.

Golden Caramel Eggs – I bought these eggs at the Oxford chocolate festival. So delicious! These little half eggs are a decadent, oozy muscavado caramel ganache encased in Damian Allsop’s house 70% chocolate. They have thin shells and are perfect to snack on.

As you can see, the caramel ganache is quite dark and thick and does not run once I have cut it in half. In fact, it would almost be a solid but as you bite into it, you can tell it is meltingly delicious. The clocolate doesn’t hinder the experience of the caramel and it is quite dark and distinct, making it more caramel than chocolate. Delicious!  These are a real treat and much nicer than other caramel eggs you can buy at the supermarket and better for you.  Why not treat yourself and your body to something a bit better this Easter?

Peanut Praline & Feuilletine Eggs – I was given these at the same chocolate festival for me to review and they are extremely different.  The peanut praline is something quite different – it isn’t peanut butter but is still a smooth nut paste. It has had feuillitine added to it to give it something crunchy and yet thin and non-intrusive.

Both of these small eggs are fun and certainly better for you with high quality chocolate, made from some of the best chocolate around for Easter. Whether you like nuts or caramel, these are both delicious.

You can pick these up from the Chocolate Festival in London

This Easter there are a lot of eggs for adults around. In fact, it seems like Easter is as much for adults as it is for kids these days! What that means is there for adults (and kids) there is a whole lot more quality around.  One of the most luxurious eggs this year comes from Demarquette who have decided for their theme at Easter to go with the ocean world.

This Demarquette chocolate Easter egg is fantastic. It is a stunning work of art as well as delicious. The egg is, as you can see, in two parts.  The bottom part has been created beautifully in thin, delicious dark chocolate.  The dark chocolate shell is quite sturdy and the blue disks are chocolate as well. The sea horses are chocolate and filled with caramel and the top is chocolate with the whole thing covered in white chocolate velvet coloured coral orange,

The egg is 20 centimetres tall and entirely edible right down to the supporting base of the egg that keeps it right side up. They are hand made using the unique Demarquette Pure Blend of single origin smooth chocolate. It isn’t too complex and so I think that most folk are going to like it. A smooth chocolaty flavour, with a hint of brownie, it is yummy. Then you have this colonnade of six hand painted seahorses filled with sweet caramel which supports the top half of the egg. The seahorses don’t hold too much caramel and each is lightly sealed so you can easily break them in half.

The seahorses are delicious though. The chocolate and the sea salt caramel are perfectly yummy. The sea salt caramel is thick and delicious, with darker hints and the chocolate doesn’t get in the way of enjoying the caramel. The whole sea horse if more than a mouthful but breaking it in half is easy.

The egg itself is delicious and the seahorses are delicious as well. This is a beautiful, delicate and 100% totally edible egg. Why not choose an egg made from less sugar and without added vegetable oil, making it a healthier choice than most eggs this Easter.

I remember seeing “Cuba” on the shelf in the bean storage shed at Pierre Marcolini’s factory and thinking “beans from Cuba? No f-ing way” but I said nothing. It was Emmanuel who was both my tour guide and my translator while I was at the Pierre Marcolini factory who explained that the woman who does all the buying for Pierre Marcolini negotiated for over two years in order to get her hands on these beans.

I had the most amazing time and am hugely grateful to Pierre Marcolini for inviting me into his factory to correct my misunderstanding that the hazelnut bars at Selfridges had bloomed when, in fact, it was the natural oil from the extremely high quality hazelnuts they use simply coming through.

The pods contain white and purple beans due to the cross between Criollo and Forastero. Forastero beans are, unfairly I think, often dismissed by chocolate lovers as an inferior bean. The Baracoa estate is a real gold mine and is defended tooth and nail by Urbano, who is in charge of the itinerant drying and fermentation camps. There are still some pure Criollo strands which were used in the original cross between criollo and forastero. Pierre Marcolini were the first to be allowed to import beans from Cuba since the embargo.

The area this chocolate comes from is quite interesting. This territory has almost 30,000 hectares of heritage forests: two thirds is natural, the rest is planted. The local Forest Enterprise is one of the nation’s largest and leading in the sustainable production of hardwood, mainly cedar and some mahagony. It is also an area for bird watching with a huge array of birds that find a home here.  Baracoa produces around 75 percent of the country’s total cocoa production which is harvested March to June and September to February, leaving only three months when cocoa is not harvested.

So on to the actual taste of the chocolate… Holy freeking cow. Suh-weet even at 78% with a hint of honeyed smoke so subtle even I like it. There is a delicious dried red cherry flavour that starts this bar (one of my favourites) and it evolves into so much more while still staying sweet. Honeyed tobacco leaves play on your tongue warming your palette ever so slightly before the acidity mingles with it to alter it into some delightfully delicious dried fruit. I think I just died and went to heaven. Sorry Soma Chuao – I think I might have a new favourite

I tell you no word of a lie when I say that I loved this bar so much it brought tears to my eyes. I swear it was that good that I teared up and worried husband who thinks I’m a fool for getting tearful over a chocolate bar but then tried some and was shocked by how good it was.  If *I* am getting tearful over this chocolate, imagine how good it must be. No wonder they demanded (and got) the whole shipment of this bar.  The chocolate develops well but in a bit of a mind-blowing way. I had trouble concentrating. Going back for more, that sweet honey flavour (there is no added honey) comes out in the scent as well as the initial flavour before the intense red cherries that come through right away. The tobacco comes in the middle of the melt as the cherries drop back slightly and there comes the acidity in a little more force.

What more can I say but that I will be buying more of these bars for myself. Not only is Pierre’s chocolate spread an orgasm in a jar, this Cuban chocolate bar gave me a mind-gasm.  If you’re like me and you like red fruits, honey and complexity, go and buy some before this limited edition runs out.