As I was on my way to Canada Day celebrations at Trafalgar Sq, I stopped in at Paul A Young. It is always a treat to go there and the shop is *always* busy. On this day there were many people in the shop and the two young men handling the shop had to fetch Paul himself to help serve some customers. I was supposed to be just going in for brownies and fudge when I spotted this glorious looking confection.

I have long thought that the world would be a better place if there were larger sea salt caramels in it. I think both Pierre Marcolini and Paul A Young have the best sea salt caramel I’ve tasted and so I’m always hoping for larger and larger chocolates filled with it and here I found one!

As you can see, the cocoa pod is covered in an edible glow of a copper colour. Gorgeous. I split the pod along the seam as it seemed the sensible thing to so and revealed the delicious contents within. Look at that half a pecan is that not the most glorious thing you have ever seen?

The pecan is set into the sea salt caramel with is sealed into each half with a chocolate seal before the two halves are set together. As you can see, the pecan is perfect and there is a heck of a lot of caramel. So I levered the rest of the top off to reveal the rest of the sea salt caramel and licked the smallest little lick of caramel out. HEAVENLY BLISS! Of course I had some bites of the pecan with chocolate and sea salt caramel and it is just delicious. The sweet pecan really balances off nicely against the caramel and chocolate.

I think there were cocoa nibs in there as well – WOW! This is just great! I’m so glad I stopped by and got myself one of these and I’m so glad I did it before one of my fellow bloggers got to it

Well, I’ll never be able to diet again. A few very short steps from Hummingbird bakery, in a slightly different position than I thought they’d be, is the newest addition of the Paul A Young family – a bouncing baby shop

With the typical purple decorating the exterior and on the corner, it is difficult to miss this new shop. Inside all the chocolates are laid out in tantalisingly delicious arrays of colour and flavour in the middle of the shop, enabling anyone to walk around it and choose whatever flavours they want to take home with them.

The interior is lush with a wall of solid purple, cocoa pod wall paper and golden cocoa pods festooned around the shop like giant golden jelly beans. There is an entire side of the cookbook from Paul A Young and the chocolates are made fresh on site.

The kitchen in the cool lower level is immaculate. There is a cool storage area for supplies, a large kitchen working area with marble table tops and a storage area at the very back as well. Apparently therr may be chocolate classes in the downstairs in the future which would be awesome.

Not only is Paul A Young launching a new shop, they are launching a new summer collection! With weird and wonder flavours such as tomato, olive oil, and basil (surprisingly wonderful), St Germain liquor and elderflower (you’ll want dozens of this delicious refreshing treat), cocoa nibs in a 82% Mast Bros chocolate (somewhat acidic, sharp chocolate with a cocoa nib crunch) and Kernel Brewery stout chocolates (to die for with delicious loose ganache filling and covered in muscovado sugar) there is sure to be something for everyone.

It isn’t just the new flavours which are making an appearance here, the famous goat’s cheese chocolate is here near the popular marmite truffle, the champagne truffles and, my absolute all time favourite, the sea salt caramel. Readers of this blog will be aware that I have an eating guide to the sea salt caramel.

While the experience itself is worth a visit, the location near Hummingbird and one of my favourite Thai Green Curry take away places (Papaya) is sure to ensure a high amount of passing trade (as well as apparently people looking for stamps as the shop was a stationers for 80 years).

After being met with rave reviews, much as the Marmite XO bar was, I wade in to the fray with a less than glowing review due to purely personal taste. The Paul A Brown Brownie is amazing and I love it to bits. This one is like making a hot cross bun into a brownie. And there’s a reason I don’t eat hot cross buns either and that is one of pure personal taste.

I am sure many of you, my dear readers, will have fond memories of hot cross buns. Perhaps it is the taste of one, fresh out of the toaster, perhaps still piping hot, spread with a bit of butter and slowly bitten in to. The way that you first were greeted with the delightful smell of the hot cross bun, then the delightful textures and finally that heady mix of fat and sugar which drives our brains insane. I, regrettably have no such memories.

I have said many times – I’m not a fan of fruit in my chocolate and while Hotel Chocolat have converted me a bit, I’m still adjusting to my new found fruit-in-chocolate eating. It’s the raisins you see – I can’t take it when they are squidgy. I like them chewy but squidgy… well, all I can think is that I had a bad experience when I was a kid.

For those of you who were drooling at the thought of a toasted hot cross bun though, read on:
This brownie is an intense chocolaty hot cross bun. The chocolate brownie is trademark Paul A Young with the dense, thick, gorgeous flavour they always are but this time with an added depth of flavour from the sugar. The crust on top is speckled with marzipan at irregular intervals, giving everyone something to squabble over. The scent of the cinnamon and nutmeg are unmistakable as they rise up to greet your nose just before you pop a piece in your mouth and experience the fruit, marzipan and chocolate all combining together.

I’m confident that a lot of people are going to like this brownie. Heck, I think I’m the only person so far who has said she isn’t a massive fan of this brownie. So I know this is going to be a winner for Paul and he certainly deserves it. For those of us who just can’t take squidgy fruit in out brownies, there is still the caramel pecan and the plain brownie available so there’s just lots more for us!

Few things delight my heart as much as high quality chocolate from the likes of Paul A Young and so when I was gifted with a chocolate rose and chocolate hearts with rose water ganache (as in a water ganache with rose, not a ganache made from rose water )

As you can see, this rose water heart chocolate has an edible natural pigment on the chocolates.  This gives them a metallic rosy glow which is just beautiful and a welcome change from the usual tinted white chocolate.  Not that I am not in love with Pierre Marcolini’s chocolates but this is a welcome change.  The ganache inside is a water based ganache and so is dairy free and that means with the 62% dark Brazillian chocolate (a lovers chocolate!) this makes it the perfect gift for anyone.  In fact, if someone secretly in love with me wants to send me a box of 4 of these and 5 sea salt caramels from Paul’s shop, I won’t refuse the delivery!  The ganache is very loose and so biting into the chocolate is something that has to be undertaken with caution.  The Brazillian chocolate is delicious and while the rose essential oil does add that Turkish Delight element all I can think is how much more I want of these.
While the dark chocolate is slightly bitter, there is a sweetness to the ganache that balances it out.  There is a subtle acidic kick to the chocolate which leaves a pleasant tingling in the cheeks and that just adds to the enjoyment

When my secret admirer is sending me chocolates, I’d like for him/her to include some of these long-stemmed dark chocolate roses please.  I remember seeing them last year and thinking how there wasn’t a hope in heck I’d get a dozen of these for Valentine’s Day (and how I’d never be able to bring myself to eat them anyway).  They are absolutely beautiful and it broke my heart to have to cut into it for the review.  Tip – don’t bother cutting – break it open along the seam.  This is a 68% Ghanaian dark chocolate and oh how I love it.  I don’t taste the organic rose oil as distinctly as I did in the ganache here.  The dark chocolate is bold and the rose oil is a hint in the background you get as you let it melt in your mouth.  It hides in the flavour of the chocolate, peeking out in the taste as a delicate aftertaste that you catch a hint of after you finish a piece and have savoured it.  It is the whispered memory of the rose that lingers on your palette as your savour the anticipation of the next bite.

The rose water chocolate hearts had to meet my tough standards and they absolutely did.  They were delicious and strongly rose flavoured meaning there was a delicious rose flavour in each bite.  I loved them!  The rose… ah the rose was a joy to receive and it is a thick, solid dark chocolate and thus be careful when trying to bite into it.  The chocolate is delicious itself but the hint of rose essential oil you get at the end is just the icing on the cake.  I doubt husband will get me any of these roses for Valentine’s Day but a girl can dream…

You can buy these chocolates from one of Paul’s shops (remember to pick some up for me)

I don’t know how it is I haven’t reviewed these Paul A Young Sea Salt Caramels before since I eat them like candy.  I absolutely love these chocolates!

The shell is made from delicious dark chocolate in a dome shape so the top of the dome is thicker than the sides.  I say this to warn you really.  My other warning is that it is too big for a single bite but you need to approach this delicious chocolate strategically in order to enjoy it fully.

Turn the sea salt caramel chocolate upside down so you are looking at the base.  This has to be our approach.  Be careful not to squeeze this chocolate or you’ll have sea salt caramel all over your fingers (speaks the voice of experience).  Now, the base is sealed by a plug in the base (now the top) which is often thicker than the shell at this point.  I like to gently bite around the rim to ‘pop’ the plug out and scoop a small amount of caramel out with the base.  Now we have the structure of the shell intact with a missing bottom.  I suggest here biting the side and close to the top (at the moment, this is our bottom) but not through the top itself as this chocolate is often thicker.  Let the shell break but be careful about all the caramel – you don’t want to waste any.

Lovely, don’t you think? Absolutely lovely. I like to buy a few and have one or two per day as a treat.

This is my favourite sea salt caramel ever though I do munch on Artisan du Chocolat sea salt caramels an awful lot too…

Cornish wine producer, Mark Hellyar, and Chocolatier Paul A.Young have collaborated to produce a unique chocolate made using Chateau Civrac 2006 which is a ‘new claret’.   It is visually stunning.  The grapes are perfectly formed and the bottom is flat.  I used a two pound coin to show the sheer size of this as it retails at £3.95 but it is HUGE and well worth it.

Chateau Civrac, which is produced in the Bordeaux appellation of Côtes de Bourg, is a fruity, rich and long lasting ‘new claret’.  The wine is a fusion of the quality of the old world, but with the approachability of the new.  It’s a classic blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Malbec but made in a contemporary and honest style.

The scent of the chocolate is full and rich and delicious.  This huge chocolate is a beautiful delicious piece of mastery in design and taste.  I started at the end of the bunch of grapes, as any self-respecting wanna-be pampered princess would – as if being fed the grapes.  The intense chocolate hit as I bit in made me think it would be more of a dark chocolate but it was only a 64%.

The fruitiness didn’t come through as much on the first bite as the second. The claret reaches up and baps your tastebuds with a foam bat as it punches through the chocolate flavour to introduce itself forcefully to your mouth.  As the chocolate then rises up and attempts to balance off that extreme fruitiness, your mouth just cuts off all other brain function as the flavours just travel around your mouth and excite various areas of your mouth.

Paul comments, “Usually I would say wine and chocolate do not make a very accommodating match but after tasting Chateau Civrac I found a 64% Madagascan Grand Cru dark chocolate which complements the wine, allowing its fruity finish to really shine through. The result is an intensely mouth-watering chocolate with a very clean finish. I always strive to remain true to the flavour of my ingredients and use just Chateau Civrac, chocolate and a touch of organic unrefined sugar to create this chocolate”

This chocolate is the most delicious, gorgeous thing I have had the pleasure of eating for awhile.  It is absolutely excellent and I can’t imagine what else he will do to top this.  Get this as a special gift for someone and they will love you forever (or at least really appreciate it!)

I think I died and went to heaven when I had this Paul A Young chocolate brownie.  There is a flavour of nuttiness to the chocolate brownie which is delicate but yummy and is not at all the same flavour as a hazelnuts or almonds.  Pecans to me are a lovely sweet nut and with caramel and the chocolate it makes this a delightful brownie.

What makes this the ultimate brownie is the soft melting texture of the brownie. Under the crunchy pecan and caramel topping is the very moist chocolate brownie which just melts at a touch.  I had to cut mine into squares rather than biting it.

I did have to pace myself when eating this brownie.  It was huge and dense and meltingly delicious.  I think I’ve become addicted to them and keep imagining ideal ways to optimise the pecan/caramel/brownie combinations.

I really highly recommend these lovely chocolate brownies!

Marmite. It’s not the first thing you think of pairing 64% Madagascar dark chocolate with. I can taste the Marmite still lingering on my palette like a single note sounded like a clarion call in the morning.

Marmite and chocolate is something only Paul A Young could do and do it he has. Not just any Marmite mind you – this is a think layer of unadulterated Marmite XO – an extra mature variety of Marmite that was launched following research and development.

No joke. Marmite XO. It’s like Twiglets on steroids. And it’s in my chocolate. Not just any chocolate – this is a bar of choc with a thin layer of the Marmite stuff from Paul A Young who I want to adopt me so I can work for dad and eat chocolate every day

Paul Young, one of the UK’s best chocolatiers, is well known for his cutting edge creativity. Love it or Hate it, Paul’s Marmite truffle is one of his best selling and most written about creations inspiring Paul to create a bar using the new Marmite – Marmite XO.

I don’t know what inspired him – perhaps he is among the legions of Marmite lovers. I was on the fence liking Twiglets on occasion – just not a ton at once. Marmite is not something I counted myself as actively disliking.  I was happily on the fence.  This chocolate bar pushed me over the edge though. BLEURGH!

It was the saltyness that hit first, then the sensation of eating a liquid Bovril spread on chocolate. I thought chewing the chocolate would help mingle the saltiness with the chocolate but this just made things worse.  It was like taking lovely chocolate and ruining it by spreading a thin layer of this Marmite XO in between the two slices of chocolate.  I love chocolate, and I love Paul’s chocolate but even for me this was a step too far.

The Marmite XO is spread in a thin layer as the filling of this chocolate bar.  It is thin, unadulterated Marlite XO and it is just enough to give you a heavy hit without it being overwhelming.  Unless you don’t like Marmite which I have only just realised includes me.

YUCK!

Are you a lover or a hater? Go to the Camden Passage shop today, try the new bar free of charge and twieet about whether you love it or hate it. And if you love it they’ll be offering you this exclusive Marmite XO bar for £3.50 instead of £4.50 on the day.

Date: Saturday 22nd May 2010
Address: 33 Camden Passage, Islington, N1 8EA
Opening Times: 11am-6pm

If you drop by mine today I’ll be giving the rest of this bar a new home too! *bleck*

Lovers of Paul A Young’s sea salted caramels must think Christmas has come early with the release of the rather large sea salt caramel egg. Larger than a Cadbury’s crème egg, it is also slightly larger than a traditional breakfast egg but not by much.

The egg comes in an egg cup with a lovely egg spoon to scoop out all that lovely sea salt caramel. The chocolate used is a delight. Delicious and lots of it, the chocolate encases the rather extremely generous filling. Hungry as I was, and celebrating a few milestones in my life as I was, I still could not finish the whole egg. No bad thing, a bit of cling film and I can report it was as nummy later as when fresh.

This is any chocolate lover’s dream and must have. Forget that cheap chocolate, forget boxes of Easter crème eggs, forget fancy silly overpriced bunnies, get the chocolate lover in your life this egg. They’ll love you for it. I love the person who sent me mine lots and lots now – YUM!

On reflection now, I cannot say how cold it was, only that I was standing and shivering. It was an experience, that, and unassociated with any trauma despite the heat of the day having registered at 33 Celsius. I was shivering and rubbing my cold arms as I stared ahead and slightly down. There was method to the madness of shivering and yet not moving and it was quite simple – chocolate.

Truffles of the chocolate variety had captivated the whole of my attention and demanded more, promising things beyond my wildest imagination like Pimms, Mango, strawberry champagne cocktail and espresso. The delicate dusting of gold, the brush of bronze, the drizzle of cucumber and strawberry, all lightly caressed the darkness which enrobed the seductive interior like a lover embracing his partner one last time before parting forever. Intense and a struggle to part, the truffles merged their flavours and yet remained distinct entities – chocolate and filling.

Beyond the chilled interior of the shop was more yet to come. The chocolate, coming up to a warmer temperature, would be a whole new experience we were promised. I can attest to that. The most pleasure I have ever experienced in a chocolate was a freshly made truffle. The centre had, of course, been prepared earlier but I will never forget the flavour. Each day that passes I mourn that I may never again experience the like. That was at Pierre Marcolini and those who took over the shop – Luento Santoro made me fall in love with Indonesia. The chocolate truffle from Indonesia to be exact. I love the flavour of that chocolate encompassing a delicious ganache filling like a gentle fruit flavour that intensified the natural flavour of the mild chocolate.

I have gone to a few chocolate tastings and each has given me something new to think about. I think I’m almost comfortable when I taste tobacco now but I’m still unsure of leather. I did enjoy the 100% chocolate bar though few others did and was well honoured to get to try the criollo bar which is a rare delicacy. Each taught me even more about chocolate and I hope I’ll be able to pass that along as well. I’m so often asked for chocolate advice now I had better start talking like a professional

Paul A Young fine chocolates have gained notoriety in part through education and in part through celebrity. Paul himself has appeared on TV and was most recently involved in “The Apprentice” where while his creations were highest rated on taste, they were apparently not cheap and mass-market enough for Sir Alan Sugar who seems happier with a Costco model. His shop is tucked away down Camden Passage, not far from one of the LondonSEO pub locations and he has a second one in the city. Perfect for corporate events, the tasting evenings require a minimum of 8 people, a maximum of 12 people and can be the chocolate experience, chocolate and whiskey, chocolate and wine and chocolate and cheese. I’m hoping someone will gift me one of each frankly

This is not your cheap eat a ton with lots of sugar and fat chocolate. Paul takes great pride in the fact that he uses the highest quality ingredients and creates the best quality chocolate possible. That also means you don’t eat as much, the flavour lasts in your mouth for longer and therefore you don’t crave moore and feel full longer. That’s it, I’m starting the chocolate diet tomorrow!