Demarquette Chocolates in London
The chocolate shop is fabulous if far from the tube. Right on several bus routes, in a very upmarket shopping area, Demarquette chocolates is an oasis of calm on a busy street. Within the shop you are met with a stylish interior where delicious chocolates are kept behind glass. There are more caramel flavours here than I have seen anywhere else. A heaven for the caramel lover, the shapes are both semi-round and floral. The flower shapes reflect the scent and flavour of the caramel inside.
The chocolate used is a favourite of chocolate makers in London – Valrhona. The choices of caramel and ganache flavouring were not typical and with a dizzying array of both caramel and ganache chocolates everyone is sure to find something they would enjoy. I suspect everyone will find something they will enjoy. Just the shopping experience was pleasurable, looking over the variety of lovely red boxes of chocolate bars and the colours of the various chocolates.
I let the staff member behind the counter select the three chocolates for me and she let me try the sea salt chocolate in the shop. I also purchased some truffles and a blended chocolate bar. The sea salt caramel was pleasant – not too intense and balanced. The chocolate was OK and the caramel did not overwhelm the chocolate and the sea salt balanced off the sweetness of the caramel.
The first chocolate I tried from the selection was an Arabica coffee chocolate ganache. The chocolate was lovely but slightly bitter off against the coffee. The filling has a slightly grainy texture which could have been coffee grounds. Not unpleasant and very yummy it was a delicious chocolate.
Blanc manger des Antilles was selected for me. A spicy mixture with coconut and rum it wasn’t quite to my taste. There was an odd aftertaste I had detected in some of the truffles – like a chalkyness flavour that is hinted at. It’s almost like the taste of very hard water. This has bits of coconut in it was well, adding some texture to the chocolate ganache. Not my favourite but still demonstrates the high quality of the chocolates.
The raspberry sea salt caramel was interesting but there was not much caramel in it. It was mostly chocolate which was nice but I didn’t get to experience the caramel as much. There was a hint of raspberry to the caramel lending it an interesting flavour and one I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend.
The lavender caramel in the shape of a flower was overpowering. The extreme floral flavour, which tasted like an essential oil added to caramel, was completely overpowering but might be nice for someone who enjoys floral flavours. The caramel was sweet but the lavender seemed to be a separate addition rather than a steeped part of the caramel.
The chocolate truffle was fantastic but it seemed I got box of two halves. Three had that strange chalky aftertaste and the other half were absolutely fantastic. The chocolate itself was delicious and the filling a perfectly blended centre. The cocoa dusting did not detract from the chocolate though the shell was slightly more reluctant to melt than other chocolates I have tried. This was nevertheless a nicely balanced chocolate.
I would never turn down a box of truffles or ganache chocolates from this shop and expect to visit again 🙂
