We love the bubble wrap effect on Damian Allsop’s Golden Egg made from Virunga 68% by Original Beans. It not only offers an interesting texture but also that satisfying ‘pop’ of the bubble with the clever use of a little popping candy. Available from British Fine Foods, priced at £45.

Demarquette’s Sea Shell Egg is just beautiful. Painted with a duck-egg blue wash, it is decorated with delicious sea salt and strawberry caramel shells and available in dark or milk chocolate. Amazingly good value at just £30, it is available in store or online.

Indulge your childish side without skimping on luxury with Lucky’s Humpty Dumpty Egg. When the hapless nursery rhyme character is inevitably smashed open, you’ll find a double-layered shell filled with, depending on your choice, praline & hazelnuts, coconut ganache, milk caramel or spiced ganache. Lucky’s Humpty Eggs are available online, in two sizes: 60g for £6.99 or the luxury gift edition for £29.99.

What can you say about La Maison du Chocolat’s Chocorico apart from “Wow”? This intricate limited edition Easter scene, complete with gorgeous Aardman-esque chicks and hens is visually stunning. Weighing in at an impressive 5.1kg, it’ll set you back £500; individual hens are also available priced at £56, or £116 for in store.

We flew into the capital of Honduras, San Pedro Sula where Xoco’s offices are and on the first day visited one of Xoco’s partner farms in the Copan district, south of the city.  Xoco sells their young trees to local farmers in Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua. After a three-hour bus journey we all transferred to off-road vehicles and then finished the journey on foot to be greeted by a cocoa farmer and his beautiful trees, each with deep red, almost purple cocoa pods. It’s incredible to see chocolate starting its long journey from a small budding flower to a pod filled with pulp and cocoa beans.

All of the trees in this plantation are a specific variety of criollo, which Xoco has named Mayan Red. The farmer purchased saplings from Xoco three years ago and already had trees with ripe pods. Xoco has been with him every step of the way, he receives monthly visits from a representative who guides him on looking after the plants and pods, keeping them disease and pest free. When they’re ready, Xoco guarantees to buy the ripe beans from the farmer at one and a half times the NY stock exchange price. It’s a reassuring deal for the farmer in an industry where they are moving away from growing cocoa.

We then visited the Copan ancient Mayan ruins, a trip which put into perspective the heritage of this area in growing cocoa. It was fascinating to see where the Mayans had lived and experience how they consumed cocoa, with a cocoa bean drink which we tasted over a chocolate-themed lunch at a local hacienda.

The next day we visited one of Xoco’s nurseries, the heart of the operation where the regrafting takes place and the young trees are grown. We all attempted to regraft heritage cocoa trees onto new roots – the tree then grows with the exact DNA of the heritage variety.

Next was a trip to Xoco’s offices where their lab is located and where they carry out all the fermentation and drying. Frank Homann the MD gave us a presentation of Xoco’s work and we carried out the first of three liquor (cocoa in its rawest form en.wikipedia.org/Chocolate_liquor) tastings, sampling Xoco varieties which had undergone different fermentation and drying techniques to establish how those affect the flavour.

Then it was off to the airport for a short plane ride to Guanaja, the island where Columbus’s men first encountered cocoa beans. We stayed at Graham’s Place, an idyllic hotel on its own tiny island in Guanaja Bay. That afternoon we took a boat ride to Soldier’s Beach, the exact spot where Columbus’s men landed all those years ago. We planted a cocoa tree, a heritage tree found near the Copan ruins, in a symbolic gesture to bring fine cocoa back to Mesoamerica. 99% of trees in Central and South America are bulk production and as Frank says ‘If you want fine cocoa the first thing you have to have is a fine bean’. He has carefully selected varieties that are almost extinct for his project and will have two and a half million trees by next year.

The next day we all took part in a conference on Direct Cacao, a new initiative to raise awareness for where the beans that make your bar of chocolate are grown and to work towards paying farmers a fair price. The project has been initiated by Martin Christy of www.seventypercent.com and you’ll be hearing more in later blog posts.

That evening it was time to relax and have a bit of fun. Maricel Presilla, author of The New Taste of Chocolate had prepared a feast for us, we ate local barbecued fish under the stars and spent the evening drinking rum from coconut husks. A great end to an incredible trip. Huge thanks to Frank Homann of www.xocogourmet.com for hosting, a man who could well be the savior of fine cocoa growing.

Kate Johns
Festival Director
Chocolate Week

Chocolate connoisseur Martin Christy was first up, expounding his ‘melt don’t munch’ slow chocolate mantra. Through a number of tasting experiments he highlighted how many more flavour notes can be experienced by resisting the urge to munch and letting the chocolate simply melt in your mouth instead, as well as showing how much longer the flavour lasts – sometimes for as long as 20-30 minutes after you’ve finished eating the chocolate. Instead of a brief moment of waxy, acidic, bitter and dry tastes and feelings from munching, we were experiencing berries, coffee, caramel, vanilla, salt… the flavour notes were endless.

Raffaella Baruzzo, the woman and name behind Italian fine chocolate brand, Baruzzo, gave a talk on where chocolate comes from, how it grows, how it is made and how this affects the final taste. And what a fascinating talk it was! Raffaella’s knowledge is extensive. She told us about the different types of cacao trees – Criollo, Forastero, Trinitario and Nacional, conjured up images of a cocoa plantation for those of us not yet lucky enough to have visited one and explained how the fermentation, drying and roasting processes affect the flavour. Did you know that while the different types of beans have different flavour notes, a fruity flavour could be down to the fermentation, or that a dark toffee flavour may denote a longer roasting time? Unfortunately due to time restraints, Raffaella was unable to take us through her own chocolates publicly, but we got to taste her delicious and beautifully decorated selection on our way out, including Rosemary, Orange Blossom and Liquorice.

Paul a Young rounded off proceedings with a tasting of some of his more ‘challenging’ chocolates. It was great to hear Paul talk about his past as a patissier and how that influences him as a chocolatier – he was keen to use his chef side, and not lose his cooking skills once he moved into the chocolate world. In the kitchens of Paul a Young Fine Chocolates when coming up with new chocolates, they spend a long time tasting the different ingredients first, finding the perfect combination and deciding which chocolate will work with the flavours best. We tasted his new Roquefort, roasted walnut and Thames’ honey filled chocolate, in which he used a 50% Madagascan because it had an innate cheesiness to it that worked with the Roquefort; the new Cigar-leaf caramel that left a fantastic warming tingle in the back of your throat from the tobacco; and finally Paul’s most famous creation, the Marmite truffle – you either love it or you hate it.

The evening was a great success and through Martin’s exercises, Raffaella’s explanations and Paul’s examples, it was possible to see the audience’s understanding of and enthusiasm for fine chocolate grow as the seminar progressed.

The next London Gastronomy Seminar is entitled Flavour and the New Nordic Cuisine is a seminar to celebrate the launch of Flavour, a new interdisciplinary journal covering the psychophysical, psychological and chemical aspects of eating food, as mediated through all the senses. The event takes place on March 28th - more information and tickets are available here.

There’s a lovely international feel to the selection, with a variety of origins making an appearance as well as chocolate makers and chocolatiers from countries including Belgium, Italy, French, Switzerland, the US and of course the UK.

We’d love to know what your favourite chocolate was this year - be it bars or filled chocolates, truffles or drinking chocolate, new products or something you just keep going back to year on year, let us know by commenting below.

Steven Pierce aka Adventures of a Foodie :
 
Salted crispy square, Melt (available instore and online)
I first tasted this chocolate years ago but it’s still one of my favourites. It’s a mixture of praline and feuilletine, coated in chocolate and sprinkled with sea salt flakes.
 
Dominican Republic dark bar, C-AMARO (available online)
I discovered this chocolate at Chocolate Unwrapped. It has a savoury, Marmite-like aroma and bursts with flavour in the mouth. The flavour lasts for a long time after the chocolate has gone.

Madagascan cocoa pod, Mast Brothers (available from Paul a Young shops and www.chocolate.co.uk)
The Mast Brothers cocoa pod is a truly stunning chocolate. It’s a solid piece of sensational 82% Madagascan chocolate with the addition of Mast Brothers roasted cocoa nibs. The amount of flavour held in this chocolate is staggering.
 
Royal Merina, Demarquette (available instore and online)
The flavour of Madagascan vanilla is bold and works beautifully with the Madagascan cacao. The chocolates are stunning, and I still can’t stop thinking about them.
 
Giant Rocher, William Curley (available instore and online)
I adore chocolates filled with nuts, especially the famous Swiss rocher. William Curley’s are the finest. They’re made with the best quality nuts and with Amedei chocolate.

Dom Ramsey aka Chocablog :

Bali 45% Milk & Fleur de Sel, Akesson’s (available online)
A delicious milk chocolate bar that’s packed with flavour. Wonderful notes of toffee, liquorice and caramel are lifted to a new level by the addition of fleur de sel. A fantastic artisan chocolate that anyone can enjoy.

Royal Merina, Demarquette (available instore and online)
Simple ganaches made from Madagascan cacao, but Marc Demarquette’s secret ‘volumising’ technique lifts the flavour and texture to a new level.

Boutique Aromatique (available instore and online)
The range from Shelly Preston’s new chocolaterie in Nottinghamshire is made with aromatic herbs, flowers and spices. The chocolates are full of flavour and work perfectly with the Amedei and Valrhona chocolate.

Billingtons Simnel Brownie, Paul a Young (available seasonally in store)
An Easter special that I can only hope comes back next year. By far the best brownie I’ve ever tasted and possibly the nicest thing I’ve ever put in my mouth.

Atlantique, Franck Kestener (available online)
Venezuelan dark chocolate, shortbread and gooey fleur de sel caramel. Kind of an ultra-posh Twix, but much, much better.

Judith Lewis aka Mostly About Chocolate :

Chuao Chocolate Bar, Soma (available in Canada)
I cannot get enough of this chocolate and thank goodness I have some in a secret stash! It is a complex intermingling of various different experiences in your mouth all at once, going from fruit to acidity to all over the shop.

Sea Salted Caramel Dome, Paul a Young (available instore)
I just love the flavour of his sea salted caramel and the chocolate he pairs it with is a winner every time. It’s absolutely the best.

San Jose Del Tambo Chocolate Bar, Askinosie (available from Selfridges)
I’m in love with this bar because it is a deeper, darker chocolate and yet its fruity notes are delightful. I like that it’s different and yet still has a complex flavour signature.

Porcelana Chocolate Bar, Pierre Marcolini (available online)
I’ve had a few porcelana bars, including one from Soma, but of all of them I enjoyed the Pierre Marcolini one the best. Loved this bar!

Nicaragua Chuno Dark Chocolate Bar, Duffy’s (available from Paul a Young shops, Harvey Nichols and www.chocolateandlove.com)
I loved the dusty red berries and satin chocolatey melt of this bar. Duffy’s bars all seem to melt so readily in your mouth and they are just so delightfully flavourful.

Lee McCoy aka Chocolate Reviews :

Pierre Marcolini Selection Box (available online)
The palet fins served as a wonderful, clean distraction from the delightful and full-flavoured filled chocolates. But what really set them apart was the effort taken with the packaging design and transportation.

Panama Tierra Oscura 72%, Duffy’s (available from Paul a Young shops, Harvey Nichols and www.chocolateandlove.com)
How the varying notes combined together was exceptional. However, it was the sumptuous texture that made this bar the best dark chocolate of the year.

Royal Merina, Demarquette (available instore and online)
In terms of ganaches the undoubted winner was Marc’s Royal Merina. The texture was soft, velvety and very satisfying whilst the flavours were clean, clear and engaging. 

Black Truffle, Mast Brothers (available from Paul a Young shops and www.chocolate.co.uk)
The finest flavoured bar I’ve reviewed this year. The natural flavours of the cocoa, could be recognised as they were richly supported by the delicate flavours of the Oregon black truffle.

Finca Torres 72%, Idilio Origins (available in France, Germany and Switzerland)
The wonderfully smooth texture combined with definite wood acidity and fig notes gave this bar a complex flavour. The melt was to die for and has to be the best bar that includes soya lecithin. 

Chloe Callow aka Faerietale Foodie :

Dos Rios, Amano (available from Fortnum & Mason and www.chocolateandlove.com)
Beautiful floral/violet notes. Astounding this bar is flavoured only by the bean.

Driving Home Truffle, Paul a Young (available instore)
Finally a coffee chocolate that works! Love the subtle cinnamon spice, could eat LOTS of these.

Star of Panama, Duffy’s (available from Paul a Young shops, Harvey Nichols and www.chocolateandlove.com)
I know the Honduras won best bean-to-bar at the Academy of Chocolate Awards but this is a truly delicious bar I continue to return to - full of light red fruit, caramel & nuts. 

Coconut blossom sugar bar, Benoit Nihaut (available in Belgium and the Netherlands; online coming soon)
This Belgian bean-to-bar maker was a completely new discovery at Chocolate Unwrapped; rich, with a raw molasses type sweetness & plenty of salt. Completely addictive.

Royal Merina, Demarquette (available instore and online)
A bit different to my usual choices I love the rich vanilla sweetness combined with that fruity Madagascan chocolate & clever decadent volumised mousse.

Stuart Robson, reviewer for Seventypercent :

Madagascar, Amano (available from Fortnum & Mason and online at www.chocolateandlove.com)
A truly beautiful, stand out bar in an already excellent range. Bracing citrus is expertly balanced by soft strawberry tones, tobacco leaf and mixed herbs.

Rio Caribe, Domori (available from www.chocolatetradingco.com)
A very tricky source, handled with great care. Hugely complex with notes of red fruit, cashews and a gentle grassiness, wrapped in Domori’s near perfect melt.

Beni Wild Harvest, Original Beans (check website for availability near you; also available from www.chocolateandlove.com)
A lovely bar under the Original Beans label that displays all of the elegantly honied, tropically fruity character that make these rare beans so precious. 

Madagascar, Mast Brothers (available from Paul a Young shops and www.chocolate.co.uk)
The highlight of the Mast Brothers range twinning their typically minimal, rustic production with an powerful profile full of intensely acidic grapefruit and raspberry notes.

Los Rios, Pacari (available online at www.chocolateandlove.com)
Los Rios remains perhaps the most charming bar in Pacari’s range. Recent batches show wonderful depth and balance with Pacari’s distinctly green, guava like notes and chewy tannins.

Using our extensive contacts with international chocolate makers, we’ll source bars from around the world, bringing you the best high-end chocolate out there, including international makers not easily available in this country, top UK chocolatiers and chocolate makers and of course, Chocolate Week participants.

For just £28.50 per month, members will receive 4-5 prestigious fine quality chocolate bars, have the opportunity to preview new launches before they’re available to the general public, receive exclusive invites to Tasting Club events plus more member privileges to be revealed.

Register your interest in joining the club here

Nervous entrants arrived with their friends and families to drop off their cakes before spending the day at the show, enjoying the chocolate on offer and waiting anxiously for the Final, when the top five cakes would be revealed. Entrants travelled from as far as Wales, Manchester and Southampton with their cakes, which varied hugely in style - there was a chocolate Victoria sandwich, tiers, horizontal and vertical layering and even spun sugar.

This was a tough competition, as unlike making cupcakes or brownies, a standard chocolate cake can’t be sampled before you serve, so the contestants had no way to be sure of how their finished cake actually tasted.

Our lucky judges - chocolatiers Paul a Young (@Paul_a_Young) and Chantal Coady (@chantalcoady), chocolate consultant and pastry chef Will Torrent (@WillTorrent), Bea Vo of Beas’s of Bloomsbury (@beas_bloomsbury), food writer Lucas Hollweg (@lucashollweg), chocolate blogger Dom Ramsey (@chocablog) and Chocolate Week’s very own Kate Johns - spent most of the afternoon behind the closed doors of the Vinopolis kitchens, carrying out the enviable task of sampling each entry.

They couldn’t believe how much hard work had gone into each cake, and were impressed not only by the variety of styles, but also the variety of chocolate brands that were used - Valrhona, Lindt, Divine, Amedei, to name just a few. The judges tasted and debated, noting down their thoughts and judging each cake based on texture, appearance and most importantly taste, before picking a top five to be put on show to the public for the Great Chocolate Cake Off Final.

Out in the demo area, a fantastic crowd had gathered for the Final. Once the top five were revealed, the successful bakers took to the front row to hear the judges’ comments as well as their helpful baking tips. Paul a Young suggested caution when using the skewer test; he advices taking the cake out when the skewer is still a little sticky as the cake will continue to cook as it cools - waiting until the skewer comes out clean could mean your cake is overcooked - and Bea Vo taught us that too much baking soda will turn your cake a darker colour.

The four runners up, in no particular order were: Pete Favelle’s Chocolate and Porter Cake; Snezhana Simeonova’s Supreme Spiced Tea Chocolate Cake; Cindy Robert’s Dark Chocolate & Orange Ganache Cake, and Sarah Spencer’s Chocolate and Salted Caramel Celebration Cake.

And the lucky winner - who not only won bragging rights as Chocolate Unwrapped’s Great Chocolate Cake Off Champion but also signed books from our judges and chocolate kindly donated by Valrhona - was…. Vijiti Dixit’s It’s Got It All Chocolate Cake.

The judges were unanimous in their decision and after sampling fifteen cakes in total were still going back to Vijiti’s for more (Will Torrent even snuck a slice home to tuck into for breakfast the next day!).

When asked to describe her cake in 25 words or less, Vijiti said: “the combination of moist not overly sweetened cake, rich chocolate mousse and caramel infused frosting makes this an irresistible classic”. The judges commended Vijiti on the perfect air bubbles in her cake, balance of flavours and excellent sugar work.

Vijiti, 29, moved to London from Toronto with her husband this summer. Having previously worked in marketing, she’s now taking a break to explore her longtime love of art, fashion design and baking; “prior to this competition, I was thinking of applying for an apprenticeship at a bakery or chocolatier so winning definitely gives me more confidence to pursue this.”

Thank you to everyone who took part in the competition, we really appreciated all your hard work as it made the competition a wonderful finale to Chocolate Unwrapped. You can see photos of all the cakes here The_Cakes.pdf

As promised, here is Vijiti’s winning recipe It’s-Got-It-All_Chocolate_Cake_by_Vijiti_Dixit.pdf

You can find out more about Vijiti’s experience of the competition on her blog.

Photographs by Paul Winch-Furness

The previous record of 5,529.29kg was held by an American confectioner, who broke the record just last month. Not to be outdone by the Americans, Thorntons wanted to show that the Brits really do lead the way when it comes to chocolate and what better time than Chocolate Week, when the whole country is talking about chocolate!

Thorntons Master Chocolatier, Keith Hurdman, says: “It’s been one of the biggest challenges we’ve ever had to face here at Thorntons, and has put all of our chocolate-making expertise to the test. I’m really proud of all of the team; it’s taken months of planning and over 50 people were involved in the making of it so the Guinness World Records title is a fantastic achievement and a great way to celebrate our 100th birthday.”

100 lucky winners of the Thorntons Golden Key competition visited the chocolate factory to witness the spectacular unveiling today and received a behind-the-scenes factory tour. After its stint in the limelight, the bar will be broken down and will be available in Thorntons stores in the coming weeks, with the proceeds going to charity.

The competition is open to all home bakers, for you to submit your ultimate chocolate cake and for it to be judged on Sunday 16th October at Chocolate Unwrapped. In return for all your hard work every entrant will receive free entry to the show (£10 on the door).

The winner will receive signed copies of the judges’ books, a trophy and the honour of having their recipe published on the Chocolate Week website.

Our panel of esteemed professionals and experts - Bea Vo, renowned founder of Beas of Bloomsbury, Lucas Hollweg, author of ‘Good Things To Eat and Sunday Times food writer, award-winning founder of Rococo, Chantal Coady, chocolatier Paul a Young, chocolate consultant Will Torrent, chocolate blogger, Dom Ramsey from http://www.chocablog.com and our very own Kate Johns, organiser of Chocolate Unwrapped – will judge each entry based on texture, appearance and most importantly taste. Each category will be marked out of five for appearance, and texture and out of 10 points for taste, giving each entry a final score out of 20. Our judges will spend the afternoon tasting all the entries, before holding a public judging of their top five at the end of the day.

The competition is limited to just 30 entrants (our judges can only consume so much cake in one day!), so you must get your entry in asap to be in with a chance of taking part in the fun.

To enter, just email for an entry form and details of the rules.

Please remember to bring your recipe along with you on the day.

Contact @chocolateweek for more details, and don’t forget the hashtag #chocolatecakeoff

How about starting the week as you mean to go on, with a luxury three-course dinner at Hardy’s Brasserie on 10th October, featuring a savoury and sweet menu based on recipes taken from Rococo founder, Chantal Coady’s ‘Real Chocolate’.  Or for something a little bit different, there’s an Extreme Chocolate Canapes tasting, with the unusual yet tantalising pairing of chocolate and cheese, or enhance your senses with a Blindfolded Tasting (both 14th October).

There are plenty of activities to spark children’s imaginations too; on 11th&13th October, chocolate adventurer Mott Green tells tales of life on his cocoa plantation as well as demonstrating how to make chocolate in his miniature chocolate factory; curl up with a cup of cocoa for storytelling time on 16th October; or swap your ink pen for a chocolate-dipped paintbrush and create your own edible piece of art at their Chocalligraphy event (also 16th October).

Finally, don’t miss your chance to win the chance to have your very own chocolate recipe sold in Rococo’s Motcomb Street shop, plus a Chocolate Tasting for Two by entering Rococo’s Recipe Competition.

For booking information and further details of the individual events please see the Events section of the website.

We’re looking forward to the launch party next month and the book will be out just in time for Chocolate Week.

Available from Amazon.