Your tasting selection
Strawberry cream ganache
Salted soft caramel
Champagne ganache
Brandy truffle
1 66% DARK CANAPÉ, TRINIDAD
13 TORTA DI RISO
The world’s first solid chocolate bar was invented in England by J. S. Fry & Sons around the time of the Grand Tours – in 1847. This recipe is homage to it, made using premium Trinitario cocoa from Trinidad, where Fry’s would have sourced their cocoa. It’s quite intense and has a slight grain to replicate a little of the graininess that the original would have had. To get a real taste of the era, you could melt these canapés and add milk to make an intense drink.
Bologna
Almond praline
14 FLORENTINE DREAM
Dover
Florence
A fresh and light ganache with our new white chocolate, which is made with less sugar and cocoa butter so it has an amazing melt – paired with plenty of strawberry juice and cream for a delightfully fruity experience reminiscent of the perfect British summer’s day. Encased in our exclusive ‘forever jack’ shell.
Contrasts in tastes and textures often make for successful chocolate recipes and this one is no exception. Originating in Florence, the masterstroke here is the bite in the square of honey and almond florentine that sits on top and contrasts perfectly with the velvety smooth caramel and hazelnut praline inside, with a mellow milk shell to add plenty of creamy notes.
Chocolatier: K Kalenko
Caramel praline
Chocolatier: R Macfadyen
3 SEA SALT CARAMEL
15 VANILLA PANNACOTTA
Calais
Pisa
This recipe is inspired by the salty sea air and the gorgeous caramels that are a speciality of northern France. It was a little further south in Brittany where a pinch of salt was first added to caramel to help balance the sweetness and let the deeper caramel notes sing out – as they do here in this super soft caramel with a pinch of Fleur de Sel sea salt.
This classic Italian dessert, meaning ‘cooked cream’ is thought to have originated in Tuscany, although it is made and enjoyed throughout many regions of Italy. This recipe is typically simple being made with lashings of creamy white chocolate and lots of vanilla, whose black seeds you can see in the shell and ganache inside.
Chocolatier: R Macfadyen
Vanilla ganache
Chocolatier: O Nicod
4 CHAMPAGNE TRUFFLE
16 GELATO TRUFFLE
Paris
Rome
What could epitomise the stylish joie de vivre of France’s capital better than a glass of sparkling champagne? Our recipe features a good splash of real Mercier champagne so it’s full of the complex flavours of champagne blended into an elegant cream ganache. Finished off with a classic milk chocolate truffle shell and panned in a little icing sugar.
For many, their trip to Italy and to Rome in particular just wouldn’t be complete until they have had their first taste of authentic ice cream in one of the city’s famous gelaterias. Inside this creamy white chocolate ‘cone’ we’ve created a layer of vanilla ‘ice cream’ in a white chocolate ganache and paired it with a layer of zingy raspberry ‘sauce’.
Chocolatier: O Nicod
Vanilla and raspberry ganache
Chocolatier: K Kalenko
5 ST BERNARD’S RESCUE
17 LIMONCELLO
Great St Bernard Pass
Naples
The tales of brave St Bernard dogs patrolling this notoriously dangerous crossing abound and we celebrate their heroics with this warming chocolate. So just bite into the mellow milk shell and let the silky soft ganache inside rescue you – with a good glug of fine Three Barrels VSOP brandy with hints of almond and walnut, and a long finish of candied fruits.
With its bright yellow colour and equally vibrant flavours, limoncello is made in and around the Bay of Naples. Usually served chilled as a digestivo, you’ll find a good shot of it being served here in a light ganache that allows the full zing to come shining through. Contrasted with a 70% dark chocolate shell.
Chocolatier: V Elliott
Geneva
Dark hazelnut praline
Chocolatier: O Nicod
2 STRAWBERRY JACK
6 RISSOLE AUX POIRES
Pear liqueur and caramel
Translating as ‘rice tart’, this northern Italian speciality is typically simple yet full of flavour. It’s made with rice, almonds, milk and eggs and ours has a light almond praline as its base, with hints of raisins, vanilla and custard to complete the experience. Encased in 40% milk chocolate.
This part of Switzerland is famous for this delicious sounding dessert, made with pears that are braised until caramelised and then encased in pastry. And, as you’ll taste here, the flavours of caramel and pear complement each other wonderfully – with caramel blended into a cream ganache softened with a generous splash of Poire William eau de vie.
Lemon liqueur ganache
Your key:
Chocolatier: R Macfadyen
No alcohol in recipe Just a little bit, helps to preserve and soften A generous dash Could blow your socks off!!
Chocolatier: R Macfadyen
guide to chocolate terms
7 CHOCOLATE & CHURROS
Caramel – super-heated, caramelised sugar mixed with butter and/or cream.
Madrid
Feuilletine – baked pancake pieces, also known as crêpes dentelles, with a delicately crisp texture. Most often blended into praline to create a wafer-like texture.
Churros are pieces of deep fried pastry, similar to long thin doughnuts and traditionally they’re dipped into hot chocolate at breakfast time. You can get that deeply satisfying experience in this recipe, which has a creamy white chocolate shell (the churros) with a super smooth dark chocolate and hazelnut praline inside (the hot chocolate). Chocolatier: K Kalenko
8 SEVILLE CRISP
Fondant – a traditional filling made with water, sugar and glucose that produces a creamy textured filling. Can be firm or soft. Ganache – a blend of chocolate, cream, milk or butter giving a velvet smooth consistency. The classic filling of truffles. Gianduja – (pronounced: jan-DOO-yah) a blend of hazelnut paste and chocolate, filling must contain 20 – 40% hazelnut. Typically smoother and finer than a praline. Marzipan – a blend of ground almonds and sugar.
Seville
Mousse – filling that incorporates air bubbles to give it a light and airy texture
Seville is known for its oranges that are sought after the world over for making marmalade. Their acidity and strong flavour make them perfect for chocolate recipes too, like this one with our classically creamy 40% milk chocolate blended with Seville orange oil and, in recognition of Seville’s equally famous pastries, lots of crisp feuilletine.
Praline – a blend of finely milled roasted nuts and chocolate. Most often made with hazelnuts but can be made with any nuts – pecans, walnuts, pistachios, etc. Bloom – a matt white-ish sheen that appears on the surface of chocolate. This occurs in ultra sensitive chocolates – usually pralines – made with all-natural ingredients, high in cocoa butter and nut oil. This phenomenon does not affect the quality or the taste.
Chocolatier: V Elliott Milk chocolate, orange and feuilletine
This selection 100% made in Britain
9 SALTED ALMONDS
Barcelona Stroll around Barcelona and it won’t be long until you come across catànies – caramelised almonds in chocolate that are one of the best known little treats of the region. Ours offer the perfect sweet and salty contrast with whole roasted and salted almonds that have been caramelised for extra bite, then panned in 65% dark chocolate. Almonds in dark chocolate
Chocolatier: O Nicod
10 GIANDUJA CRUNCH
Turin It’s said that gianduja was invented in Turin in the 19th century by chocolatiers trying to make their cocoa go further – they added finely milled hazelnuts (being a region famous for its hazelnuts) and inadvertently created the smoothest praline of them all! We’ve contrasted our smooth dark gianduja with a whole roasted hazelnut. Fine praline and whole nut
Chocolatier: R Macfadyen
11 AMARETTI AMORE
Milan
Amaretto truffle
Amaretti biscuits and amaretto liqueur were just made for each other and so who are we to keep them apart? Which is why you’ll find a mellow white chocolate and amaretto ganache inside and a good sprinkling of amaretti outside. Legend has it that the biscuits were created in the 1700s for the visit of the Cardinal of Milan. He clearly loved them, we hope you do too! Chocolatier: V Elliott
12 TIRAMISU
Venice
White chocolate and coffee ganache
Desserts really don’t come much bigger than this Italian masterpiece, which is quite possibly the most popular dessert of all time, allegedly invented by a chef in a restaurant near Venice in 1969. This one features a layer of firm mascarpone style crème, topped with white chocolate, cream and coffee ganache, all in a mellow milk chocolate shell. Finished with a sprinkling of cocoa nibs from Ecuador. Chocolatier: K Kalenko
Your tasting sCORECARD 1 66% Dark Canapé, Trinidad
/10 2 Strawberry Jack
/10 3 Sea Salt Caramel
/10 4 Champagne Truffle
/10 5 St Bernard’s Rescue
/10 6 Rissole aux Poires
/10 7 Chocolate & Churros
/10
9 Salted Almonds
/10 10 Gianduja Crunch
/10 11 Amaretti Amore
/10 12 Tiramisu
/10 13 Torta di Riso
/10 14 Florentine Dream
/10 15 Vanilla Pannacotta
/10 16 Gelato Truffle
8 Seville Crisp
/10
/10 17 Limoncello
/10