England’s Chocolate Treats
Is there a bigger or better celebration than of all things chocolate? With Easter just around the corner what better excuse do we need to champion the #Britishchocolatiers. Now whether you love to nibble the ears off your chocolate bunny (and apparently 76% do) or munch your egg whole, not so long ago, a celebration of British chocolate would have been a fairly brief affair. The British chocolate market was dominated by mass-market and much loved favourites, #dairymilk or #bournvillewith the odd Terry’s Chocolate Orange thrown in for luck.
But that’s old news. Britain has been embraced by a foodie revolution and is flourishing under a new era of budding chocolatiers passion for producing delicious artisan chocolates that are made in England. Duffy Sheardown, who makes bars with a global reputation from his chocolate factory in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, is the archetype of the British fan-turned-manufacturer. With a passion from bean to bar, Duffy buys the best unroasted beans and perform all the rest of the processes themselves, without compromise. They are sorted by hand and carefully roasted to bring out all of their natural flavours.Many others have followed in his footsteps, often employing the same basic techniques: seeking out small quantities of high-quality cocoa beans from individual growers abroad, then processing and transforming them into bars on a small scale.
Duffy’s lovingly craft their bars using beans from individual growers in central and South America and have won multiple gold awards from both British and international jury’s. Inspired by his example, other artisan British producers are experimenting with new techniques such as barely treated “raw” chocolate and new additions such as sourdough crumb and citrus essential oils.
The filled, “box of chocs”-type chocolate is another area where British artisan producers are forging ahead. While stalwarts such as Prestat (suppliers to the Royal household) have been busy making an Easter egg fit for a queen, that’s claimed to weigh a whopping 4 pounds! I bet little Princess Charlotte and Prince George will have sticky fingers after that.
There is a plethora of really wonderful chocolate companies, where you can while away a few hours learning how to tamper the gorgeous black stuff or may be design your own unique flavour.
However you celebrate this weekend, Montgomery Duffle wishes you a wonderfully chocolaty and yummy time and may the Easter Bunny be deliciously kind to you! #easterbunnypleasestophere
Visit a few of our favourite British independent chocolatiers
Duffy Sheardown: Award wining chocolate maker, with an unrivalled commitment to bean to bar quality.
Paul A Young: London’s master of the filled choc produces sophisticated and wacky combinations; also has a subscription-tasting club.
Amelia Rope: widely travelled queen of flavour makes elegant bars and also a gorgeous range of moreish truffles.
The Highland Chocolatier: award-winning Perthshire craftsman justly famed for subtle flavouring and elegant finishes.
Rococo: beautiful bars (especially the Grenadan) and elegant filled chocs from the London legend.
Chococo: lovely, witty, ethically immaculate chocs from Dorset.
Chocolate Tree: wonderful Edinburgh makers of bean-to-bar, filled chocs, hot chocs… all kinds of loveliness.