Summery Treats from Hotel Chocolat

Hotel Chocolat has a range of deliciously summery chocolates to compliment the season, featuring some vibrant, fresh, fruity flavours and wonderful colours.  We received an H-Box Summer Fusion Selection to sample, so we could enjoy the taste of summer for ourselves.

The chocolates look fantastic with shades of lavender, strawberry red, yellow and pink contrasting with the dark, milk and white chocolate.  The designs are so pretty and inviting and everyone is different.

Everyone dived in to pick a favourite flavour from the selection of 14 chocolates.  Freddy had his eye on the Shortbread Bite, a milk chocolate and praline square topped with clotted cream shortbread balls.

I was impressed with the range of flavours in the selection, which included coffee, nutty pralines, rich caramels and fruity cremes.  Each individual chocolate has been lovingly crafted making them a treat for the eyes as well as for the taste buds.

The menu gives a brief description of the chocolate next to an illustration.  With chocolates such as Key Lime Pie, Kiwi Smoothie, Strawberry Cheesecake, Summer Pudding, Blackcurrant Bombe, Summer Latte and Choc Fudge Sundae, there really is something for all tastes.  As they are all alcohol free, the kids can enjoy them too...if you let them!!

I really liked the Peanut and Banana chocolate with its salted peanut praline, banana ganache and caramel cap all encased in a chocolate cup.  It looked as good as it tasted.  The fruity fillings that include lime, kiwi, blackcurrant, pineapple, peach and strawberry are all really flavoursome, intense and fresh. A burst of pure fruitiness and a real taste of the summer enrobed in Hotel Chocolat's quality chocolate.  But I liked also having the delicate coffee flavoured Summer Latte, the fragrant Lavender Caramel and deep flavours of the Burnt Caramel as a contrast to all the fruitiness.  It's a really good selection.

The most unusual combination is the Summer Cooler, a delicate cucumber and apple ganache enrobed in smooth white chocolate flavoured with zingy mint leaves. It's a very bold idea and I have to admit that I gave that one to Ian.  I wasn't quite brave enough!

The H-Box of 14 chocolates costs £13.00 and would make a luxurious gift for someone special or an indulgent treat for yourself to celebrate the summer.

You can find the Summer Fusions H-Box online or in store now.

Egg and Chips with a Chocolatey Twist from Hotel Chocolat!

Egg and chips is one of life's guilty pleasures, that is sometimes exactly what you need to satisfy a comfort food craving.  A perfect British classic, reminiscent of childhood teatimes spent dunking your chips into the runny yolk!  This year, Hotel Chocolat have recreated this childhood favourite, making the perfect Easter gift for anyone who shares my love of egg and chips.  They sent me one to try, which came in one of their Hotel Chocolat classy, stylish, black ribboned gift bags!  

The sunnyside up egg has a gorgeous yellow yolk filled with runny salted caramel and the egg white is made from creamy white chocolate speckled with vanilla seeds.  The eight chips are made from mellow milk chocolate filled with salted caramel. Beautifully presented, this is an ideal alternative to a traditional Easter Egg.  It is cute and quirky, with a real sense of fun.  Definitely one of the more original gift ideas that I've seen this year, and knowing that it is from Hotel Chocolat guarantees that it is top quality.

I love the attractive presentation of the Egg and Chips and the sturdy packaging makes this a good choice if you are sending someone an Easter gift this year.  It's a lot less fragile and more compact than a hollow egg.  It's a lovely take on a classic teatime treat, that will definitely delight anyone lucky enough to receive it!

You can buy the Hotel Chocolat Egg and Chips instore or online priced at £14.00.

www.hotelchocolat.com

Hotel Chocolat Classic Christmas Selection Review

Hotel Chocolat have sent me a Sleekster box of their Classic Christmas Selection chocolates to try out. The beautiful red box is decorated with silver embellishments and looks positively festive.  It contains 28 individually crafted chocolates in milk, dark and white, perfect for sharing.

The box has a sleeve which has the chocolate menu printed onto it.  These are the chocolates in the Classic Christmas Selection:

Chambord Royale -A real Champagne truffle blended with black raspberry liqueur.

Christmas Mess - Fruity cranberry ganache and strawberry mousse with meringue sprinkles.

Cranberry Cup - Tangy cranberries blended in a more-cocoa white chocolate ganache.

Rum Punch -A creamy milk truffle with ginger and orange and premium Jamaican rum.

Nutmeg & Almond Praline - Almond praline flavoured with nutmeg.

White Chocolate & Vanilla Bell - Cast in  creamy white chocolate with vanilla essence and seeds.

Dark Christmas Tree - Cast in  smooth dark chocolate with deep aromas and punchy cocoa notes.

50% Milk Bauble - Deeply chocolaty but still milky – made with less sugar and more cocoa.

Pistachio Praline Crunch - Pistachio praline with cherry and a hint of rose and a whole pistachio nut.

Mulled Port - A warming truffle with  ruby port, spiced with Pimento leaf and bitter orange.

Marzipan & Amaretto Truffle - Fine almond marzipan softened with a splash of mellow amaretto.

Caramel Supernova - A star of oozingly soft caramel paired with 70% dark chocolate.

Praline Crisp Star - A contrast of smooth, mellow praline and masses of nibbly feuilletine.

The chocolates look beautiful, with some vibrant festive colours and Christmas shapes.  The flavours are all very seasonal featuring fruity cranberries, boozy port and rum, spicy nutmeg and rich marzipan.  The flavour combinations are very imaginative and sophisticated, providing an exciting taste journey for discerning palates.

The textures and tastes were all very interesting and fans of Hotel Chocolat will not be disappointed by this festive selection with its combination of seasonal flavours, which are on a whole adventurous and surprising.

My favourite chocolate was the Praline Crisp Star with smooth praline and crispy feuilletine enrobed in milk chocolate and shaped like a Christmas star.  It was lovely and looked beautiful.  This is perhaps the most mainstream of all the chocolates in the selection, but the quality was exceptional. 

The Sleekster box fits through most letterboxes so can be delivered even if no-one's home and costs £23.00.  If you buy three or more seasonal Sleeksters the price is discounted to £21.00.

See more chocolate gifts from Hotel Chocolat at www.hotelchocolat.com

Hotel Chocolat Advent Calendar

Every year I buy advent calendars for my children.  I spend the following 24 days coveting the chocolate morsels that they pop out from behind their cardboard windows every morning.  Well, this year I'm going to be joining in with the advent calendar ritual as I have been sent a luxurious and very grown-up advent calendar from Hotel Chocolat...and it's all mine! 

The beautifully presented, freestanding advent calendar contains 24 gorgeous 40% milk chocolate sculptures behind each numbered window. 

With Santas, snowmen, angels and Christmas trees to discover, the festive fun and anticipation for the big day will just keep growing.  Hotel Chocolat's 40% milk chocolate is mellow, melt-in-the-mouth, comforting and delicious. 

The Hotel Chocolat Milk Chocolate Advent Calendar is £12.00 available in store or online.  Roll on December 1st when the countdown can begin!