Aurosó has returned with their super low-sugar, high-cocoa content chocolate, and the 90% cocoa Candied Orange Florins are an excellent chewy treat, reminiscent of a very grownup chocolate coin.
New Makers: Grá and Corra
Two new makes to me are Grá and Corra. If you know someone who loves peanuts, they will love the oozy crunchy 60% cocoa Corra Peanuts Crunchy bar. Grá, an Irish chocolatier, makes very pretty long lozenge-shaped filled chocolates. They were a tad too sweet for me, but my testers loved them.
MayHawk's Smooth Creation
MayHawk’s 63% Olive Oil and Welsh Sea Salt is a beautiful bar from any angle: amazing artwork and the chocolate is of an almost unimaginable smoothness.
Dorset Chocolate Discovery
A recent trip to Poole saw me meeting my longtime friend Hester on Branksome promenade. While walking along the seafront, she gave me two bars of Dorset Chocolate that were devoured by my family on return: Stars Over Cranborne, a 63% bar went down very nicely with the “not sure if I like dark” brigade, and the toffee in All the Fun of the Fair added extra crunch to a very creamy 42% milk.
Pierre Marcolini's Japan Box
Pierre Marcolini – king of pralines, along with Alain Ducasse – has launched an excellent My Journey Through Japan box, and every tiny chocolate is a magical flavour-bomb. I don’t always like everything Marcolini does, but this box? Every one a treat. (Currently in-store only. Back in stock online soon.)
Philip Khoury's Love Letters
Finally, Philip Khoury has added to his Love Letters chocolate bars with the gorgeous chocolate-covered Nuts Upon Nuts Trio (the chocolate is also made from the nut it covers, to give a non-dairy creaminess) and the box is crammed satisfyingly full.
