Chocolate week 2011

Rococco chocolates (they do lovely violet creams).

It's chocolate week (10th  - 16th October 2011). Yes, you read that correctly, a whole week dedicated to chocolate. It's probably been going on for a few years, but I heard about it for the first time this year from a Twitter friend @choc_madness. Who also has her own amazing chocolate website Chocolate Madness. So as a keen supporter of all things chocolate I thought I'd dedicate this week's post to the loveliness that is chocolate.


My chocolate favourites
I like all sorts of chocolate (except the ones with nuts in, not because I'm allergic, but all nuts taste the same to me yuk!), but my default position, especially when the need for chocolate is particularly urgent is Cadbury's Dairy Milk or CDM as it's known by the females of the family. Now for some chocolate purists this, strictly speaking, is not real chocolate, as the cocoa solids percentage is lowish and it has milk (a glass and a half), but for me it's that ultimate chocolate comfort. It has to be cold, out of the fridge, and preferable served with a mug of coffee.

Thornton's Continental's are another family favourite, large boxes are often bought at celebrations times. There's something about a large box of chocolates, almost decadent and film starry. Old 30s/40s/50s films had ladies lounging on their chaise longues, picking a chocolate out of a lovely box.

I also likeTerry's All Gold (dark not milk), Terry's chocolate orange (again dark, these used to be at the bottom of mine and my sister's christmas stockings). There's more Cadbury's, such as Roses and Celebrations. The odd bar of Galaxy chocolate has also been known to pass my lips, but it isn't as good as CDM!

Chocolate Cellar truffles.

Then there's chocolate from the speciality shops. In Liverpool, this means the Chocolate Cellar. I came across them first when they had a stall at the Wirral Farmer's Market, and then they appeared on North West Tonight (in series of reports on how businesess were getting on in the recession), where I found out they had a shop in Liverpool. As well as selling their truffles, they also have a lovely selection of bars, one for every taste. My Dad is partial to the stem ginger one, whereas my Mum can always go for hazelnuts or almonds, I like the ones with the chocolate nibs and there are some are unusual, such as star anise or garam masala. They also make cakes and hold classes on chocolate making so they're a one-stop chocolate shop.

However, as well as all of the above (and that's enough for a few extra pounds on the hips!) there's lots of other lovely chocolates out there. Here's some I've come across (please also note, I'm a sucker for a beautiful box, I have been known to buy the chocolates so I can have the box!).

I hope you enjoy your chocolate week.

TTFN

Louise

P.S. In case you're wondering, the recommendations in this post are all my own.