Melt Into Each Other’s Arms This Valentine’s Day At The Chocolate Boutique Hotel! January 14, 2010

Looking for somewhere to snuggle up this Valentine’s Day? Why not melt into each other’s arms at the world’s first chocolate themed hotel, where they have a special Valentine’s Day package on the menu.

Here at the chic and unique Chocolate Boutique Hotel in Bournemouth you can treat your loved one to a romantic night of heavenly indulgence followed by a wonderful Belgian chocolate truffle making workshop the next day.

Included in the Valentine’s Day special is a luxurious night for two in a glorious chocolate-themed room, where you’ll be greeted with a cold bottle of bubbly and a cascading chocolate fountain complete with succulent strawberries and luscious marshmallows.

Later you’ll be able to sip deliciously decadent chocolate cocktails such as the Chocolate Martini in the Chocolate Bar with its amazing automated cocktail machine before heading into Bournemouth for a romantic meal or walk along one of the town’s famed beaches.

After breakfast the next day, you and your loved one will be able to take part in top chocolatier Gerry Wilton’s Valentine’s Special Workshop where you will be greeted with a glass of bubbly before learning about the magical history of chocolate.

As well as learning how to make delicious Belgian chocolate truffles by hand from raw ingredients, you’ll also get the chance to pipe a special message to your loved one on a gorgeous chocolate heart.

The Valentine’s Special Package costs £300, which includes one night’s stay for two people, bottle of bubbly, chocolate fountain with dips, two chocolate cocktails, breakfast for two and two places at a Chocolate Delight Valentine’s Special Workshop.

To find out more, ring 01202 556857 or go to www.thechocolateboutiquehotel.co.uk. For information on the Chocolate Delight Belgian chocolate truffle making workshops nationwide, go to www.chocolatedelight.co.uk.

Be A Star This Christmas And Save A Tree By Choosing Guilt-Free, Ethical Chocolate Organic Meltdown August 17, 2009

Organic Meltdown

Christmas without a tree? Doesn’t seem right, does it? And neither would a world without trees, which is why Organic Meltdown chocolate is promising to save a tree for every bar it sells.

This Christmas, giving a gift of Organic Meltdown chocolate shows you care…not only about your friend or loved one, but about the planet too.

And you’ll get two bites at making them happy, by handing over a delicious present plus an affordable gift that will last forever in the shape of a tree in a tropical rainforest.

It’s even possible to discover exactly where the tree is that’s been saved.

Organic Meltdown has teamed up with the World Land Trust charity to preserve trees in Ecuadorian forests. Each wrapper of each bar carries a unique number which corresponds to its very own tree, and chocolate-lovers are encouraged to log onto www.organicmeltdown.com and register their number to find out where ‘their’ tree is situated.

Organic Meltdown hopes to save 5 million trees by 2012 – helping to preserve valuable habitats and caring for endangered species.

Available in four mouth-watering flavours, Organic Meltdown chocolate is made using carefully selected Fairtrade ingredients from Ecuador, Madagascar and Peru, and is a premium organic range.

Choose from Swiss dark chocolate with candied orange (58% cocoa), Swiss milk chocolate with hazelnuts and currants (33% cocoa), Swiss dark chocolate (71% cocoa) and Swiss milk chocolate (33% cocoa).

Three flavours (Swiss dark chocolate with candied orange, Swiss milk chocolate with hazelnuts and currants and Swiss dark chocolate) are available in more than 150 Waitrose stores priced £1.99, while chocolate from the full range is available from independent stores, delis and other outlets across the UK.

Visit www.organicmeltdown.com for details.

REVIEW: Hummingbird Bakery April 6, 2009

I never thought I’d be adding my own reviews to this blog but after reading so many cake related blogs myself, I thought it only fair that I share my own experiences.

Anyone who knows me knows I’m baking mad. I love making cupcakes, layer cakes, bread, cookies etc, especially when I’m hungover. It occured to me that I’ve never visited London’s very own cupcakeries so I decided to start with Hummingbird Bakery.

My sister and I arrived at the South Kensington location at around half past three on a Saturday afternoon a couple of weeks ago. We were greeted by a queue out the door, which was expected. Once we had made it inside to the counter, we couldn’t make out which flavours were available as the small descriptions in front of each batch of cupcakes were completely hidden by the other 10 people still in front of us. We started to fee a bit flustered, especially since there were no menu boards anywhere apart from an A4 sign describing daily flavours, Saturday’s being Nutella. Behind the counter the staff bustled around loading cupcakes into boxes, shouting over each other. Not once did anyone bother to ask if we needed help or if we were ready to order.

A male member of staff appeared in front of us pinching his tongs impatiently. By this point my sister and I had gone from feeling a little flustered to feeling completely frustrated. We frantically chose 4 cupcakes within eye shot and despite my sister requesting a yellow one 3 times, he promptly picked up a blue one and ignored her request completely. We were past caring by this point so away he went to box them up. Five minutes later he handed over a bag instructing us to go and pay at the register and to inform the cashier we had 3 singles and a red velvet before disappearing to attend to the next confused customer in line.

Where the register was, we didn’t know. The separate queue we thought was for coffee appeared to double up as the pay point. I couldn’t stand to be in there any longer so my sister paid whilst I fought my way outside. On my way out I noticed that every seat (and inch of standing space) was full but why anyone would want to stay inside bumping elbows with one another I don’t know.

We took our cakes home in order to enjoy them with a cup of tea hoping that the quality would redeem the overall experience.

Vanilla cake with vanilla butter cream - This cake was lovely and moist and quite dense. The frosting was really good and overall we really enjoyed this cake. If you like light fluffy sponge this isn’t for you.

Chocolate Cake with chocolate butter cream - The cake was really dry and not at all chocolaty, however, the chocolate butter cream really was so it balanced it out. Disappointing.

Red Velvet – One word – D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S – Thank goodness for this cupcake. It almost made me forget the whole sordid experience of getting hold of it in the first place. The frosting was just the right consistency and not overly sweet. The trademark red cake was moist and combined with the frosting it was so good I think it took me 2 mouthfuls to finish it.

Overall, we had a terrible experience but the red velvet made up for it. Would I go again? Probably not  unless I had a craving for cream cheese.

Good Points:

• Cute window display.
• Amazing red velvet cupcake.
• Good buzz about the place.

Bad Points:

• Staff had no customer service skills.
• You had to queue yet again just to pay.
• The whole experience had a ‘get in, get out’ feel about it almost like a factory line.
• We couldn’t see any menu boards so you have seconds to decide what you want when you reach the counter.

Be A Good Egg April 5, 2009

It’s Easter, the time of year for guilt free chocolate – the perfect excuse to give up on holding back and indulge in some Fairtrade chocolate. With a special Easter egg with champagne truffles, new from Divine, and a Fairtrade Easter egg launched this year by Thorntons, you’re fairly spoilt for choice.

Last year Fairtrade chocolate sales hit almost £27m, an increase in volume of 10% on the previous year. For the farmers this meant a 10% increase in Fairtrade premium to just under $300,000 to spend on community development. That extra income, in addition to the security of the Fairtrade minimum price, has enabled cocoa farmers to continue to invest sustainably in their future through tough economic times.

Let’s start afresh this spring and prove that there’s more than one way to beat an egg. With Waitrose, the Co-operative, M&S, Sainsbury’s and Tesco selling their own-label Fairtrade Easter eggs this year, it’s never been easier to show your support for a fairer way to do business. We can make the global economy fairer, greener and more sustainable simply by picking products that carry the FAIRTRADE Mark this Easter and beyond.

Isidoro de la Rosa the Executive Director of CONACADO cocoa co-operative in the Dominican Republic said: ‘With Fairtrade income we were able to implement a fermentation program to improve the quality of our cocoa and to convert our production to certified organic. This improved our position in the export market. The Fairtrade market is a very important market for the survival of our members’.

Heavenly chocolate from Divine
Divine, the 100% Fairtrade chocolate company co-owned by Kuapa Kokoo co-operative farmers in Ghana, adds to its sumptuous Easter range with a new milk chocolate Easter egg with six hand-finished Marc de Champagne Truffles (£9.99 from Oxfam).

Divine’s established Fairtrade favourites, including the 70% dark chocolate Easter egg with chocolate coated Brazil nuts and their milk chocolate version with mini eggs, are available from Waitrose and Morrisons at £4.99. Check out their posh mini eggs too, available wrapped or in this smart handbag packaging. www.divinechocolateshop.com

Dubble the trouble
Divine’s sister brand Dubble will get the kid’s imagination fired up with its classic magic-themed packaging and the chance to be a ‘Dubble Agent’ and complete MISSION: POSSIBLE – to ‘change the world chunk by chunk’. Check out www.dubble.co.uk for more information. Also from Dubble are speckled mini eggs, ideal for decorating chocolate nests or garden egg hunts along with Traidcraft’s mini eggs.

Sweet Temptations and Chocaid
Sweet Temptations offer you the chance to personalise your Easter egg box – remember to request the chocolate to be Fairtrade! http://sweettemptations.com/cms/

Chocaid’s striking Fairtrade organic globe Easter egg truly has a world outlook, working in partnership with Save the Children. Also try Chocaid’s distinctively packaged Fairtrade truffles, available in orange, mint and vanilla. www.chocaid.com

Thorntons, Green & Blacks, Burnt Sugar and My World
Thorntons launched their new Fairtrade Easter Egg (£6.50) to coincide with this year’s Fairtrade Fortnight and it joins their growing selection of Fairtrade products available at www.thorntons.co.uk

Green & Black’s Fairtrade flavour, Maya Gold, has this stylishly presented Easter egg available at www.greenandblacksdirect.com  
Masters of Fairtrade crumbly fudge, Burnt Sugar, offer up a delicious Fairtrade egg complete with crunchy honeycomb nuggets (made with golden unrefined Fairtrade sugar) in milk chocolate. www.burntsugar.co.uk
My World has this pink Easter egg with a Fairtrade chocolate fairy lolly. A pirate themed version is also available. www.myworldchocolate.co.uk

Traidcraft If you want to spring into Easter with something a little bit different to the traditional egg, Traidcraft’s white chocolate spring lambs come in these adorably quaint sky blue boxes. Spring rabbits and chickens are also available in milk chocolate. www.traidcraftshop.co.uk

The Co-operative
The Co-operative continues its strong support of Fairtrade with a range of Fairtrade chocolate goodies including a sophisticated Belgian chocolate Easter egg with white chocolate swirls and a tray of six truffles, a Fairtrade chocolate ring cake and a Fairtrade hollow chocolate bunny in its own hutch.

Make The Most Of Mothers Day With Two Tantalising Recipes From Primula March 18, 2009

It’s the one day of the year where we celebrate our wonderful mums and say thank you for the love and hard work they have devoted to us over the years.

When funds are low or time is of the essence and you really want to give her a day to remember, preparing a delicious dinner and dessert with Primula’s quick, easy and very tasty recipes will ensure she gets spoilt, just as she deserves.

Banning your mum from the kitchen and giving her a break can be a lot more rewarding than just buying a bunch of flowers, and you get to enjoy a great meal too. Simply pop to your local supermarket, pick up your Primula and get preparing.

For a mouth watering main course, the Easy Fisherman’s Pie made with Primula’s brand new Smokey Cheese is sure to impress and you don’t have to be a Jamie or a Gordon to get this right!

Fisherman’s Pie

Shopping List

Skinned and boned salmon (200g), cod (200g) and prawns (50g) can be fresh or defrosted

Two tubes of Primula smokey cheese

Parsley (2tsp) fresh or(1/2 tsp) dried

4 large potatoes

Butter (2oz)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:
1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4.
2. Peel & chop the potatoes into small pieces, put into a large pan, cover with cold water, bring to boil and simmer on a low/ medium heat for 15-20 minutes, until potatoes are soft in the middle.
3. Drain well, add the butter and mash, add seasoning to taste.
4. Cut the fish into 1-2 inch chunks and place in a large, ovenproof casserole dish.
5. Squeeze out 2 tubes of Primula Smokey Cheese directly onto the fish.
6. Add the freshly chopped parsley (or dried), gently mix in and flatten down as well as possible.
7. Carefully spread or pipe the mashed potato over the top of the fish.
8. Place into a pre-heated oven at 180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4 for 45-50 minutes. Ensure the pie is piping hot throughout and serve.
For a delicious dessert, complete your Mothers Day treat and try our Chocolate Almond Cheesecake.

 
Chocolate Almond Cheesecake

Shopping List

Primula Cheese (200g)

Ameretti Biscuits (75g)

Butter (175g)

Plain Chocolate (100g)

Milk

Double Cream (150ml)

Castor Sugar

Toasted Almonds

Gelatine (2 sheets)

Method:

1. To make the base, melt butter in a small pan, crush the digestive biscuits and 50g of the ameretti biscuits, then mix with the melted butter. Press into a greased, loose based cake tin (20.5 cm / 8” diameter) and chill.
2. Melt the chocolate in a small heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water. Ensure that the water does not touch the base of the bowl. Remove the bowl from the heat and allow to cool a little. Mix in 3 tablespoons of milk.
3. Whisk the tub of Primula cheese and the sugar into the chocolate mixture.
4. In a medium bowl, whip the cream to soft peaks. Stir in the chocolate mixture and then the crushed amoretti biscuits.
5. Make up the gelatine as per pack instructions with the 2 tbsp of water and then stir into the chocolate mixture.
6. Pour into the cake tin. Sprinkle over the toasted almonds and chill until set.
7. Once the cheesecake has set remove from the tin and serve (flowers are optional but you can skip the box of chocolates!)

So that’s it! Everything you need for the perfect Mothering Sunday. For more tasty recipes be sure to visit the Primula website www.primula.co.uk

Make Mother’s Day Special With A Fairtrade Gift March 16, 2009

 Let your Mum know how much you care this Mother’s Day with the finest Fairtrade gift for her and the guarantee of a fair price and additional Fairtrade premium for people in the developing world behind the pressie.
With over 4,500 products that now carry the FAIRTRADE Mark, there’s plenty of gifts to choose from. New for this Mother’s Day, look for heavenly treats from Divine Chocolate or the softest bed linen and towels made from Fairtrade cotton from MUJI, John Lewis and Liv.
Fairtrade is good news for mums in the developing world too – it means that mothers across Africa, Asia and South America who grow the roses, cocoa, vanilla and other products that make the perfect Fairtrade Mother’s Day gift can provide their families with a better future and enjoy a stronger voice in their communities. Through Fairtrade, farmers earn a fair and stable income, taking away worries of putting food on the family table, and allowing them to look forward towards a brighter future for themselves and their children. What many don’t know is that in addition to a fair price, Fairtrade also empowers women to take an active part in their local economy and work as equals alongside men in often male dominated societies. Fairtrade standards encourage women’s representation on worker Joint Bodies or Fairtrade premium committees, requiring proportional representation wherever possible.

Sylvia Ramirez, a banana farmer from the El Guabo Association of Small Banana Producers in Ecuador said: ‘Fairtrade has given us the space to organise as women – to meet and discuss things. For us and our families, for the community and the environment, this is the future; it is the way forward…. The biggest difference with Fairtrade is that before we never had any money. We had to take out loans. Now we can spend on better education for the kids, on better groceries for the family, better clothes. Our children can go to better schools. We always want to get a better education for them’.

Homeware
A range of luxurious Fairtrade cotton bed linen is available from M&S including their beautiful brand new Garden Rose Bedset with duvet cover and two pillow cases (£25 for single and £45 for a double set). Striking stripy bed linen is also available from MUJI and gorgeous crisp white cotton sheets from LIV. For a touch of sophistication opt for Fairtrade towels by John Lewis, available in Amethyst and Pebble.

If your mum’s a dab hand in the kitchen, put a little thought into your present with Sarah Smith’s range of Fairtrade cotton aprons, oven gloves and tea towels, all of which come in vibrant designs including butterflies, chrysanthemum and spots. www.sarah-smith.co.uk

Chocolate
Nothing says ‘I love you’ like the gift of chocolate. Divine’s dark chocolate hearts are heavenly heart-shaped 70% dark chocolate wrapped in bright red foil. At £2.99 a pack they look a million dollars, but won’t break the bank (gold hearts also available in milk chocolate). Divine is 45% owned by the farmers who grow the cocoa, so buying Divine is as good for development as it is for your taste buds. www.divinechocolate.com

For the irresistible temptation that comes with the choice of chocs in a selection box, give her luxury Belgian Fairtrade Chocolates from Plush. Another mmmmm for mums comes in the range of crumbly fudge from Burnt Sugar. www.burntsugar.co.uk

Tea
If your mum’s always got the pot on the boil, treat her to cuppa a little more special than her usual brew. Hampstead tea’s Fairtrade organic peppermint, royal camomile, lemon valerian and rosehip hibiscus teas add a touch of finesse. Dragonfly’s Fairtrade organic Rooibos tea will help sooth and calm and Fairtrade organic detox China green tea from Qi brings health and vitality.

Cooking
Encourage her culinary creativity with the Fairtrade Everyday Cookbook published by Dorling Kindersley and edited by Sophie Grigson. The compilation of delicious recipes from celebrity supporters and chefs as well as competition winners would be a fantastic accompaniment to the gorgeous range of Fairtrade spices now available. Steenbergs Fairtrade organic cinnamon quills and Suma’s Fairtrade organic whole cloves would make a welcome addition to any spice rack as well as Suma’s Fairtrade organic range including ground ginger, cloves and turmeric.

Jams and preserves
It might be a bit mumsy, but that’s the idea, right? Check out Traidcraft’s range of jams including the deliciously simple Fairtrade organic strawberry jam and marmalade. From M&S, and perfect for Mother’s Day, is the Breakfast Larder gift set which includes Fairtrade strawberry conserve and two egg cups with cosies. Equal Exchange Fairtrade organic clear and orange blossom honey really do taste as good as they sound.