Speciality Food January 2024

quality of the beans.” Kathryn also has a penchant for unrefined chocolate, which is making waves in the market for its purity, and unique texture. If a bar has been processed in this way, it should say so on the label, she points out. “Mouthfeel is important. It’s about flavour delivery. A chocolate made on a small scale can have a bit more texture and be a bit more granular than one made on larger machinery.” We’ve gotten used to, Kathryn says, the smoothmouthfeel of Belgian and bars made with non-deodorised cocoa butter, with the deodorisation process taking away the essential cocoa flavour, leading, often, to more flavourings being added. “Chocolarder makes two absolutely amazing white chocolate bars – a pure white and a blonde with Madagascan cocoa butter and toasted milk powder. “Sometimes I do tastings with this type of chocolate and ask people to close their eyes. It tastes a bit like milk chocolate, and that’s down to the specialityfoodmagazine.com 33 STOCK CH ECK S P E C I A L I T Y F O O D M A G A Z I N E * 2 0 2 4 * SUMMERDOWN DARK CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINT DOMINOES Moreish, svelte dark chocolate thins which can be snapped down the middle for two perfect bites. Each infused with the farm’s single-estate Black Mitcham peppermint oil. summerdown.com CHOCOLARDER WILD GORSE FLOWER 50% MILK A completely unique bean to bar chocolate, infused with hand-picked gorse from Cornish coastal paths, which adds a delicate hint of almost coconut flavour to each bite. chocolarder.com BULLION 70% VIETNAM TIEN GANG A lightly textured, excellently crafted bean to bar chocolate. With hints of honey, stone fruit and toasted butterscotch. bullionchocolate.com FATSO NAN’S STASH Delicious, sustainable dark chocolate, packed with all of nan’s favourite things – buttery biscuits, peanuts and chewy toffee. sofatso.com ISLANDS CHOCOLATE 37%WHITE CHOCOLATE BUTTONS Almost indescribably good giant buttons with a pure cocoa flavour and just a tiny hint of vanilla and salt. islandschocolate.com SOLKIKI CHUAO 70 A rare, low volume bar, made with authentic Venezuelan Chuao beans from a 400-year-old estate. Notes of spice, leather, citrus and nut. solkiki.co.uk Swiss chocolate, “but a bit of texture can support the flavour of the cocoa. Unrefined chocolate is usually very simple. Just a few ingredients that you can almost taste separately.” These bars aren’t for everybody. “But this is a different way of tasting and experiencing chocolate, adding a whole new dimension to it.” THE EXPERTS’ FAVOURITE BARS KATHRYN “My favourite, favourite maker is from Canada – Soma. They do an Old School Milk chocolate made with cocoa beans from Venezuela, milk powder and cane sugar, ground together. It’s very granular, but the smell alone for me is incredible. The taste and overall craftsmanship is outstanding.” JENNIFER “The Chocolate Tree do a gianduja bar made with just hazelnuts, dark chocolate and sugar. It’s really creamy and interesting. I also love Bare Bones Chocolate. Their 60% Honduras and 40% Salted White are amazing.” CARLENE New to Chocolate Seekers this year is Mission Chocolate, which has been popular with customers. “They are based in Brazil and the founder uses Brazilian cocoa, but also has a biome project, so she tries to use local fruit and nuts too. And she makes some Brazilian dessert-type bars. They’ve sold really well.”