Good Food For Life

Home » Posts filed under chocolate

Showing posts with label chocolate. Show all posts

Sheffield - Carousel Chocolaterie

Posted by Unknown Friday, April 18, 2014 0 comments

Happy Easter!

Apparently every child in the UK receives on average 8.8 Easter eggs. I think most kids would prefer quality rather than quantity. If you've not already got one, Carousel Chocolaterie in Sheffield would be a good place to go:

It's a relatively new business, and is currently ranked on Trip Advisor as the second best place in Sheffield to go shopping (only the giant Meadowhall Shopping centre does better)!

They sell good quality chocolates, mainly from Belgium.

So whether you fancy a dark coffee mousse, a milk egg liqueur with pistachio or a white coconut liqueur truffle, they'll have it here!

For lovers of local food, they also have a hand made in Sheffield range.

We played Russian roulette with our selection

and had a dark chilli and lime truffle in our box!

They've got lots of truffles to choose from:

and these pretty Easter figures:

They also have good quality, sugar-free chocolates.

So I'll stop rabbiting on about how good this shop is:

and just say it's eggcellent!

Carousel Chocolaterie

23 Orchard Square Shopping Centre

Church Street

Sheffield

South Yorkshire

S1 2FB

Tel: 0114 276 5444

Web: www.littleshopofchocs.co.uk

Manchester - Bonbon Chocolate Boutique

Posted by Unknown Sunday, March 30, 2014 0 comments

I first heard about Bonbon Chocolate Boutique in Manchester Confidential, and decided I ought to pay them a visit. Their shop:

is situated in Manchester's now highly fashionable Northern Quarter, not far from Piccadilly Gardens. You can get hot chocolate made with 56% dark chocolate (which is dairy free), with or without Aztec spice, chilli, cinnamon, mocha, orange or salted caramel. There's also freshly baked cakes from the Teacup Kitchen.

There's an interesting selection of the finest chocolate:

There's artisan chocolate bars made by Rick & Michael Mast in Brooklyn. I bought a bar of their Papua New Guinea chocolate. This chocolate is made with smoked beans for an interesting flavour - "think hickory smoked bacon and aged Scotch"!

There's also Rococo chocolate bars with flavours like Arabic spices, cardamon or violet.

They sell Booja-Booja chocolate truffles, made with organic dairy-free chocolate in Norfolk:

Last, but not least, there's Sharon's own chocolates made on the premises. A quick straw poll amongst the regulars told me I should buy some pink salted caramels:

The pecan and hazelnut salted pralines looked good. I'd heard their chocolate coconut bar was very good - but they'd just sold the last one. So, as a consolation, I bought my wife some chai latte, coconut and lemongrass, orange and chilli, rose and cardamom, stilton and caramel chocolates:

Bonbon Chocolate Boutique
9 John Street
Manchester
M4 1EQ

Tel: 0161 839 4416

Web: www.bonbonchocolate.co.uk

Orton - Kennedys Fine Chocolates

Posted by Unknown Wednesday, December 11, 2013 0 comments

David and Alison Kennedy have been making and selling chocolates in Orton since 1991.

Customers include posh hotels and British Airways - who got them to make “The Concorde Selection” of chocolates. So they claim their chocolates were the first to travel faster than the speed of sound!

It's not just chocolates they sell, you can buy items like Moores biscuits, Tracklements Preserves and lovely fudge from The Toffee Shop in Penrith.

I like the way they sell chocolate novelty items, some for less than £1. I bought some milk and white chocolate owls, so that we could tell our birdwatching friends we'd seen quite a few owls on holiday!

At the back of the shop there's a Coffee House with a viewing windows - so you can see their chocolates being made.

They must be doing something right, as they now employ nearly 30 people! So, if you're stuck for ideas for a Christmas gift, you know where to come...

Kennedys Fine Chocolates
The Old School
Orton
Cumbria
CA10 3RU

Tel: 01539 624781

Web: www.kennedyschocolates.co.uk

Botany Bay

Posted by Unknown Sunday, June 23, 2013 0 comments

Today we're talking about Botany Bay on the outskirts of Chorley, not to be confused with any other Botany Bays that may exist! As a child I learnt all about King Cotton, and how Lancashire's damp climate helped mills spring up all around. Now a lot of the mills have gone for ever, but Canal Mill has reinvented itself and now houses five floors of shopping next door to the M61.

I'd heard that there are some good food places on the ground floor so decided to explore. The first place I found was All you knead.

Here Craig and Julie Dugan make proper artisan bread - white, wholemeal and a bit o' both!

They also bake other items like ciabatta:

and a treacle treat soda bread. They also a make a beer soda bread, which is made with real ale from the 3 B's Brewery in Blackburn:

If you want some cheese, to go with your bread, there's the Cheese Shop.

There's local cheeses like Dewlay's Lancashire, and if you like a bit of chilli in your cheese, there's a wide choice like Chilli Monster, Flamin Eck, Kick Ass Fiery Jack, Mexicana and Red Devil!

They also sell home made pies, and duck eggs

and chutneys, crackers, local butter and milk.

Nearby there's Ye Olde Sausage Shop, where you can buy everything from old fashioned pork sausage to Sicilian garlic sausage with beef pork fennel.

There's also a deli, a fishmonger (which was closed when I called), a wine and beer shop, ice cream parlour and an outlet for Friendly Food and Drink, who make hand-made chutneys, preserves and sauces.

Last, but not least, there's Paul Williams's Choc Amor:

Their chocolates are handmade, in small batches, using only the finest quality Belgian couverture chocolate. The question was which should I buy? My family enjoyed the salt caramels:

and the peanut butter:

and, if you haven't overdosed on the chilli cheese, they do a nice chilli and lime chocolate:

If you're having a celebration, you can have a marshmallow pizza and a chocolate bottle, and why not finish your next dinner party with drinks served in chocolate shot glasses?

It saves having to wash up the glasses afterwards!

Botany Bay
Canal Mill
Botany Brow
Chorley
Lancashire
PR6 9AF

Tel: 01257 261220

Web: www.botanybay.co.uk

Ripon - Langton's Fine Foods

Posted by Unknown Tuesday, June 19, 2012 0 comments

Ripon cathedral dates back to 672, and is well worth a visit. Not far from the cathedral, on Kirkgate, is Langton's Fine Foods.

This business specialises in hampers, containing items like local honey, Harrogate toffee, Henderson's Yorkshire relish, Rosebud Preserves and Yorkshire tea and coffee from Taylors of Harrogate.

It's also a good place to get some chocolate. They sell Guppy's hand made chocolate truffles from York:

and Lauden chocolates from Leeds:

which my Mum says look too nice to eat, but we always seem to manage!

Langton's Fine Foods
13 Kirkgate
Ripon
North Yorkshire
HG4 1PA

Tel: 01765 698096

Web: www.thelocalhampercompany.co.uk

Leeds - Charbonnel et Walker

Posted by Unknown Monday, February 13, 2012 0 comments

One of my favourite places in Leeds is the County Arcade. It's a beautiful Victorian building, designed by Frank Matcham - who is best known for his theatre interiors.

Apparently it was once the site of the city’s meat markets, but it's a bit more upmarket these days:

Situated in the arcade is a branch of Charbonnel et Walker, who are one of Britain’s earliest chocolatiers. They were founded in 1875, so are even older than the County Arcade.

So if you bought your lover an ASDA Valentine's card for 7p, and it wasn't well received today, you've still got time to redeem yourself and buy some chocolates from the manufacturers who supply Her Majesty The Queen!

Charbonnel et Walker
19 County Arcade
Victoria Quarter
Leeds
LS1 6BW

Tel: 0113 245 2627

Web: www.charbonnel.co.uk

Liskeard - Taste Cornwall

Posted by Unknown Tuesday, December 13, 2011 0 comments

When I visited Pengelly's and Beddoe's Arcade Fruits I got talking to a customer (of both shops) who told me I really should also visit Taste Cornwall:

I'm very glad I did! It is run by the Cornish Guild of Smallholders, the same organisation that runs Lostwithiel Farmers Market.

Everything they stock has been made in Cornwall or within 35 miles of the shop.

There's freshly baked bread:

and very nice cakes:

There's Wessex Pantry pies "The outsides are made in Devon but the insides are Cornish through and through":

and local cheeses, local ham and Deli Farm charcuterie, milk from Roskillys and Roddas clotted cream.

There's a great selection of drinks, including local apple juice and the fantastic Cornish Orchard Cider:

It's a great shop to see lots of different things from lots of small producers. There's often the same item from more than one supplier - which means you have to buy two to see which you prefer J!

If you don't live in the South West, you can call on the way home from your Cornish holiday and get some proper presents!

They also do hampers, which would make a very acceptable Christmas present: