Regular readers will know I’m not a huge fan of ‘occasion’ chocolate, but if you do decide to buy a loved one something for St Valentine’s Day can I recommend Pierre Marcolini’s Hearts Unite, £11.90/60g? It’s an interlocked heart of two halves, the sentiment of which I don’t agree with, but let’s not get too philosophical. Marcolini is a master of a good praline and this pretty little heart is so good I’m not sure you’ll want to share it. It’s not cheap for its size, but quality rather than quantity always wins on Valentine’s Day.
Something really different is North Chocolate’s Liquorice and Blackcurrant 70% dark, £4.50/100g. Such an intriguing bar from this Newcastle upon Tyne producer. It’s deeply satisfying, thanks to the liquorice, and the blackcurrant supplies a sharp tang.
Bare Bones has produced a lovely chocolate syrup, £5/200ml, made using its leftover cocoa husks, which are then brewed with unrefined sugar. It’s a delicious, sweet (obviously) syrup, which you can use a drizzle of on roasted veg for caramelisation or pour straight on to porridge or pancakes. It’s also good as a more complex sugar syrup in cocktails.
Finally, for the dark purists, Vinte Vinte’s Mexico Soconusco Finca La Rioja, £14.95/50g, is a special bar to buy – for yourself. Made with some of the rarest cocoa in the world (porcelana blanca rioja, a sub-variety of criollo) and from the harvest of a single plantation in Mexico. It is absolutely exquisite. Obviously only if you have the money, but if you do, it’s well spent.
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