Christmas Flavour Stories for 2023

After months of planning – our Limited Edition Christmas Boxes are now in the shops and available to buy direct from us too. We thought you might like to read a little about their creation and backstory – introducing the 2023 Flavour Stories.

Cranberry

Seasonal choice – in season around winter and we like to always include a fruit truffle. First time we are doing it this year, so this is a 2023 debut. The trick will be to balance the acidity of cranberry and the sweetness of chocolate – so a white truffle to carry the acidic cranberry and enrobe in white too. Decorated with a red shimmer edible dust to look like a festive berry.

Chestnut

This was a very popular festive flavour many years ago and Richard recounts a story of his Mum and Dad – one of their first dates when courting was when they went to the pictures and afterwards his Dad Joe bought roast chestnuts from a stall on the side of the road, and they walked home together eating them. Marrons Glacé – the French candied chestnuts – are a very popular delicacy around Christmas time in France. Richard has wanted to make these for a very long time and 2023 feels like the right time. This is another 2023 debut. Using organic chestnuts and milk chocolate with sugar holly leaves as decoration – this will look like a Christmas pudding.

Gingerbread

Making its debut in 2017 – this has been a long-term favourite for the Christmas boxes. Each year Richard tries to change at least one flavour in the box. It was my (Laura) first year working with Richard on the Christmas Boxes in 2017 and during a brainstorming session I put forward some Christmassy flavour ideas, including Gingerbread (I also mentioned Brussel Sprouts, Goose Fat, Stuffing, and numerous others but they were thrown out – for now!)

Richard had never even tasted a Gingerbread chocolate before, nor tried to make it so this was going to need some serious research and development. But he loves a challenge! He started thinking about what spices and ingredients are used in actual Gingerbread, deconstructing the flavour profile. The first time he made it, he added the spices straight into the chocolate ganache. Chocolate ganache is a combination of chocolate and double cream and is the basis for chocolate truffles of all flavours.

However, the first try at making these truffles was a fail. The spices ended up stuck in his teeth and coating his mouth. Not a pleasant experience. So, he worked on creating a Gingerbread syrup. Steeping the spices in hot sugar, using it as a flavouring oil slowly added to the ganache mix. Again, trial and error here to get the right balance of chocolate to Gingerbread flavouring. The ratio of which is obviously a much-kept secret. He found milk chocolate to be the best for creaminess which countered the heat of the ginger notes but dipped it in dark chocolate to bring out the bitter notes of the Gingerbread flavour profile. The 3 or 4 attempts to make this one really paid off and we think it will be a main stay for years to come. For 2023 this will have a little sugar work gingerbread man on top.

Mulled Cider

Laura loves cider and for years we have had Mulled Wine in the Christmas boxes but for 2023 we felt a change was needed. Using cider not wine will lift the flavour – as mulled wine can be quite heavy. Created using mulled cider apples and brandy in a milk truffle – enrobed in white to sweeten and lighten with a gold sugar star decoration.

Winter Warmer

This is a chocolate truffle version of one of Richards favourite winter drinks – a hot toddy. Again, evoking memories of his past. This should really be called the ‘Christmas Chocolate Box of Christmas Memories Past’! Evoking a lot of memories for Richard. This truffle balances the flavours of malt whiskey, honey, a hint of orange and a pinch of cinnamon. All held in a dark chocolate truffle wrapped in gold foil.

Dark Rum Caramel

During our development of bespoke dark rum truffles for Derek at Moonshine and Fuggles in Ironbridge – I (Richard) was so happy with the result that I decided there and then that I wanted to include it in our 2023 Christmas boxes. The sweetness of the initial bite turning into the spice notes of the rum – leaving a warm glow on the palate makes this one perfect for these cold winter nights to my mind. Finished by being hand rolled in dark chocolate and then given a green edible shimmer with the dark chocolate truffle inside.