Chef Wise

Chocoholic? Hardened tea drinker? Keen to kick both habits in 2017? Then try the new chocolate cocoa tea from Paxton Chocolate, the perfect drink to help you stick to your new year's resolutions! The new Chocolate Cocoa Tea from Paxton Chocolate is a fragrant tea made from roasted cocoa nibs, which has a delicious, chocolatey aroma and floral, refreshing taste. Rich in anti-oxidants, cacoa tea is all the good things about chocolate with none of the naughtiness! So you can enjoy a freshly brewed cup of chocolatey goodness, with none of the guilt. Paxton's Chocolate Cocoa Tea is healthy, refreshing and delicious and should help curb your chocolate cravings any time of the day. It is available in three delicious variants: Raspberry, Mango and Fennel Seed and all three help to compliment the complex cocoa flavour. Paxton's Chocolate Cocoa Tea is available in 120g tins (Fennel Seed is 110g) (RRP £8.50), from www.paxtonchocolate.com Chef Wise website...

Pioneering raw chocolate producer, Adam's Fresh Chocolate, has been crowned The Seed Fund's 2016 Winner and will now begin a journey of business development as it benefits from a year-long programme of mentoring, branding and business support from The Seed Fund, a prize estimated to be worth over £100,000. Searching for the future stars of the food industry each year, The Seed Fund, a philanthropic fund founded by branding and marketing consultancy, The Collaborators, selected Bristol-based Adam's Fresh Chocolate as its 2016 Winner, as judges were blown away by the unique nature of this raw chocolate. Made from organic, single origin, unroasted cacao and other superfoods, including combinations such as goji and pistachio, the chocolate is packed full of micronutrients and has an enticing fudge like texture, making it a step into the unknown for those tasting the product for the first time. Free from refined sugars, dairy, gluten and soy, this innovative chocolat...

A glass of Taylor's First Estate Port is a sublime marriage with chocolate! One of the great joys of Port is its extraordinary versatility to complement the most challenging food flavours, from salty, blue cheeses to rich chocolate desserts. It's easy to recognise how the succulent sweet fruit found in Port is such a winning match with cheese; the same can be said about its role with chocolate. Take a young Port like Taylor's First Estate, with its robust, sweet plum flavours, and see how well it complements the sour cherry notes that can often be found in dark chocolate.  The bitter components in the chocolate work so well with the sweet fruit in the Port making it a glorious palate match. Taylor's First Estate is a blend of young red Ports which have been matured for several years in large oak vats.   It has a concentrated fruit nose bursting with blackcurrant, plum and liquorice flavours.  A luscious, sweet palate is supported by firm tannin...

A glass of Taylor's First Estate Port is a sublime marriage with chocolate! One of the great joys of Port is its extraordinary versatility to complement the most challenging food flavours, from salty, blue cheeses to rich chocolate desserts. It's easy to recognise how the succulent sweet fruit found in Port is such a winning match with cheese; the same can be said about its role with chocolate. Take a young Port like Taylor's First Estate, with its robust, sweet plum flavours, and see how well it complements the sour cherry notes that can often be found in dark chocolate.  The bitter components in the chocolate work so well with the sweet fruit in the Port making it a glorious palate match. Taylor's First Estate is a blend of young red Ports which have been matured for several years in large oak vats.   It has a concentrated fruit nose bursting with blackcurrant, plum and liquorice flavours.  A luscious, sweet palate is supported by firm tannins and res...

All the lists in the world don't seem to stop one person being left out each year. That awful moment when you realise there are just a few days until Christmas and you've completely forgotten one of the people who'll be expecting a gift from you. You could recycle something you were given last year... and hope it wasn't from them in the first place. Or you could pull a bottle of wine from the cupboard ... and hope they don't guess you had planned to drink it yourself.  Save embarrassment and head online to www.ChocolateEcstasyTours.com and order a Golden Ticket to London's highest-rated chocolate experience: a luxurious Chocolate Ecstasy Tour. Surprise them with a ticket to pure indulgence. You can print a PDF of the Golden Ticket immediately after ordering (even on Christmas morning!) and wrap it around a Chocolate Orange or slip it in a bar from your corner store – all of a sudden your forgetfulness is concealed by what will look like creative int...

Divine Chocolate is delighted and proud to have won the Guardian Sustainable Business Award for Social Impact Innovation. The ceremony was held in Siemen's The Crystal at Royal Victoria Docks on April 29th. The awards were presented by The Guardian's Jo Confino, and other winners included IKEA (twice), Marks & Spencer, as well as Arthur Kay of Bio-Bean, and the Interface carpet company. The award was a recognition for the many and significant impacts owning Divine Chocolate has had on the lives of Kuapa Kokoo cocoa farmers - from community, farm, and education improvements to progressive programmes on women's empowerment, adult literacy, and model farm development. As well as empowering farmers and giving them a voice in the chocolate supply chain, Divine has also empowered chocolate lovers here in UK and increasingly around the world - giving them the opportunity to make change happen. Communications Director Charlotte Borger and National Accounts Manag...

Divine Chocolate, the farmer-owned chocolate company and award-winning social enterprise, has merged its UK and USA businesses. Kuapa Kokoo, the farmers' co-operative in Ghana that voted to set up a chocolate company back in 1997, will own 44% of the merged company. Divine Chocolate Ltd's Managing Director Sophi Tranchell MBE takes the role of CEO. This week the newly merged Board will be meeting for the first time, with Board members including elected Kuapa farmer Sampson Cobina, all flying in to Washington DC from around the world. “Having launched Divine in the USA nine years after the founding company launched in the UK, it has been very exciting to see it successfully navigate all the challenges in the USA market and mirror the success of Divine in the UK. We have seen a growing appetite around the world for business being done differently.” says Tranchell. “The new structure strengthens the group, making us more resilient and giving us a wider consumer rea...

Two Bournemouth chocolatiers are riding the crest of a wave after being asked to host their popular chocolate workshops on board cruise liners in the Caribbean. Gerry Wilton and Huw Davies from Bournemouth’s family owned Chocolate Boutique Hotel will teach guests the art of chocolate making on board the Thomson Celebration and Thomson Dream ships as they cruise the Caribbean islands. As well as covering the history of chocolate, the fun, floating workshops will also include chocolate tasting and Belgian chocolate truffle making. Guests will also find out how a chocolate pizza is crafted. First to leave the UK will be chocolatier Gerry, who will join guests on board the Thomson Celebration on 12th April for the 12-nights Transatlantic Moments Cruise. This sails from the hypnotic calypso isle of Barbados to Tenerife, taking in the ‘Spice Island’ of Grenada as well as St Lucia, known for its cocoa industry, St Kitts and Antigua. Two days later Huw Davies will j...

Get cracking this Easter with artisan British chocolate brand Choc on Choc ( www.choconchoc.co.uk ) and their unique collection of deliciously decadent hand-crafted confectionary. From grown-up indulgences to exciting treats for children, this beautifully designed range provides a delicious feast for the eyes as well as the palate. From intricately designed edible Egg Nests, to the brand's chocolate take on that traditional breakfast dish, Egg On Toast, Choc on Choc's Easter creations are so striking, it's almost a shame to crack them open. Made using the finest Belgian chocolate, this irresistible collection is guaranteed to inject egg-citement into this seasonal celebration. Choc on Choc takes its name from the patented production method invented by its founders, which decadently layers chocolate on top of chocolate, producing exceptionally designed confectionery and the perfect gifts for Easter. Chocolate Egg Nest: £7.99 For a chocolate treat with ser...

Chocolatiers from the Nestlé Product Technology Centre in York took up a challenge by BBC1's One Show to create a chocolate teapot. The team managed to develop a method for pouring the water to ensure that the tea did not turn into hot chocolate. Master Chocolatiers John Costello and Jan Kuendiger from Nestlé helped One Show presenter Marty Jopson to 'engineer the impossible' by creating this breakthrough innovation which has helped to solve the age-old conundrum. John Costello, Nestlé Master Chocolatier said: "Interestingly, if you pour the water in a certain way and you don't stir inside but just let it settle, and then brew like you would normally brew a cup of tea, the chocolate on the inside of the shell melts but doesn't move anywhere." The process involved building the teapot in layers of silicon mould which took more than two hours but the challenge was to avoid the chocolate teapot from tainting the brew inside. The PTC in ...

This September Chocolate Ecstasy Tours adds to their highly acclaimed London tours with a fabulous new chocolate walking tour in Brighton. The first outside the capital.  Tours will run at 10am on Saturdays and some Friday afternoons and cost £33. See www.chocolateecstasytours.com/calendar for dates. The Brighton chocolate tour is three hours of delicious fun. Your guide will lead you to some of the most interesting and innovative chocolate boutiques in the area to taste luxury chocolates, including – of course! – sea-salted caramels. After exploring the chocolatiers and boutiques in the famous Brighton North Laine and lanes, guests are taken by car to Hove to sample even more delicious chocolate treats. Perfect for visitors and locals alike, this is a decadent way to enjoy a few hours of luxury by the sea.  Private tours can be booked for groups of at least four people – perfect for hen parties, birthdays and corporate entertaining.   What to ex...

Divine Chocolate, the chocolate company owned by cocoa farmers, is delighted to announce its Christmas 2014 range, which this year includes exciting new additions including two limited edition 100g bars. Following  last year's success, Divine has again created two newlimited edition flavours to the range of 100g bars; introducing Dark Chocolate with Ginger & Pear and Milk Chocolate with Spiced Toffee Apple -specially created for the festive period. Juicy pieces of pear and a natural kick of ginger oil have been combined with Divine's rich 70% dark chocolate, and  festive spiced apple with crunchy toffee pieces add a burst of vibrant flavours to the smooth milk chocolate. The limited edition flavours are available from Suma, Essentials, Tree of Life, Queenswood, Healthstore, Hider, Green City, HF Chocolate and Infinity (Dark chocolate with Ginger & Pear only) RRP £2.49. Brand new this Christmas, Divine introduces the Luxury Belgian Collection, a beautifu...

Divine Chocolate presents the Luxury Belgian Chocolate Collection this Christmas - a beautiful boxed selection of 16 milk and dark chocolates with soft or praline centres in a variety of delicious flavours. Made in Belgium using the ‘best of the best’ Fairtrade cocoa from Kuapa Kokoo in Ghana (the cooperative that owns Divine) this new Christmas collection will be available from Waitrose, Ocardo, Oxfam and independent retailers RRP £10:00 The 200g box contains classic flavour combinations such as raspberry caramel cream and hazelnut crisp and some distinctively Divine creations such as dark ginger praline and a toffee and sea salt swirl. The new Collection is a glamorous addition to the Divine Christmas range and a perfect gift for all chocolate lovers. Charlotte Borger, Communications Director at Divine Chocolate said, “This great selection of flavours in Divine’s smooth milk and dark chocolate, and packaged in an elegant black box decorated with Divine’s bright adinkr...

Divine Chocolate is delighted to announce two brand new limited edition additions to their range of 100g bars especially for Christmas. The Divine Dark Chocolate with Pear & Ginger and the Milk Chocolate with Spiced Toffee Apple have been created especially for the festive period and will be available from Ethical Superstore, Oxfam and independent retailers. RRP £2:49 Made with the ‘best of the best’ Fairtrade cocoa from Kuapa Kokoo in Ghana, the co-operative that owns 45% of Divine, Divine has brought together its rich velvety dark chocolate with juicy pieces of pear plus a kick of natural ginger oil while festive spiced apple and crunchy toffee pieces make a perfect Christmassy addition to Divine’s seriously smooth milk chocolate. The bars come wrapped in jewel colours of dark purple and pink, decorated with gold adinkras, making them a very attractive gift for Christmas. These new limited edition flavours are the latest in a series of very successful and distinct...

If you love chocolate, shoes and handbags, a new chocolate making workshop at Bournemouth’s deliciously different Chocolate Boutique Hotel might just take you to chocolate heaven. Perfect for special birthday treats, girlie get-togethers, hen dos and parties, the fabulous new chocolate shoe and handbag masterclasses are run by chocolatier Gerry Wilton, who first courted success in the UK with his chocolate fountain business before founding the world’s first chocolate themed hotel. “People often tell me that shoes and handbags made out of chocolate are every woman’s ultimate fantasy,” says Gerry. "Could a girl want for more? Just in case, we’re throwing in a glass of bubbly too." At the new masterclasses, wannabe fashionistas can learn how to create their own edible versions of Jimmy Choos complete with matching bag and satisfy their craving for chocolate, killer heels and must-have clutches all at the same time. As well as finding out about the history...

Divine Chocolate and Christian Aid are delighted to announce the winners of this year’s National Divine Poetry Competition . Award-winning children’s author Philip Ardagh joined us to select the poems from over 1000 entries which best captured the theme “If I Met a Cocoa Farmer”.  Entries in Welsh have been judged separately by 2013-2015 Welsh Children’s Poet Laureate Aneirin Karadog. As always the topic of chocolate stimulated thousands of budding poets to wax lyrical about chocolate, something they clearly love, and the Fairtrade focus produced more reflective thoughts and ideas. The winners were chosen from over 1000 entries, mostly from schools all over UK. In the 7-11 age group the winner was Sophie Turner (9) from Sandling County Primary School. The 12-16 age group the winner was Daniella Cugini (16) King’s High School in Warwick, and the winner of the 17-adult age group was Katrina Quinn from Penzance in Cornwall. First prize for the Welsh language poems went t...

The most stimulating tour of London launches this April! Chocolate Ecstasy Tours expands its delicious range of Chocolate Tours to include a Chocolate & Coffee Tour of Notting Hill. The tour lasts for three hours and tickets are £45 per person and include two coffees, one hot chocolate and enough chocolate sampling to leave guests completed chocolate-ed out by the end of the tour. As always, the tour will be as insightful about the history of the area as it is about chocolate and, this time, coffee too! Limited press tickets are available for Tuesday 15th April at 10:30am. This April Chocolate Ecstasy Tours launches its first new tour since 2010: the Coffee & Chocolate Tour of Notting Hill. A beautiful and already infamous area, it's also home to some incredible chocolate and fantastic coffee. Over three hours have an experienced guide help you explore these pastel-lined streets and sample some of the most delicious caffeinated treats to keep you buzzing all...

Divine Chocolate is celebrating exceeding £100million in cumulative turnover, which in turn has delivered £2 million investment in working with the co-operative of farmers that owns 45% of the company. Managing Director Sophi Tranchell MBE says: "Divine was set up with the mission to deliver sustainable income to the farmers in Ghana who supply the cocoa, and to put them higher up the value chain by making them the biggest shareholder in a dynamic chocolate brand." "Our business model includes investing 2% of our income into support & development programmes with our farmer owners - so we are delighted to mark the point at which, through earning £100m in sales, we have delivered not only Fairtrade Premiums and profit, but also £2m towards diverse projects for the farmers." Divine, set up as a Fairtrade company and social enterprise in 1998, delivers four income streams to Kuapa Kokoo, the co-operative of farmers that decided to set up their ow...