Our Academy of Chocolate 2017 award winners
Our Academy of Chocolate entries - Three silver medal awards
The Academy of Chocolate awards are open to entries from around the world so it can be great to enter and see how the judges rate them against global 'competition'.
We were fortunate to be awarded three silver medals for our entries so in this post I thought I'd give you a bit more information about the winning entries.
- Blackcurrant and sloe gin - This is a two layer bonbon. The top layer is a jelly made with blackcurrant purée whilst underneath is a dark Madagascan cocoa chocolate ganache flavoured with sloe gin from our friends at the Winchester Distillery. The chocolate packs a powerful punch of tart blackcurrants and sour sloe gin and is one of my personal favourites
- Praline crunch - A classic style of nut praline, made with our own praline pastes (using Italian hazelnuts from Piedmont and Sicilian almonds, both regions renowned for growing the finest tasting nuts). The praline is made with a fine quality 38% cocoa milk chocolate, together with caramelised hazelnut nibs and crushed crêpe wafers which enhance the caramel notes and give a satisfying crunch
- Thai basil and coconut - This is a new seasonal flavour which marries the aniseed flavours from Thai Basil with the soft creaminess of coconut. Fresh Thai Basil is infused into cream along with some lemon zest. The flavoured cream is then used to make the ganache together with fine milk chocolate and coconut purée. Finally the bonbon is coated in milk chocolate and topped with flakes of toasted coconut
It was great to receive the awards and have our dedication to quality recognised amongst some very fine entries.
