Holiday recipe: Chocolate-covered candied orange peel

The practice of preserving fruit in sugar dates back to antiquity. More than 2,000 years ago, the ancient Romans preserved fruit in this way using honey. During the Crusades, Europeans arriving in the Middle East discovered pâtes de fruits, jams and candied fruit. These sweet and flavourful confections eventually made their way to France by … Continue reading Holiday recipe: Chocolate-covered candied orange peel

Le Burgundy: O Christmas Tree

Le Burgundy‘s new pastry chef, Stéphane Tranchet, has created a striking cylindrical bûche de Noël. The sleek dessert features delicate orange-almond sponge cake, a cherry compote, liqueur-infused amaretti and dark chocolate cream. It is dusted with white chocolate and silver powder and encased in a lace-like dark chocolate shell adorned with shapes of Christmas trees. … Continue reading Le Burgundy: O Christmas Tree

La Maison du Chocolat: A midwinter night’s dream

A chocolate showpiece as intricate as clockwork, a gold leaf-covered chocolate pendant, a tasty advent calendar and a dense chocolate bûche de Noël are the highlights of La Maison du Chocolat‘s 2013 Christmas collection. Created by Master Chef Nicolas Cloiseau, the collection’s signature confection is an elaborately handcrafted six-kilogram dark chocolate showpiece packed with gourmet roasted nuts … Continue reading La Maison du Chocolat: A midwinter night’s dream

Pierre Marcolini: A fairy tale Christmas

Pierre Marcolini‘s 2013 Christmas chocolate collection is full of fairy tale delights and surprises. A playful christmas tree-shaped chocolate snowman, shimmering chocolate ornament, cute chocolate Teddy and plenty of yummy chocolate praliné balls are among this year’s holiday goodies. Earlier this year, Brussels-based Marcolini opened his third chocolate shop in Paris, at 78, rue du Bac (the other two … Continue reading Pierre Marcolini: A fairy tale Christmas

Sadaharu Aoki: Bûches de Noël 2013

Sadaharu Aoki‘s 2013 collection of holiday desserts combines Japanese simplicity with French tradition. This year’s line-up includes five striking bûches de Noël: Chocolat Praliné, Mâcha Azuki, Citron Vanille, Zen and Japon. As their names suggest, these luscious bûches de Noël feature both classic ingredients and exotic flavours: chocolate, caramel and praliné are paired with green tea, sesame and red … Continue reading Sadaharu Aoki: Bûches de Noël 2013

Jean-Charles Rochoux: Christmas animals and a modern Santa

The animal kingdom reigns at chocolatier Jean-Charles Rochoux’s Paris chocolate shop, where chocolate elephants, rhinos and crocodiles line the shelves alongside rabbits, ducks and snails. No surprise, then, that Rochoux’s Christmas chocolate collection features some splendid sculptures of his favourite subjects. A chocolate reindeer, fawn and hare are just some of the festive goodies offered … Continue reading Jean-Charles Rochoux: Christmas animals and a modern Santa

Angelina: Sachertorte-inspired Bûche de Noël

Angelina, the famous Paris tea room on rue de Rivoli renowned for its thick, luscious hot chocolate, is celebrating its 110th anniversary this year. To mark this event, and in keeping with the tea room’s Austrian heritage, its pastry chefs have created a new Sachertorte-inspired chocolate pastry. Sachertorte is a famous Viennese pastry invented in 1832 by Franz Sacher.  It … Continue reading Angelina: Sachertorte-inspired Bûche de Noël