Valentine’s Roundup

It’s been a busy old run up to Valentine’s Day this year, and I for one have eaten more than my fair share of chocolate hearts.

We’ve reviewed a complete spectrum of Valentine’s goodies from zChocolat, Hotel Chocolat, Divine, Chococo, Matcha Chocolat and even M&M’s. But we had even more that we just didn’t have time to tell you about, so here’s just a few last minute gift ideas.

Godiva sent us a small selection of love-themed chocolates, including this pink heart shaped box, and rather cute little white chocolate hearts. The chocolates are from Godiva’s Mont D’amour collection and all feature soft, mousse centres, mostly of a fruity nature. They’re aimed more at confectionery lovers than fine chocolate connoisseurs, but if that’s your thing, they’re quite nice.

I’ve never quite figured out how Godiva operates, with a huge variety of different products worldwide, but you might find these in your local store.

Thorntons sent us a big selection of chocolate to try, and heart-shaped boxes seem to be big with them too. As well as these small boxes of Viennese, Strawberry and Marc de Champagne truffles, they also do huge heart shaped boxes of Continental. Again, too sweet for me, but apparently still very popular.

If you’re looking for something a little more personal, Thorntons also do these alphabet truffles, which are hand decorated with any message you want. Hours of fun for dirty minded anagram enthusiasts.

Finally, I want to give another mention to Hotel Chocolat who are really impressing me at the moment. Their new Roast + Conch shop & café in Covent Garden is a great place to take your loved one to see chocolate being made from the bean while you eat.

Of course their other shops have a big range of Valentine’s themed chocolates, including these ever popular pink champagne truffles. They have very soft, smooth and alcoholic centres, but what I like best about them is that they’re just a little on the large size. They may look pink and girly, but they’re man sized chocolates. Honest.

Given there’s only two days left to make your purchase, I’d recommend dropping in to your local shop to pick these up. But if you happen to have an artisan chocolatier locally, I still think you’d make a much better impression spending a little extra on some fresh, handmade chocolates. And if you’re buying for me, I’ll have some more of the Matcha Chocolat, please!

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