Aztec Hot Chocolate With Spices (Paul A Young) By @Cinabar

I am such a fan of hot chocolate, I think I may have tried the majority of different varieties available. I drink the stuff all year, why would a hot summer’s day put me off a hot chocolate in the evening. Do you want to know what I’ve learnt from my extensive hot chocolate consumption, firstly that the best hot chocolates are made with milk and secondly the price you pay for the hot chocolate is not directly proportional to the quality. It is counterintuitive but as an example good old fashion Cadbury’s Hot Chocolate is one of the best.

A little while back chocolatier Paul A Young was making hot chocolate on morning television. He stated that the best hot chocolate was made with hot water, and this confused me. So much so I couldn’t resist making an order off his website for his hot chocolate (and accidentally brownies and some bars of his chocolate too) to find out what his hot chocolate was like.I went for a bag of Aztec Hot Chocolate With Spices, as this sounded like a warming drink.

I added four teaspoons of the grated hot chocolate into a mug, and boiled the kettle.

I added a small amount of water and made a paste as suggested, this was quite glossy looking. I then gradually topped it up with more water to fill the mug. I then added whipped cream and marshmallows because it is Christmas time.

The drink is very different to anything I’ve tried before. The cocoa flavour is very strong, it isn’t too sweet but the flavour is very rich and soothing. The hot chocolate is made from 70% cocoa so has that lovely edge of super dark chocolate. The spices are spot on, the mix of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger all warm the drink and give it that festive feel, all this while a layer of chilli which adds a tickling of heat. Oh my this is good stuff. I may still argue that hot chocolate is better made with milk than water but add an exception for when you buy it from a proper chocolatier like Paul A Young.

Festive Brownies (Paul A Young @paul_a_young) By @Cinabar

What better Christmas Eve treat is there than watching Christmas movies and snacking on an indulgent chocolate brownie. Of all the nights though Christmas Eve requires something a bit special, so here we have Paul A Young’s Festive Brownies. Paul A Young is a London based chocolatier who is a regular guest on BBC Saturday Kitchen, I bought these brownies from his online shop. It has been a while since I last went to London.

The brownies look pretty wrapped in purple ribbon. I took them out of the wrappers with the intention of them being finger food, but they were a little sticky so I was forced to go all posh and use plates and cutlery, well, it is Christmas. :-D

I took a piece and the Festive Brownie is so moist the fork went stickily through it. I gave the bite a try, and oh my the flavour was out of this world. The flavour of the brownie was like someone had mixed Christmas pudding in with a fabulous chocolate base. There was spice and fruit tastes all shining through. These were a very rich naughty delight, wonderfully gooey and melt in the mouth. I hope you are all having a treat too this evening. Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas. Stay Safe and have happy holidays.

Gerry The Gingerbread Bar (Paul A Young) By @Cinabar

Paul A Young is a famous chocolatier, he has a couple of shops in London and sells online too. I saw him on Saturday morning TV the other week talking about the art of hot chocolate and how the best hot chocolate is made with hot water. A controversial statement and one that was a trigger into how this blog was formed. Also known as how to find the fellow foodie at work. Anyway I went online to buy his hot chocolate and then I browsed his other goodies and inevitably things spiralled and now I have several of his products to try too. Oops.

So we have here the Gerry The Gingerbread Bar, a part milk and part dark chocolate bar flavoured with gingerbread. First can I say how absolutely gorgeous the bar looks, the gingerbread men on the chocolate are so pretty I wish my photograph could do them justice.

I broke a corner off and it came away with a nice snap. The chocolate is firm, and the flavour from the cocoa divine, the gingerbread taste adds warmth throughout and there is plenty of it, and it is perfectly balanced with the chocolate. In amongst the spice it feels like there is a touch of syrupy sweetness and the texture is lovely with crumbs of crunchy biscuit. This Gerry The Gingerbread Bar is a delight to eat.

I will be following up with a review of the hot chocolate too, and finding out if you can really make a good cup with hot water. I might not be convinced as yet but I’m still looking forward to finding out because if this bar is anything to go by the man is good, seriously good.

Hot Cross Bunny Bar (Paul A Young) By @Cinabar

As famous chocolatiers go Paul A Young is one of the most prestigious, I’ve seen him on ITV and the BBC this Easter talking chocolate. I decided I would investigate what he sold online and there I found this Hot Cross Bunny Bar chocolate which sounded like the perfect Bank Holiday Monday treat.

The Hot Cross Bunny Bar consists of four large pieces, one side is decorated with a white chocolate and a cute bunny pattern which is very prettily decorated. The main chocolate is a 40% cocoa milk chocolate flavoured with hot cross buns. I broke a piece off to try, the hot cross bun flavour was infused in the chocolate and there was a nice bit of crunch from a biscuit like crumbs. The flavour has lots of seasonal spice and I was very much enjoying the cinnamon. There was a little bit of heat to in the flavour and I couldn’t quite place what was causing it, I thought perhaps black pepper. The spices blended really well with the milk chocolate and there was still lots of rich cocoa in the taste. This Paul A Young Hot Cross Bunny Bar is pure luxury and a little bit of Easter chocolate fun too. It was a nice way to finish the long bank holiday weekend with this Easter chocolate, and at least the rest of the working week only has four days.

Marmite Truffles (Paul A Young)

It is no secret that I was both desperate to try Marmite chocolate and then hugely disappointed with the official bar. Everybody who had tried it told me that Paul A Young's version was ‘the’ Marmite chocolate to try. Sadly as the chocolate isn’t sold online, and is only available in the London shops, it has taken a while for me to locate. You wouldn’t believe how excited I am about trying this chocolate though.


The truffles are packed in a simple metallic box, decorated with purple ribbon. Inside the box each chocolate is given its own purple paper case to sit in, and the pretty chocolate shines temptingly within.
These truffles have a dark chocolate casing, with a smart glittery gold sheen on their surface. The aroma encapsulates rich dark tones of cocoa, but no Marmite on initial inspection. As I bit into the chocolate, there was a rich yeasty Marmite flavour that appeared, this developed as I chewed but was ingeniously taken over by the sumptuous tones of cocoa that blended the two tastes together perfectly.
The chocolate shell cracks easily when bitten despite having a decent thickness. The ganache like filling is soft and silky with a lovely smooth texture. The chocolate used is full of flavour, clearly of an excellent quality.
These truffles are very clever, they play with the Marmite flavour and allow it to develop and then just before it overpowers they carefully allow the cocoa to come back on board. It shouldn’t work, but there is no questioned that it does. It has been a long time since I last tried a chocolate that wowed me this much, the flavours work in union and make an amazing taste sensation. If you get the opportunity I can’t emphasise just how much you should try these, I just wish they were sold online.