Choc-a- doodle-doo
Thorntons
Mon - Wed:
10.00am - 7.00pm
Thurs - Sat:
10.00am - 8.00pm
Sun:
10.00am - 6.00pm
Unit 2 The Market
Covent Garden, London
WC2E 8RA
GEO:51.512,-0.123532
Phone: 020 7836 2173
Website
Once something that was reserved for a privileged few, artisan chocolate is no longer a luxury of the upper echelons of society. Thanks to an increasing number of chocolatiers who are creating singular confections made with higher cacao levels, natural flavours, and unusual ingredients, these gourmet treats are re-establishing chocolate as a superior delicacy. This is chocolate to be savoured in small doses, rather than gorged upon, Augustus Gloop-style.
Even the recession doesn’t seem to have dulled our sweet tooth, with chocolatiers enjoying steady trading. Swiss banks may be suffering, but Swiss chocolatiers reported record sales last year which when you think about it, makes perfect sense. This is one high-end treat that’s still on the menu for many of us.
So, with Easter here, do you plump for the giant, mass produced egg that you can pick up at every corner shop, or do you opt for some premium chocolate that’ll sing a symphony on the tongue?
To help you decide, we’ve compiled a guide to the tastiest chocolate treats available in Covent Garden – sweets so good it’ll be hard for even the most disciplined chocoholics to resist the temptation of scoffing a few on the way home.
La Anabela
This luxury chocolate boutique has some unique Easter eggs and bunnies for
sale, plus chocolate pick’n‘mix, chocolate statues and jaw
dropping metre high chocolate cakes. They also sell a wide range of alcohol
and there’s even a tea bar for a reviving cuppa between chocolate snacks.
Best of all, they now stock the excellently named Choccywoccydoodah range –
handmade chocolate products all designed in a ‘chocolate studio’ in
Brighton.
The Choccywoccy posse mainly use Belgian chocolate, sometimes single origin Venezuelan chocolate, and when combined with ingredients such as hazelnuts, brandy soaked apricots or fluffy marshmallows, it creates a party in your mind and mouth. The fluffy marshmallows have been employed to create delicate chocolate sheep.
16 – 18 Tavistock Street
Covent Garden
WC2E 7NZ
Godiva
Godiva’s history began more than 75 years ago in Brussels, Belgium when
master chocolatier Joseph Draps founded a chocolate company that was named in
honour of the legend of Lady Godiva.
The store’s global popularity is down to the premium nature of the ingredients used. These are truly fine chocolates with unusual textures and natural flavours, and all fillings are made in-house in the Godiva kitchen. Even the alcohol used in the liqueurs is first rate, from top brand name spirits to three star cognac.
Their limited edition Easter range promises an egg-splosion (sorry, the first and definitely last egg pun) of taste, from nougatine eggs to adorable spring boxes featuring hollow chocolate rabbits and eastern hens.
17 Russell Street
Covent Garden
WC2B 5HP
Hope and Greenwood
What started as a quaint coffee shop in a quiet corner of East Dulwich has
become a burgeoning business, with the new Covent Garden store selling its
exclusive ranges of old fashioned sweets and exquisite home-made chocolates.
Easter sees this retro heaven come into its own, with a cracking selection of
goodies on offer, including Henry and Henrietta ‘Hendbags’ ¬–
hen-shaped bags containing milk chocolate eggs and juicy jelly eggs. We also
like the cute chocolate chicks, which are perfect for Easter egg hunts and
Easter lunch tables.
1 Russell Street
Covent Garden
WC2B 5JD
Thorntons
The century-old brand that is Thorntons offers a scrumptious display of
Viennese truffles, zesty Sicilian lemon mousse chocolates and all manner of
other goodies. For Easter, there’s eggs to suit every taste – from luxury
single origin Ecuadorian chocolate to toffee and fudge delights. For the very
hungry, or for a post-lunch family feast, check out their Giant Bunny –
1.5kg of mega Easter action.
If you are popping into Thornton’s Covent Garden store, then do not leave until you’ve tried their chocolate ice cream. Made in the heavier ‘American style’, it’s a million miles away from the whippy stuff that’s sold by the tub in most shops.
For those who are unable to make it down to Covent Garden, Thorntons have created their own Easter Treasure Hunt Kits to use at home, bursting with treats and clues to make everyone’s Easter weekend fantastic no matter where you are! The Treasure Hunt Kits, plus many more chocolate treats are available to buy from www.thorntons.co.uk
Unit 2
The Market Building
Covent Garden
WC2E 8RA
