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Christmas Countdown Checklist 2023 Melt’s Christmas Countdown Checklist 2023 will help you prepare for this Christmas – from purchasing stocking fillers, buying a delicious chocolate advent calendar to preordering a Christmas tree! Melt Chocolates is a luxury chocolate company based in Notting Hill in London. The countdown to Christmas is a major event of our company each year. We start hand-wrapping hampers, placing freshly made chocolates into advent calendars and heating up milk for decadent hot chocolates. Using our experience, Melt Chocolate’s team is going to help you get prepared for this Christmas by providing you with eight top tips to start your Christmas countdown. So here is our Christmas countdown checklist! 1. Christmas Gift Shopping Christmas shopping is one of the major ways to get ahead this Christmas. The most stressful Christmasses are those which all presents are purchased all at the last minute. This risks the presents being rushed, and perhaps incorrect. One needs a lot of thought and patience when it comes to gift giving. We would recommend creating a wish-list for the person that you are gifting the presents to. You can start this as far back as the Christmas before. Just listen out to what your loved one is interested in (they might be dropping hints) and gradually add each item to a list. By the end of the year, you’ll have a whole collection of Christmas gift ideas. This will prevent the stressful brainstorming the week before. And your loved one will be super impressed! If you are still lost for ideas – have a look at a few gift guides for 2022 such as Vogue’s Gifts for Women or 100 Gifts under $100. 2. Buy your Advent Calendar Another essential for Christmas is an advent calendar. The 1st of December always comes around quicker than we think. Sometimes so quickly it takes a couple days into advent to get around to buying an advent calendar. If you have kids, this late advent calendar can end up in a lot of complaining and upset! So it is important to get some research done in November to find the perfect advent calendar. A great way to find your perfect advent calendar is to search online for the previous years favourites.   For example, Lifestyle Magazine’s 2021 Advent Calendars The Ultimate Top Picks Guide contains a comprehensive list of luxury advent calendars – from perfumes to chocolate. 3. Christmas baking The perfect way to get into the Christmas mood is with food! There’s nothing better than walking into a home that smells like nutmeg, cinnamon and pumpkin spices. Christmas food develops memories and an important feeling of nostalgia. So whether you make mince pies every year, or you want to spice it up a bit, have a look at some delicious Christmas recipes. BBC Good Food has a great list of 115 Christmas Recipe Ideas. 4. Make Hot Chocolate It’s not a cozy Christmas without hot chocolate! One of the best ways to feel Christmassy is to wrap up in a blanket, hot chocolate in hand, and watch a Christmas movie. Show your appreciation for a loved one by making them a hot Chocolate this Christmas. How to make the best hot chocolate? […]

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Hot Chocolate Experience – A Hygge Heaven Make Your Own Amazing Hot Chocolate in Melt, Notting Hill A Crofter Tale This is a genuine and beautiful letter Melt received. We wanted to share it as a reminder of what melt is all about – giving beautiful memories to people, celebrating important moments in your life – such as weddings, birthdays, anniversaries or just a simple thank you. These moments are important for we are all just a collection of memories – so let’s make them as beautiful as possible. Melt is there for you when you want to create memories – memories of celebrations – birthdays, thank you’s, anniversaries or just a feeling of hygge. The definition of hygge is – “Hygge is often about informal time together with family or close friends. Typically, the setting is at home or another quiet location, or perhaps a picnic during the summer months. It usually involves sharing a meal and wine or beer, or hot chocolate and a bowl of candy if children are included. There is no agenda. You celebrate the small joys of life, or maybe discuss deeper topics. It is an opportunity to unwind and take things slow.” Home is where the family is Whether you live in a Holland Park palace or a croft in the Outer Hebrides – home is where the family (which includes your dogs) lives. The following is a genuine letter we received: “At Christmas time I send hot chocolate parcels, I believe that creating a memory each Christmas is far more valuable than any physical object and something special to be cherished.” A melt we wish to creat moments of hygge – when the world slows down, and you focus your attention on small yet beautiful things – like molten chocolate. My Nanni is Swiss so I used to go with her when visiting home and also my family for summer holidays but the memory is always sitting in a chalet, no frills, a wood burner on, snowing outside and making hot chocolate, again no marshmallow or cream on this occasion but I can almost taste the hot chocolate as I type-anyhow, afew years ago when I discovered Melt hot chocolate it completely transported me to that moment with my Nanni, her sister and my cousin.  So I send your hot chocolate hoping other friends & families  share the same memory. “ Hot Chocolate Dream As a tribute to this beautiful letter Melt is creating an experience of Hot Chocolate Hygge Heaven. We will transport you to a Croft in the Outer Hebridies – snow falling gently outside and a warm hot chocolate full of marshmallows and cream. “I sit in front of my coal fire with my two little dogs in my Croft in Scotland, the tree lights on and embers of the fire offering soft lighting, much needed warmth, surrounded by cards from my loved ones and decorations that i’ve been gifted over the years but that special Swiss memory makes me feel so content. Equally I looove building and layering up a epic hot chocolate with marshmallow, cream and toppings. I had no power for 6 days last year during one of the bad storms […]

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Holland Park Palace Advent Calendar Holland Park Palace 2023  Kindness is like white snow – purifying and beautifying everything it touches. Melt’s Winter Palace advent calendar house is that magical gift of kindness that will beautify and give pleasure to everyone it touches this Christmas.    Melt’s Holland Park Palace is the Ultimate Advent Calendar. The best chocolate advent calendar you can get this Christmas – Melt’s most luxury chocolate advent calendar. A chocolate gift for the family and friends to share and enjoy. This London 2023 advent calendar is packed full of over £300 worth of chocolate, including hot chocolate, artisan bonbons, orangettes and more.  Melt’s London Advent calendar delights you every day as a new chocolate marks the countdown to Christmas. This Advent Calendar is the Christmas Centrepiece – almost the size of a Holland Park palace and is filled with the most amazing artisan chocolate. It’s completely plastic-free and you can refill it year after year so that you can recycle and avoid any waste. Sustainability is a big part of our ethos at Melt Chocolates.  It really is the most beautiful advent calendar you will have ever seen. It‘s designed in-house and is based on Kensington palace in Chelsea. Melt has redesigned the Christmas hamper – so why not send a palace instead? Melt doesn’t do boring. Thats why we have a beautiful design both on the inside and the outside. Unlike most calendars that have beautiful exteriors – but seem to run out of creativity when you open them – Melt Calendars are beautiful on the inside and outside. The Winter Ball Imagine a winter ball in a winter palace. Step into a fairytale winter ball, everything sparkling like freshly fallen snow on a frosty night. Snowflakes and laughter fill the air -there’s magic in every footstep. Dancing, drinking and feasting. Snow glistening outside, chandeliers ablaze. Swirling ball gowns and a feast in a Winter palace. Melt’s Holland Park advent calendar evokes this timeless winter palace. Making merry with an amazing assortment of chocolates arriving in a fairy tale palace. If Snowflakes are kisses from heaven then melt’s Chocolate is a kiss from the tropical sun,  that melt in your mouth – the very origin of our name: Melt. Think of the tropical sunlight, captured by a cocoa tree in the amazon,  releasing its energy to you,  bringing a little sunshine to your winter nights. Feast on our Winter Palace filled with amazing chocolate and dream of a winter ball.  Gift the Holland Park calendar and let the ice of heart melts.   Inside the Holland Park Palace Inside this luxury artisan advent calendar are all of Melt’s fabulous best sellers: Orangettes Fresh Chocolates Gianduja Spread Gianduja Dark and Milk Terrines Christmas Bar Hot Chocolate Caddy   The advent calendar really is the size of a small house! Melt is the only chocolate company to be headquartered, retail and make all our chocolates within the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea – hence why we have chosen to make our advent calendar like Kensington Palace. Our artisan advent calendar is the Best of British handmade luxury and craftsmanship. Designed in-house by our small team of creatives in Holland Park, we wanted to […]

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Secret Symbolism behind the 12 Days of Christmas In this blog article we will be exploring the secret symbolism behind Melt Chocolate’s 12 Days of Christmas advent calendar, and delving into the religious and cultural history of England during the Reformation. “The most beautiful advent calendar we have ever seen” The Independent “…I actually gasped when I opened the package because it’s a work of art and the most beautiful calendar I’ve ever seen…” Vegan Living Handpainted Art – Handcrafted Chocolate The Art of Chocolate This handpainted calendar by the Melt team combines our love of art and our love of chocolate. Two of our greatest passions. The chocolate is hand crafted by our chocolatiers and the artwork handpainted by our talented team of in-house artists. The Advent Calendar is not only really beautiful but it also has a secret meaning. A secret code that represented the difference between life and death. So enjoy the chocolate and also discover the secrets of The Twelve Days of Christmas. This is the Luxury Advent Calendar at its best. The secret code behind the song ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ To understand the secret code – and its context lets try a thought experiment… Imagine if tomorrow, Charles III declared that Druidism is Britain’s only true religion. As Charles III is Head of the Church of England – all Churches would automatically become places of worship for the Druids.  The Druids doctrine would therefore immediately become the official religion of the UK.  The Druid’s doctrine is that human souls “are immortal and after a prescribed number of years they commence a new life in a new body.” This would become the new religious orthodoxy. We might also worship plants and may even be encouraged to talk to them!! As King Charles is known to do. Stonehenge would become the new Westminster Cathedral. Anybody found following the “old” Protestant religion would be at risk of persecution, even death. Charles III would create a network of pursuivants or spies to find and persecute these recusant protestants. In this atmosphere of religious tension, Charles III would make it High Treason for a Protestant priest to even enter England and anyone found aiding and abetting that priest would be punished severely.  Priest-hunters or ‘pursuivants’ would roam the country in search of Church of England priests and would measure the footprint of any houses from the outside and the inside to see if they tallied; they would count the windows outside and again from the inside; they would tap on the walls to see if they were hollow and they would tear up floorboards to search underneath. They would be looking for Church of England Priests in their carefully constructed Priest holes, hidden by the population not convinced about this new religion or the Druids in general. Sounds ridiculous – well that’s exactly what Henry VIII and Elizabeth I did to Britain during the reformation and this is exactly the situation the Catholics found themselves. Things got very extreme very quickly, for even fancy clothes could lead you to being accused of being  Spanish or a Jesuit. Prancing around in Silks could put you in prison. According to the new orthodoxy and the pursuivants […]

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Personalised Small Chocolate Gift Boxes Are the Perfect Gift When it comes to gift-giving, few things can convey love and thoughtfulness as effortlessly as a box of chocolates. But what if you could take that sentiment a step further and create a truly unique and personalised chocolate gift box? Enter Melt Chocolates’ “Personalised Small Chocolate Gift Box” – a delightful way to show your affection and appreciation. Let’s dive into the delectable world of custom chocolate gifting and explore why these mini chocolate gift boxes are the perfect treat for any occasion. 1. A Symphony of Flavours at Your Fingertips One of the most captivating aspects of Melt Chocolates’ mini chocolate gift boxes is the ability to curate your own selection. With a choice of four flavours from their extensive mini chocolate bar collection, you have the power to tailor your gift to the recipient’s taste buds perfectly. Whether they have a penchant for classic combinations like almond and dark sea salt or a craving for more adventurous flavors like pistachio or almond, Melt Chocolates has something to delight every palate. 2. Personalisation That Truly Matters The act of personalising a gift can transform it from ordinary to extraordinary. Melt Chocolates understands this sentiment well, offering elegant packaging options that ensure your chocolate gift box not only tastes divine but also looks exquisite. Add a personalised message to your box to make it even more special, showing your loved ones that you’ve put thought and care into their gift. 3. Convenience, Care, and Chocolate Delivered to Your Doorstep Life is busy, and sometimes finding the perfect gift can be a challenge. With Melt Chocolates, you can sit back, relax, and let their expert chocolatiers do the work for you. Once you’ve made your selections and personalized your box, they’ll prepare it with utmost care and deliver it right to your doorstep. It’s a hassle-free way to surprise and delight your loved ones – or treat yourself to a moment of chocolatey indulgence. 4. Options for All Dietary Preferences Melt Chocolates has something for everyone, including those with dietary preferences or restrictions. For vegans and sugar-free enthusiasts, they offer delectable dark chocolate options that don’t compromise on flavor. No one should miss out on the joy of fine chocolate, and Melt Chocolates ensures that everyone can enjoy their delicious creations. 5. Sustainable Indulgence In a world that’s becoming increasingly conscious of sustainability, Melt Chocolates is leading the way with their commitment to eco-friendly practices. All their luxury chocolates are handmade by skilled chocolatiers and hand-wrapped in their London kitchen. Plus, their chocolate boxes are plastic-free and sustainable, making your gift not only delicious but also environmentally responsible. 6. More Than Just a Taste: Supporting Local Artisans By choosing Melt Chocolates for your personalized chocolate gift box, you’re not just indulging in gourmet chocolate – you’re supporting local artisans and celebrating the craft of chocolatiers who pour their passion into every creation. With a shelf life of one year, your mini chocolate gift box is a timeless gesture of affection that can be savoured at the recipient’s leisure. And if they happen to discover a new favourite flavour among the mini bars, they can easily find the […]

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New Chocolate Advent Calendar 2023 Melt Chocolates is proud to introduce our newest Luxury Chocolate Advent Calendar – the new Portobello Advent Calendar 2023! Inspired by the beautiful colourful houses of Portobello Road and the bustling activity on the Portobello Street Market. SHOP NOW Wes Anderson Inspired As a dedication to a world-renowned location and the picturesque historic architecture, at Melt Chocolates, we bring to you our Portobello Road Advent calendar! Inspired by the filmmaker Wes Anderson and his delightfully colourful movie The Grand Budapest Hotel, we have created our own Anderson version of the famous Portobello Road in London. Anderson’s films are renowned for delicate baby pink colours, pastels and kitschy set design. Full of eccentric characters and intricate plots, each film is a joy to immerse yourself into. Anderson is a master at world building. At Melt Chocolates, we want to create the same effect for our chocolate lovers. Artistically Hand-painted Our new Portobello Advent Calendar 2023 exudes the whimsical charm of a Wes Anderson film. Meticulously handpainted with watercolours to evoke the spirit of Portobello Road and the playful pastels of The Grand Budapest Hotel. The colours are vibrant yet soothing, and every detail, from the antique shopfronts to the bustling market stalls, transports you into a miniaturized world of delightful nostalgia and enchantment. This advent calendar is a work of art that captures the very essence of Portobello Road’s picturesque allure, making each day of the holiday season a whimsical journey through its distinctive beauty. A Chocolate Ode to Portobello Road Portobello Road is a magical place to explore in person. The vibrant, pastel-hued facades of quaint shops and charming cafes created a picture-perfect streetscape, transport you to a different era. The bustling market, brimming with antiques, vintage finds, and delectable street food, adds an irresistible energy to this already picturesque corner of Notting Hill. Portobello Road is a true London gem, where history, culture, and aesthetics converge. It is a harmonious symphony of beauty that will leave you truly enchanted. We have been inspired by real shops that have been a part of Portobello Road for years. The distinctive exterior of Alice’s antique emporium, situated along Portobello Road, is a beloved fixture in the Notting Hill neighborhood. This family-owned establishment has been a cherished part of the community since its founding in 1887. The captivating storefront is delightfully adorned with a diverse array of antique and vintage treasures, showcasing an eclectic collection that spans furniture, toys, decor items, curiosities, and a variety of beautifully patterned Staffordshire china from Heron Cross Pottery. Beautiful Interiors for Advent Each day, as you open a numbered window, you’ll be greeted with a meticulously crafted scene of the beautiful interiors of our Portobello houses. We have imagined the colourful lives the locals live.  So we have suitably designed and painted magazine-style rooms for them to enjoy. From brightly coloured tiles, to gorgeous plush sofas, these houses have it all! And you can have it too. Savour the delicious milk chocolates behind each of their 24 doors, this luxury advent calendar is packed with chocolate toys, animals, Christmas decorations and many more! Christmas is the best time to celebrate the fun, vibrant areas of life and appreciate the culture that surrounds […]

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What causes chocolate to bloom? Ever wondered why your chocolate bar is covered in mouldy like layer? Like the picture below… It’s all because of something called “chocolate bloom.” When your chocolate goes from warm to cold and back again, it can change its chemical structure. This happens because the cocoa butter in the chocolate melts and separates from the rest of it, making it crystallize and look white on the surface. In this blog, we’ll explain why this happens, what causes it, and whether it’s still okay to eat your chocolate when it looks like this. Let’s demystify the world of chocolate together! Two different types of chocolate bloom So now we know what causes chocolate to bloom, now to identify what type of bloom has occurred. Fat Bloom: Fat bloom in chocolate is caused by the cocoa butter within it. When the cocoa butter melts and then re-solidifies, it can create a dull white coating on the chocolate’s surface, making it lose its usual smoothness and shine. This undesirable effect is known as “fat bloom.” Fat bloom typically happens for two main reasons. Firstly, it can occur due to incorrect tempering, which is the process of ensuring that the cocoa butter crystals are evenly distributed in the chocolate during its melting and solidifying stages. Secondly, fat bloom might happen if you store chocolate at too high a temperature, causing the cocoa butter to melt and rise to the surface. So if you are leaving your chocolate in direct sunlight, in a warm cupboard or even leaving it in your car, you may see chocolate bloom appearing. To prevent fat bloom, choose a cool, dark cupboard away from strong odours to store your chocolate goods. Sugar Bloom: Chocolate afflicted with sugar bloom often develops a rough, whitish surface and a grainy texture. This type of bloom is usually the result of temperature changes or storing chocolate in a humid environment. Temperature shock plays a significant role in sugar bloom. It occurs when you quickly shift chocolate from a warm or hot location (like an open shelf near the oven) to a cold one, such as the fridge. This abrupt change in temperature causes condensation to form on the chocolate’s surface, which then interacts with the sugar in the chocolate, leading to sugar bloom. For instance, if you place your chocolate molds in the fridge right after making them, you risk exposing them to temperature shock. To prevent sugar bloom, allow your chocolates to cool down at room temperature before refrigerating them. Is bloomed chocolate safe to eat?  Yes! Certainly, don’t let good chocolate go to waste. Especially when you were so excited to eat it. It will taste exactly the same, though may have a different texture. If you don’t want to eat it directly, and the thought puts you off. There are many different ways you can use bloomed chocolate. For one, you can melt down the chocolate in some milk and make a delicious hot chocolate. Check out our 3 Luxury Hot Chocolate Recipes for some inspiration. Or if a birthday is coming up, save up the chocolate in the cupboard and use it to make a delicious chocolate cake or brownies. Good […]

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What is the best way to melt chocolate?   Melting chocolate is not as simple and straightforward as you might expect. Chocolate when it is “tempered” correctly is bright, shiny and tasty with a lovely snap.   Chocolate Chemistry To get chocolate into this shape you must treat the chocolate gently and respect its crystalline structure. Now chemistry like this is not simple. Think of Newton sitting under the tree and being hit on his head by an apple. Why did it fall – what was the force and can we mathematically understand it. Working with chocolate is best to under its complex chemistry so you understand the results you are trying to get.     Melt Chocolate Experts Melt chocolates’s chocolatiers are experts on this topic of melting chocolate. We are ‘London’s Most Luxurious Chocolate Company’ and as an Artisan producer in Notting Hill with over 18 years of experience in chocolate – we know a thing or two about chocolate. In the following section we will answer the following Questions: How do you melt chocolates without burning it? What’s the best method to melt chocolates, how do the professionals do i? How long does it take to set once it has been melted, how long does melted chocolate take to set? Should you store chocolate in the fridge or a dry cupboard. But before we delve into the complex chemistry, first we will go with the simple explanation and add complexity depending on your level of interest. Chocolate melts at body temperature – that is one of its most unique and enduring characteristics and the reason for our name: Melt. Because we loved melted or molten chocolate and the fact that it shares the same body temperature as we did – marking it out to be very special food.   Dark Chocolate So… you have some chocolate in your house and you want to melt it – what the best method?   Bain-marie: By far the best method is a bain-marie. We’ve explained that chocolate melts at body temperature. So it only needs gentle heat to become molten and useable. The best way to apply gentle heat – its via steam directly on a glass bowl. You are not looking for boiling water -just gently steaming water. So gently heat the water until it starts to steam. Break the chocolate into small chunks – professionals will use buttons as this increases the surface area. Place the glass bowl in the steaming water. Gently stir the chocolate until molten. It’s generally the steam that actually melts the chocolate. Stir until completely molten. Now you have workable and molten chocolate Chocolate is very sensitive to heat and can easily burn or seize easily. Now each type of chocolate has different melting points so if its milk – it should melt slightly easier and white will have an even lower point at which is become molten. So the amount of heat and the time to become molten varies. Microwave: If you don’t want to use a bain-marie – then of course a microwave is just as good. We recommend a glass bowl with the chocolate broken into chunks. Then 30 second heat burst – take it […]

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Gianduja                                                          Heavenly Hazelnuts and Creamy Chocolate Shop Now Introduction Gianduja, a delicious, mouthwatering hazelnut chocolate has a rich and fascinating history that is intertwined with Italian history and the celebratory festival – carnival! Chocolate and Nuts – a divine marriage ? This is the nutty flavour that will make you fall in love again with chocolate. But what is Gianduja? How is is pronounced? Where does it come from? Why is it connected to carnival? We will answer these questions. You will know it from a famous spread. But this is not gianduja – as it full of sugar and ultra-processed foods (UPF) like Palm oil. Gianduja has a rich and interesting history, intertwined with the ancient wonders of Italy. At melt we are against UPF as we believe it damages our clients health. We never compromise on the quality and taste of our chocolate. We want you to experience Gianduja as it was intended by its created in the orchards of Piedmont. What is Gianduja?  So, what is Gianduja? Gianduja is handcrafted by mixing toasted Piedmont hazelnuts with rich chocolate. It turns into this delectable paste which is soft, decadent and nutty. Usually the mixture contains about 30% hazelnut and the rest milk chocolate. At Melt our Choconola is 50% Piedmont Hazelnuts, 30% Chocolate solids, including whole roasted hazelnuts to increase the pleasure of the crunchy hazelnut texture. How was Gianduja invented? So how did the hazelnut of Piedmont become the delicious, soft, nutty treat that is Gianduja? The history of Gianduja starts during a Napoleonic lockdown. Lockdowns can result in a burst of creativity and innovation. During the Napoleonic wars – the battle between the Elephant (Napoleon) and the Whale (Nelson) led to a European-wide lockdown. Nelson and the British Navy enforced a blockade on European ports in response to Napoleon’s trade war called the “Continental System”. This lockdown put a huge strain on cocoa supplies. A chocolatier in Turin, named Michele Prochet, extended the little chocolate he had by mixing it with hazelnuts from the hills of Piedmont. He was forced to use local, widely available ingredients to make his chocolate go a little further.  To satisfy his customers demand for chocolate,  during this Napoleonic lockdown, Gianduja was born. Where does the name Gianduja come from? The name Gianduja, comes from a carnival or marionette character, represented by one of the masks of the Italian Commedia dell’arte. The direct translation of Italian Commedia dell’arte is “comedy of the profession”. This was a form of Italian theatre that flourished throughout Europe from the 1500s to 1700s. It is said to have inspired and developed into the “pantomime” in England, what we all know best through the Punch-and-Judy show. There was a large emphasis on comedy, playing out particular depictions and scenarios to humour the crowd. Gianduja is the archetypal Piedmontese, an honest peasant,  a lover of wine, gastronomy, and beautiful girls. According to the records, Gianduja has a ruddy face and hair in an upturned ponytail. He is typically dressed in a brown jacket edged with red, a yellow […]

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