MAKING POD BABIES

Day 2 at La Granja Luker started at 6am, 15 minutes after sunrise.  I collected fresh cocoa flowers that had just opened during the night from a specific type of cacao. These would be used after breakfast...

MY SORT OF BEAN COUNTING

After a white night at work, I drove off to Heathrow and boarded a flight to Newark. The stop over in New Jersey was uneventful apart from the worried look on the face of the...

WILL WRITE FOR CHOCOLATE

If you are lucky enough to be escaping on holiday, you might be pondering what book to take with you. I love books. So much so that my TV has been off for at least...

I'M IN THE MOOD FOR CHRISTMAS

The sun is making longer appearances in the London sky, dresses on passers-by are going mini or maxi, terraces are filled from early afternoon and strawberries are starting to taste of strawberries. Whilst the sap...

THE DYING ART OF PANNING

To launch of our couture dragees I've spent a great deal of time in our small but perfectly formed panning room overseeing the making of these pastel coloured sugared babies. Although sugared almonds are easily available to...

THE MAKING OF OUR EASTER COLLECTION

It might still be perishing cold and occasionally sugar-dusted with snow outside but the clock-turning and flower-popping spring is around the corner. On cue chocolate lambs gambolling on edible grass and cheerful ducks queuing up with their tummies filled...

CHLOE AND ARTISAN SUPER CHIC CHOCS

Chloe has taken over the Wonder Room At Selfridges with a retrospective of their most memorable fashion designs to celebrate their 60th anniversary. Founded in 1952 by Gaby Aghion, Chloe has long been associated with originality, romanticism and...

HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU, KID…

How do you make a fantastic film even more fantastic? Just add gourmet popcorn. Films and popcorn go together like strawberries and cream, tea and scones or Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. This prompted me...

LET THEM DRINK CHOCOLATE

Perhaps Marie Antoinette didn't say those exact words, but I'm pretty sure she would have done had she thought of them. The queen of France loved chocolate so much that she employed a personal chocolatier to satisfy her daily...

FASHION AND PEARLS

On Saturday I made my temporary exit from the sticky world of chocolate and ventured into the lavish world of high fashion. Julien Macdonald's A/W 2013 show “Viva Las Vegas, held in the opulent Goldsmiths Hall, was...