Announcing our final appearances in 2012

Thanks again for coming out and rediscovering Chocophilia this fall.  We have a quick update for you about where we will be this month:

  • We will be at the City Market Downtown in City Hall  on the following Saturdays from 10am to 3pmDec 8th, Dec 15th, Dec 22nd
  • We will also be at the St. Albert Christmas Farmer’s Market on Saturday, Dec. 22nd, 10am to 3pm.
  • For those of you who have been asking for a non-Farmer’s Market location this month, we have partnered with a cool local shop called Sabrina Butterfly inHighlands (6421-112 Ave.). They will be carrying a limited selection of our products for 3 days only, Dec 19th (11-5pm), 20th  (11-8pm) and  21st (11-8pm).

We will be bringing out our handmade Chocphilia Bars, 6-packs, Chocophilia-dipped candied fruit, Chocophilia gift boxes, tins of hot chocolate (necessary for everyone’s pantry for Christmas), melt-aways and more. Get some for the stocking or pick some up a for a gift. Hope to see you then, and have a Merry Xmas. 

The Bark Trio is back.

From Dec 15th to Dec 22nd, the Chocophilia Xmas trio will returned this year. For our dark chocolate barks, Angie has made Dark Chocolate with Toffee and Fleur de Sel, Dark Chocolate with Nuts and Dried Sour Cherry and Dark Chocolate with Gingerbread with Candied Orange and Ginger.

In the milk chocolate box you will find Milk Chocolate Chai Granola, Dark Milk Chocolate with Toffee and Fleur de Sel and White Chocolate with Orange, Cranberry, and Almond.

Hope to see you there!

Christmas 2011: From our Edmonton shop

We know you love exploring the holiday offerings of our European and U.S. counterparts as much as we do, but here’s what’s coming out of our own kitchen this season:

Our classic offering is undoubtedly the Chocophilia Christmas Trio. Three chocolate barks in either a milk or dark box, all wrapped up in the handsome label created over at Edmonton’s Vanguard Works. In both boxes you’ll find sheets of our favourite Fleur de Sel Toffee on 49% Venezuelan dark-milk. Accompanying this lovely in the dark box is Peppermint on 66% and Orange-Pistachio on 64% Madagascan dark. For milk lovers, we’ve added a Raspberry Linzer Torte on 38% and a beautiful sheet of white chocolate with Fruit and Nibs studding the top.

This year we are excited to add ganache-filled Chocolate Logs to the shelves. Delicate butter ganaches in Peppermint, Eggnog, Orange spice and Gingerbread are enrobed by milk and dark chocolates.

As in the past, Mendiants in milk, dark and white chocolate are also gracing the shelves this season. Two of each of Crème Brûlée (white), Ginger-Sesame (milk) and Fruit and Nib (dark) can be found stacked near the bark, wrapped and ready to share.

Finally, milk and dark Santa Claus lollipops can be found in the “truffle case,” and next week roasted almonds enrobed in our Fleur de Sel chocolate will find their way into the shop.

We must thank our chocolatier, Becca Grant, for this year’s lovelies. Many hours go into this season, and we couldn’t do it without her.

Christmas 2011: From around the world

As promised, items handmade at our Edmonton shop will be out later next week, just in time for the 1st of December. For now though, we thought we’d showcase holiday themed items that have arrived from various parts of the globe. First up, Italy.

Our two favourite Italian manufacturers, Amedei and Venchi, have sent us some great chocolates this season. As per usual, Porcelana, Chuao and ‘9’ bars are on the shelf from Amedei, in addition to their Toscano and Gianduja bars. We’ve also brought back their classic ‘For You‘ drinking chocolate – 63% chocolate combined with finally ground almonds and hazelnuts for a decadent, warm sipping experience. Finally, 70% Toscana Black Napolitans are stacked in the shop, ready to head into dark chocolate lovers’ stockings.

Along with their gianduiotti and White Chocolate Hazelnut Spread, Venchi has sent on festive gianduja nutcrackers, enrobed in dark chocolate for Christmas enjoyment.

More ‘Pyramides‘ from France’s François Pralus have also made it to the shelves, this time with a new addition – the Pyramide Biologique. This version features 75% organic chocolate from Ghana, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Tanzania and Madagascar. Have a serious chocolate fiend that needs to be satisfied? The classic Pyramide de Tropique features all ten of Pralus well loved single origin chocolates, so you can travel around the globe right from the Christmas tree.

For those that may have been relegated to the naughty list, they still deserve a little chocolate, right? We have just the thing, courtesy of Michel Cluizel. Coal is out, potatoes are in… chocolate hazelnut potatoes that is. Adorably wrapped in sacks by our staff, perfect for stockings of all shapes and sizes.

Zotter of Austria has released new artwork for the holidays, and we’re expecting brand new Marc de Champagne with a New Year’s theme, along with fun Christmas caramel bars and familiar favourites any time now.

Our neighbours down south have created some truly beautiful gift boxes and treats this season. From long time favourite, Patric, comes new additions to his OMG lineup – a dark chocolate laced with mint, an aptly named mocha bar, and finally, a cappuccino bar that will have you enjoying its beverage namesake in solid form from now on.

From Askinosie, the most adorable gift box we have come across (and believe me, we see a lot) – the Chalk-late Box. This one is filled with four of their award winning dark single origin bars. Best of all, you get to leave the recipient a message… I think the one Rachel left (above) sums up our feelings…

Finally, we must hand it to Theo for their excellent Christmas creations – a milk Gingerbread bar and a dark Peppermint bar. We’ve been loving the latter, but we’ll let you be the judge.

We know there’s a lot to choose from, so to make it a little easier, we’ve created totes and gift boxes that are ready to go. They’re all available in shop, but for a little preview, feel free to check them out over at Chocophilia.ca.

There you have it. All of these items are sitting amongst the garland and Christmas lights now adorning the shop, waiting to be scooped up. We love helping to create custom gifts for the chocolate lovers in your life, so be sure to ask myself (Marianne), Rachel or Maite for a little assistance if need be. See you at the shop soon!

The Baker

Many of you have been raving about our newest addition to the Shop – dense, chocolatey baked goods… especially those walnut and cacao nib brownies. If you had a chance to stop by our Customer Appreciation event on Saturday afternoon, you’ll also know that a few cookies – Chocolate Covered Mint Cookies, Spicy Chocolate Shortbread and Chai Infused Chocolate Ginger Cookies – have been added to the line up for the holiday season.

The person behind all these delectable treats is Rachel – baker extraordinaire. She’s been baking up a storm the last couple months, and the Shop is likely to smell permanently of ginger (in addition to chocolate) as we get closer to Christmas. You all gobbled up those cookies on Saturday, and although we didn’t have time to package any for this weekend, we hope you’ll stop by in a week or so to pick up a few to test out at home.

I suggest some Dark Drinking Chocolate with your favourite ‘special something’ added to enjoy them with, and, as an ultimate luxury, a fireplace, cozy blanket and a good book (unfortunately, we cannot provide either the fireplace or cozy blanket, however, we did receive a shipment of some excellent books on chocolate last week, and reading about chocolate while eating it is always a good thing). Enjoy!

A chocolatey Christmas preview

Hopefully you are all starting to get into the Holiday spirit! We are really excited about our Christmas collection this year, featuring some old favourites as well as some new treats to put under the tree, in stockings, or really, just to sit back and enjoy.

Rebecca (one of our fabulous chocolatiers), has created some beautiful seasonal truffles for your enjoyment. Flavours include: Gingerbread Linzer Torte (Gingerbread ganache with raspberry compote), Sugar, Apple and Spice (Soft caramel and apple-milk chocolate ganache), Glühwein (German mulled wine) and White Christmas (Cranberry and orange in a pearly, white chocolate shell). We’ll have deep-red boxes of twelve waiting to be opened and enjoyed.

We are happy to have our Chocophilia Christmas Trio back again this year, featuring five kinds of dark and milk bark: Gingerbread and Orange Spice, Chai Crunch, Fleur de Sel and Toffee, Nibs and Fruit and Ginger Spiced Nuts. Three of the five flavours are wrapped up in each box, with the beautiful packaging designed here in Edmonton by Keith and Judi of Vanguard Works.

Chocolate dipped orange, apricot and ginger pieces are wrapped and ready to go, with milk or dark Chocolate Santas sitting on the next shelf over, waiting to be taken home. And for those who may deserve that lump of coal, we think you should be a little more kind and give them a Sack of Potatoes… really good chocolate ones, made up of hazelnuts and creamy milk chocolate by Michel Cluizel of France. It is the holidays after all.

And while we’re sad to say we will no longer be carrying Kusmi Teas, we’ve got some beautiful new teas in from Dammann Fréres of France, that pair with some of the chocolate around the Shop wonderfully, and come in some incredible packaging.

As per usual, we’ll have gift boxes and totes made up for those of you who need a quick gift to go, and of course, if you’d like to linger and make up your own customized gifts, we’re very happy to help there too. There’s still a bit of time to pre-order gifts of confections, bars, etc. for home, office or other events. Send us some details at xmas@kerstinschocolates.com.

We hope you have an excellent holiday season! We’ll be hanging around the Shop trying not to eat all of Rebecca’s truffles. Hope to see you soon!

Christmas Line-up 2009

Santa gets revealed!
A lot of people have been asking what our seasonal line-up will be this month. Here is what we will be offering in our store starting on Dec 1st. If you would like to put in a request for a large order, please
call us or e-mail us before Dec 5th, as we cannot guarantee availability after that date.

We will be bringing backour selection of molded chocolate Santas using the finest Valrhona milk or dark
chocolate. 

Will you be needing any truffles? Here are some of our seasonal specials that will be
available through Xmas:
   
-Tiramasu You.
    -It’s a bit Nibby out there!
    -To Rum With Love
    -A Nod To Eggnog

and more!

Gift Box!
We also have gift baskets of many sizes and arrangements and  custom baskets are also available. You can build your own in the store.

We will also bring back our Christmas Chocolate Trio in either milk or
dark chocolate bark.  Three delicious, Christmas inspired barks packaged beautifully in a box that won a design award!  Also returning are our Christmas Towers, a 4 tiered box filled with
truffles, melt-aways, spiced nuts and dipped fruit. Perfect for holiday parties and gift-giving. 

Coming back soon to the Store:
Domori

caramelsIt’s been a long wait, but we have finally found a new supplier of Domori chocolate!  Famous for their prized “Porcelana” bar (thought to be the best bar in the world) and other gorgeous chocolate.  We also have their amazing chocolate and hazelnut spread and a white chocolate bar with licorice!
A new shipment of Zotter bars are also arriving shortly.  These truffle based bars from Austria combine great fair trade chocolate with imaginative ingredients such as “Black Beer”, “Sour Cherry and Sesame” and “Walnut and Cheese”!

Finally, we have some incredible salted caramels from France, seen here!