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!

Full Again

The Shop is fully stocked once again in anticipation of our expanded hours beginning November 9th. All four Bonnat bars are back, as well as Cluizel, Pralus, Valrhona Manjari Orange, and Corallo. Our Chocophilia section is fully stocked once again (including the Fleur de Sel milk and Hot Chocolate bars), and there are lots of Coconut, Dulce de Leche and Peanut Butter cups waiting for you in the truffle case. And now on to some new treats.

We’ve just received a brand new shipment of Coppeneur of Germany. Single Origin Ecuador, Papua New Guinea, Madagascar and a Trinidadian with Habanero and Lavender are all waiting for tasting. We also received some of their truffle bars (think Zotter style with these ones). Flavours include Saffron and Orange, Panna Cotta and Red Berries, and one which is certainly my favourite – Black Beer (notes of coffee and toasted malt balance Coppeneur’s beautiful chocolate incredibly well here).

We also received a much anticipated shipment of Escazú blended bars, as well as their EZCA single origin bars. The talk of the Shop has certainly been the hand-crafted Venezuelan 60% with Goat’s Milk – a dark bar with the creaminess of milk and a slight goat’s milk tang just towards the end.

More fall truffle flavours are certainly making their way into the Shop, but the S’more Cup has been the hit of the week, flying out of the truffle case all day today. Home-made vanilla marshmallow in a dark chocolate cup, with crunchy graham wafer at the base and top makes for a perfectly decadent fall treat.

Also back by popular demand, is chocolate dipped ginger. We’ve also added chocolate dipped apricots to the collection for a bit of fall sweetness.

Speaking of truffles, we have recently started carrying Jacqueline Jacek‘s truffle collection. Based in Sherwood Park, she has gained quite the reputation this past year for her beautiful fashion inspired collections. Currently in the truffle case is the LouLou Belle collection (picture below: Pink Grapefruit Sherbet).

And finally, Rachel is still whipping up fresh flourless chocolate cakes and brownies throughout the week and we’ve received many excellent comments (and sometimes just strange moaning noises) on their deliciousness when sampling them in the Shop. But we’ve recently given the packaging a makeover, so these little treats are now perfect for fall gift giving, or taking home yourself to unwrap and enjoy.

I hope you enjoy the last little bit of warm fall weather this week. And keep in mind that snow means two excellent things – more drinking chocolate evenings, which are absolutely essential for keeping warm, and our Christmas collection in the next month or so. We’ll keep you posted. Until then, enjoy your chocolate.