21 November 2016
Strolling through the corridors of my local shoppping centre, adorned with Christmas decorations and related paraphernalia, one can’t help but be reminded that the silly season and end of another year is almost upon us. So, in the spirit of the season, I’ve decided to set out on a mission to discover Sydney’s top festive chocolate picks and hopefully lay the groundwork for some serious Christmas confectionery shopping.
Christmas is in full swing at Haigh’s, Australia’s oldest chocolate maker. One is spoilt for choice from gift-wrapped boxes of chocolate ganaches, creams, truffles and pralines, chocolate hampers, enrobed nuts and solid chocolate balls to themed chocolates like the Grand Marnier fruit truffle bar, Christmas pudding brandy truffle and dark mulled wine ganache.
My top pick is the latter. The spiced red wine and citrus jelly, sitting atop a spiced dark chocolate ganache and enrobed in dark chocolate, is tasty and well-balanced – not overly heavy or sweet. The slight bitterness of the wine and citrus-infused jelly contrasts the sweetness of the ganache, and the chewiness adds texture to the chocolate.
At Kakawa, Jin Sun and her creative team have come up with a host of Christmas treats to suit all tastes. There are solid Christmas trees in dark, milk, white or a combination thereof, baubles, tree decorations made entirely of chocolate as well as festive-themed filled chocolates.
Check out the gingerbread-less and Christmas pudding ganaches, and egg nog cup buttercream. I only managed to try the latter, nutmeg and rum flavoured buttercream encased in white chocolate, as the first two had sold out. The consistency of the buttercream resembles egg nog and the flavours of Christmas are definitely there. However, not being a fan of white chocolate, I find it too sweet for my liking.
Christmas offerings at Josophan’s include solid chocolate Christmas trees, hollow baubles and snowmen, gift wrapped hampers and a selection of imported chocolate marzipans and alcoholic chocolates from Germany (Niederegger) and France (Abtey). For those eager to get their hands on the Christmas-themed ganaches and truffles, you’ll just have to wait a little longer. According to Hannah, the next generation of “Josophan’s”, these will be made in the main store in Leura and driven down to Sydney starting in December. We wait with bated breath for the arrival of these chocolate surprises!
Festivities have definitely started at Melbourne-based Koko Black. The theme for this Christmas is “Playtime”. The range includes the plum pudding bites (bite sized plum pudding-flavoured white chocolate balls), chocolate snowmen, dark chocolate gingerbread stars, milk chocolate gingerbread hearts, hazelnut praline balls and many attractively foil-packaged selections of solid and filled chocolates.
If you’re a fan of the Danish Flodeboller – fluffly marshmallow on a biscuit or wafer base and coated in a thin chocolate shell, then do give Koko Black’s version a go. It’s strawberry marshmallow with a jelly centre, on a thin biscuit base and coated in milk chocolate. I’m told that there are more Christmas-themed specials for the chocolate cabinet arriving in December, so keep a lookout for these.
I didn’t manage to make it to Jeff de Bruges or Oh Boo, unfortunately. Audrey and Fanny, if you’re reading this post, do share with us your top picks for Christmas.
To my readers, happy chocolate shopping and indulging! If you’re concerned about over-indulging during this silly season, just share your chocolates around – it’s also the season for giving after all?
