Lots of us are starting to think of treating our mums in a couple of weeks, and we wanted to put something extra special on the table this Mother's Day! We're always keeping an eye out for ingredients from Liverpool producers for our recipes, but this is our first collection using a scouse maker for every single flavour - and it's a beauty! Read on for more info on the producers we showcased in the collection, and how we created chocolate recipes that let their ingredients sing...
If you live in Liverpool, you'll know and love LEAF. They started in 2007 with the aim of bringing quality loose leaf tea to Liverpool in an intimate space. They've branched out from Bold Street to Smithdown Road and in West Kirby, but their biggest success is never losing that friendly intimate atmosphere - you're always welcomed like a pal!
The secret to a winning tea-flavoured chocolate is getting a strong flavour but avoiding the bitterness. We selected their Three Graces Tea blend because (along with loving the name!) it contained the unmistakable flavours of rose, chamomile and lavender that really shine through the white chocolate filling.
Liverpool Gin is created in the heart of the city on Castle street, in their 600 litre copper Still (nicknamed Margaret!). You can grab a gin in their moody low-lit Gin Distillery Bar, or go the whole hog with a step-by-step tour of where the magic happens.
Gin can be a toughie to include in chocolate recipes, as the it's naturally astringent. As always, balance is the key! We used the Valencian Orange gin alongside a sweet layer of pureed orange and used a mellow Colombian dark chocolate for the gin ganache - bliss!
We were really excited to develop a new recipe using West Coast Coffee's locally roasted Sefton Park blend, having stocked our chocolates at their coffee cart near to Lark Lane for a couple of years. The medium-roast blend is a mix of coffee from Brazil’s Rancho Grande Estate alongside vibrant Colombian San Lorenzo beans, and takes its name from where West Coast serve up their speciality fresh coffee in Liverpool.
The coffee chocolate we created for this collection has a deep, rich flavour that comes from caramelising sugar with strong espresso. It's hard to eat just one!
Finally, Liverpool Zest are newer on the scene; Liverpool bartenders Andrew and Seamus started their delicious limoncello brand in 2020. Made up of fresh lemons, premium grain vodka, raw organic cane sugar and fresh mineral water, it's basically delicious fresh Spring in a sip!
When creating the Liverpool Zest chocolate the trick was really to let the limoncello sing. A smooth, creamy white chocolate offsets the zing perfectly, and has us dreaming of summer already...
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