Chocolate Unwrapped at Vinopolis + Giveaway

I'm sure all chocoholics know about the chocolate week.

There're a lot of events throughout the week but unfortunately I didn't have time to join the other except Chocolate Unwrapped at Vinopolis in London.

Because I just moved to a new flat a week ago so I was busy unpacking all my luggage & getting everything organised.


Back to Chocolate Unwrapped, it's held in Vinopolis & featured chocolate makers from all over  Britain.

You can eat as much as you like at the stalls & I got sick of chocolate at the end so you can tell I'd eaten too much :P

There're talks with chocolatiers & chocolate tastings during the talks.

The talks in this event were fantastic, lots of fun & information.

My favourite talk was by Paul A Young, he was so talented & charming.

I tried his best-selling marmite truffle during the talk, it's tangy & rich, a bit unusual for me as I don't really like marmite.

He also featured his award-winning book 'Adventures with Chocolate' & was signing the book at the stand.

I had a pecan & sea salt brownie at the stand after the talk & he was there wrapping brownies for customers :)

One of his tips was adding a pinch of sea salt to your chocolate dessert when you bake & it will 'transform'.
The current trend is salted caramel chocolate, salt adds flavours to chocolate.







Other talk includes chocolate personality reading & how to taste chocolate.

The chocolate personality reading was by Murray Langham, a New Zealand psycotherapist & author of the book 'Chocolate Therapy'.

The choice of chocolate flavour reveals much about your personality.

A brief note I've taken during the talk:

White - organised, listing pros & cons

Milk - tightened to the past

Dark - look into the future

Coffee - impatient, doesn't like to queue

Cherry - passionate

Almond - like to be succeed

Coconut - creative & lively

I was thinking of getting his new book after the talk but unfortunately all the books were gone when I got there :(





It seems like I can go on forever about the event, so I should stopped here.
I have gathered 2 sets of gift to GIVEAWAY for those who missed the spectacular event.

It's a small gift so don't expect too many things.

It includes a set of 4 recipe cards from Paul A Young including his best-selling marmite truffles, a 10% off chocolate voucher, a mini bar of fine chocolate (dark chocolate with violet or rose) & a handmade recipe card of the chocolate cheesecake illustrated by me.

This is opened to UK residents only as the voucher is valid only for London store in Notting Hill.

Please leave a comment here if you're interested before 31st Oct, Sunday midnight (London).
You can also create your own chocolate bar with a wide range of toppings from chocri & save £5 with the code chocriuk before 31st Dec.





Finally, I also baked some chocolate cheesecakes to celebrate the end of chocolate week.

I also include the recipe at the end for those who like food & baking.

Recipe (6 small ramekins):

Crust

70g digestive biscuit crumbs

30g unsalted butter

Mix the ingredients & press into the ramekins, refrigerate before use.

Chocolate cheesecake filling

200g cream cheese

120g single cream

50g dark muscovado sugar

2 eggs

80g Valrhona chocoalate 68%

Pinch of sea salt

Preheat oven to 150'C.

In a saucepan, melt chocolate over simmering water then set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, sugar & cream until smooth.

Blend in the chocolate then the eggs, one at a time.

Divide into the prepared ramekins & bake in hot water bath for 15 - 20 min or until the centre is almost set but still jiggly.

Cool in the oven to slightly warm, & refrigerate further before serving.