Tag Archives: chocolate

Thorntons Hamper Review & Competition: Win £100 Chocolate Hamper

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Some days it is truly glorious being the editor of a magazine: like when Thorntons sends you a chocolate hamper which is full of the most delicious and indulgent chocolate. We have been reviewing this chocolate over the past few days. It has been tough but we have kept it up. Marc De Champagne truffles, Orange Crisp, decadent dark chocolate, dreamy desserts, Eton mess chocolate and hot chocolate bombs that are as convenient as they are delicious. This is the ultimate chocolate hamper. It is worth £100 and we have one to giveaway. thorntonshamper winchocolatehamper

To be in with the chance of winning this fantastic prize, follow @Frostmag on Twitter or Instagram, or like us on Facebook. Alternatively, sign up to our newsletter. Or subscribe to Frost Magazine TV on YouTube here: http://t.co/9etf8j0kkz.Then comment below saying what you did. Competition finishes at the end of November. Good luck, and you can find more information at http://www.thorntons.co.uk

 

“To share or not to share… This hamper is our Indulgence Ultimate Wicker Hamper which has been created for the ultimate chocoholics, and certainly not for the faint-hearted. Full of fantastic flavours that have been carefully smothered in decadently dark, wickedly white and magnificently milk Thorntons chocolate.

This fabulous hamper features some of our best tasting chocolate collections from our Indulgence range. Our Mini Masterpieces are what they say they are, true masterpieces! This indulgent selection includes more mouth watering chocolates like creamy fudge, zesty orange, chewy toffee and bursting berry. For the lovers of champagne and chocolate, why not combine the two and delve into our Marc de Champagne Truffles, bursting with rich flavour and that little taste of glamour.

Completing this hamper is a deliciously smooth and chocolatey liqueur, perfect in hot chocolate whilst relaxing on the sofa.

All of these chocolate goodies have been perfectly packed into this stunning keep-sake wicker hamper.

Each hamper contains:

Marc De Champagne Chocolate Truffles (210g)
Irresistible Gooey Caramel Melts (200g)
Thorntons Chocolate Liqueur 70cl
Scrumptious Chocolate Cupcakes (132g)
Scrumptious Chocolate Cocktails (104g)
Irresistible Belgian Chocolate Truffles (220g)
Dreamy Desserts (192g)
Dreamy Desserts (72g)
Hot Chocolate Bombs (250g)
Decadently Dark Chocolate Collection (362g)
Irresistible Smooth Coconut Melts (200g)
Whisky Truffles Bag (95g)
Marc de Champagne Truffles Bag (93g)
Orange Crisp Chocolate Block (90g)
Eton Mess Chocolate Block (90g)
Espresso Dark Chocolate Block (90g)
Fudge Brownie Milk Chocolate Block (90g)
Chocolate Truffle Bar (33g)
Nut Crunch Chocolate Bar (33g)

Please note: The contents of this hamper were correct at the time of photography. We reserve the right to substitute products of equal value.”

 

 

Great Gifts For Dad | Father’s Day Gift Guide

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It is father’s day tomorrow but you can still buy your dad something. If you buy online he might not get it on time, but, hey, it’s the thought that counts. We have done all of the hard work for you, here are some great gifts.

slatecheeseandboardknifeset

Taylor’s Eye Witness – professional knives for foodie dads

Taylor’s Eye Witness have an eco-friendly range. They use ethically sourced, raw materials to create quality tools for your kitchen. This Slate Cheese Board & Knife Set is beautiful and practical all in one. http://taylors-eye-witness.co.uk/

blacksheepcoffee

Black Sheep Coffee – fine Robusta Rivaval coffee for caffeine crazed dads

Black Sheep Coffee has launched the UK’s first fine Robusta bean product, set to turn the heads of coffee connoisseurs and seriously shake up the scene. It’s new Robusta Revival has a surprisingly different taste profile to the Arabica beans that currently saturate the premium end of the market… rich, creamy and sweet, with a less acidic tone reminiscent of walnut and dark chocolate. Very good coffee.

eauto

E-auto – a great car cleaning range for petrol-head dads 

The e-auto range works using the same microfiber technology  as it’s sister brand e-cloth and uses just water to clean as well. Products such as the e-auto dual action mitt quickly and thoroughly remove dirt without the need for harsh and expensive cleaning products. This is a great car cleaning kit. http://www.e-cloth.com/e-auto-range

workforcesocks

Workforce socks http://www.workforcesocks.co.uk/index.php

These are socks that are great for anyone that enjoys walking, gardening, has a construction job or just spends a lot of time on their feet! Everyone needs socks and these are great for practical dads.

multicigecigarettes

multiCIG,the UK’s premium e-cigarette brand, is perfect for anyone wanting to encourage their dad to quit smoking traditional cigarettes. Tar and odour free, they are healthier than normal cigarettes. http://www.multicig.co.uk/

afternoontea

The five-star Athenaeum Hotel in Mayfair is doing a bespoke gentleman’s afternoon tea including Wild boar sausage rolls, miniature steak & ale pies and includes a dram of single malt scotch Whisky for every Dad. Priced at £34.50 and available from 12-7pm until 30th June.

gillray

Gillray’s Steakhouse & Bar in the London Marriott Hotel County Hall is offering a free Aston Martin for every Dad dinning on Sunday! The traditional English steak house will be serving roast beef with all the trimmings and a match box Aston Martin for Dads.

pearapplespiritjackhigh

These spirits are great and unique. We loved them.

Vintage Pear Spirit (Owler) ABV 40%The Vintage Pear Spirit is made from the fruit of rare pear trees – which once appeared to be dying out. With names such as Hedgehog, Cowslip and Painted Lady, these unique and exquisite varieties ensure a refined drink – with a distinct pear flavour. A touch of fruity floral elegance.

Available in 700ml, 500ml and 50ml bottle.

700ml – £49.00/ 500ml – £39.00/ 50ml – £5.50

Vintage Apple Spirit ABV 40%

A similar product to the Vintage Pear Spirit – made from milled Gloucestershire apples that are grown on the farm. The end result is a spirit with a punchy tang and apple aroma.

Available in 700ml, 500ml and 50ml bottle.

700ml – £45.00/ 500ml – £35.00/ 50ml – £5.50

700ml and 500ml bottles are presented in a Charles Martell tube – which depict the view of May Hill from Hunt’s Court Farm.

Jack High Cider Spirit ABV 40%

A modern spirit distilled from local cider – it is diluted with spring water from the farm and aged in oak barrels to provide a warmer, mellower drink – almost like a delicate malt whisky. In January 2014, Charles Martell introduced Jack High Junior – a 5cl miniature bottle. Jack High Spirit comes in three light-hearted label designs; ‘Cider Spirit with mud on its boots’, Cider spirit that’s as strong as an ox’ and ‘Cider Spirit that was born in a barn’.

Available in 500ml and 50ml bottle.

500ml – £30.00/ NEW 50ml bottle – £5.00

 

Some cocktail ideas for the above.

 

Vintage Pear Perfect Serve

50ml Charles Martell Vintage Pear Spirit
1 slice cinnamon coated pear
Add ice to a rocks glass and pour over the Charles Martell Vintage Pear Spirit. Cut a slice of fresh pear and sprinkle some cinnamon onto one side. Slide the cinnamon coated pear into the side of the glass, swirl and enjoy.Vintage Pear Sour
50ml Charles Martell Vintage Pear Spirit
15ml egg white
25ml lemon juice
10ml sugar syrup
1 dash orange bitters
Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with cubed ice and shake very hard. Double strain the mixture over fresh cubed ice in a rocks glass and garnish with a slice of fresh pear.

 


Vintage Apple Perfect Serve
50ml Charles Martell Vintage Apple Spirit
4 slice apple fan
1 dash orange bitters
Fill a rocks glass with cubed ice and pour over Charles Martell Vintage Apple spirit. Add a dash of orange bitters and stir gently, top with ice if needed and garnish with an apple fan.

 

Vintage Apple Elegance
50ml Charles Martell Vintage Apple Spirit
25ml Elderflower Liqueur
20ml fresh lime juice
2 dashes rhubarb bitters
Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with cubed ice and shake hard. Double strain the cocktail into a large wine glass filled with cubed ice and garnish with an edible flower and a mint sprig.
Apple Jack
50ml Jack High Cider Spirit
120ml apple juice
Fill a Kilner jar with cubed ice and pour over a double measure of Jack High Cider Spirit. Top the drink with apple juice (non-cloudy) and stir well. Garnish with an apple fan.

 

Jack High Mojito
50ml Jack High Cider Spirit
15ml sugar syrup
40ml fresh lime juice
10 fresh mint leaves
100ml soda water
Stir sugar syrup and lime juice in the bottom of a Collins glass and fill with crushed ice. Add the Jack High Cider Spirit and churn well to mix all of the flavours. Top the cocktail with soda water and crushed ice.
Garnish with a straw and a mint sprig.

 


Jack High Fruity Cup
50ml Jack High Cider Spirit
Mixed summer berries
6 fresh mint leaves
15ml fresh lime juice
100ml still lemonade
30ml soda water
Add plenty of cubed ice into a large wine glass and top with a handful of mixed berries and mint leaves. Pour over lime juice and Jack High Cider Spirit. Top with still lemonade and soda water – stir very well and top with cubed ice if required. Add a straw and enjoy!

 

All recipes Charles Martell and BlackLeaf Events.

 

 

Bomb Cosmetics Tinned Candle Review

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We love these Bomb Cosmetics Tinned Candles. They look amazing, they smell amazing and they look great too. It even took a lot of willpower to not try and eat the chocolate orange one. It smells like heaven and the Passion Fruit Sundae is wonderfully amazing and fruity. bombcosmeticscandles Bomb Cosmetics Tinned Candle Review

These candles are hand poured and can burn for 50 hours. They are made with essential oil and even the cute shapes within the candles are cut by hand. Every candle is checked for quality and uniquely different. Super cool.

Bomb Cosmetics Tinned Candles are available here.

 

 

Doctor Indulgence Chocolate First Aid Kit

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We were super excited when this arrived at Frost HQ. A medical kit we can happily self-prescribe. And it says on the back; ‘Always exceed the recommended dose’. Good advice indeed. The design is cute and unique. It definitely has the novelty factor. Doctor Indulgence chocolate first aid kit

 

 

This is a great chocolate chill pills and first aid kit. The box is packed with chocolate in the shape of plasters, mini thermometers, pills and emergency bars. The one complaint we have is that there was only one white chocolate plaster in the back, which our white chocolate lovers were annoyed about. The rest is dark chocolate. Keep out of reach of children in case you confuse them but otherwise, indulge away!

Available from www.prezzybox.com for only £19.95.

 

Features:

  • Suitable for vegetarians
  • 1 x Emergency Dark Chocolate Bar 100g
  • 1 x Box of White & Dark Chocolate Plasters 170g
  • 4 x Dark Chocolate Thermometers
  • 30 x Large Dark Chocolate Pills

 

Beech’s Chocolate Creams Review

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Some things are more fun to review than others. Chocolate is one of those things right at the top of the enjoyable list.

We got sent a box of Beech’s Fine Chocolates Creams, actually, we got sent SIX boxes, and it really made our day. We devoured them in less than five days. Although we are not sure we should admit that.

chocolate

chocolatecreams

chocoate

All of these creams were amazing, although we all had different favourites. They are high quality, classy chocolates. Perfect for presents, if only to yourself.

Beech’s has been making chocolate since 1920 and contain only natural flavourings and colours.

£2.99 for 90g box.

Beech’s Fine Chocolates was opened in Preston in 1920 and has been supplying treats from its original factory in the town centre ever since, all made using only natural ingredients and traditional methods.

Beech’s currently supplies Marks & Spencer for its own brand Chocolate Brazils, After Dinner Mints, and Rose and Violet Creams.

Available from Amazon UK

www.beechsfinechocolates.com

 

Put Fairtrade First: Great Products With A Clear Conscience

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We have tried a range of Fairtrade products from Sainsbury’s and brought you a selection. Their fairtrade chocolate is amazing and the English Breakfast tea is a personal favourite of Frost editor, Catherine. Get your hands on some of the selection below.

This Fairtrade Fortnight (24th February – 9th March), enjoy a selection of treats and everyday essentials from Sainsbury’s, the world’s largest retailer of Fairtrade products. With over 800 Fairtrade products now available in store, £1 in every £4 spent on Fairtrade in the UK is spent in Sainsbury’s.

As part of Sainsbury’s commitment to Fairtrade, all of its bananas, sugar, own label tea, ground and roast coffee and Taste the Difference South African wines are Fairtrade certified, more than any other major UK supermarket. Sainsbury’s is committed to ensuring farmers get a fair price for what they grow and can invest in communities in developing countries such as Kenya or Columbia.

 

Everyday essentials

Sainsbury’s Fairtrade loose Bananas 

 

fairtrade bananas

 £0.68/kg  Sainsbury’s was the first major supermarket to sell 100% Fairtrade bananas back in 2007, and nowadays sells an incredible 650 million Fairtrade bananas a year – that’s 1,200 every minute. Sainsbury’s Fairtrade bananas are sourced from farmers in Central and South America, the Caribbean and West Africa where Fairtrade premiums are crucial to many smallholders.

Great bananas to eat with a clear conscious.

 
Taste the Difference English Breakfast Teafairtrade english breakfast tea £2.14/ 80 tea bags Britons drink around 165 million cups of tea a day, so it’s refreshing to know that your everyday cuppa is supporting the communities in which it was grown. This Fairtrade tea is made from selected leaves from India, Rwanda and Tanzania. Sainsbury’s is the world’s largest retailer of Fairtrade products and all its own-label teas are now Fairtrade – including speciality teas. 

 A personal favourite of Frost editor, Catherine

 
by Sainsbury’s Original House Blend Coffee
 

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£2.29/227g 		All Sainsbury’s own label roast and ground coffee has been 100% Fairtrade since 2009. Sainsbury’s coffee is sourced from across Africa and South America where Fairtrade premiums are now benefiting thousands of farmers, their families and communities in these countries every year.

 

Great coffee.

 

Tasty treats

Taste the Difference Fairtrade Sauvignon Blanc 2013

fairtrade wine

 £6.99/75cl 

 

 

 

 100% of Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference South African wine is now Fairtrade, and this fantastic zesty wine was awarded a silver trophy at the prestigious IWC awards in 2013. 

This elegantly balanced wine is made with exceptional care to preserve the flavours of crisp lemon and lime, green pepper, gooseberry and tropical fruit notes. It’s made for Sainsbury’s at the famous Boekenhoutskloof Winery, which dates back to 1776, from carefully selected grapes harvested from the best vineyards in Malmesbury, Wellington, Robertson and Franschhoek. The fresh and intensely fruity flavours are particularly good with lightly spiced dishes.

 

A brilliant wine.
 Taste the Difference Belgian Fairtrade Milk Chocolate

fairtrade chocolate

  £1.40/100g Sainsbury’s offers a great range of Fairtrade Taste the Difference chocolate, helping to improve the livelihoods of thousands of cocoa farmers in Cote d’Ivoire and the Dominican Republic.

Made for Sainsbury’s in Belgium, this luxurious milk chocolate is smooth and creamy without being too sweet, and melts in the mouth with a delicious caramel flavour.

 

 

Enjoy Sainsbury’s fairtrade products on their own, or try making these Fairtrade Banoffee Tarts at home

 

Banoffee Tarts Recipe

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A crisp pastry base filled with smooth, sweet caramel, and topped with bananas and cream…Naughty but so nice.

Serves 10

Preparation 40 minutes

Cooking 20 minutes, plus 45 minutes chilling time

Ready 1 hour 45 minutes

Ingredients

180g Sainsbury’s British plain flour

120g unsalted English butter by Sainsbury’s, cold from the fridge, cubed

3 tablespoons Sainsbury’s Fairtrade caster sugar

1 medium British free-range Woodland egg yolk by Sainsbury’s, mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water

75g smooth dark chocolate by Sainsbury’s, melted

½ x 397g tin Carnation caramel

2 small Fairtrade bananas by Sainsbury’s, sliced

200ml fresh British double cream by Sainsbury’s

¼ teaspoon Fairtrade ground cinnamon by Sainsbury’s

2 teaspoons Sainsbury’s cocoa powder

 

Method

1.       Sift the flour into a large bowl. Lightly rub in the butter with your fingertips, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar, then the egg yolk and water mixture, and use a round-bladed knife to bring everything together.

2.       Use your hands to form a dough, handling it as little as possible. (Alternatively, make the dough in a food processor to save time.) Wrap the dough in cling film, then chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.

3.       Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C fan, gas 6. Roll out the pastry to a thickness of 0.5cm, then cut into 6 pieces. Line 6 individual 10.5cm tart tins with the pastry and chill in the fridge again for 20 minutes.

4.       Line the pastry cases with baking parchment and fill with baking beans or uncooked rice. Bake ‘blind’ for 15 minutes, then remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 2 minutes, or until golden.

5.       Pour or brush the melted chocolate around the inside of the tart cases and allow it to harden for 5 minutes in the fridge. Divide the caramel evenly into the pastry cases and top with the banana slices. Whisk the double cream until it forms stiff peaks, then spoon on top of the tarts. Dust with the cinnamon and cocoa powder and serve.

 

Cook’s tip:

This is delicious served with half-fat crème fraîche by Sainsbury’s.

 

Pudology Banoffee Pie And CHI Natural Chocolate Coconut Milk Review

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We were pretty delighted to review Pudology Banoffee Pie and CHI Natural Chocolate Coconut Milk. Our first thoughts about Pudology was just what an amazing name it was. The design is great too but none of that is as important as the taste. So how was it? Well, before we get to that let me just tell you that the puds are dairy and gluten-free. Because of this we thought maybe it wouldn’t taste as good. How wrong we were. They are amazing. Absolutely delicious. We are converted. Available from Sainsbury’s and Waitrose.

Pudology-banoffee

CHI’s Natural Chocolate Coconut Milk

Coconut milk (and water) is hugely popular at the moment and chocolate is, well, always popular. If you love coconut you will love this. It is also dairy free.  It is delicious and less guilt inducing than other chocolate drinks. Available from Whole Foods and Amazon UK. RRP £1.79 for 330ml

chi natural chocolate cocnut milkBeing healthy never tasted so good.

 

Good Reasons For Bad Things By Angus Kennedy

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Good reasons for bad things Angus KennedyThis is Angus Kennedy’s second book. His first, The Kitchen Baby, is reviewed here. His second book is different from his first as it is a book of 222 maxims that came to Angus in the early morning, or as he says, channeled through him, don’t let that put you off if you don’t believe in it. I love maxims myself, the right maxim at the right moment can propel you through the day or help with a tough situation.

I also love the line; ‘I survive like many of us do, within a self-manufactured life of complete chaos.’ A brilliant line that is relevant to all. Now, on to the maxims; there is 222 maxims that came to Angus at 2:22am every night for two weeks. The maxims are great and you will, of course, have a favourite. Here are a few:

The real winner is the one that doesn’t create losers

Judge other people and the sentence will invariably fall upon yourself

Strength is needed to fight; true strength is needed to stop

I thought this was a great book, I believe Angus when he said the maxims were channeled through him but I don’t believe in channeling myself. Which may sound like a contradiction but I also have faith without religion so there you go.

Angus is also doing a special chocolate and book deal with this book which is out on January 2014. Definitely get your hands on one of those!