Ten Makers of Gourmet Chocolate You Might Not Have Heard of

In period films produced in Hollywood, chocolates are regarded as the most delicious food the prince had ever tasted. Indeed, many of us find delight in eating chocolates. We can barely stop our sweet tooth from craving for more once we start consuming specially-crafted and exotically-flavoured gourmet chocolates.

Commercial chocolates often come in milk, white, and dark variants, but you won’t run out of options with gourmet chocolates. Since chocolate has become a major ingredient in the world for pastries, beverages, and other consumables, gourmet chocolate makers have enhanced their products to come up with different delectable sensations.

Gourmet chocolates are great as gifts for Mother’s Day, Father’s day, Christmas and Birthdays or even as a pure expression of love on a regular day. No one can blame you should you want to treat yourself to gourmet chocolates. Here are the top gourmet chocolate makers, which also accept online orders for your convenience.

1. Christopher Norman Chocolates

People love ordering chocolates from Christopher Norman due to their sculptured and hand-painted truffles, in innovative flavours, that come in distinguished boxed packaging. You’ll personally find the company’s confections “extraordinarily luscious” and “sensory-provoking.” As much as possible, they do away with the classic flavours of chocolates that you can find in grocery stores. They make their pieces by hand in their New York City factory, and they use only the finest and all-natural ingredients available.

2. Lake Chaplain Chocolates

This gourmet chocolate producer is native to the state of Vermont. The company has a long-standing history of making fine chocolate pieces that are produced with quality craftsmanship. They are also known for their wide variety of chocolate flavours that create a mouth-watering sensation in every bite. Their sweet indulgences are produced every day in their factory. Lake Chaplain Chocolates were once regarded by the New York Times as the “some of the best chocolate in the country.”

3. MarieBelle New York

The signature chocolate line by MarieBelle fuses top-of-the-line ingredients, the finest chocolates, and a production scheme equal to an artisan. The results are nothing less than works of art; they look like jewellery pieces displayed in their Italian boxes. Founder and designer Maribel Lieberman successfully add a touch of classicism to their contemporary chocolate collection. The exotic flavours of their gourmet chocolates are even made aesthetically pleasing by hand-painting them.

4. Romanicos Chocolates

The store is owned and supervised by Alejandra Bigai, who makes sure that their chocolates meet the standards of luxuriousness and taste. Their chocolate truffles are sure to leave you craving more, available flavours like holy berry, wild coconut, heavenly vanilla, and passion caramel. One of the chocolate lines Romanicos is known for is called Piccolo Art Collection, which features hand-painted chocolates with almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts, and dulce de leche fillings. Their chocolate collections are nicely packaged, but you can also order customized gift items for your business.

5. La Maison du Chocolat

It may be obvious to you that this chocolate collection follows the French tradition. Their boxed chocolate assortments may include both dark and milk variants or may include one variant only. They also have their own original creations, like the contents of their Arriba Gift Box. For Christmas 2007, they had a chocolate line packaged in a golden nacre pearl-like sphere that is sure to delight the eyes and the palate of its recipient.

6. L.A. Burdick Handmade Chocolates

Instead of using flavourings, extracts, and concentrates, their chocolates are produced using raw and natural ingredients. They brew teas and coffees, if needed, as well as cook and squeeze other fruit ingredients. This is the reason why their batches of deliveries may slightly differ from each other though they come from the same recipe. L. A. Burdick uses Mexican vanilla beans, local honey and the finest nuts and fruit from Turkey and California.

7. Vosges Chocolates

Katrina Markoff, a French-trained chocolate-maker, owns and manages this chocolate business. Through traditional techniques of making chocolates combined with her love for world cuisines, Markoff was able to come up with her own line of chocolate creations. Her products include blood orange, pumpkin, Mexican chilli, Hawaiian sea salt, and other exotic flavours. If you prefer more traditional flavours, you won’t be disappointed by their fine honey, classic hazelnut, and rich caramel chocolates.

8. Recchiuti Confections

Based in San Francisco, the company aims to orient their customers to how a real chocolate experience is meant to be. Their morsels are handcrafted and are meant to change your attitude towards chocolates. Classic chocolate flavours are usually given a new twist, as in the case of one of their signature lines, the burnt caramel pieces.

It is not every day that you find a chocolate company that hires an acclaimed artist to design its products. Recchiuti boasts of their Paul Madonna chocolate collection, which features San Francisco life as seen and envisioned by the artist.

9. Richart Paris

It doesn’t take a genius to tell that Richart Paris is another French company. The business started in 1925 and continues to seek the best cocoa in the world to come up with their products line. Michael Richart states their mission is to infuse an “endless amount of the happiness and pleasure that chocolate has to offer.” One of their products you can’t miss is the Little Gourmet Collection.

10. Payard’s

Payard’s Patisserie and Bistro is a cafe located in New York City and owned by one of the top pastry chefs in the country, Francois Payard. Due to the high demand and popularity of his products, he has made them available online, including his cakes and chocolates. Payard’s chocolate collections lean toward classic flavours like raspberry ganache and vanilla rum ganache. They can be purchased in boxes of half and full dozens and packaged in distinctive boxes.

Whether you admit it or not, gourmet chocolates are sometimes so well-designed that it seems like such a waste to eat them, but what I do know is that they make great gifts, no matter what it is for.