Chocolate Choices, Cadbury's Chocolate, Hershey's, Memories, Hotel Chocolat

 

British favourite chocolate. Cadbury's. Totally different flavour to American Hershey's which to the British tastes stronger, more bitte and wax. 

Hershey's was designed not to melt in the heat when carried as an energy and mood boost by soldiers. 

Cadbury's was always the king of chocolate, supposedly containing calcium filled milk when markets sold cheaper chocolate used by confectioners, and like Hershey's, using a substitute for milk which would not melt in the heat. A flood of memories from childhood.

More memories of holidays in the USA when somebody stole the chocolate from the back window of the car. Then we realised it had melted in the heat.

Check out any city you are visiting for chocolate tours of chocolate factories, chocolate tastings and chocolate making in chocolate shops. In the UK. London and York, especially holidays such as the late May Bank Holiday. And before Xmas. I have been to chocolate museums, exhibitions and shops and events in New York, USA. London, England, York. England, Switzerland, and Umbria in Italy. See my previous posts for mouth-watering pictures.

Hotel Chocolat at Euston

If you are in London, go via a chocolate shop. In Euston we found wonderful chocolates at Hotel Chocolat. A box of chocolates all different. Sometimes you can make up your own.

A day later we bought chocolates from a Laderach of Switzerland chocolate shop in St Pancras station. My husband asked them for all identical chocolate dark chocolate balls  to share with a group when we ordered coffee after a lunch ending with a drink of port. They don't usually do that. Like Hotel Chocolat they provide variety. However, they are customer orientated and provided what he requested, a box of identical chocolates, so everybody had the same, and no delay choosing which one.

They discussed the chocolate content about which my husband was quite knowledgeable and insistent. Once on his birthday., I went to buy him a bar of dark chocolate in my local supermarket. I saw three different percentages of chocolate, hesitated over whether to buy the one with the highest percentage, or two, or all three in case I got it wrong. That proved interesting as we were both able to compare all three. To our surprise, both of us found the very highest chocolate content made a chocolate which we found too bitter. Incidentally Laderach features slabs. 

Currently, in May 2026, they have a newsletter offer. Sign up for their newsletter and you are entered into the following month's draw date for a free slab (bar) of chocolate. 

 Handy if you are in a hurry. I was not impressed by the plain chocolate balls, but my chocoholic friend had no trouble eating two chocolates. The slabs come in nut toppings, white with fruit flavoured swirls and many more surprises. Their locations include several in Switzerland and German as well as Dubai and Orlando in the USA. 

The business is run by a family, now in the third generation. The family name is Swiss-German meaning clearing, for people living near a clearing.

They have a museum in Switzerland. 

Hotel Chocolat

However, if you have time, go to Euston,  Hotel Chocolat. A feast for the eyes and tastebuds. Nothing to match the visual appeal or taste, and possibly higher price, but worth it, whether for yourself or a gift, at Hotel Chocolat.

You'll find them on Amazon and ebay but I recommend the Euston shop if you are passing through Euston. Or check online for your nearest physical shop or supplier.

Other locations offer their drinking chocolate in assorted flavours, hot or cold.

Useful Websites On Chocolate Shops

https://www.hotelchocolat.com/uk/chocolate-shops

https://laderach.com/uk-en/our-locationshttps://houseofladerach.com/product/besuch-schokoladenmuseum-mit-schokoladen-atelier/

https://www.names.org/n/laderach/about

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World Chocolate Day - July 7th - What Makes A Good chocolate? Cadbury's or Hershey's?

 

This was my favourite dessert on Singapore Airlines.

If you are wondering where to go, today is world chocolate day.  A chocolate museum or a chocolate gift shop. If all else fails, your local supermarket or restaurant. Here's what to look for, when travelling or travelling to the shops. The famous British chocolates include Cadbury's, Fry's, Green & Black's. We have chocolate shops and chocolate museums and factory shops and tours.

My family once did a blind taste test. We bought bars of chocolate with different concentrations of chocolate. We expected that the higher the chocolate count, the more we would like the chocolate. This did not follow. The highest percentages of chocolate produced a bitter chocolate. However, my husband, who likes dark chocolate, preferred a slightly stronger percentage than I did. I like milk chocolate, sweet wines, and preferred about 10 percent less real chocolate than he did. What I learned was that when I was buying for him, for a birthday or an after dinner treat, or a holiday snack, it was not worthwhile paying the highest price for the bar of chocolate with the highest chocolate count.

Wikipedia says>

World Chocolate Day, sometimes referred to as International Chocolate Day,^[1][2] or just Chocolate Day,^[3] is an annual celebration of chocolate,^[4] occurring globally on July 7,^[5][4] which some suggest to be the anniversary of the introduction of chocolate to Europe in 1550.^[1][6] The observance of World Chocolate Day dates back to 2009.^[7]

Other Chocolate Day celebrations exist, such as National Chocolate Day in the United States on 28 October.^[8] The U.S. National Confectioners Association lists 13 September as International Chocolate Day,^[8] coinciding with the birth date of Milton S. Hershey (September 13, 1857).^[9][10][11] Ghana, the second largest producer of cocoa, celebrates Chocolate Day on February 14.^[12] In Latvia, World Chocolate Day is celebrated on July 11.^[13]

The U.S. National Confectioners Association lists four primary chocolate holidays on their calendar^[8] (Chocolate Day (July 7), two National Chocolate Days (October 28 and December 28), and International Chocolate Day (September 13)^[14]), in addition to variants such as National Milk Chocolate Day, National White Chocolate Day, and National Cocoa Day.

If you have a chocolate theme cup, now is the time to get it out.

If you miss it, you have another chocolate day in August. Come to think of it, every day is a chocolate day. The diet starts tomorrow.

Here is a DIY recipe for a chocolate dessert tart using Nairn's biscuits.

https://nairns.com/recipes/chocolate-oat-lime-tart

Chocolates

BELGIUM

Belgian chocolates 

FRANCE

Chocolate covered orange from France.

ITALY

Ferrero Rocher

SWISS

UK

Cadbury's

USA

Hersheys

Somewhere, some time ago, I read that American servicemen in a world war were in hot countries where their chocolate had melted, presumably in storage, in their kit bags, in their pockets and on their hands. 

I understand the problem. A similar thing happened to me. I recall in the USA coming back from a day skiing in the cold and finding that the chocolate left on hire car's back parcel shelf had all gone. Had it been eaten, stolen, by whom, or what? 

When I emptied the parcel shelf later at the hotel I discovered what had happened. The chocolate had melted and run out of the silver paper down to the corner or the parcel shelf. more oil or vegetable fat produces a chocolate which is more brittle but less likely to melt. 

To help the solidiers keep their treats edible, the chocolate manufacturers made a chocolate with a different melting point. I believe that less milk and fat and maybe more vegetable fat or oil, solves the problem. The result is a more brittle chocolate. With a waxy texture. The advertisement for one brand used to read, melts in the mouth, not in your hand. Hershey chocolate in the USA is a market leader, darker and brittle To my mind too waxy. Being British, I am partial to Cabbury's which I find smoother. 

Today a relative of mine took a chocolate from a box of chocolates. After biting and tasting it she declared, frowning, 'This is too sweet for me, too much sugar."

 I thought, if there's more sugar, what is there less of? 

I supposed it must be cocoa, providing the chocolatey flavour, made up for by fillings of orange, hazelnut, coffee, and other flavours. Or maybe it was less milk, more sugar.

The moral is, read the label.

If you are looking for a place for an interesting evening, a birthday or anniversary treat, consider a trip to a chocolate factory or an evening of chocolate tasting or chocolate making. Look for a speciality chocolate shop and ask for their list of events and ask to be put on their mailing list.

Interesting websites

See my posts on Kendal mint cake, chocolate day in August, chocolate festivals.

Useful Websites about KitKat
Yorkdale Shopping centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
https://www.madewithnestle.ca/kitkat-chocolatory
CANADA
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Yorkdale+Shopping+Centre
https://www.blogto.com/grocery/kitkat-chocolatory-yorkdale-toronto/
AUSTRALIA
https://www.kitkat.com.au/
https://www.kitkat.com.au/our-boutiques
JAPAN
https://matcha-jp.com/en/758