#justacard and #SmallBizSatUK

Last week we took part in an instagram challenge for #justacard. This was a campaign which highlighted the fact that every tiny purchase makes a difference to small businesses.

The title of the campaign was inspired by a quote from an independent gallery owner after the closure of their gallery.

“If everyone who’d complimented our beautiful gallery  had bought just a card we’d still be open”

We are also involved with the Small Business Saturday campaign which urges all to support local independent businesses and every year chooses 100 small businesses to highlight in the run up to the day itself and is a huge celebration of all that small businesses do.

We’re looking forward to Saturday 1st December when we will be at the Winter Arts Market at Liverpool Cathedral … celebrating and showcasing with over 200 fellow businesses.

Each one has a story to tell and share, so please, over the next few weeks we’d encourage you to support local. By this, we don’t just mean spending money (that would be great though!) … we also mean taking time to listen to the business story, understanding a brand, sharing their story … either through social media or just word of mouth…. share their journey!

Your support, in any way, makes a massive difference.

Thank you

Chocolate and Flowers ... the perfect match?

We have had an absolutely crazy week - we started off on Monday with a lovely Chocolate and Wine pairing event with the lovely Sam from Chester Beer and Wine. We love collaborating with Sam and are planning a few more pairings ... watch this space!


On Thursday, we went to the launch party of the Good Taste Magazine - what a lovely evening and what a brilliant Magazine - perfect for any foodie. We wish Jade and her team all the very best with the Magazine.
On Saturday we were so very happy to be part of the Ness Gardens Garden Party - celebrating 70 years of Gardeners Question Time. As you may be able to tell from our logo, flowers and gardening are a big hobby of ours. So, imagine being asked to be part of this fabulous event!!


For our demo we chose to combine chocolate and flowers. The flowers were from Mrs B's edible flowers in St Helens. We first spotted Lisa's flowers on the Low Down Liverpool and got rather excited about trying to match chocolate and flowers together. Lisa is so very passionate about her flowers and the care and attention she gives to these flowers is visible all around her flower farm. We had a lovely time discussing flavours and ideas and came up with a selection of truffles.
Thank you to all who came to watch our demo and as promised - here is the recipe:

Ingredients
- 40g rosehips - topped, tailed and chopped
- 120ml of double cream
- 150g milk chocolate
- rose petals to decorate

We chose to use Mrs B's Rosehips, however if this is not feasible for you and you are planning to gather your own, please be careful. Ensure that they have not been sprayed with any nasty chemicals and also ensure that they are not picked from a busy roadside where there is a lot of traffic.
Look for plump, firm rosehips - make sure they haven't dried up.
Method:

• Heat the rosehips and the cream together until scalding hot

• Leave the mixture for at least 6 hours in a fridge (ideally overnight)
  
• Warm up the rosehip infusion and then strain off all of the rosehips - so that you are left with orange looking cream
  
• Leave to cool
  
• Melt the chocolate
  
• Add to the infused cream mixture and slowly tease the cream into the mixture
  
• Pour the ganache into a tray and leave to cool overnight
  
• Chop into bitsize squares and decorate with rose petals - using a little bit of molten chocolate to stick the rose petals on.
  
• Enjoy!!

Baltic Market

We were really excited to be part of the farmers market at the Baltic Market yesterday.

We registered our interest as soon as we heard that a market was going to be running there – just by the old Cains Brewery.

For years we have thought that Liverpool was crying out for a local market run by local people full of local producers – and at last a decent one has arrived.

The people behind this market, David and Olly have spent a number of years working with small local independent businesses and understand the need for unity and collaboration.

The atmosphere at the market was fabulous, our neighbouring stall holders were delightful, helpful and friendly, the produce was locally made and of top notch quality – we loved being part of this and are looking forward to the first Sunday of every month where we can take our chocolates along.

Of course, there were teething problems – we ran out of stock, the market was packed and people had to queue to get in … but Hey! Give the guys a break!! These are really the right kind of teething troubles to have and in due course will be ironed out.

We are also really looking forward to the Flea market and the makers markets planned on the other Sundays.

Thank you Baltic Market for including us in this fabulous community.

Chocolate and Wine Tastings

We're really excited to be collaborating with Chester Beer and Wine - a fabulous local Beer and Wine shop. If you haven't visited them yet do pop in and have a look at their amazing selection of wines! (And beer... but we're not really beer drinkers at The Chocolate Cellar!)
We will be with them at the Doubletree by Hilton on Wednesday 17th May with a few tasters of chocolate.
On the 20th of July we will be at the Chester Beer and Wine Shop in Hoole and we will be co-hosting a guided chocolate and wine tasting. The chocolates and wine have been carefully matched to provide you with a delicious taste sensation and we hope you will agree with our delightful selections.
Tickets are available for both events from the Chester Beer and Wine website: Chester Beer and Wine Tastings

Looking ahead to 2017

So we are finally out of the chasm of Christmas and New Year – I believe it really is “back to school” for us all now! 2016 was a magical and crazy year for us – we made many new friends both personal and business.
Here are some of the highlights:

• We took on the lovely Ella as part of the team.
• We ran our first family workshops at Claremont Farm and also started our workshops at REX Liverpool.
• We were delighted to be asked to run the Albert Dock Easter Sessions.
• We ran lots of Hen Parties at the lovely Siren Cafe.
• We were filmed by the lovely Rachel Rhodes for The Guide Liverpool.
• We took part in the Queen’s 90th Celebrations in Wallasey Village.
• We schemed and plotted with Squidges to bring you Creepy Creations at Claremont and were aided and abetted in this by Readnowwritenow and AlrightPetal.
• We enjoyed the Summer Arts Market with Open Culture and were blown away by the amazing Winter Arts Market at the Anglican Cathedral!
• We were named as one of the Small Business 100 and were so very honoured to be amongst the other amazing businesses that were chosen.
• We went to Downing Street and made it on time!!

Phew! What a fab year that was for us and we were so truly thankful for all the support from all of our friends and family along the way.
We have had a break now and had some lovely family and friends time and Christmas and New Year Celebrations do indeed seem a dim and distant memory.
So here we are on the brink of 2017 and hoping that it will be as blessed. We are already hatching plans for Valentines Day and Easter (Not quite making anything for those yet!!)
We have been taking school workshop bookings as well as hen parties and are now in the process of sorting out further workshops for the gifted Workshop Vouchers out there.
Do watch this space for more news – hope this year is good to you too

We're extremely excited about the advent of Farm Feast 2015 at Claremont Farm - this has replaced the old "Wirral Food and Drink Festival".

It always has a fantastic atmosphere, lovely producers, organisers and volunteers.

We will be looking forward to being in the courtyard and promise to bring you some delightful little treats as well as the delicious macarons. The macarons do normally run out fairly early so make sure you are the early bird!

We'll also be running a little competition over the weekend so do pop by our stall to see how you could the winner of some amazing gifts.

See you there?! (Please bring some sunshine!)

10 YEARS OLD!

Tuesday, February 10th, 2015
We are very excited that on this Saturday (14th February) The Chocolate Cellar will be celebrating it’s 10th Birthday!
It has been 10 years since Bala  decided to sell chocolates at Wirral Farmers Market and took on her first stall. It has been a fabulous journey with amazing support from our wonderful customers.
As a “Thank You” to our loyal customers, we are having a “Golden Ticket” Giveaway. 100 envelopes will be given out to our customers on Saturday 14th February at Wirral Farmers Market –  10 of these will contain Golden Tickets. These tickets will allow entry to a Special Chocolate Making Workshop being held on 11th April 2015  at New Ferry Village Hall from 2pm to 4pm.

Good Luck – we hope to see you there!