Our Summer Selection has arrived!
As you may know, we draw inspiration for our seasonal releases from our experiences in the Scottish Highlands. We look for flavours we think epitomise each of the Scottish seasons and begin to design flavoursome ways to pair them with our exceptional chocolate. Always, the produce and ingredients we feature in our chocolates are at the forefront of our designs – they must be of very high quality and taste great, of course, but they also must come from sources that we love and people who share our passions and values.
This year’s Summer Selection features five flavours that we believe encapsulate Scottish summertime deliciously. Here are the flavours we've created and the ingredients we've created them with:
1. Scone, Jam & Cream with Rowan Barn Jam (Plockton)
Miles from chocolate kitchen: 19
What says ‘summer’ more than sitting in a beautiful floral garden with a lovely fresh scone? Very few things if you ask us.
For this white chocolate, we’re making our own scones and pairing them with raspberry jam from Plockton. This is no ordinary jam though; this is something wonderful!
Amongst the palm trees sit Lenice and Alex’s polytunnels, full to the brim with sweet and juicy fruits. Lenice then uses these fruits to create her delicious jams which are available in our gift shop. Lenice and Alex’s farm is situated just behind the high school, and they help the students there with the crofting course using both their crops and livestock. This fantastic producer is one especially close to Finlay’s heart as he has fond memories of visits during his school days.
2. Cuillin Mint Cake from the Isle of Skye Fudge Company (Dunvegan)
Miles from chocolate kitchen: 62
We just can’t get enough of this stuff!
If you - like our chocolatiers - are into your mountain climbing, then you’ll be no stranger to a mint cake. The Isle of Skye Fudge Company have catered wonderfully to the Skye hillwalkers with their Scottish take. Cuillin Mint Cake is a peppermint flavoured tablet, smooth and creamy and caramelly and all the other good things that pack a lot of energy to keep you going on your way up the Cuillins on a sunny day.
3. Pink Gin with Misty Isle Pink Gin (Portree)
Miles from chocolate kitchen: 51
This one will send you straight to a beer garden with the sun beating down on you. Pink gin is everyone’s favourite summer refresher and this one from the Isle of Skye Distillers is a real beauty, having recently won silver at the World Gin Awards.
The Isle of Skye Distillers craft their spirits sustainably – carefully protecting and preserving their beloved island whilst distilling products that reflect its rugged beauty. The Misty Isle Pink Gin has notes of raspberry and pear over a juniper forward base – ideal for a wee summer’s day.
4. Raspberry – Bruce Farms Raspberries (Blairgowrie)
Miles from chocolate kitchen: 147
Scotland is famous for its summertime raspberries; sweet, tart and juicy. We source ours from Bruce Farms in Blairgowrie, Perthshire - just down the road from the bees who make our heather honey as it happens! Bruce Farms is a family run business now in their fourth generation of growing sensationally good crops using environmentally responsible practices. Their gorgeous raspberries are truly something to behold and when paired with our fruity dark chocolate, they really make for a full-flavoured and complex experience.
5. Rum & Ginger Beer – Dark Matter Rum (Banchory)
Miles from chocolate kitchen: 160
Distilled by brothers Jim and John, Dark Matter Rum is a curious creation. When designing their unique recipe, the brothers searched high and low for the punchiest ingredients from around the globe before settling on Oriental ginger, Thai green peppercorns, Indonesian long pepper and South American allspice berries. It’s probably safe to say that this Scottish rum is unlike any other you may have tried, and we definitely recommend it. We’ve mixed it up with some fresh ginger to create a wee mouthful of summer fun.
