Posh's Savoury Chocolate Cravings

I've just read about Posh asking David to pick her up five bags of salted chocolate caramels after dining at Gordon Ramsay's. The Daily Mirror says she can't get enough of the Salty chocolate balls. It's interesting that she would eat these but gets into a panic thinking of eating turkey and trimmings. I figure she must have her calorie requirements worked out perfectly. If I had people waiting on me hand and foot as well as on my family members I'd probably be thinking of my calories. In which case, savoury chocolate balls might fit the bill. However, as I never know from day to day what sort of dive I'm going to have to make so that DD doesn't land in the Casualty ward or how many different meals I will have to cook her so she can at least have something in her tummy, I stick with the sort of calories turkey and trimmings give. And as I am face to face with chocolate everyday, I don't get to send the Husband for some, I simply unwrap one for the extra calories I always need. Oh for the Posh life! Thankful for the personalised chocolates life!

Meilleurs Voeux

I've just been reading about the various uses of the above phrase which basically means best wishes. This is one of the many ways to say Merry Xmas or Happy New Year. You could sign a card by writing:

Meilleurs Voeux pour l'annee 2010, Suzie

Or say Je vous souhaite mes meilleurs voeux pour l'annee 2010.

Personally, I would say Joyeux Noel which means Merry Xmas or Bonne Annee - Happy New Year.

Other ways in which the phrase can be used are in letters to close the correspondence, so one could say:

Veuillez accepter mes meilleurs voeux or as a get well message Meilleurs voeux de prompt retablissement. 


How have you wished others Merry Xmas or Happy New Year using a different expression this year? Please share it with us.

Why wont she just eat?!

Im quite exhausted tonight and DD is sitting happily on the floor playing with a DVD case. Im here wondering why she's so happy as she hasnt eaten as she normally would all day. She's wasted so much food. Did I hear you say welcome to Motherhood?

She has probably eaten enough but as usual Im worried. I hope she'll sleep well and not wake up hungry as Im off to work at 8 am. Plus, DH has a very important meeting tomorrow so we cant afford for her to wake at night hungry.

I've been working hard today on a complimentary line to our chocolates launching early next year. There has been a lot of calculations to do and thinking of adequate funding.

DD is watching Franny's feet on Playhouse Disney sucking happily from her cup of water. Wish me luck!

Personalised Chocolates? - Nah! not my thing

What I enjoyed most this Xmas was the variety of orders we had. We had an autographed wrapper.

 Name card chocolates

business card chocolates

and photo chocolates

It was a lot of fun helping to design these orders. I had a lot of people send in their own designs especially kids! Even better was the feedback that came in when people received their orders. It's very fulfilling helping others create their dream chocolate gift. What is your dream chocolate gift design?

So you may ask how do I design my own wrapper? Simple. Open a new word document and add some shapes, colours and a message. If you'd like to autograph it, print it out and sign on it then run it through a scanner et voila! Btw, that's our French Word of the Day;) Hope you caught it!

Everything you need to know about ordering personalised chocolate favours

You will either be asked about where and how to order chocolate favours or need some at a point. Whatever it is, this information will come in more than handy one day soon!  


1) Budget: How much do you plan to spend? How many guests will you have? How much are you willing to spend?


Now, please halt for a moment. Read the other points below then come back to point 1. Can you afford what you are after? Where can you cut costs to afford what you are after? Reduce quantity per head? Is the supplier willing to hold the offer for you till when you need them? If you buy now, will the favours still be in their best condition when you need them?

2) Type: What sort of favours are you planning to get? Dragees? Mints? Chocolates?  


3) Presentation: Will your favours be scattered over the table or will you put them in boxes? Or would you rather they are presented as name cards or menu cards? Better yet, would you like to give a fore-taste of the event by sending them out as a Save the Date or Invitation Card?  


4) Theme: Do you plan to let your favours match the theme of the event or party? Will you match the colour scheme, your flowers or the ambience theme - Rock n Roll, Hawaiian, Heart shapes? 


Did I miss out anything? If you've ordered favours for an event what, in your opinion, is another critical consideration?

12 days of Xmas

Hi

We've just launched our BT Tradespace shop and to promote it we are doing a Xmas Advent give-away! Simply keep up to date with our Tradespace News Posts from December 12 till Xmas Eve to save on essential personalised chocolate needs in 2010.

As featured on Helen Carter Weddings

Wedding favours are something that a lot of couples ask whether they should have or not. I personally think it’s a nice gesture to give your guests a keepsake of the day, but I also know that they can end up being ignored or forgotten about and consequently can feel like a waste of money. This is why I often recommend clients opt for something edible – guests love having something to nibble on after dinner, or they’ll tuck it away to munch on their way home later!
So today I’m delighted to welcome Tola Popoola from Chocolat a Toi. Tola specialises in creating personalised chocolate wedding favours... Continue

Working on personalised photo Xmas chocolates - fab!

Had a great time at everywoman conference. Well chuffed to see our yummy chocolates in Natwest goody bags!

Chocolate Cheesecake or choccy cheesecake

Hi Tola – this is very yummy and quite a heavy cake, but dead easy to make and foolproof.

Here’s the recipe. By Delia Smith published in her Delia Smith’s Winter Collection book

Base

110g sweet oat biscuits

25g butter

50g chopped toasted hazelnuts

Filling

250g mascarpone

200g natural fromage frais (light works okay)

100g dark 75% cocoa solids chocolate

50g raisins

110g whole hazelnuts

8inch cake tin – depth of minimum 3 inches

Preheat oven to 200C gas mark 6

Place whole hazelnuts in oven and toast until golden brown.  Make the base of the cheesecake by crushing biscuits with a rolling pin, not too finely though as it’s nice to have a fairly even texture.  Scoop all the biscuit crumbs into a bowl and add the chopped nuts and melted butter and mix everything very thoroughly before patting into the base of the cake tin, pressing it very firmly all over.  Now place the tin in the oven and pre-bake the crust for 20 minutes.  Then remove it and let it cool while you make the filling.  Reduce the oven temp to gas mark 2, (150 degrees C).

To make the filling, first place 2 inches (5cm) of water into a saucepan, and then put the saucepan onto heat and meanwhile break the chocolate into small squares and place this into a basin.  As soon as the water is boiling remove the pan from the heat and place the bowl on top until everything melts.  Don’t be tempted to put the bowl on top of the saucepan while the water is still boiling – because of the high cocoa content, this chocolate mustn’t get overheated or it will separate.  Now spoon the mascarpone and fromage frais into a large bowl and whisk together until smooth, preferably with an electric hand whisk. Then add the eggs and sugar and give it another good whisking before adding the melted chocolate – use a rubber spatula so that you get every last of chocolate form the basin and then lightly fold the chocolate into the egg mixture.  Finally add the raisins and toasted hazelnuts.

Now pour the mixture into the tin, smoothing it out with the back of a spoon, and place it on the centre shelf of the oven and bake for 1.25 hours.  After that turn the oven off but leave the cheesecake inside until it is completely cold.

Chocolate Recipes

"Enough said about personalised chocolate without helping you satisfy your cravings" I said to myself. So, this month we plan to feature fail-proof recipes using chocolate. Do you have any? Simply pop me an email. Do let me know if you got it from a cookbook so we can give due credit!

I plan to try out the recipes and at the end of the month, I'll be lettting you know my favourite which will be easiest to make with no errors.

Our first recipe is courtesy of our dear friend, Pamela Wallin of www.weddingsinsurrey.co.uk. It's a chocolate cheesecake. I've put it in another post so it's easy to read and of course print out to make!

Bon appetit!

How we'll save Christmas

If you're lost on how to fill those Christmas stockings, Chocolat A Toi has found the way. Whether you're strapped for ideas or cash any of our personalised chocolate bars will do the trick. Simply personalise them. And guess what's best? We have a lead time of two weeks so just contact us by December 1st so we can catch the last post! See you!

Our range of personalised chocolate. The size is always just right!

We're going going...to the Baby Show

We're so happy to be virtually present at this year's Baby Show taking place at Earl's Court.

Personalised Chocolate Bar

If you've never tasted our yummy Belgian recipe chocolates, here's your opportunity.

Personalised Birthday Chocolate

Simply make your way to stand B48 which will host CuddleDry. They will be giving out goody bags to the first 100 who visit the stand. Once you get yours, look for the chocolate in it!

Personalised Christmas Chocolate

It may look like one of those you've seen above or like these below or completely different! Just enjoy it then,

Corporate Personalised Chocolate

tell us what you think about them here. Bon appetit!

Corporate Personalised Chocolate Bar

Glam up your wedding

This time last week I was so busy preparing for a personalised chocolate wedding order that came in. We did 2 sizes and 3 different designs!

Well, I was quite excited about this order because the bride had placed the order in May for the personalised chocolate, her wedding colours, pale pink and silver. "Interesting!" I thought. I love being creative so voila - that's what we produced - I added some silver glitter to the silver ones they don't really show in the photo or do they? Anyway, they looked just right and she loved them!

So, to all brides-to-be out there, dont settle for what's in the shops, ask us to create them from scratch. Glam up your wedding with colour co-ordinated personalised chocolate here!

What Would Delia do?

Today, we are featuring a mumpreneur with similar circumstances, doing two jobs. Paula Doherty who also works part-time is the brain behind Kitty and Polly.

Recently described as a 'cute emporium of lovely gift ideas', Kitty and Polly stock a range of handmade gifts and accessories to inspire and delight. From handbags to homewares, jewellery to pampering treats, everything is handmade locally here in the UK.  Handmade is very en vogue at the moment but if you haven’t got the time to join the craft revival yourself, why not consider a gift made by an up and coming designer?

We have some truly unique gift ideas, perfect if you’re looking for something a little bit different. Here’s just a few of them:-

‘What Would Delia do’ sampler in a gorgeous shabby chic frame, £22, perfect for domestic goddesses in need of culinary inspiration!

For a tongue in cheek gift for him or her, what about one of our ‘Do The Dishes’ tea towels? Fair Trade, organic & just £9.50

For a romantic gift for her, why not consider a double heart silver necklace? Simple but stunning and just £36

Handbag divas will love our gorgeous silver clutch bag with bird motif. A designer bag without the designer price at just £45

As a good all round birthday gift or stocking filler, our gorgeous smelling soap set with nail brush fits the bill at just £9.95

All available now at www.kittyandpolly.co.uk.  Delivery is just £3.50 and completely free when you spend £40 or more.  Even better, we’re offering 10% off to Chocolat a Toi visitors – just use voucher code Chocolate at the checkout (offer valid until 31st October 2009, not incl P&P).

Express yourself...in French!

I came across this interesting quiz and I thought I'd share it with you. If you dont speak much French but would like to sound ehm...you know... try these really simple and common expressions (French is in bold) -

1) I like my corn on the cob au naturel - means with nothing on it.

2) It's a fait accompli - The deed is done.

3) Im attending a soirée - It simply means you're going to an Elegant party.

 If you're quite the French McDaddy, you may want to try the expressions below:

1) Tom always exhibits noblesse oblige - Term denoting benevolent and honorable behavior.

2) I love the art déco of that old skyscraper - reference to artistic lines

3) Keep clapping. We may be rewarded with an encore -  not too difficult I assume

Now as per pronunciation, we shall deal with that tout de suite. A bientot!

Re-branding

If you've not noticed, we have changed our blog description.
Chocolat A Toi
French, Mumpreneur, Personalised Chocolate
I believe it captures the essence of who I am - I love everything French , 

why I am here - Mumpreneur,

and what I am trying to achieve - share some good chocolate - shame it's mostly photos for now.





So you'll be enjoying posts covering all three aspects and I am hoping you will enjoy them.

Soyez les bienvenus to our new followers. It's really nice to have you on here. I have discovered some really interesting blogs by checking out the ones you follow. Thanks!

World Chocolate Day Competition II

To win your favourite box of chocolates, simply have a look at the shortlisted chocolates below and pick your favourite. Then, leave a comment saying which is your favourite.

The winner will be the first person to have chosen the most popular favourite chocolate. So get all your friends to enter your favourite chocolate on here. Just make sure you're the first to pick it as a favourite. The 2nd & 3rd most popular chocolates' lead-voters will receive chocolate gift vouchers.

So here's the list:

Cadburys Milk Buttons

Cadburys White Buttons

Cadburys Dairy Milk Giant Buttons

Curly Wurly Squirlies Bags

Maltesers

Maltesers, White

M & Ms - (Peanut)

Mars Planets Bags

Rolos Revels Smarties

To enter the competition you must be
1) Resident in the UK
2) Subscribed to our blog - to ensure you are contacted when you win!

Go ahead! We're eager to know.

Competition ends September 11 at midnight. Results will be released September 12.

World Chocolate Day Competition I

As part of activities to mark World Chocolate Day, we are raising funds for the Children's Trust.

The Children's Trust is a is a national charity working with children who have multiple disabilities and complex health needs. Their services include short, medium and long term residential care, therapy and rehabilitation for children, providing special education for pupils with profound and multiple learning disabilities at St Margaret’s School, short breaks (either at their site in Tadworth or in the family home) as well as hospice/ palliative care. All these services are provided with the help of voluntary donations and fundraising work.

To support the Trust, we have set up a competition for all parents and children lovers. We're relying on your artistic talent to design a wrapper for the Children's Trust.

We'd like simple but exciting designs that will appeal to all ages. Entry conditions for submitting a wrapper are

1) It must be in JPG format

2) It must not include any additional copyright material such as photos or graphics

The best design will be picked in association with the Children's Trust Corporate Relations Manager, Angie Turner. The winner's name will appear on the wrapper as designed by the winner for Chocolat A Toi. This will be used to sell chocolates to raise funds for the Trust at their Annual Xmas Fare. The winner will also receive a voucher for personalised Xmas chocolates worth £45- designed by you.

In addition, we welcome offers from businesses interested in selling the chocolate bearing the winning wrapper in their offices or on their websites to raise funds for the Trust . All proceeds will go to the Trust.

To enter the competition:

1) You must be a UK resident

2) You must subscribe to our blog to keep up to date with selection and award

To sell the chocolates on your website or offices, you must

1) Be resident in the UK

2) Donate a minimum of £1 to the Trust entering chocolate wrapper in the What prompted your donation today field.

Thank you and good luck!

What we've been up to

'Plain Wrappers' Wedding Chocolate After-Dinner Mints

'Fireworks Wrappers' After Dinner Mints for the same wedding

The Chocolates wrapped up ready to be bubble packed and dispatched.

For a sweet 60! These glasses are quickly becoming very popular.

70th birthday celebration After Dinner Mints

Birthday Chocolates for an adorable little boy

Chocolate Business Cards

Avoid Themed Birthday Parties Stress

Where do I get favours to match this theme? I'm sure quite a number of parents ask this question after their children announce the sort of birthday party or sleepover they want.
Well do not despair, that's exactly why Chocolat A Toi is here. We aim to make things easier by matching your chocolate favours to your child's birthday party theme.
And if like me you're a parent concerned about moderate sized treats, you can opt for our 10g chocolate favours. We are here to satisfy you!
Visit www.chocolatatoi.com for more ideas or call 0193230968 to find out more.

Roll-Call

Ways to eat chocolate on a diet

Quite often people tell me they are on diets so cant have chocolate. Well, this is for them and others who are afraid of the calories that come with chocolove.

I'll start from the easiest - the chocolate inhaler. It comes in four different flavours mint, raspberry, mango and plain. The lead inventor is a Harvard professor and the product is called Le Whif. Hmm, not my cup of tea she said.

Going for chocolate bar substitutes under 100 calories can help you keep on track. Drizzle chocolate sauce on low fat snacks, have sugar free chocolate drinks, chocolate milk and low fat chocolate ice-cream. I found most interesting that chocolate pudding also fits the bill. My fav is a tablespoon of chocolate chips - 70 calories.

However, these dont cut it for personalised chocolate gifts. The good news is that we have bars that are less than 100 calories. Our 10g milk chocolate bars are 52.3 calories and the 5g Neapolitan dark chocolate bars less than 27 calories. Most importantly, they look great personalised - see more of them on www.chocolatatoi.com

Nuts just take up space where chocolate ought to be.

True or False? What do you think? Is your favourite chocolate full of nuts?

Who is weathering the storm with you?

During this challenging financial period it's interesting that employers are still trying to keep employee morale high though forced to introduce pay cuts, employment freezes, redundancies and other cost-cutting techniques. Many companies are still doing that little something to show they care about their members of staff. They give employees the day off on their birthdays, do collections to celebrate long serving members of staff and pop champagne when monthly team objectives are achieved.

Perhaps the above is a bit too much for your company on the monetary front. Well, appreciate them with a personalised chocolate bar on their birthday then or at Christmas and Easter? £1.50 or less could go a long way expressing your gratitude to that employee who's weathering the financial storm with you!

We supply various sizes in milk chocolate and have mint chocolate too @ www.chocolatatoi.com See you there!

Graduate Fairs & Favours

It's been 3 years since my husband graduated from Uni but I still stumble on some of the freebies he picked up from various companies at Graduate Fairs. I have often seen an interesting company name and searched for it on the net wondering what they do. In fact, I have signed up for one newsletter or the other on those sites. Ive also pondered seriously if I should have studied Mechanical Engineering instead of French, taking not only my recently discovered technical flair into consideration but also the stress ball in my hand branded with a mechanical engineering firm's logo. He has since joined a world class firm whose stand I had the privilege of visiting with him at one of those fairs.

Indeed some of those freebies didn't last very long or even make it home from the Fair such as the chocolate. Do I remember those companies? Yes. Actually, they were the first ones whose websites I visited on getting home. It's easier for students to build rapport at the stands where they keep returning for chocolate. They also get the opportunity to find out about your organisation especially if you're new to Graduate Recruitment. Word goes around quicker about the company that has chocolates than those who go through the same old motions. Remember, there's something about chocolate that makes everyone relax so be sure to have some at your stand at the coming Fairs.

Have a look at www.chocolatatoi.com for inspiration or if you have something in mind already email us now - info@chocolatatoi.com

Baby Announcement Chocolate Favours

Spreading the joy of a baby is already sweet news. Spreading it with chocolate favours is even sweeter. Yet, it seems like a tricky one as you may want to add a photo or baby's weight, height etc. Also, you would like the favours to get out before the news gets out. So how do you manage the time frame and probably lack of information?

1) You will need to have decided on the colour of your wrapper whether or not you know baby's sex - feminine, masculine or unisex.

2) In addition, you will need to have your wrapper designer's number easily accessible. Have your birth partner send Baby's height, weight etc to your wrapper designer as soon as possible after baby's arrival.

3) Make a list of all those you would like to receive the favours with their addresses and hand it to your wrapper designer.

4) If you plan to have a photo on the wrapper, most hospitals have a photographer who can take one immediately. This can be scanned via email to your wrapper designer. Better still, get your birth partner to take a photo and email it.

5) Try to send baby's photo and details within 24 hours of the birth that way your chocolate favours can be in the post within 48 hours. Plus, all your loved ones will have something to celebrate the news - a tasty bar of chocolate. Yummy!

6) Sending out a birth announcement with just baby's name on it works even easier if you have decided a name at the time of birth.

Good Luck for your yummy mummy days ahead!

Don't forget to check out our website for wrapper design ideas - www.chocolatatoi.com

Christmas & Clients

We all have our favourite brands when it comes to purchases especially major ones. When it comes to our businesses, do we think of putting in the best to make our businesses, our clients favourite? We invest reasonably heavily in our websites, stationery, equipment and labour. All these show our clients we care about our image. However, how do we show our clients that they are important?Well, you may say, I've built an impressive website to attract my potential clients with a good search tool available as well. Great, but that's a marketing strategy. We know an easy to use website keeps clients coming back instead of heading to a competitor. Nevertheless, we've all used websites that were a mile short of a nightmare were it not for what we so desperately needed from the site and could not get! That means you had better be offering much more than just a well designed and 'tech-ified' website!

So my question is what are you doing to endear your client to your company? Yes, you provide great services and offer discounts all year round but the bottom line is that they are paying for these services or goods. Tosin Ogunkunle is a market researcher and DBA (PhD in business) student. Every Christmas, he receives a thank you bar of chocolate from his Car Insurance Company. Tosin is not a chocoholic but said it makes him feel that his custom is important and appreciated. "They are genuinely wishing me a happy holiday not looking for a way to drain me at Christmas with sales and discounts!" He said he doesn't gobble the chocolate immediately. "The wrapper is nice, 'Christmasy' and also has my name on it so I just put it on the cabinet with my Christmas cards then enjoy it on Christmas Day!"

How much could it cost to say thanks to your clients for supporting your business this year? From as little as 50p to £1.50 depending on how many customers you want to appreciate and the size of chocolate bar you choose. Are you going to build credit with your customers or crunch them with offers and discounts?