The craft
The long version of how a box is made.
Confectionery is mostly patience and temperature. The six steps below are the whole process, written out so you can judge it rather than take our word for it.
Sourcing
We buy couverture in small lots and taste every delivery before it enters the kitchen. Fruit is bought ripe and used the same week — which is why some boxes rotate out of the shop without notice.
Tempering
Chocolate is tempered in small batches so the crystal structure sets tight. That is what gives a shell its snap and its shine, and it is the step that cannot be rushed or reheated twice.
Filling
Ganache and caramel are cooked to temperature, not to a timer, then rested overnight. Resting is invisible in the photograph and obvious in the texture.
Finishing
Shells are closed, scraped, and unmoulded by hand. Pieces that sit unevenly or lose their shine are pulled here rather than packed and apologised for later.
Packing
Boxes are packed the day they ship, with an insulated liner in warm months. Nothing is packed in advance to sit on a shelf.
Dispatch
Orders leave with tracking and an estimated arrival window. If a delivery is delayed past that window, write to us and we remake the order.
Why small batches are not a slogan
Tempering is the process of cooling chocolate so that its cocoa butter sets in one stable crystal form. Done properly the shell contracts, so it releases from the mould, holds a shine, and breaks with a clean snap. Done at volume, on a schedule, it is the first thing to go — and once a batch is out of temper the only honest fix is to start it again. A daily cap is what protects that step from the calendar.
Resting, the step nobody photographs
Ganache is an emulsion. When it is fresh off the heat the fat and the water are held together loosely, and the texture is thinner than it will be tomorrow. Resting overnight lets the emulsion tighten and the flavour settle. It costs a day and it is the difference between a filling that coats the palate and one that feels waxy.
What we do not do
- We do not pack ahead. Boxes are packed the day they ship.
- We do not use stabilisers to make a piece survive a longer trip. If a piece cannot travel, we redesign it or we stop selling it.
- We do not refrigerate finished chocolate, and we ask you not to.
- We do not photograph work we did not make that day, which is why this site is illustrated rather than photographed.
Allergens and the honest answer
Our kitchen handles nuts, dairy, gluten, and soy every day. Several pieces contain none of these and the shop says which. What we will not say is that any piece is free of cross-contact, because in a kitchen this size that would not be true. If the requirement is medical, write to us before ordering and we will tell you plainly whether we can serve you.
Ordering for a date?
Tell us the date and the number of people and we will say plainly whether we can make it well in that time.