A handmade bonbon is a living thing. Kept properly it lasts for weeks; kept badly it is lost in an afternoon. Here is what the Chef asks you to do with it.
Open it as soon as it arrives, even if you are not going to taste it yet. Check the pieces travelled intact, and let the box breathe out of its wrapping for a few minutes — cardboard holds the cold or the heat of the journey. If delivery caught a warm afternoon and the chocolate feels soft, do not put it in the fridge: let it settle somewhere cool for an hour and it will recover on its own.
Between 15 and 18 °C, out of the light and away from strong smells — cacao absorbs aromas like a sponge. A cupboard away from the stove serves better than the fridge, which causes condensation and makes the chocolate sweat as it returns to room temperature.
Read the full guide to keeping chocolate →Serve at 18–20 °C. If the box has been somewhere cool, take it out twenty minutes beforehand — cold chocolate closes up and gives you neither aroma nor texture. Taste from the mildest to the most intense, and pause between pieces: the palate saturates quickly. A glass of room-temperature water between bonbons clears the mouth better than anything else.
Some bonbons do not travel well in summer. When temperatures climb, chocolate melts inside the box and arrives ruined — so at certain times of year the house suspends postal delivery of some pieces rather than risk a spoiled arrival. During those spells you can still collect in person or receive a hand delivery, and we return to normal posting as soon as the weather allows.
A pale film on the surface is called fat bloom: it happens when chocolate has warmed and cooled again, and it is the cocoa butter rising. It is entirely harmless and the bonbon is still safe to eat — but it loses shine and texture, and we would rather you did not receive it that way. If your box arrived marked, melted or broken, write to us and we will put it right.
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