First published in Lake District Life, May 2007

Well made chocolate should be slightly bitter as well as sweet, with a slight taste of butter, vanilla and a little sugar. Bad chocolate has a low cocoa solid content and will have a less rich flavour, so that more sugar needs to be added. Such products are overly sweet, can also be over roasted and contain unnecessary artificial ingredients. It gives a sugar hit and not a chocolate hit – not the same thing at all.

Chocolate doesn’t necessarily need to be refrigerated, and is fine in naturally cold temperatures or up to 20ºC. It is more important to keep it at a constant temperature. Like wine and cheese, it needs to be slowly brought to room temperature just before eating. That way you can rely on it to melt in your mouth and explode with reassuring natural sweetness at exactly the right time.

If you want to buy a really good bar of chocolate look for those either with a high cocoa solid content, or even better with cocoa butter, and with vanilla, not vanillin. Plain dark chocolate should have a shininess that shows it’s been cooked at the right temperature for the right amount of time, a balance of sweetness and bitterness with a creamy cocoa-butter finish. The smooth texture should linger in your mouth and be invigoratingly bitter to begin with, but sweet and slightly fatty in the finish. Draw the curtains, sit on the settee watch a movie and make sure to eat it all yourself, this is not a time for friends or family!

Chocolate making was always thought to be the preserve of Belgium or Switzerland, but their techniques have been brought to the North West, and in Cumbria we have combined the best of chocolate making with our penchant for puddings. A recent winner in the NW Fine Food Awards 2007 chocolate and bakery category, was made by Brunswick Deli. The team of judges, including supermarket buyers, chefs and food writers, were bowled over by their amazing Chocolate Brownies. They described them as "excellent", having a "lovely dense texture" and one judge even went so far as to say this made "the perfect dessert".

Taylors Classics' gluten free Chocolate Slab hand made in Longtown near Carlisle, is 'melt in the mouth' perfect. It has an intense chocolate flavour and a delicious chocolate sauce, which is relatively light and not too sugary. Other fantastic chocolate puddings of note using Cumbrian ingredients, include Chocolate and Damson Pudding from Sweet Home Ambleside, Country Puddings’ Chocolate Fudge Pudding.

Brunswick Deli - Penrith

Phone: 01768 210500

Available in the deli in Penrith

Taylors Classics - Carlisle
Phone: 01228 792923 Website: www.taylorsclassics.co.uk
Available by mail order on-line and from fine food outlets.

Country Puddings - Penrith
Phone: 017684 86675 Website: www.countrypuddings.co.uk

Available from fine food retailers, restaurants and on-line.

Sweet Home Ambleside - Ambleside
Phone: 015394 34203 Website: www.sweethomeambleside.co.uk
Available from fine food outlets and farmers' markets across Cumbria.