Melchior Chocolates, South Molton, Devon
The man behind Melchior Chocolates in South Molton is Carlo Melchior who trained as a chocolatier in his native Switzerland over 30 years ago. Since then his team of artisan chocolate makers have been making luxury handmade chocolates and the truffles, pralines, glace fruits and liqueurs they produce are all the proof you need that they've honed their skills to perfection. There are no less than 28 different flavours and recipes, including Banana truffles, Calvados truffles, Cream eggs, a dark chocolate bar with whole hazelnuts, a white chocolate bar and a strawberry chocolate bar. For £7.50 you can get a Dark chocolate hen, a chocolate pony, a dog, cat, lamb, owl or squirrel and whichever one you choose there's one thing you can be sure of - it'll look far too good to eat but you won't be able to resist for long and when you do it will be Heavenly. Heavenly with a big capital H.
They do factory tours at the HQ in South Molton, which is when you get to see how the chocs are made before you make a dash to the shop to take your pick from Melchior's exquisite delights to take home.
Something else they do here in North Devon is workshops where you learn all about chocolate, learn to temper it and work with moulds and make your own! Now that's a great idea for hen parties and families, or for corporate team building or hospitality.
Open: Mon-Fri 10.30 am-4.00 pm (shop)
01769 574442 All information correct at the time of writing