January is simply NOT the time to be nibbling on carrot sticks and surviving on a lettuce leaf or two.  Even if you feel the excess of Christmas pudding still in your stomach - a shock to the system is not advisable at this bleak time of year, you'll only look and feel miserable. Hearty vegetable soups, cheesy souffles and a daily treat of chocolate is the best way to start the New Year. Wait till Lent when there is a certain warmth to the air to bring in all those good intentions.

Here are two recipes - my two favourite Christmas gifts, made by my children of course!  Easy to make - perfect gifts if you still have birthdays coming up in the next couple of months - yes, unfortunately some of us were born in February! Millionarie’s shortbread 225g plain flour 100g caster sugar 325g butter, cubed and at room temp 150g light soft brown sugar 397g can condensed milk 200g dark chocolate Pre-heat oven to 150C and line a 20cm square baking tin lined with baking parchment Sift flour into bowl, add caster sugar and pinch of salt – mix Run 175g of the cubed butter into flour to form clumps. Press mixture into tin. Create an even layer by pressing down with the back of a spoon. Bake this layer until golden brown – approx 35-40 mins Meanwhile put remaining butter and the brown sugar into a pan and stir over a low heat until butter is melted and sugar dissolved. Add condensed milk and stir over a very low heat until it simmers. Simmer for 2 minutes constantly stirring. Pour mixture on top of shortbread. Leave to set for 30 mins. Chop the chocolate, put in an ovenproof bowl and place in a low oven of 50C for 10 mins. Pour the molten chocolate onto the caramel and leave to set. Cut into chunky squares. Flapjacks with chocolate blankets 110g butter 110g Demerara sugar 110g golden syrup 225g porridge oats Pre-heat the oven to 180C and line a 20cm square baking tin with baking parchment. Melt the butter, sugar and golden syrup together in a pan until sugar is dissolved. Add oats to the pan and mix thoroughly. Press mixture into tin. Create an even layer by pressing down with the back of a spoon. Bake until golden brown – approx 20 mins. Take out, cool for 5 mins and then cut the flapjack mixture into rectangles or chunky squares. Meanwhile chop the chocolate, put in an ovenproof bowl and place in a low oven of 50C for 10 mins. Dip the flapjack pieces halfway into the molten chocolate so that they are thickly covered. Place dipped pieces on some parchment paper and leave to set. Keep and eat or give to your loved ones in a pretty jar.

Michael Lowe is a very talented member of the Melt team – here, he has described some of the inspiration behind our latest collection of fresh chocolates for Winter 2010, designed by Michael.  Intrigued?? Come and try them for yourself, launching this week at Ledbury Road and Selfridges, they really are sublime…

It’s always an exciting time when you get to create some new recipes, epically when you have the freedom to experiment and with whatever tastes and textures you like. Sometimes you can have ideas in the back of your head for a few months just waiting to come out. The seasons are a big inspiration of the flavours. What I eat at home is generally what I try to combine into a chocolate.

For this range I have created a few of my favourite flavours.

After eating a lot of plums over autumn, and a nice simple dessert I always like are baked plums with hazelnuts. So this was the idea behind the Plum & Hazelnut. It’s using Mirabelle plums and a very tasty hazelnut oil. I love the nuttiness and richness of the hazelnut oil with the slight sweet plum flavour.

The second one in the range was fresh mint ganache. To tell the truth I have never been a big fan of mint and chocolate (too many childhood memories of bad mint chocolates). But I do love the flavour of mint and the freshness it can bring to sweet and savoury dishes. I use a fresh mint that is infused with water for a few hours to extract as much mint taste as possible. I wanted to stay away from using a cream or milk infusion to to give it was much fresh flavour as possible. It is combined with a Madgascan 64% chocolate to pick up on the citrus/fresh notes.

The quince ganache is a very simple one made with quince, chocolate, butter. I tried to infuse the flavour in the first few tests with cardamom, but we felt that the cardamom flavour overpowered the lovely quince taste. After tasting this with some of the shop staff today we think this would go very well with Montgomery Cheddar. Cheese and chocolate, it can work!

My only other favourite thing than chocolate in life is coffee. More of an addiction actually. This is why I had to do this coffee caramel. Infusing the milk and cream with a very strong coffee, so when you bite into it you get a big release of coffee flavour, then the balance of the sweet caramel. In this chocolate you already have coffee, milk and sugar. No need for your morning coffee. Just have one of these gems.

Another confession is I haven’t been a big fan of ginger in chocolate. I love fresh ginger but hadn’t really found it in a chocolate. I got this idea when I was thinking about different types of ginger. When I eat Japanese food I love the pickled ginger you always get. Was thinking if this flavour would work in a chocolate. I think it works well. The ganache is made with milk chocolate so the pickled, vinegar flavour really cuts through the sweet milk taste. It is using a combination of fresh and pickled ginger to get the ginger flavour on both levels.

The last one is a pear tatin. A simple but beautiful dessert if done correctly. That's basically what it is. Though at Melt, in the chocolate form. Pear puree is combined with a dark caramel, dipped in dark chocolate. A simple chocolate that has a nice finish.

Autumn is here and it is without doubt such a beautiful time of year. The slowing down and quiet mellowing of the landscape is not sincing with my head which is hot and in a spin. In the chocolate world we are fast approaching one of our biggest peaks of the year - this period should keep us going in the leaner months, so there is a lot to get right. Chasing packaging and planning wonderful Christmas displays is keeping me busy from dawn til' dusk. Over the next 8 weeks the Melt team will be giving you snippets of the excitement and occasional chaos that this busy time brings. Our chocolates are fresh and all our figures and bars are handmade - we don't make them in the summer, ready for Christmas (dare I say it as some do) we make all our chocolates shortly before we sell them - so you can see the potential panic! We'll give you a gloriously naked view of our kitchen in progress, wonderful tips and recipes to try. Above all a candid view of life with chocolate. Melt is about all of us - and different members of the Melt team will contribute different posts so you can get to know everyone! My post is short and sweet to start - but may well intensify and mature with time! Louise Nason Founder - Melt

I thought juggling four children and a chocolate business was hard enough, throw in a handful of chickens and 2 hour journey into the mix and life gets interesting!

From the day Melt opened just under four years ago, we have always looked to exciting designers to collaborate with us. The first commission was with illustrator Ian Bilbey, known for his very distinct graphics, he has designed for Paul Smith among others. His illustration for the little Melt gift card is still going strong - find this tucked in our Christmas Bar this year.
www.ianbilbey.com

Petra Borner does the most beautiful textile designs and graphics, for the likes of Cacharel and Habitat. She is lovely...catch her equally lovely Christmas magical chocolate mug in our Melt store, a perfect stocking gift.
www.dutchuncle.co.uk

Yoco, we have never met, but she grasped the Melt concept straight away. Living in Japan she worked with emails and photographs from us here in Notting Hill. She created the Melt girl, bags laden with chocolate and her chocolate labrador in tow! She has worked for Wallpaper magazine and Jo Malone as well as countless other top brand names. Her work is stunning, she has designed our menu cards that will be popped in your bag with your chocolates, or you can pick up a postcard at our store in Ledbury Road or Selfridges. We long to meet her in Japan soon.
://.yoco-nagamiya.jp/work/index

I discovered Lisa Jones's work at her old studio Westbourne Studios - I recognised her distinctive, very cute work and fell in love with everything she had produced. Melt commissioned her to design a mug for Easter and she came up with the nost adorable bunnies I have ever seen. We'll be getting more made for for Easter 2010 - available in store from March.
www.lisajonesstudio.com

Coming up very soon, is our latest collaboration, a hot chocolate mug for our Christmas season 09 designed by Helen Musselwhite. Helen creates the most incredible, evocative cut out scenes from paper and card. She has created displays for Daylesford Organics. Come and see her winter wonderland tree that she has designed for us at Selfridges and the mugs will be available soon!
www.helenmusselwhite.com/


Future Collaborations - exquisite hand made bowls by Japanese ceramacist Mizuyo Yamashita...watch this space

Get all your Christmas shopping done in the most pleasurable way possible – by heading down to Ledbury Road and Westbourne Grove on Wednesday evening for the late night shopping evening from 4-8pm. Many shops in this area are small independent stores, support us!

Start off with a cocktail at Beach Blanket Babylon then meander down Ledbury Road until you reach your final destination for dinner – either The Ledbury or Bumpkin, both are a delicious way to end your successful shopping trip.
Here are my top tips for pressies:

B & T Antiques for chic presents for the home.
www.bntantiques.co.uk/welcome/

Aime and Petit Aime have the sweetest things for childrens rooms, clothes and shoes.
www.aimelondon.com

Assya for the prettiest pink earrings I have seen which I am currently lusting after.
www.assya.co.uk

Our new Owl Hot Chocolate cup designed by Helen Musslewhite which was delivered last Friday, perfect for stockings.
www.meltchocolates.com


A signed copy of Ottolenghis cookery book. The lamb, mint and ginger recipe is wonderful on p.104
www.ottolenghi.co.uk

The most gorgeous childrens clothes ever from ilovegorgeous
www.ilovegorgeous.co.uk

Cute nighties and underwear from my favourite store Alice & Astrid, everything is just too tempting.
www.aliceandastrid.com

…And then you have Bamford for boys stuff, Matches, Brora for everyone and loads more. Happy Shopping!

Miss Melt will be bringing you more edible ideas for the most delicious Christmas ever…next week Christmas Food.

As we lurch into the Christmas run-up our very own Miss Melt can advise on the perfect Christmas gifts. She is a bit like Penelope Pitstop, full of energy and always on the go. All the legwork has been done for you and everything goes with CHOCOLATE!

It’s all in the detail at Christmas, and the thought does count, a freshly made coffee for your loved one on Christmas morning will score vital brownie points.
The ultimate in good taste is niche brand Sea Island Coffee, I’ll be wanting a cup of the Hawaii Greenwell Private Reserve where the coffee plants are “kissed by morning sun and caressed by afternoon rain showers.”
www.eastislandcoffee.com

For wine – if you’re quick off the mark and belong in the megabucks bracket, why not be charitable at the same time and buy a barrel of divine Burgundy from the Christies traditional Hospice de Beaune Wine Auction on the 15th November? How do you trump a gift like that!
www.christies.com/eCatalogues/index.aspx?id=48A803FB68A224568525755200372429

If your loved one is serious about tasting chocolate and wine then don’t buy a synthetic mass-produced perfume for her stocking. Seek out small, artisan brands, I ADORE my little treat to myself from Liberty’s last week (I have to road test it, of course!) You will be appreciated a lot more for sourcing Ambrette 9 from the brand Le Labo, it smells like a freshly bitten apple – minimal packaging, yes please - and you can add a note for the label to make it more personal.
www.lelabofragrances.com

The perfect finale for this delicious list of gifts must be the biggest 'must have' of this Christmas, from the just launched new Melt Bar range The Gold Bar – a little bit of delicious glamour - I suggest eating this for breakfast for the most hedonistic start to the day.
www.meltchocolates.com

Miss Melt will be bringing you more edible ideas for the most delicious Christmas ever…

Come and see the Melt team all dressed up and looking spooky for Halloween this Saturday, 31st October - if you DARE!!!

Choose from really creepy coffins, amazing hand painted pumpkins or Colombian chocolate spiders.
You'll thank yourself for choosing small amounts of good quality chocolate for your Halloween celebration.

Don't fob your children off with poor quality chocolate; fat and sugar is not chocolate!

"I will be binning their sugary sweets and candy and replacing them with Melt chocolates!"
Louise Nason - Founder of Melt and mum of 4.

Read this far? then your prize is a 10% discount on all Halloween chocolates when you present this newsletter in our Ledbury Road store.

At Melt we are on a never ending and hugely pleasurable quest to source delicious raw ingredients; nuts, cream, dried fruits and chocolate! When we find something really ‘WOW’ we develop recipes in the Melt kitchen using these ingredients, sign them off and then over to you!

Here are some of our latest finds:

Wild Chocolate – We tasted this a year ago and it has been quite a task to get hold of. This is not at all bitter or rough, but actually smooth and sweet. Simple is best here and we are making a plain wild dark chocolate bar for you to really enjoy and experience its flavour profile.Wild cocoa trees grow on tufts of land emerging from the swamp in the Amazon region of Bolivia. The Criollo chocolate bean variety gathered there is the rarest bean with the highest potential.

Pretty Summer Slab – inspired by the Chelsea Flower show, which marks the beginning of the British summer season, the chocolatiers in the Melt kitchen have created a wonderful light fragrant chocolate. The sweetness of a white chocolate base has been heightened using superb oils of tangerine and grapefruit. A herby note is added using dried rosemary to mingle with fruit notes. Finally, a seasoning of cocoa nib adds a little bite.


Pecans – These large, beautifully coloured, reddish brown pecans were brought to us by Pierre Roux. His father grows them on his farm on the banks of the Orange River in South Africa. They are organically grown and have certification from the Soil Association too.The kitchen are busy devising recipes using these gorgeous pecans - first out is a milk chocolate slab featturing the Special Reserve half pecans, Wichita cultivar.