The Passion Of Making Chocolates With Love

Angel of Chocolates bring you the finest handcrafted chocolates, since 2008. We prepare our chocolates not only with passion, but with love, dedication, honesty & precision. We deliver not just chocolates but also values. Yes, values – a unique combination of chocolates and blessings in the form of handwritten words – with the intention of giving not just a personal feel but also powerful positive energy.

To begin with, the very first variant of chocolates that rolled out from our kitchen was the plain chocolates – yes, we talk of compounds here – dark chocolate, milk chocolate & white chocolates, designed in different shapes, sizes and designs. Yes, this was the experimental stage. Over the years, this became more and more perfect. The cocoa percentage in these ranges from 16 – 18%.

                Pure chocolates – courvertures – are also available, on special request by our patrons. From 35% upto 70% cocoa concentrations are available only in dark chocolate. Milk and white courverture is unavailable at least temporarily. But those who enjoy the courvertures, will never look back at compounds – both in handling and tasting. Yes, it takes time to develop the “taste” for pure chocolates but it is enjoyable! We have a niche clientele for pure chocos. Courvertures are mostly demanded by premium clients like the directors, CEOs, managers of corporate and a few of our loyal clients – mostly diabetics, elderly people and even the young ones.

                Apart from courvertures, sugar-free chocolates are also available, again on client demand. We have developed these, keeping in mind diabetic people, those who cant forgo their love for chocolates. The sugar replacer is maltitol – a non sweetner, commonly used in confectionery, sweets, bakery and chocolate industry. It is GRAS (Generally Regarded As Safe) category sweetner and its quality is assured by the company – Aalst Chocolates Pte. Ltd. Usually, in sugar free and courvertures, people love to eat it plain, i.e. without nuts or fillings, but we are open to experiment.

Then comes the nutty chocolates variety. There are two in this category – namely, moulded and non-moulded ones. The moulded ones are of course those that have a definite shape, size & design. These have roasted, spiced healthy nuts in them, either whole, or chopped. Normally, we use the most popular nuts: cashew, almonds, pistachios, raisins (a few variety of raisins), walnuts, coconut, dates, butterscotch nuts, rice crispies, hazelnuts etc. (this can be customised as per client requirement; some nuts are also seasonal). There are certain dried-fruits also used: mango, apricot, blueberries, craisins, pineapple, pineapple-coconut combo, anjeer, kiwi, etc. and some seasonal fruits. In the moulded-nuts also there are a few varieties: flavoured nuts (orange or mocha), spiced nuts, roasted-fat coated nuts, mocha-nuts. These are those that are wrapped in the aluminium foil. Our nutty chocolates are loved by children, youngsters, elderly alike. Mostly, people demand nutty chocolates during Raksha Bandhan and Diwali.

The non-moulded nutty chocolates are normally described as “chocolate coated roasted nuts”. These are not designed but look like “tiny rocks” and are also popularly known in the market as “choco rocks”. These are served / presented in small paper cups. An interesting variant that we have is (and this has become extremely popular) “mocha-nuts”. The chocolate covering can either be dark compound, milk compound or white chocolate. “Rocks” are mostly loved by a certain category of people – we have observed. Those who want to experiment with something apart from what is always available, or those who love their nuts. Yes, the “nutty” people!! [My personal favourite is orange flavoured dark chocolate almond rocks & white pista rocks & mocha nuts]. We also love to experiment, so off late there is this craze for the “date-surprise” category which is nothing but small pieces of nuts concealed within de-seeded dates and coated with chocolates. These are becoming increasingly popular during festivals and amongst children. It really is yummy!! “crazy-nuts”.

“RASA” in telugu means “juice” or anything “juicy”. These chocolates got their name when i tasted one of my soft filled chocolates and the “juice” inside the chocolate filled my mouth. It was an “orange filled dark chocolate”. I was lost in heaven! Soft-filled chocolates were born a few months ago when i was introduced to a wide range of fillings, i was quite intrigued but was a bit sceptical to experiment with it cause of the logistics involved. Well, the rest is history! Since Celebrations has introduced RASA, there is no looking back on any other variety thence. I personally love the soft filled chocolates. And these go best with dark chocolate shell and white shell. Well, some things to be noted here: Blueberry filling goes best in white shell; orange goes best with dark chocolate; ganache goes with dark again; coffee with both white and dark; blueberries-ganache goes best in white but with dark also the taste is heavenly! Caramel Rasa goes best in white; strawberry and choco-cream goes in white shell! Apart from these, there are a few seasonal fillings also and we are constantly experimenting trying to get more RASAs on the menu! So watch out!

Again, Rasas are loved by our premium clientele – they are gaining popularity with corporate clients, wedding clients, valentines-clients [those who wish to express their love, to their loved ones, order for “sweetheart” chocolates – ie RASA in the shape of a heart. So, a heart - filled with soft sweet surprises inside. It melts away in the mouth but it also melts one’s heart! What better way than to melt away an anger or a sulking heart!] Rasas are still to make their way into children’s hearts though, but we’re sure it will do so, pretty soon! 

ART 

 Art is truly involved at every step in the chocolate making – right from handling the chocolate, to melting it, whipping, tempering, moulding, de-moulding the finished pieces, handling those, wrapping them in foils, arranging them neatly for a display, piping out the prepared fillings, decorating them, arranging them, preparing the toppings, preparing the boxes, packing them, well – this could go on endlessly. And the not to miss – the art of eating chocolates too! Well, even that is an art!! Yes of course! Chocolate tasting – is unarguably an art too!

A very significant part of chocolate making is its hygiene! Since i am a food technologist, hygiene and quality can be assured of. I have observed people who handle chocolates at home – not following hygiene practices at all, unaware of its importance in health. This is an area where we take a lot of care. Hygiene and passion are the main ingredients for us.

PACKING & PRESENTATION

Packaging, presentation & wrapping are customised to suit the occasion, mood, requirement, the flavour & the filling. It can also suit all budget ranges. From the simplest thin paper boxes – cheap in budget, just for carrying your chocolates. We also have high range boxes, rich looking, delicate, hard board decent looking boxes for high end occasions, events, functions, gifting and any other purpose.

Indulge!

We also have a scheme especially designed to suit our loyal customers – which says, “Pick your flavour, pack your chocos” & “Lick it to like it, pick it and pack it”. This allows our clients to taste various flavours, pick what they like the best, and also choose their own packing according to budget and liking. One can make their own pack of chocolates. It also gives the freedom of choosing an assortment of various flavours and enjoy surprising oneself with the different pleasures that each of the assortment has to offer!! So, indulge! Make it special for you!

Made with heart not with machine

Yes, we make our chocolates with all our dedication, love and passion, not with machine! There is a lot of positive energy around when the preparation part in going on. Even while wrapping, packing arranging the chocolates, we have enthusiasm in our hearts. And so, our chocolates are taken and consumed with equal love and energy! It transfers from the mind of the maker to the mind of the eater – via food!

We procure our chocolates (the raw material) all the way from Singapore, Belgium & Malaysia. They use the finest ingredients procured from the rich plantations of South Africa where all the cocoa in the world is produced. Even the fillings are of the best quality available and there is constant improvisation. We do not limit ourselves and always welcome honest feedback from our patrons. We love to experiment.

Prices are mentioned in a separate document and will be shared upon enquiry. For any outstation delivery, handling + logistics will be charged in addition to the chocolate pricing and this will be communicated clearly to the client making the enquiry. There will have to be a minimum order quantity placed for outstation deliveries. For within Bombay limits, there can be a purchase for one kg or more, for deliveries; or more than five boxes of higher range and more than 20 boxes of lower range. Our products are economically priced and are competitive; although we do not believe in comparison with market.

GREEN POLICY

We believe in going green, so we avoid paper work as much as possible, we use paper packing for shipping and re-use the same with cooperation from our clients who most willingly agree with our green policy. We hope the same from our new clients also.

* The “blessing cards” are complimentary with every purchase, but if required in bulk, can be purchased separately.*

Expressing Gratitude To ‘Service’ Providers Rather Than Using The Services Mindlessly

-          An act of mindfulness. Making a difference.

[prompted to write inspired by the video documentary about how amazon and google cares for its sales boys, delivery boys by gifting them customized bike-helmets and head gears]

            What if one of us [service users or consumers] swapped positions with one of those people who provide services to us – like the guy at petrol re-fill station or the parcel delivery boy or mail delivery boy or your maid or the one who just did your facial or your cab driver or the air hostess or the usher in a cinema hall or your daily newspaper delivery boy or your apartment security guard or the cashier at the supermarket? Would we remain un-complained if our acts of services went unnoticed or un-credited? Would we not frown our faces if none of the people who take services from us never even bothered to look at us in our eyes and say a simple sweet word: ‘thank you’; ‘God bless you’? So what? Does it really matter? We are getting paid anyways aren’t we?

            We have got into a habit of almost ‘ignoring’ these people who selflessly [well, they are paid…] provide different services to us without a complain. We always ‘seem’ to be in such a hurry to finish our mundane tasks, we completely forget to even utter a single word of thanks to these people, failing to realize they make such a difference to our lives. It takes a fraction of a second. Or even a small expression on our face – which will perhaps express our gratitude to them without making the effort to say anything. It will make a difference to them. May be some of them may even ignore or ‘duh’ it away, but for many, a simple thanks will make a big difference. These are serving us, perhaps cause they have no choice. Perhaps they need the money they earn from the few hours of efforts they put in to give us the best services. Some are trained, some are beginners. Perhaps they are not as financially stable as us; perhaps they do not have even basic facilities in their homes like we do. Perhaps they do not have so many choices. But they are forced to work like this.

            I personally feel, it is wrong to ‘assume’ that once they have provided us with their part of the service, for which their recruiter is supposed to train them [and we expecting their perfection] and we have ‘paid’ them with money, its done. The interaction ends there – no it doesn’t. it makes no harm to ask the post mail boy if he needs to have a sip of water, or to ask your driver if everything is okay in his family. Or to check with the pizza delivery boy if he found it too difficult to find your address. Perhaps, it will take away some of their tiredness or pain that they have taken to ensure you get your service as per your demand.

            We may sometimes regret not having expressed our gratitude to those young children who provide us service only after we hear about an unfortunate incident happening to them. But its too late to say thanks. Once we come across an opportunity to thank them, in whatever way, we must not miss it. Some day we may want to be thanked for something we have done for someone [even if with a selfless intent]. It will be an act of goodness on our behalf and bring a smile to their heart if not to their face. It could make a difference to their world. How about this: how happy will they feel, apart from being content, when they collect a thousand thank yous and God bless yous at the end of the day…

            I have made a difference [to my approach]. Have you?

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