In the UK, you can buy branded chocolates online from several sources.

Godiva Chocolates from Godiva Online Store, (buying in Euro and delivery to the UK)

Cadbury’s from Cadbury Gifts Direct

All types of chocolate from Serenata Chocolates

Thorntons from Thorntons Online

Belgian, Swiss and English chocolates from Moko Chocolates

Luxury chocolate gifts online from Chocolate Trading Company

Green & Blacks Organic from Green & Black’s Direct

Luxury chocolate from HotelChocolat

Check out details of the Chocolate Festival on Saturday, Dec 3rd at Milsom Place, Bath. This year, the festival is into its sixth edition.

The Milsom Place Chocolate Festival draws chocoholics from all over the UK, with promises of luxurious treats, chocolate samples and an opportunity to find unique “edible gifts” for Christmas.

The line-up this year includes -

• famous names in the world of chocolate – James Chocolates from Bristol, Damian Allsop, Rococo Chocolate, Minerva, Chococo, Crumpet Cakes, Baruzzo and Demarquette’s
• tastings and demos on chocolate production
• option to try before you buy
• offer of choccy based menus at a few of the restaurants at Milsom Place

Find more details at Chocolate Festival December 2011. What is bound to make the festival sweeter – it is a free event.

The official Chocolate Week is on. This means – you can openly indulge, in case you needed an excuse. Well over a 100 talented chocolatiers are involved all over the UK in special events throughout the week.

Here are a few chocolate-related happenings and indulgences.

• Cocoa Therapy
• Rococo Chocolate
• Chocolate Ecstasy Tours
• Choc-tails
• Divine Chocolate Board

For more on those ‘sweet’ options, look up Travel blog: chocolate in the capital.

Whenever you pop your favourite chocolate snack into your mouth, have you ever thought about it from a nutritional perspective? Did you know that the average milk chocolate product is as much a junk food as ice cream or donuts, and it is equally unhealthy and fattening when large amounts are consumed on a regular basis?

Whether you are a chocolate addict – or getting there – you will benefit from some expert views on chocolate.

Look up this useful information from a clinical research resource for cellular nutrition & trace mineral analysis on the topic “Chocolate & Cocoa: ‘Healthy’ Benefits, or Negative Health Effects?” Below is the gist of the article that demystifies some of the popular claims by chocolate manufacturers and others who swear by it.

“As is the case with other sweets – anything beyond a casual consumption of chocolate will result in reduced, not improved health, without even going into some more immediate health concerns that some individuals experience from consuming chocolate, such as allergic reactions, chronic mucus / sinus problems, heartburn, esophageal reflux (GERD), kidney stones, fibrocystic breast disease, migraine headaches, or aggravated PMS. Nevertheless – in moderation Chocolate can certainly be the Sinful Delight it was meant to be!”

Here are some rather interesting chocolate-related news clippings. If you are a chocolate connoisseur of any kind, read on.

Health benefits of cocoa – Ignore the  derivative and get back to the real cocoa / cacao – “Raw cacao powder has nearly four times the antioxidant content of regular dark chocolate, 20 times more than blueberries and 119 times more than bananas”. Read about how you can enjoy the health benefits of cocoa.

Thornton’s Chocolates – Read about the origin of Thornton’s chocolates and then enter a contest by answering the question “When was Thorntons chocolates started?”

Tapping medicinal qualities – Discover how a new product that uses dark chocolate is prescribed for women.

Print out your favourite chocolate – So far you may have been printing chocolate recipes, but you can soon design and  print chocolate, and then relish what you printed out!

“To love chocolate is human, to choose Fairtrade is Divine!” goes the phrase from a manufacturer proud to trade in Fairtrade Chocolate.

Perhaps a few chocolate addicts are aware of Fairtrade Chocolate. The delectable edible end product is produced from raw material obtained through fair means. The farmers who are the sources of the raw material are guaranteed a fair and stable price for their crop, besides an extra premium for community development.

Here are a few sources of Fairtrade chocolates in the UK.

Green&Black’s, whose Maya Gold bar is claimed to be the first chocolate product in the UK to be awarded the Fairtrade mark. The cocoa is sourced from farmers in Belize, Central America.

Dubble and Divine, who source their raw material from cocoa farmers of the Kuapa Kokoo Co-operative in Ghana (West Africa).

Chocolala, who source their ingredients locally.

Plush Chocolates, who source cocoa from South America and West Africa.

Dark chocolate is probably one of the healthier varieties of chocolate, and is sometimes recommended as a healthy snack, in small quantities, though!

If you are familiar with Fairtrade products, here is some useful information. You can get several Fairtrade dark chocolate recipes online from the Fairtrade Foundation. Many readers like you have contributed tried and tested recipes.

Go ahead and access the delectable cakes and desserts from the Fairtrade Foundation. Perhaps you will end up donating some of your own created recipes.

Shopping for chocolates for yourself or as gifts usually means that you simply pick out a ready-made box that suits the taste and the budget. What you end up getting is a box that might contain your favourite chocolate among several others.

Imagine an option where you can select the chocolates you want gift-wrapped.

Such a service exists – you can choose the set of chocolates, create your own box and have them gift wrapped with a wrap that you can select from a wide range. There is a nominal cost for the gift-wrap service and the delivery.

So sit back and select your favourite snack at leisure. You could also check out the fixed selections and even a service called ‘TxtChocs / E-Chocs’ by which your loved one can select the Chocolates themselves

Heard of chocolate-tasting adventures? Wouldn’t you be delighted to be gifted one such, where you can spend two blissful hours amidst your favourite ‘food supplement’, learning the nuances of flavour and texture?

Here is a cocoa grower and chocolatier offering you this adventure on the last Thursday of every month. Go ahead – gift yourself or a loved one such an experience and rediscover chocolate as well as your tongue, and perhaps – even latent taste buds.

What’s more – you can make a party of the offer, by opting for private tasting adventures, or think of this offering as a unique corporate event to aid networking, team building and as a staff incentive.

Easter is round the corner, and it’s time to think of the right gifts and recipes for the entire family. With a little time, a little effort and the right ingredients, you can make your gifts very, very memorable.

Here are a few ideas for chocolate gifts on Easter. Once you have used those ideas, you can be assured that they are extra-special – because you would have made them by yourself.

If you are happy with making chocolate spoons, chocolate apples and sophisticated truffles, go ahead and explore even more ideas for homemade Easter gifts, all based on chocolate.