A study in 2008 proved that “Venezuelan cocoa beans had the highest percentage of Epicatechins”. So what are Epicatechins? Epicatechins are a good for you! They are flavenoids ( Antioxidants ) which prevent damage to major organs such as the liver and coronary arteries in the heart . People who also consumed dark chocolate ( rich in Epicatechin) have an improved glucose metabolism, as well as lowered blood pressure.

‘Henriette van Praag, PhD, of the Salk Institute, and colleagues there and at Mars, Inc., showed that the combination of exercise and a diet with epicatechin also promoted structural and functional changes in the dentate gyrus, a part of the brain involved in the formation of learning and memory’

Flavanols like epicatechin are removed from commercial cocoas because they tend to have a bitter taste, so make sure you keep it 100% Pure Cocoa!

Buy Willie's Chocolate Bible

We are delighted to announce a new book by Willie Harcourt-Cooze released on  30/09/2010

In stores for £25 RRP at Waterstones
On-line at Amazon  for £16




The Synopsis

Chocolate is one of the good things in life. Whether you like a sophisticated square of your favourite 70% cacao bar to give you a boost in the afternoon, or something altogether more indulgent like a sumptuous gateaux or creamy mousse, good chocolate is a pleasure not to be missed. And who better to help you indulge your passion than the irrepressible Willie Harcourt Cooze, who brings all his knowledge together with over 150 of his very best chocolate recipes to create the ultimate chocolate bible. Essential reading for chocolate lovers everywhere, this book contains all the classic recipes, from chocolate panna cotta and dark chocolate tart to pain au chocolate and ice cream.

“If you have purchased Willie’s Chocolate Factory Cookbook , this is a must buy!”

Publisher : Hodder & Stoughton Ltd

ISBN : 9780340993569

An eccentric entrepreneur with a mission to educate the British public in the delights of top quality chocolate, Willie Harcourt-Cooze, the star of Willie`s Wonky Chocolate Factory reveals how to use the ultimate luxury ingredient in a collection of 60 recipes. WILLIE`S CHOCOLATE FACTORY COOKBOOK tells the story of how Willie came to grow his own cacao beans in the Cloud Mountains of Venezuela and now turns it into his exquisite chocolate at his hand-built factory in Devon. An ingredient in its own right, Willie shows how much 100% cacao chocolate can enhance an astonishing range of sweet and savoury dishes from Cloud Forest Chocolate Cake and Black Beans and Arepas, to Venezuelan Hot Chocolate and Chicken Mole. With stunning photography and mouth-watering recipes, WILLIE`S CHOCOLATE FACTORY COOKBOOK is perfect for all food-lovers.

Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (19 Mar 2009)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0340980516
ISBN-13: 978-0340980514
Product Dimensions: 24 x 18.2 x 3.4 cm

Buy your copy now through our shop with some chocolate

or

We are thrilled to introduce a new product range – Venezuelan 72

Long Forgotten Flavours 72% Cocoa , in a flavoursome edible bar with smooth Fruity Notes

Selected from the finest cocoa regions in Venezuela, these beautiful beans are carefully roasted in Willie’s Chocolate factory in England using antique 100-year-old chocolate making machinery. The beans are then crafted into fine dark chocolate – made the way chocolate used to be ( maximum taste from minimum meddling). Venezuelan 72 unleashes long forgotten flavours, in two temping delicate and delectable squares. One for now … one for then.

Ingredients : Cocoa Mass , Cocoa Butter, Cuban Raw Cane Sugar

Try some now from our on-line shop

Venezeulan Black

Back on Channel 4 at 8pm on April 7th to April 9th for some more choctastic adventures , Watch Raising the Bar: Willie’s Chocolate Revolution

Willie Harcourt-Cooze is back, continuing his mission to produce the finest chocolate in the world and to convert the public into eating the best quality confectionery. Having successfully set up his ‘wonky’ chocolate factory in Devon, Willie is about to take on the ‘big boys’ of the chocolate world and compete directly with the producers of the UK’s most popular treats, setting his sights on developing his own chocolate bar.

Britons spend more per head on chocolate than any other nation in Europe. However, few of us eat true authentic chocolate. Willie wants to re-educate the public about how chocolate should actually taste and develop a recipe for his own chocolate bar to compete in the market. Willie’s aim is to create a bar that is both delicious and affordable, but which doesn’t contain the excessive quantities of vegetable fat, sugar and additives that characterise most of the existing products that line supermarket shelves. Along the way Willie tries to recreate delicious home-made versions of popular chocolate bars and further investigate the health benefits of chocolate.

Will Willie get the funding and new equipment necessary to produce his new bar; can he persuade retailers to stock it; and will the public change their tastes? Can one individual, no matter how passionate, really hope to take on the chocolate giants and win?