Honest Chocolat started off as a side project for Nicolas and Emily Bonnaud. “Chef Nico” is a French world-class pastry chef who had worked at Sketch, a Michelin star restaurant in London. Emily, who originated from the UK, is an interior designer by trade. Their talents meshed well when it came to creating and designing beautiful chocolates.
Honest Chocolat has attracted plenty of fans and even more awards
New Zealand has certainly sat up and taken notice of Honest Chocolat.
Nicolas and Emily moved out from their Snell’s Beach garage in 2017 to a shop in Matakana village. They even opened a shop in Commercial Bay in June 2020.
Not only do consumers love their creations, but the judges do too. Honest Chocolat’s Salted Caramel and Buckwheat Milk Chocolate Tablet won the best in class at the 2017 New Zealand chocolate awards.
One of their most extraordinary creations is water ganache filling for their bonbons
“The end result is very clean. There’s a freshness coming through, it’s not coating the tongue and the palate as much as a traditional bonbon. And it’s not as sweet because we add minimal sugar to it” said Nicolas Bonnaud.
Ganache is traditionally made from chocolate and cream; however, Honest Chocolat utilises chocolate and water. Nicolas Bonnaud likes this method because the original flavour of the chocolate stands out more and is not overwhelmed by the cream and sugar.
By not adding cream, that also makes their bonbons vegan.
A tree planted for every bag of raw cacao sold
All Honest Chocolat’s cacao originates from ethical sources – the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The growers use sustainable techniques and plant a tree for every bag of raw cacao sold. They refrain from adding any preservatives, extra sugar, and, especially important for the duo, they do not use any palm oil. For the maître chocolatier, this allows the flavours to come through even stronger because they are not being drowned by too much butter and sugar.
Author: David Williams