Paul.A.Young Chocolates

I was first drawn to Paul.A.Young by his unique and ever changing flavours including Black Pudding truffle and Pumpkin Pie which I saw at Chocolate Unwrapped. My mum and I have passed Paul A Young’s shop in Wardour Street, Soho several times but have never been inside nor tried any of his chocolates. This day, we went in there purposefully to do just that and to review them on here. We only chose two chocolates each as I didn’t want them wasted – or my money – if I didn’t like them.

On entering the shop there is a delightful smell of chocolate! There were many different flavours to try and it was a hard decision to choose just two. We both went for Peanut Butter & Raspberry Jelly and Port & Stilton. Later, at the till my mum sneaked in a Salted Caramel.

Peanut Butter and Raspberry Jelly

This was a round, milk chocolate (it smelt of it too) with raspberry coloured ‘splashes’ on top and a subtle sparkly/glittery shine to it. Once you bite into the chocolate it melts quite easily in the mouth and there appears to be two layers of chocolate, an inner and outer layer, both are quite thin. It could have been a little thicker although this may have taken the taste away from the centres which are after all, the main attraction The peanut butter is not too sweet nor like the peanut butter from a jar which is what I was expecting, I’m not sure I could taste peanuts but it was a smooth, thick – but not too thick, just right – filling and very pleasant. The top half of the chocolate was topped with raspberry jam, a little runny but not enough to make a mess. Both flavours worked well together and I would probably choose this chocolate again.

Port and Stilton

Again, this was a round, dark chocolate which smelt deliciously of rich dark chocolate, topped with a little lilac on top. The dark chocolate complemented the alcohol and cheese tastes well and it was certainly very satisfying and just one a day would be enough to keep those cravings at bay. The chocolate shell was thin and melted easily, whilst the centre has a grainy soft paste.

My mum and I did disagree on one factor which in unusual for us. Mum could taste the stilton straight away upon the first bite, whereas I felt the stilton needed a little more flavour and believed the port was the dominant flavour or the two. Saying that, I’ve sampled many cheese flavoured chocolate whereas the combinations of these flavours is new to my mum, which meant she was more responsive to this taste. The flavours were still combination of all three flavours certainly awoken by sense when sampling at 10pm on a Thursday night. This is another great chocolate from Paul.

Salted Caramel

This chocolate is a smooth tall dome shape and had a rich dark chocolate aroma. As soon as my mum bit into this chocolate I heard lots of ‘mmm, mmmm, mmm’ noises. Then she announces that this is the best salted caramel chocolate she have ever tasted, which is an astonishing big claim! The caramel is fairly thick so it doesn’t make a mess, the perfect texture, very smooth, nicely salted but not overly so – perfection! The base of the chocolate was slightly bitter, but this was not a problem.

We both really liked these chocolates and we will definitely be returning to the shop in the new year to try some more! I’ve also heard big things about his chocolate brownies which are now sold by Fortnum and Mason. Mum said she would be very happy to receive Paul A Young’s chocolates as a gift this Christmas – or any time in fact! I think that was a hint.

Living life, loving cake,

H & A x