A wonderfully Christmassy chocolate box filled with a selection of twenty-eight individual luxury Hotel Chocolat chocolates especially for Christmas.

The Classic Sleekster Christmas Selection Box is the essence of the Hotel Chocolat Christmas collection, brought together in a sleek and festive chocolate box; the flavours of Christmas mixed with quality chocolate and moulded into beautiful shapes, and let’s not forget a dash of booze in one or two.

The Classic Christmas edition Sleekster contains twenty-eight Hotel Chocolat chocolates in sixteen different mouth watering recipes, including:

• Zesty Marzipan Star – Two festive layers of silky smooth almond marzipan and zesty orange truffle with a deep dark shell dabbed with edible gold.
• Christmas Mess – Upliftingly fruity mousse, made with white chocolate and lots of strawberry and raspberry and finished with crushed meringue and strawberry pieces.
• 40% Milk Christmas Tree – Hotel Chocolat’s signature milk chocolate with classic creaminess and a good cocoa hit.
• Cinnamon Praline – A dome shaped milk chocolate truffle decorated with a star, inside is a beautiful cinnamon and hazelnut praline combination. The cinnamon gives the praline a rich texture without being too dense or affecting the cocoa flavours.
• Ginger Cheesecake – The firm textures and sour cream notes of cheesecake on top of a layer of spicy ginger.

• Rum Truffle – Lashings of premium golden rum from Saint Lucia in a milk chocolate truffle.
• Champagne Truffle – Our uplifting milk chocolate and cream truffles with an elegant splash of champagne.
• Sea Salt & Caramel Bauble – 40% milk chocolate with crushed caramel pieces and a hint of sea salt to intensify the flavours.
• Mulled Wine – The traditional winter spice flavours of cinnamon, clove and bitter orange, with a generous splash of warming, ruby red port.
• Chilli Truffle – Deep and dark truffle with a mouth-warming chilli tingle, an alchemic combination.

A mixture of white, milk and dark chocolates, fruit, nuts, marzipan, chilli, caramel, cinnamon and ginger, some with and some without alcohol a cornucopia of flavours and textures all wrapped up in a Christmas chocolate box – perfect for sharing or as a chocolate Christmas gift.

If you are not a fan of boozy chocolates or don’t drink then Hotel Chocolat have created another version of the Christmas Sleekster, the Sleekster Christmas Selection Without Alcohol the same delightful selection of flavours, textures and shapes but without the alcohol.

The Classic Sleekster Christmas Selection and the Christmas Sleekster without Alcohol both have the same amount of chocolates, twenty-eight in each, and the boxes are both the same size, designed to fit through the letter box, making them the perfect gift to send through the post.

£22.00 for 28 Christmassy Hotel Chocolat chocolates.

Labelled: Vegetarian.

Final Delivery

Both Christmas chocolate boxes and all of the chocolates from Hotel Chocolat can be ordered right up until 4pm on Friday the 23rd of December for delivery on the Saturday in time for Christmas.

The three different “packages”, as they call them, include chocolates from right across the Christmas chocolate range grouped together by theme, the Kids’ Gift Package is aimed at children with cute, fun and novelty chocolates, the Finishing Touches Package has a selection of chocolate decorations for the table and Christmas tree and the Family Package contains Christmas chocolates for the whole family to share.

The Free Chocolates

Each of the chocolate packages has a different free gift, to compliment the different chocolates in the set.

The Chocolate Santa is free with the children’s package, included in the Finishing Touches Package is the decorative Mini Chocolate Wreath and in the family Christmas chocolate to share set are the Christmas Dinner chocolates.

Both the Santa and wreath are £6.50 and the small box of chocolates is £7.50, or £6.50 when you buy four or more, and each completely free when you buy the chocolate package.

Children’s Chritsmas Chocolate Set

The very cute Kids’ Gift Package has lots of little individual chocolates featuring the adorable Christmas chocolate characters; Jolly Santa, Dasher the Reindeer and Cool Penguin.

Inside the kids’ chocolate package is;

• Christmas at Santa’s House, a children’s gift box filled with fifteen chocolate shapes in 40% milk chocolate.
• Dasher the Reindeer Gift Basket, A really appealing gift basket featuring Dasher the Reindeer filled with two small boxes of chocolate shapes, a chocolate lolly and a mini chocolate slab.
• Christmas Stocking, a traditional Christmas stocking filled with Christmas chocolate treats; a box of white chocolate Santa, milk chocolate drops, a reindeer chocolate lolly and a mini chocolate slab.

And the FREE Chocolate Santa worth £6.50.

£56.00.

Labelled: Vegetarian and Alcohol Free.

Christmas Chocolate Decorations Set

In the finishing touches package are chocolate the bits and pieces for the home to make it a little more festive.

• Rather Large Christmas Cracker, possibly the largest chocolate filled Christmas cracker you can buy, this huge table decoration is filled with enough hats and jokes for twelve people and a massive forty individual chocolates.
• Chocolate Christmas Tree Decorations, a pack of ten little boxes with gold ribbons, for hanging from the tree, each on has a single chocolate inside.

And the free chocolate is the mini chocolate wreath worth £6.50.

£53.00.

Labelled: Vegetarian.

Christmas Chocolate Gift Set

A Christmas chocolate box and smaller chocolate gifts are included in the family pack;

• Christmas Chocolate Box, Hotel Chocolat’s bestselling Christmas chocolate box the Classic Christmas Sleekster filled with a selection of twenty-eight festive chocolates and Christmassy recipes.
• Nutty Noel Pick Me Up Gift Bag, a chocolate gift bag filled with a Selector of Cinnamon Almonds, a Selector Six of Gingerbread Truffles and a dark chocolate penguin bar.
• Christmas Mini Wreath, a rather wonderful wreath of luxury fruit and nut and milk and dark chocolate.

And a free box of chocolates worth £7.50.

£40.50.

Labelled: Vegetarian.

All available from the Hotel Chocolat website.

Cadbury biggest Christmas chocolate hamper, a traditional wicker basket filled with a selection of Cadbury Christmas chocolate and Cadbury favourites, only available online and exclusive to Cadbury Gifts Direct.

The Ultimate Christmas Hamper contains:

Seven Cadbury Selection Boxes:

• Two large; Cadbury Christmas Stocking and Cadbury Reindeer Selection Pack.
• Two medium sized selection boxes; Santa and Snowman.
• Two Cadbury Treatsize Character Bags; Santa and Reindeer.
• A large Cadbury Team GB Selection Box.

Two Christmas themed tubes filled with Cadbury Buttons and Cadbury Dairy Milk Chunks.

Two Cartons of Chocolate:

• Cadbury Dairy Milk Chunks Carton.
• Cadbury Koko Assorted Truffles Carton.

A gift box of Cadbury Wishes, a pouch of Cadbury Roses and a London 2012 Heroes Bus Tin.

Chocolate Stocking Fillers:

• Cadbury Snowman.
• A bag of Cadbury Snow Bites.
• Ten Magical Elves.
• A net of Cadbury Chocolate Coins.

And a pack of chocolate Christmas tree decorations.

A huge selection of chocolates from Cadbury, perfect for a family to share.

£80.00, largest chocolate hamper for Christmas from Cadbury.

For me selection boxes are just as much a part of Christmas as the stockings and the tree.

A traditional gift I normally give to friends and family members, as just a little something extra for them to unwrap on the day.

Now, I know you can buy Cadburys chocolate selection boxes almost anywhere but not all of the shops and supermarket chains stock all the sizes and styles, and there are some “deals” you can only get online, like exclusive sizes and discount wholesale prices if you buy in bulk.

Both Cadbury Gifts Direct and chocolatebuttons have the best variety in Cadburys selection boxes, with Cadbury Gifts Direct offering special online gift sets and the extra large selection pack and chocolatebuttons allow you to bulk order chocolate (a great way to buy lots of presents all at once) at wholesale prices.

Cadbury Gifts Direct

Cadbury Gifts Direct only sell Cadbury chocolate, but in a slightly different way to the high street or other online retailers who also stock Cadbury, they put the chocolate together either in pairs, in hampers, as collections or with Cadburys branded merchandise to create gifts – with some of the selection packs and additional items only available online.

New for Christmas 2011 are the Character Bags, selection packs of Cadbury Treatsize chocolates in two different designs; Reindeer and Santa. These small selection boxes each contain ten Treatsize chocolates and make wonderful stocking filler by themselves, but they are also available in a chocolate gift pack with tubes of Cadbury Buttons and Cadbury Dairy Milk Chunks, and in two gifts sets with the Cadbury teddy bears.

All of the Cadbury selection boxes, apart from the giant selection box, are in the Christmas Selection Box Hamper.

Cadbury Gifts Direct also sell Cadbury branded toys, mugs, jigsaws etc. so if you are a Cadbury fan and want to get you hands on the Dairy Milk Gorilla or some limited edition gift sets, this is the site for you.

chocolatebuttons

chocolatebuttons sell sweets and chocolates which are normally only stocked in newsagents and supermarkets, most of which is actually quite hard to buy online. A lot of their products can be bought in bulk, but not all and some can only be bought in larger packs, making the price per item cheaper than supermarkets, in some cases.

The selection packs contain different varieties of Cadburys chocolate including; Cadbury Chomp, Cadbury Fudge, Cadbury Flake, Cadbury Caramel, Cadbury Buttons, Cadbury Crunchie, Cadbury Dairy Milk, Cadbury Wispa and Cadbury CurlyWurly and all in different sizes with different designs, so the choice really comes down to which has your favourite in it.

The largest Christmas chocolate hamper from the Chocolate Trading Company, filled with a selection of the Chocolate Trading Company’s own chocolates and chocolates from Michel Cluizel and Niederegger marzipans.

The Christmas hamper contains:

Two boxes of chocolates:

• The Superior Selection Christmas box, a chocolate box with twenty four chocolates in twelve different flavours, a selection of milk, dark and white chocolates, finished with a Christmas design.
• Niederegger’s Marzipanerie, a selection of flavoured marzipans covered in chocolate.

Chocolate covered treats:

• Orangettes, candied orange enrobed in a fine dark chocolate.
• Kirsch cherries, Morello cherries soaked in Kirsch and covered in fine dark chocolate.
• Dark chocolate, 60% cocoa, covered caramelised almonds from Michel Cluizel.

And three Christmas gifts:

• A bag of Christmas stars, individually foil wrapped milk chocolates shaped like stars.
• A Chocolate Santa.
• A bag of, 72% cocoa, hot chocolate flakes.

Presented in a Christmas themed Chocolate Trading Company hamper, with a similar design to the box of chocolates, finished with a satin ribbon and “Merry Christmas & a happy new year” on the lid.

£75.95

Labelled: Vegetarian.

The magic of Christmas in a giant chocolate selection box, well two giant chocolate selection boxes, packed full of all your favourite Cadbury chocolate bars and treats.

A chocolate selection box is a must have at Christmas, they make perfect gifts and you get a great selection of different chocolates. These selection boxes are a bit special, not only are they Cadbury but they are the largest selection boxes available from Cadburys and they are exclusive to Cadbury Gifts Direct, so you can’t get them in shops or supermarkets.

Each Giant Cadbury selection box contains a selection of family favourites including:

Almost all of the Cadbury Dairy Milk varieties:
Dairy Milk Whole Nut, Cadbury Dairy Milk, Dairy Milk Turkish, Dairy Milk Bubbly, Dairy Milk Caramel and Dairy Milk Fruit & Nut.

And some new and classic chocolate bars:
Cadbury Crunchie, Cadbury Time Out, Cadbury Flake, Wispa, Twisted, Curly Wurly, Picnic, Cadbury Chocolate Buttons, Flake Praline, Fudge and Chomp.

Something for everyone.

£22.00 for the biggest Cadbury chocolate selection boxes you can buy.

One of the best things about Hotel Chocolat, apart from the fantastic chocolate of course, is the amount if effort they seem to put into their seasonal chocolate collections and Christmas 2011 is no exception.

Their colour scheme for this year is festive red, deep purple and vintage gold mixed in with Hotel Chocolat’s signature black and white, the range is brought together with an intricate star motif which features on, almost all, of the Christmas chocolates.

Most of the range is available to buy now; some hampers and some gifts will be ready closer to Christmas. You can see all of the Christmas chocolate on Hotel Chocolat’s site here. These are some of the wonderful chocolates ready at the moment.

Chocolate Boxes

At the heart of the Christmas range is a chocolate box called the Classic Christmas collection; milk, dark and white chocolates with and without alcohol in Christmassy shapes and flavours presented a seasonal Sleekster box.

The Classic Christmas Sleekster is always very popular and sells out fast.

The Classic Sleekster comes in three sizes; Double Layer (only available online), Luxe and Sleekster with fifty-six, forty and twenty-eight individual chocolates respectively. The Double Layer Classic is the largest chocolate box in the Christmas collection. The Classic collection is also available without alcohol, also with thirty chocolates but with the recipes containing booze removed.

The two Christmas Sleeksters, Classic and Without Alcohol, also come in H-Box size; the same flavours and recipes as the larger versions but in a smaller box containing thirteen chocolates, and colour coordinated.

For anyone familiar with the Simple Thanks mini chocolate box, you will be very pleased to know Classic collection also comes in the “eight” box and the even cuter “four” size, these miniature boxes make great gifts (and table favours).

So that is most tastes and budgets catered for in just the boxed chocolate selection, and one of two of my Christmas gifts bought already – they make great gifts in any size.

Chocolate Decorations

Simple calling the chocolate decorations is quite simply doing them an injustice. These decorative chocolates not only taste fantastic but look wonderful too, intricate chocolate wreaths and chocolate filled Christmas crackers, all in a variety of sizes.

Probably my favourite are the Christmas chocolate wreaths, chocolate beautifully sculpted into dramatic Victorian style wreaths, thick chocolate packed with a luxury fruit and nut in milk and dark chocolate.

The chocolate wreaths come in two sizes, large and the very cute but just as beautiful and delicious, mini wreath. The Purist Christmas Wreath is made from Hotel Chocolat’s award-winning 66% Rabot Estate dark chocolate and is dairy free/vegan. The other two wreaths are a mixture of both milk and dark chocolate.

For a more traditional Christmas look and feel, Hotel Chocolat have created their own Christmas crackers, mini cracker chocolate tree decorations and the very impressive Rather Large Christmas Cracker filled with chocolates, party hats and favours for all to share.

The large chocolate wreaths and the large Christmas crackers make wonderful centre pieces for a Christmas table and are complimented flawlessly by the mini wreaths, used as table favours, or the mini cracker tree decorations as they are all in matching colours.

Christmas Themed Novelty Chocolates

Fun shaped novelty chocolate slabs and figures, probably meant to be chocolate for kids, but I love them – I just think they are so cute they would make anyone of any age smile!

The milk chocolate 3D figures are hollow and come as two different characters, Dasher the Reindeer and Jolly Santa,

Both Dasher and Santa are part of the Christmas chocolate slabs line-up and are joined by the white chocolate Snowman. Santa and the Snowman have berry flavoured chocolate scarves and Dasher is all dark chocolate and dairy free.

Chocolate Stocking Fillers

Gorgeous little boxes of scrummy chocolates, perfect stocking fillers, handy little chocolate gifts or treats for you!

The Tiddly chocolate boxes are one of the cheapest chocolate gifts from the Hotel Chocolat Christmas range, they are available in four flavours; milk chocolate, caramel, white and vegan/diary free dark chocolate.

The three different shapes, snowman, reindeer and Santa Claus are the same charming characters as the chocolate slabs and novelty chocolates – perfect for children.

Slightly larger than the Tiddly chocolate boxes are the Chocolate shapes, in slim elegant boxes in three Christmas varieties; dark chocolate chilli penguins, Angel shaped caramels and “Christmas Dinner” shaped chocs.

Chocolate Yule Logs

Hotel Chocolat’s take on a Christmas tradition a chocolate version on the Yule Log, a choice of three flavours; chilli and orange, ginger and hazelnut or simply nutty.

Bars of gianduja studded with candied fruits and nuts, perfect stocking fillers for a foodie, a chocolate gift or dessert.

Children’s Christmas Chocolate

Quite a lot of the chocolates from Hotel Chocolat are ideal for children, especially the fun shapes and characters, but they have also created some gifts just for kids.

The Children’s Gift Box, Santa’s House, is a box filled with fifteen milk chocolates in fun shapes and Dasher the Reindeers Gift Basket has a selection of chocolate boxes and a mini chocolate slab in a very cute reindeer basket.

Giant Chocolate Slabs

And of course the giant chocolate slabs, festive versions of the famous huge chocolate bars weighing in at an impressive 500g, half a kilo. Wonderful Christmas gifts and perfect for sharing.

That’s quite a lot of chocolate and there is still more to come for Christmas 2011 including; flavoured hot chocolate, chocolate covered fruits, winter chocolates, chocolate hampers, gift sets, gift bags and a Christmas stocking! You can see everything on their website here.

It just wouldn’t be Christmas without a tin of chocolate biscuits and one tin absolutely has to be Cadbury chocolate biscuits.

A large tin of biscuits covered in Cadbury milk Chocolate, with ten different types of Cadbury chocolate biscuits including; Raspberry Oat Crunch, a raspberry and oat crunch biscuit covered in thick milk chocolate. Cadbury Chunk, a very thick chunk of Dairy Milk with a digestive style biscuit hidden inside and Toffee Flavour Cream Wafer, chocolate wafer with a lovely toffee flavour.

£14.00 for an 800g tin of Cadbury chocolate biscuits.

Milk and dark chocolate goodie bag, a selection of spiced and mellow chocolate treats for Christmas.

A gift box of Hotel Chocolat chocolates for Christmas, an ideal last minute present, secret Santa or stocking filler, all in a festive black and gold tented box with clear panel so you can see all the chocolate inside.

The Gold Christmas Pick-Me-Up contiains; a Cinnamon Crunch 100g slab, a zesty orange dark chocolate Penguin, a Selector Six of Caramel & Praline Stars, Holly cast in honey milk chocolate and a milk chocolate Santa Lick.

£10.00.

Labelled: Alcohol Free.

Twenty four Hotel Chocolat chocolate recipes especially selected for the Signature Collection, a gorgeous chocolate box for Christmas.

Luxury hand finished Hotel Chocolat chocolates, presented in a chic deep red embossed box. Inside the chocolate box the chocolates are lined up by shape, tempting you to savour the experience.

A sample selection of the gorgeous truffles, mouth watering caramels and fabulous flavours within the Signature Collection:

• Mocharetto Star: A dreamy, super soft ganache made with Columbian coffee, a dash or two of smooth cream liqueur and a little almond oil to give it an Italian feel with amaretto-style almond flavour notes.
• Banana Split: A gorgeous combination that plays on the winning blend of banana and caramel flavours – with the fruity flavours of red banana balanced by the rounded sweetness of caramel.
• Vanilla Butterscotch: The first thing you will notice about this chocolate is the gorgeous light whipped buttercream peppered with tiny vanilla seeds, encased in a mellow chocolate shell.
• Almond and Raspberry: A brand new take on the concept of fruit and nut with two layers just waiting to melt away. The first is a velvety smooth praline made with finely ground almonds and the second is a silky soft mousse with the zippy
  flavours of all natural raspberry.
• Striking Strawberry: Inside this creamy white chocolate shell you’ll discover there’s a striking fruity experience waiting for you – it’s bursting with the fresh flavours of natural strawberry blended into a white chocolate mousse.
• Orange Marmalade Praline: This milk chocolate praline has been blended with essential oil of bigarade orange, prized for its full flavour, which delivers more edgy citrus flavours than those of sweeter oranges.

The exquisite Hotel Chocolat Signature Collection is available in three sizes; each a multiple of twenty four, so you always get at least one of the fantastic flavours.

The Christmas Signature Collection 24, containing one of each of the sought-after chocolates, can also be found in two of the Personal Shopper gifts bags, gifts bags with tag and a bow so no need to wrap, alongside a bottle of red or white wine.

A spectacular array of Hotel Chocolat chocolates bound to impress, no matter the size of box.

Signature Collection Chocolate Boxes:

• £25.00, 360g – 24 Chocolates.
• £40.00, 720g – 48 Chocolates.
• £65.00, 1.35kg – 96 Chocolates.

Personal Shopper Bags:

• £45.00, 360g 24 Chocolates, and 75cl Prosecco, white.
• £45.00, 360g 24 Chocolates, and Chateau Chocolat, red.

All the Cadburys chocolate you and your family need this Christmas all in one Cadburys chocolate Christmas sharing hamper.

A tasty selection of Cadbury chocolate favourites, great for sharing with family and friends or a easy way to buy fantastic Christmas gifts and stocking fillers all in one go.

The Cadburys Chocolate Christmas Sharing Hamper contains:

Three Cadbury chocolate bar selection packs:

• Large Stocking Selection
• Super Winter Selection Box
• Reindeer Selection Pack

Two Cadbury chocolates packs:

• The New Cadbury Roses Pouch 700g
• Cadbury Heroes Carton 220g

Two Cadbury Bitesized Bags:

• Cadbury Chocolate Raisins 200g
• Cadbury Chocolate Peanuts 200g

Two Cadbury Dairy Milk Bars:

• Cadbury Dairy Milk Bar 230g
• Cadbury Dairy Milk Caramel Bar 140g

A tin of Chocolate Biscuits 400g, the small version of the Extremely Cadbury Chocolate Biscuits Tin, a selection of Cadbury treats including Cadbury Chocolate Coins, a tube of Dairy Milk Buttons, a Cadbury Dairy Milk Tube and a packet of Snowbites.

£35.00

If you are stuck for Christmas gift ideas or you’re not that big a fan of wrapping presents, then the Personal Shopper chocolate gift bags from Hotel Chocolat are what you have been looking for!

A selection of luxury chocolate, so you don’t need to worry about choosing them, in a smart gift bag, so no need to wrap, with a bow, so no need for ribbons, with a message card, so you won’t forget.

The Large Christmas Personal Shopper bag contains;

Two chocolate boxes:

• Christmas Sleekster – a chocolate selection box full 30 Christmas chocolates.
• Sparkling Stars Chocolate Caramels – 15 individually flavoured chocolate caramels.

Two Mini Chocolate Slabs:

• Orange Nice Spice – a dark chocolate slab with orange and chilli.
• Nutty Noel – a slab of milk chocolate with crunchy nuts.

Two Chocolate Gifts:

• Enrobed Raisins – whole raisins covered in 50% milk chocolate.
• Baublicious – decorative milk chocolate baubles.

£55.00, 840g. Six chocolate gifts in a gift bag, bagged, bowed and with a message card.

Labelled: Vegetarian.

A great little box of Christmas chocolate goodies, Discovery Boxes from Hotel Chocolat explore the tastes and textures of the season in chocolate.

Presented in a gold slide open box with the four chocolate goodies inside, this is a wonderful way to sample the festive flavours from Hotel Chocolat before you buy your chocolate Christmas presents, purely for research purposes, of course. It also makes an ideal Christmas gift as it can be one easy to wrap gift or four chocolate stocking fillers.

The Christmas Chocolate Discovery Box by Hotel Chocolat contains:

• Cinnamon Almonds Munchkins – Whole roasted almonds wrapped up in mellow milk chocolate and warming cinnamon.
• Cinnamon Crunch Slab 100g – Mini milk chocolate slab, featuring the “Best Dressed Snowman” and flavoured with cinnamon and caramel.
• Snowball Munchkins – A bag of white chocolate snowballs with crunchy cookies centres.
• Selector Six – A selection of six, caramel praline and gianduja, chocolates from the Christmas range.

£18.00, 440g of Christmas chocolates.