The chocolate festival, Southbank.

This weekend was something of a religious experience for me, as I was able to visit my spiritual mecca, also known as the chocolate festival. (And yes, it was as good as it sounds). 

As soon as I got off the train at Waterloo and made my way to the festival I was overwhelmed with the sights, sounds, smells, and, most of all, tastes, of the festival promoting only one thing; chocolate. I immediately allowed myself to be swallowed by the hungry crowd as we moved along seemingly in unsion sampling the delights that each stall had to offer. 

I was privy to it all; from the best quality 70% dark chocolate, to chocolate crepes, to macaroons, to cupcakes, to chocolate chilli (!), and I was honestly in heaven. The prices ranged from a mere 70p for truffles (which I stocked up on), to a whopping £8.50 for a box of five macaroons (I had to resit buying them, but couldn't resit photographing them as they were so cute). 

My personal highlights were numerous, although when looking for the most unusual things the festival offered to sample the prize had to go to Cocoa Magic, an initially unassuming stand tucked into a corner, who were selling an awesome array of unusual truffles, including mojito, cardamom & pistachio, marmite, and bacon jam (I did venture to buy these - the first two were delicious, the marmite had a unusual yet enjoyable tangy kick to it, whilst the bacon jam was, unfortunately,disgusting - akin to licking congealed bacon fat off of a greasy pan). 


I think the award for the most eye-catching stall is credited to Crumbs & Doilies, whose cupcakes and mini cupcakes were - at the risk of sounding painfully cliched and girly - so damn cute that I literally couldn't stop staring. I had to purchase one of their mini cupcakes (about the size of my thumbnail) and was not disappointed by the flavour either - my red velvet cake was rich and moist and the cream cheese icing provided a wonderfully soft tang to establish it as a perfect sweet mouthful. 

However the most important award (in my eyes), that of the tastiest thing I devoured on the day, has to go to Outsider Tart, an authentic American bake shop run by two guys from New York, whose cakey offerings were pulling huge crowds, offering classics like the chocolate brownie (with the addition of walnuts or white chocolate chips), combined with their reasonable prices, huge portions, and obvious enthusiasm for what they did - they could clearly do no wrong, and the constant crowd around their stall showed how much they were appreciated. After fighting my way to the front of the queue and purchasing a slab of their home baked goodness, I sunk my teeth into a huge doorstop-sized block of peanut butter chocolate brownie, and I must say, it was one of the richest, fudgiest, most decadent things I have ever tasted, and definitely worth the £2.70 I willingly invested. 


A truly brilliant day out, and, if possible, making my love for all things sweet and chocolatey even stronger. 

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