Few things spruce up a salad better than a subtle summer dressing, but a cruise down the supermarket condiment isle throws up all the subtlety of a glamour model’s wedding. From blue cheese and garlic dressing to strawberry and Champagne vinaigrette, there’s no end to the pungent creations you can pour over your picnic.

So if Champagne can be used to snazz up your side dishes, why not a bit of port on your cold potatoes or some cider on your salad? Much like Jordan in a bridal shop, 4Food laughed in the face of subtlety and created some mouth-watering marinades way beyond the mainstream.

Gorging on garlic
Red wine and garlic taste delicious in a warm jus – but how would they fare as a cold condiment combo? Having mixed them together with a little Dijon mustard we tried them over salad leaves, potatoes and bread. While the pungent bulb made our lettuce wilt in fear, the sauce tasted delicious sprinkled over spuds. It would also make a great marinade for barbecued meat.

A cider of salad
Inspired by a myriad of apple and celery marinades, we got to wondering how a celery dressing would fair with a little scrumpy kick. A mix of cider vinegar, celery and a bit more cider to boot created a delicate little dressing, perfect for perking up a simple bean salad. You could add a little mustard too for a more substantial drizzling sauce.

Should I cocoa?
You wouldn’t eat a Twix with your lettuce, so the idea of chocolate on salad seemed pretty grim. But in homage to Channel 4 chocolatier, Willie Harcourt-Cooze, we thought we’d give it a try and mixed some liquid dark chocolate with a generous helping of balsamic vinegar. Having predicted a thick, gloopy sauce that would drown any delicate meal, we were delighted to discover it made the perfect partnership. Taking the edge off the acidic vinegar it left a rounded robust flavour that worked surprising well with delicate leaves.

Last port of call
Just like Morecambe and Wise, port and Stilton are a brilliant duo only appreciated at Christmas. The rich, heavy tones make them perfect winter treats, but how would they fair as a lighter, summer dressing? We mixed the pair with a little crème fraiche and red wine vinegar to create a sauce that looked like blueberry smoothie. Despite the confusing appearance, it tasted light and luscious and was perfect drizzled over potatoes.

The nation’s cupboards are home to a host of forgotten ingredients that, with a little creative thinking, can help spruce up the simplest of salads. We’re not suggesting you start daubing your rocket with a bucket load of ketchup. But there’s nothing wrong with a little trial and error. Go forth and experiment.

Garlic and red wine dressing recipe
Makes 275ml

Ingredients
4 cloves garlic crushed
50ml red wine vinegar
75ml red wine
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
150ml olive oil
Salt and black pepper to season

Method: How to make garlic and red wine dressing recipe
Put the crushed garlic into a measuring jug and pour over the red vine vinegar, red wine and mustard. Stir to make a thin paste. Add the oil, stir and season to taste.

Cider and celery dressing recipe
Makes 350ml

Ingredients
3 sticks celery
100ml cider vinegar
200ml olive oil
50-100ml apple cider
Salt and black pepper to season

Method: How to make cider and celery dressing
Finely chop the celery sticks, then crush 2 of the sticks in a garlic crusher until you’re left with the juice and a little pulp. Add the cider vinegar and oil and mix together add the cider to taste and the remaining celery. Stir and season to taste.

Tip: To thicken the sauce, try adding a teaspoon of Dijon mustard.

Dark chocolate and balsamic vinegar dressing
Makes 200ml

Ingredients
2tbsp liquid dark chocolate or freshly melted chocolate
100ml balsamic vinegar
50ml olive oil

Method: How to make chocolate and balsamic vinegar dressing
Mix the chocolate and balsamic vinegar together and stir in the oil to make a smooth, thin paste.

Port and Stilton dressing
Makes 250ml

Ingredients
100g Stilton
2 tbsp crème fraiche
50ml port
50ml red wine vinegar
50ml olive oil
Salt and black pepper to season

Method:How to make port and Stilton dressing
Mix the Stilton with the crème fraiche and stir to make a smooth paste. Pour the port and red wine vinegar into a separate jug and then gradually add the Stilton paste, stirring out as many lumps as possible. Stir in the oil and season to taste.

Serve your dressings with these salads from 4Food

The final chapter in Willie’s quest begins with so many problems to juggle, mistakes to make right and ambitions to fulfill. Will Willie pull it all off? Will he reach his ultimate goal of bean to bar deliciousness?

With Willie still clearly frustrated that his fine quality beans were shipped to Japan, he had to find another source of equally superior beans to make the hundreds of thousands of bars required to stock the supermarket shelves.

Inspiration and guidance came when Willie visited a friend and small chocolate producer for help and guidance. Once back in Venezuela, we again see Willie smiling and relaxed surrounded by what started this quest cocoa trees, farmers and producers – and in return for his friend’s advice, Willie brings a set of professional chocolate moulds which are very expensive and hard to find in Vezenuela or other cocoa producing countries (as I found out last year when I visited Ecuador). There are thousands of acres of cocoa trees and tones upon tones of cocoa beans but little professional equipment for any budding chocolatier. A very thoughtful gift from Willie which will be treasured by his friend.

Willie decides to create two bars not three as originally planned, due to the cocoa bean issues, Rio Caraibe and Peruvian.

One of the best ways to see how your new products are accepted is to either take part in a huge product sampling session or to join another event where your product will be used as part of a menu – and Willie’s chocolate is being used by Rhubarb Caterers at the prestigious Cartier polo event. A very luxurious chocolate dessert is created and served to many hundreds of guests. We fail to see how it is received, however, and I would have liked to see more comments from the guests on the flavours and tastes of Willie’s chocolate.

The first recipe Willie chooses to make for us is a simple chocolate biscuit filled with his chocolate and to be enjoyed by his 10 taste testers. I can feel his frustrations as this is his final attempt in getting milk chocolate addicts to like dark chocolate.

One of the most important aspects of launching a new product is how it will look on shelf, how will it feel in hand and will it catch the eye? So Willie enroles a design team to create the ultimate packaging. And with Willie’s wrapping machine still broken and beyond repair, the design team come up with a chocolate bar box, where the foil hand wrapped bar will sit. The finished box is a combination of eccentric style, precious feel and of course, stylish.

This is all well and good, but now there’s the challenge of selling his chocolate to retail buyers to secure some orders. From experience, this is make or break time and one needs to impress with a clean and concise presentation and, of course, your product at its best.

Waitrose buyer, Mathew Jones, was impressed and clearly identified the different characteristics between the two bars. The result was equally impressive with some huge orders being placed. Willie is now really in business, with the problem of how to wrap and pack thousands of chocolate bars in time to deliver to Waitrose.

In the meantime we saw a very good friend of mine, Roger Pizey (Marco Pierre White’s executive pastry chef), create a chocolate soufflé with chocolate sauce to be tasted by Marco in Willie’s presence. Marco did indeed reel over the tastes and flavours giving Willie the approval I think he needed.

It’s a wrap
The heat is on and we see Willie at his most stressed and anxious as he has had to recruit temporary staff to hand wrap each and every bar. A brief demonstration to the fleet and a practice session to perfect the art (believe me, hand wrapping is an art and not always easy for everyone to master!). The result is, of course, not a good one for Willie.

The production begins and disaster hits as the first batch appears from the cooling tunnel tempered incorrectly. You’ve guessed it they have to start again while the problems are solved and Tania allocates jobs to the hired help. Once in full swing the bars get wrapped and packed ready to hit the high street.

So did his 10 chocoholics like his chocolate? Seven out of 10 in a blind tasting preferred Willie’s chocolate and the other three were and would never be dark chocolate lovers. Many were converted and are now hardened dark chocolate lovers, which thrills Willie.

With Willie’s bars now shown on shelf he has reached his ultimate goal, bean to bar. Is this the end? Not at all this is just the beginning.

It really has been a roller coaster of a ride for Willie but I stand strong in saying this: He is not alone in his quest. We and many other chocolatiers are doing the very same things, just in our own individual ways.

Catch up on the rest of Willie’s Chocolate Revolution

Try Willie’s recipes

Find all stockists of Willie’s chocolate here

Did Willies cocoa beans arrive safely? Yes they did. But disaster is only minutes away. Lets come back to this later.

This episode focused on Willie building his new processing factory and taking the huge step of kitting it out with hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of grinders, conches, tempering machines and a huge cooling tunnel. Very impressive, and I have to say I felt some envy as this is my ultimate goal one day. I’m glued and fascinated by the journey with all is roller coaster like fury expected from another day in Willie’s life.

The realisation when Willie has the very crucial chat with accountant David Kirkness that near on half a million pounds is needed to get up and running is a real shocker, but essential to achieve Willie’s ultimate dream of converting the UK single handedly to eating dark chocolate.

I do have to point out that Willie is definitely not alone in his quest as there are many fine chocolatiers like myself on this very same crusade. I only use the finest pure cocoa from small and medium sized producers – as do many other chocolatiers. We are all educating our current customers and new customers in the same way.

A very strong comment made by his accountant was not to rely on adrenalin and the buzz of the product to make the business work and look at the figures and plan ahead. Willie is trying to do everything himself and, at times, seems to be drowning in everything – which I can indeed relate to. But, as I have had to learn over the past three years, delegating is the real saviour for body and mind.

I am finding myself screaming at the TV screen when we are told that Willie didn’t measure his new industrial unit before receiving his new holding tanks!

It was a very clever move to look at having an outsider producing his bars to reduce his workload and stress but I agree wholeheartedly that Willie made the correct decision. He started this business to make chocolate from bean to bar, beginning to end. Could we ever see Willie not making his own chocolate? Never. Losing control is not my style or Willie’s and I praise him for this. A harder decision but a challenge is a challenge and good TV of course.

Today’s first recipe was straight forward, easy to prepare and cook and ideal for even the novice of cooks – and if this doesn’t get everyone adding some cacao to their dinner tonight, then nothing will. It’s easy to throw some chocolate into something savoury for gimmick’s sake but in this series I like the slightly more delicate approach to chocolate cooking.

I find myself really sympathising with Tania, she misses Willie and obviously loves him dearly. There was a touching moment when Tania tasted the first bars and Willie needed her approval and she gave it. I really loved this bit of the show.

We saw Willie reminiscing about Venezuela and preparing this gorgeous recipe on a secluded beach with freshly caught fish. Grinding salt, chilli and cocoa on a rock to be simply sprinkled over the snapper and sautéed, for me, showed the real Willie at his best.

‘Willie’s Delectable Cacao’ is the name for his first bars and as he says, it’s like having a baby, turning out those first glossy, aromatic tablets. Indeed, as a chocolatier, this is a poignant moment and one he will never forget. The journey has now really begun and the challenge of finding suppliers, distributors – and not forgetting customers to buy it – is Willie’s biggest challenge.

So those Rio Caraibe cocoa beans and the arrival from Venezuela. A mammoth lorry of 25 tonnes of what Willie thinks are his approved cocoa beans arrives and 24 hours to unload and store turns from elation, after tasting the beans, to what can only be described as the worst nightmare possible. The beans are not those Willie bought and another producer in Japan has his beans – with little or no hope of ever receiving them. I am surprised Willie stayed so composed and calm as I am sure I would have had to release my anger in a raging fury! Willie still sees the positive times ahead and nothing is going to knock him down as his chocoholic guests have tasted his finished bar of chocolate alongside two other producers chocolate bars and seven out of 10 chose Willie’s bars in a blind tasting. An obvious boost for Willie.

What will the final chapter reveal? Will Willie find the buyers and consumers?

We are all waiting chocolate in hand and taste buds at the ready.

Catch up the rest of Willie’s Chocolate Revolution

Try Willie’s recipes

Find all stockists of Willie’s chocolate here

I have always been rather partial to a bit of chocolate, to say the least.  I have a ritual, 2 squares of a well-known brand of milk chocolate (on a good day, 2 rows, if bad… OK, 2 bars if dreadful!) after lunch. I have it whether I need it or not, and I only ever have my preferred brand. I do find if I run out of chocolate I crave it, so a stash is of the utmost importance. 

I did run out one night after the children had gone to bed. Knowing I couldn’t possibly sneak out to the garage three miles away my desperation led me to texting my ex-husband who would be driving past the end of the lane to work in the morning, having passed a garage. Concerned for his children he duly obliged, knowing the golden rule – never leave a mother in charge without chocolate!

Obviously I felt it was my duty to undertake the chocolate tasting but was resolute in my feeling about my brand being best. I could quite understand Willie’s point that we were being cheated of real chocolate and what we were eating was just watered down and that it was outrageous etc… but to me it was just fine, thank you very much and I was quite determined that I wasn’t going to change.

Meeting Dr Who
On our first meeting, Willie showed us round the factory.  A tiny place with amazingly old-fashioned machinery like a set from Dr Who.  We were offered a taste of the refined beans oozing wonderfully from the machine like a chocolate fountain.  Oh yes, I was going to enjoy this!

It was warm and smelt delicious and we each took a teaspoon and dived in… but oh my, how disgusting! Such a disappointment, so bitter and strong and really, well, yuk.

Willie said good chocolate lasted for one year. Yeah right. How would you ever find out?! More like one minute in our house.  I did find for a while though that if you keep it under the lettuce or potatoes in the vegetable drawer of the fridge, it could take up to a month for the children to find it!

We moved on to discuss our favourite types of chocolate and taste them.  I think the damage had been done by then, everything started to taste the same. We were given about 6 different types of dark chocolate to take home and try.  Whenever we reached for our normal chocolate we had to replace it with some dark and note the flavour, texture, smell etc.  Mmmm… my kind of homework.

At first it was quite hard. There was one that I just couldn’t eat; it just wasn’t something you want to put in your mouth. However, I made myself eat it in the name of science and interestingly, although I wasn’t enjoying dark chocolate, I wasn’t craving my usual milk chocolate. I still blamed my refined bean experience at the factory for that. I should probably have stopped there, my craving for chocolate teetering on the brink, but I had a duty to perform and I wasn’t going to let anybody down. I took another piece. 

As time went on I started to crave that distinct snap when you break it and the feeling in your mouth as it melted. Slowly I started to succumb to the charms of the dark side. I tried my beloved normal brand and to my disappointment it tasted bland, as if I was eating fat and sugar. Where was the chocolate?!  I was having to hide my stash again, too, as the children were becoming converts as well, especially Megan, giving her opinions on flavour and texture like a true pro.  Christie was still borderline and a bit more ‘whatever’, as long as it’s chocolate. Cameron is still very much Cameron.

Another thing I had noticed was that instead of feeling sleepy after my ‘after lunch chocolate sessions’ I was suddenly feeling incredibly wide awake and raring to go. Perhaps employers should consider the benefits of supplying real chocolate to their workforce!

On our next visit to the factory we were given three types of chocolate to try. Two of these were the same as the ones we had been given to take home. One of them was the one I had disliked and though I still didn’t like it, it was now for different reasons. One being it wasn’t strong enough! Can you believe that? It had no oomph! Ha ha, listen to me – the chocolate expert! I must have sounded a right one. Anyway, no word of a lie, number two (rather unfortunate) stood out a mile. The texture, the smell and wow, the flavour. Having bought cheap 85% at the supermarket for the previous month this was a truly unexpected pleasure… and it just happened to be Willie’s. He was chuffed to bits.

Our last meeting was to discuss packaging. A lovely chap called Alex came to discuss different types of wrapper, colours, sizes, writing etc. I found it quite interesting that the girls seemed to be drawn to a ‘handbag sized’ bar. Now, to me, size is incredibly important when it comes to chocolate. If I have a large bar, I can take 2 squares and put the rest in the fridge. However, when it gets down to the last 2 rows, I have to make sure there’s another bar in the fridge to replace it or I panic and end up eating the lot! I would have absolutely no control with a small bar, but maybe that’s what they’re working on, good marketing ploy!

And so our chocolate experience came to an end. There was a real ‘end of term’ feeling and it was quite sad to say goodbye. I look forward to seeing Willie’s chocolate on the supermarket shelves!

Catch up the rest of Willie’s Chocolate Revolution

Try Willie’s recipes

Find all stockists of Willie’s chocolate here

I sat down to Willie and his chocolate revolution after a day of making more Easter eggs and bunnies that one could possibly imagine. This is, after all the week running up to Easter, the week when we eat more chocolate than any other time of the year.

And I get Willie. You see, I too am on a quest to change the way we eat chocolate. But Willie’s addictive confidence and relentless drive to reinvent the nation’s taste buds is inspiring. It’s a very tricky task, as Willie found out when his 10 guests were given his pure 100% cocoa mass, conched chocolate and the finished product to taste. “Too bitter,” they said, screwing up their faces at the lack of sugar and fat. His guests were then asked to bring out their favourite chocolate bars and, as you may guess, they were all milky confectionary bars and not (as Willie and I agree), real chocolate! I thought it was a great idea for Willie to give each guest a chocolate kit so when they feel the need for their usual sugary confectionary, they could break a piece of 70% dark chocolate instead to satisfy their craving. We all have to wait to see how they progressed and to find out if Willie has any born again chocoholics.

As a chocolatier I can relate to many of Willie comments in this first chapter of the new series. He says, “I am a victim of my own success.” I know only too well that long hours every day and little time off means exhaustion and trouble articulating at the end of the day. A familiar feeling, but still Willie ploughs on with all the vibrancy and enthusiasm each time he reaches another goal or step along his epic journey.

Personally, I have reservations about trying to directly link chocolate and health – until there’s been a lot of rigorous experimenting and longevity of positive results. The important point is that pure dark chocolate, is lower in calories and fat than milk chocolate or confectionary and it’s the sugar and fats that are bad for you. I also thought it was a shame for him to depart from talking about the great flavour of his chocolate to focus on health benefits.

I loved Willie’s recipes. They’re easy to prepare, cook and have a great homey, comforting vibe. The chocolate mousse cake would be a winner on any dinner table after the duck casserole. I would like to have seen Willie mention a variety/origin of cocoa to be used in his recipes and an alternative for viewers to use if they cannot buy his Venezuelan black chocolate blocks.

I really enjoy the nitty gritty of getting down to the business of harvesting the beans and working very hard to strike a deal for his top quality beans from Rio Caraibe. You could feel the tension and anxiety, not just from the treacherous 12 hour drive but the slicing of the cocoa beans and waiting to find out if they are of top quality. This must be an agonising time for Willie and I am glad we got to feel his lows and highs when the beans are of top quality. I feel like we see two different men. There’s Willie in the UK: an obviously over-worked and stressed man striving to be the best with all the modern obstacles restricting him doing this as fast as he would like to. Then we have Willie in Venezuela: a man still working hard but with a sense of it being a bit more orderly, relaxed and enjoyable.

I can really sympathise with this because I work at home in my production kitchen inventing new, challenging and exciting products and find the reality of running the business side stressful and less attractive.

My favourite part of this the first chapter? Willie at Rio Caraibe with the quality controller and farmer sat around the small square table slicing into the cocoa beans. For me reminiscent of a scene from a Hollywood blockbuster Goodfellas style movie! Will the deal be done or dusted? Luckily for our Willie, it was a winner.

We really are in for a roller coaster second chapter as Willie has his huge 25 tonnes of cocoa beans arrive – in good condition?

Catch up the rest of Willie’s Chocolate Revolution

Try Willie’s recipes

Find all stockists of Willie’s chocolate here

Life before filming
My whole chocolate adventure began with a small article in the local paper: ‘Chocoholics wanted’. It sparked a whole load of emotions relating to my passion for eating chocolate. Experiences before meeting Willie were based on a quick grab of a Mars bar to give a sugar boost, or a secretive devouring of a gold wrapped Ferror Rocher pyramid. I was soon to learn there was a higher quality, healthier option…

Our first gathering…
…was last September 08, on a sunny Sunday afternoon (a bit unusual for autumn!). I learnt so much about cacao, how it is grown, harvested and turned into the most rich, glossy, sumptuous chocolate. Willie cooked the most amazing barbeque with chocolate in the tomato ketchup. Heavenly!!!! Our session finished with ‘homework’, to go away and munch, cook, share lots of chocolate. Hey how things have changed from my last experiences of homework!!!!

One of the reasons why I wanted to join the filming of Willie’s Chocolate Factory was because I felt I could relate to Willie and his story of having a dream and wanting to develop it into a business. I, too, could understand his passion, drive and energy that he puts into his business. Never standing still, always wanting to evolve to another level. Juggling work with a growing family. Oh how true!

Well I am convinced…
…the whole dark chocolate experience. It begins with the outer packaging, unwrapped to reveal a lavish, gold foil wrapper. The ultimate heaven.

Catch up the rest of Willie’s Chocolate Revolution

Try Willie’s recipes

Find all stockists of Willie’s chocolate here

In this 3 part special, stripped over consecutive nights, Willie will attempt to create the finest and purest chocolate bar in the world, and teach a nation of chocoholics how wonderful real chocolate can be. Britons spend more per head on chocolate than any other nation in Europe. However, few eat truly authentic chocolate and Willie wants to re-educate the public about how chocolate should really taste.

He’s on a mission 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 existing products that line supermarket shelves.

Willie will also demonstrate just how versatile chocolate is through a range of sweet and savoury recipes including duck, mango and cacao casserole, chocolate mousse cake, sticky cinnamon and cacao buns and a to-die-for chocolate ice-cream.

Will Willie get the funding and new equipment necessary to produce his new chocolate bars? Can he persuade the public to love it and retailers to stock it? Can one individual, no matter how passionate, really hope to change the way we think about and consume chocolate?

Stay tuned for Raising the Bar: Willie’s Chocolate Revolution, coming to Channel 4 in April.

Find all stockists of Willie’s chocolate here

On piercing a bull’s bollock for the meat fruit…
The blokes in the crew definitely found it hard to watch – even well-hardened cameramen! It’s certainly not something you see in day-to-day cookery!

The meat fruit were really difficult to get right; there was no point creating something that looked the part but didn’t taste amazing. In the original historic recipe they’re made with minced pork and egg and were too heavy for an amuse bouche, so we re-designed them with lighter pâté-like fillings. The testicle plums (plum plums) seemed to be the most popular of the bunch. In fact, they were so popular we actually had to stop the guests eating them because we were worried they’d have no room left for the rest of the meal.

On if the big, burly Latvian lamprey fisherman were intimidating
Yes! All these guys had been fishing for lamprey all their lives and weren’t too keen on outsiders coming in and cooking their national dish. By the end of the ordeal I think we turned them around though, but for a second I was worried I wasn’t going to escape alive.

On seeing the celebrity guests freak out when so much effort had gone into creating the lamprey dish
At the time it was devastating because we’d put so much time and effort into the dish. But that’s the thing with all of these feasts: we want to push the dining experience as far as we can go to produce something really magical. I think with the lamprey though, we pushed it a little too far.

On the practicalities of making the four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie
Fresh meat was an incredible luxury for our medieval forbearers so you can be sure they didn’t waste a thing! We can certainly learn something from them in this sense – and, for a chef, using things like heart and gizzards in a dish can be really exciting – it gave us a really rich, luxurious result in the final dish.

Making the pastry was more of an engineering challenge than a culinary one. When you’re working with pastry on such a large scale, the weight of the pastry itself becomes the main problem – too big and it just falls apart. To create a free standing pastry pie we had to layer pastry strips on top of each other in various directions to create a self-supporting structure. It was a real headache, but worth it in the end.

On the edible tableware
This was another real headache. We had originally planned to make an entire edible tablecloth and made a few prototypes. It never looked quite right so in the end we opted to downsize it into napkins – which worked really well.

It was hilarious because none of the guests worked out what was going on straight away. Even when they were told that everything was edible it took them a while to suss out that included the cutlery and the candles. We had to coordinate the service very effectively to stop any chocolate melting.

I think they were definitely amazed by it all – and it’s that child-like amazement combined with great food that sums up what I’m trying to achieve in all these feasts.

Make 4Food’s version of the edible chocolate cutlery

More of Heston’s Feasts

When the world has let you down there’s only one place to head – that palace of artistic inspiration, the local pound shop. There amid the St Paul’s snow shakers and glow-in-the-dark loofahs lay the just the thing for my culinary quest – vacuum packed cutlery.

After removing the real cutlery and soaking the packaging in hot, soapy water I melted 400g of milk chocolate in a bowl over a pan of hot water. I took it off the heat to cool slightly but kept stirring so the paste wouldn’t set before spooning it into my chocolate ‘moulds’. Feeling flash, I melted white and milk chocolate, creating cutlery designs Habitat would be proud of.

With the deluxe range setting in the fridge, I set my skills to cocoa crockery. Without the luxury of a pound shop plate I grabbed one from the kitchen, wrapped it in tin foil, smothered it in freshly melted chocolate paste and popped it in the fridge with the others.

Now for the cocoa candle: I melted five 100g bars of white chocolate, lined an average-sized mug with tin foil then poured in my mixture and left it in the fridge to set. Unfortunately it set a little too well. After four hours in the fridge the chocolate wax was jammed hard in the mug. Drawing on my GCSE chemistry I dipped the vessel in hot water, and out slid the candle – a little sticky perhaps, but nothing five more minutes in the fridge couldn’t fix.

I adorned the lantern with a dark chocolate wick and, taking Heston’s lead, piped some would-be wax trails down the side with a bit more melted chocolate and a make-shift piping bag.

The rest of my cutlery took less than two hours to set and I was pretty pleased with the results. The fork was a little wonky and the plate had a slight anaglyptic effect but hey, I call that style. And best of all, as I tucked in to some steaming rice pudding and my spoon began to melt into my dessert, I rejoiced at the fact I was eating the washing up.

Chocolate cutlery recipe

Makes a knife, fork, spoon and teaspoon

Ingredients
500g milk chocolate or 250g milk and 250g white
Water to boil

Method: How to make chocolate cutlery
Break the milk chocolate into chunks and place in a heatproof glass bowl over a pan of boiling water. Heat the pan and chocolate over a medium heat and stir until the chocolate is a silky smooth paste. (If you’re doing white chocolate and milk you’ll have to repeat the process for the white chocolate in a separate bowl.)

Take the chocolate off the heat and allow to cool slightly but keep stirring so it doesn’t set. Pour the chocolate into your moulds then place in the fridge to set for about 2 hours. If using both chocolate types, pour the milk chocolate into the top part of the mould and the white into the bottom handle-shaped part. To limit the chances of snapping make sure you place ample amounts of chocolate on the overlap, preferably before either type has begun to set.

When the chocolate has set it should pop out of the moulds pretty easily. If the cutlery is close together the chocolate may have merged together but can be easily separated if you take a sharp knife and gently carve the pieces apart.

Chocolate plate recipe

Makes one plate

Ingredients
300g milk chocolate
Water to boil

Method: How to make a chocolate plate
Break the milk chocolate into chunks and place in a heatproof glass bowl over a pan of boiling water. Heat the pan and chocolate over a medium heat and stir until the chocolate is a silky smooth paste.

Cover a small plate in tin foil then cover with the melted chocolate paste taking care to make a thick covering of the plate lip and sloping side, as these are the hardest parts to set.

Leave in the fridge to set for about 2 hours. When completely set, carefully turn the plate upside down and the chocolate version should slip easily away.

Chocolate candle recipe

Makes one candle

Ingredients
600g white chocolate
20g dark chocolate
Water to boil

Method: How to make a chocolate candle
Break 500g of the white chocolate into chunks and place in a heatproof glass bowl over a pan of boiling water. Heat the pan and chocolate over a medium heat and stir until the chocolate is a silky smooth paste.

Meanwhile line the bottom and side of a cylinder shaped mug with tin foil, so the foil sits about 2cm higher than the rim of the mug. Pour the chocolate mixture into the mug and leave to set in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

When set, ease the tin foil and chocolate away from the mug. If it has set hard, place the mug in a jug of hot water and the chocolate should begin to give slightly, so you can slip it out without losing its form then quickly place it back in the fridge to re-set.

Melt the remaining white chocolate following step 1 above then spoon into a piping bag or a cone of baking parchment snipped at the point. Squeeze dribbles of white chocolate down the edge of the candle to represent dribbles of wax.

Finally, melt the dark chocolate as instructed above and, using a knife, gently place a peak of melted chocolate in the centre of the candle’s top to represent a wick.

Find out how Heston did it on Heston’s Medieval Feast.

Deep in the rolling hills of Devon we were warming up for the imminent arrival of Christmas with snow, mince pies, turkey, a trip to the Christmas tree forest…. and a film crew!

Punctuated by the delivery of fridges, cherry pickers, Christmas lights and more, the house was filling up with all things Christmassy. The only thing missing was Willie…

Blue Peter preparation
The kids and I set about preparing the house. Being so far from the jungle and still wanting to have that Caribbean festive feel we started by covering the banisters in miles and miles of red, green and yellow ribbon. While the children cut ribbon and tied themselves up, in fits of giggles, I set about making an advent calendar and wreath for the door.

The advent calendar became a Blue Peter nightmare. It involved a spice rack and large piece of card, and then drawing, painting and glittering a twinkling town with Santa on his sleigh. Behind each door was a drawer with goodies inside. Late into the wee hours of the morning I worked… loving it, but fraught with its demand.

Willie, between the usual lengthy shifts at the factory, was busy organising his favourite thing – food glorious food.

Where’s Willie?
Over the week leading up to filming the house became stuffed to the brim with goodies but there was still no real sign of Willie… The Christmas crew were due to arrive early in the morning so we went to bed.

At 6.45am the alarm went off and just as the coffee was brewing the headlights of some eight large vehicles pulled into the driveway. The sound of familiar voices was a comfort, but as I was running late, I pelted upstairs in my dressing gown to wake the children. They were not amused. It was the first day of half term and they were having to get up earlier than on a school day. Fortunately the excitement of seeing the crew sustained them and they headed downstairs for a makeshift breakfast in the sitting room while the set up of lights, cameras and general rushing around ensued.

Before we knew it we were changing from one outfit to another, looking for lost shoes and boots (usually the dog’s department), monitoring the heat loss of the house as doors seemed to be constantly wide open, moving furniture, tidying as we went, and trying to keep an eye on three very over excited children. But where was Willie?

Suddenly he arrived from the factory and leapt onto the set to begin the making of various chocolate recipes.

Feeling sheepish
On the second day a whole sheep arrived – dead thankfully – and ready to be prepared by Willie and cooked for all our friends at our Christmas party. Little did the guests know when they arrived that their dinner was going to be dug up from the pit outside in which it had been cooking for 16 hours! The children all stood around in amazement as Willie and our friend Rob started digging and revealed this culinary delight which went down well amongst the ravenous party-goers with a glass of mulled wine. To add to the excitement it began to snow a little which was all that we had been hoping for to make it a truly Christmassy experience.

Programmes based on cooking always mean there is plenty of food about. But imagine my surprise when I went into the catering kitchen and saw four robust turkeys for the five of us! In order to have the shots run seamlessly, most dishes are shot in varying degrees of readiness. So there was one turkey to be prepared, one being cooked, one for the pack shot, and one for the next day to cook and actually eat at the Christmas dinner! Not wanting anything to go to waste the crew plus family, ate more turkey, Brussel’s sprouts and mince pies than is usually required…

Christmas trees, stockings… and hotdogs
Great winds and some freak weather meant that every morning when we came downstairs the 18-foot Christmas tree outside had blown down! It was quite an ordeal to get it back up. For the party we decorated it with stockings made from the hessian cacao sacks and stuffed them with nuts, tangerines and chocolate, chocolate, chocolate.

To wrap it up, Willie’s chocolatey Christmas was perfect. In between the shooting we all had a wonderful time, with snowball fights, a Christmas party and Christmas dinner with the family. The highlight was probably a visit to the Bath Christmas Fair where we rode the Carousel and ate hotdogs… and more chocolate, naturally!

Catch up on all the goings on during Willie’s Perfect Chocolate Christmas

For a list of Willie’s chocolate stockists, please see www.venezuelanblack.com