Chocolate
Press Information
December 2008
Short cut to Copenhagen's Chocolate Kings and Queens
These days Copenhagen is a hot bed of chocolate indulgence with numerous master chocolatiers striving to make the finest chocolates for an ever more enthusiastic and knowledgeable market. Many are, however, hard to find and can be easily overlooked by visitors, so in the interests of research here comes a short cut to Copenhagen's cocoa kings.
Copenhagen's current crop of chocolate makers often blend the skills and traditions of Europe's best chocolatiers with a contemporary experimental curiosity. Take for example Thomas Herman at NIMB's Sweet Memories.
Søde Minder (Sweet memories) are hopefully something we all have brought along with us. The best memories from Thomas Herman's chocolate universe are gathered in a creative chocolate box, which bears the name "Søde Minder". The box holds four varieties of chocolate each named after memories of his childhood. For example you will find "Rødgrød" (Red pudding), which his Grandmothers use to make - is in this version transformed into a cone of white chocolate with a delicious heart of red berries and lots of white chocolate. This interpretation of classics follows through in all of the Søde Minder chocolates. Every single piece is pure in expression and taste, yet stuffed with Thomas Herman's best memories. Within each box you will find a small pamphlet, illustrating the chocolates, the pamphlet also provides you with recipes for each chocolate.The Søde Minder box can be purchased at the Summerbird Chocolaterie in NIMB, where you also can find the unique Grand Cru cream ball with seasonal fruit filling.
The Chocolaterie is placed behind a large glass wall making it an instant attraction, watching the 4-5 pastry chefs at work. If you are lucky you can buy your fruit filled Grand Cru cream ball "a la minute" - however do not despair if this is not possible, as the Grand Cru cream balls are made fresh daily.
The chocolate production is located within the Løgismose Deli at NIMB. The Chocolaterie is placed behind a large glass wall making it an instant attraction, watching the 4-5 pastry chefs at work. If you are lucky you can buy your fruit filled Grand Cru cream ball "a la minute" - however do not despair if this is not possible, as the Grand Cru cream balls are made fresh daily.
By the checkout counters, you will find a section of large windows showing off the in house dairy - Løgismose Mejeri, producing fresh organic milk, butter and other dairy products. These are of course available for purchase in the deli.
Rasmus Bo Bojesen, one of the city's most famous chocolate innovators. Bojesen trained in France under various Michelin-starred chefs, most notably the famous chocolatier Bernachon, and returned to Denmark determined to transform the way the Danes looked at chocolate. Now Rasmus Bo Bojesen has entered into an unusual collaboration with Anton Berg, a Danish chocolate producer of long standing. Together they are producing an exclusive new chocolate based on forresteros beans from Ghana and noble beans from Ecuador. Anton Berg's usual production is interrupted a couple of times a year to produce several tons of raw chocolate for Rasmus Bo Bojesen - the finished luxury chocolate with an up to 70% concentration of cocoa has been on sale through the Irma super market chain since 2006.
Bojesen's success over many years: filled chocolates often feature unusual flavours such as thyme, Earl Grey, fennel, Ricard and chilli, and all are made with special Venezuelan cocoa beans with no additives or preservatives. Recently Bojesen opened a shop in Frederiksborggade.
Another of Copenhagen's famed chocolate-innovators is Peter Beier. Beier's expensive, yet ultra-high quality chocolates can be found in central Copenhagen in a tiny shop just off Strøget and now they have outlets in the district of Frederiksberg and Østerbro.
PB Chokolade, next door to La Glace (see below), is run by Mr and Mrs Bagger, who realised every chocoholic's dream when they retired from 30 years working as butchers to indulge their passion for chocolate full time. The shop features a traffic-stopping chocolate fountain in the window and offers the full range of Beier's 70%-cocoa solid chocolates filled with cream, truffle, fruits, spirits, spices and nuts. There are three other Peter Beier shops tucked away, well off the tourist trail in Østerbro and Frederiksberg, all of which are worth checking out. The Østerbro and Frederiksberg branches boasts a café where you can sample eight different flavours of hot chocolate - including one with chilli, inspired by the Incas - milkshakes and a chocolate fondue. Beier also runs occasional tastings and demonstrations.
Summerbird Chokolaterie is located among an unlikely clientele of fashion models and designers on trendy Kronprinsensgade, and in an appropriately minimalist and stylish boutique. Made on the island of Fyn, Summerbird chocolates often feature marzipan or nougat, but their speciality is the flødeboller. Theirs is perhaps the ultimate incarnation of this Danish confectionary favourite, being made with crisp, dark 'grand cru' chocolate domes, the traditional sweet, white filling as light as air, and a marzipan base. As well as being served at one of Copenhagen's finest restaurants, the Michelin-starred Kong Hans Kælder, Summerbird chocolates, desserts and ice creams can also be bought at the renowned gourmet supermarket, Løgismose at NIMB and on Langelinie, a favourite with food lovers throughout the city. Their chocolate table features various temptations from the famous French chocolate firm, Valhrona, among them their trademark railway sleeper-sized bars of cooking chocolate. Recently a new outlet was opened on Værnedamsvej - Copenhagen's ‘Little Paris'.
Summerbird recently took over Kransekagehuset. Kransekagehuset specialises in the traditional Danish kransekage, but its small, exclusive selection of home made chocolates, diligently crafted by a team of eight confectioners on the premises, have a strong following among locals and passing tourists alike. You can be sure, their rum and raisin truffles are choctastic.
It is fitting that one of Copenhagen's most revered chocolate makers can be found amid the elegant fin de siècle apartments on that most Parisian of Copenhagen's boulevards, Frederiksberg Allé. The queues outside Frederiksberg Chokolade in the run up to Easter are testament to the exquisite quality of its chocolates, which are hand made on the premises. Tina Jacobsen (known as Copenhagen's Chocolate Queen) in 2002 won The Danish Chocolate Championship. Some of the 70 different types of chocolate available here are based on recipes dating back to 1923, but equally, Tina often tries out new recipes on her regular customers. The shop's speciality, Jubilæums Tærter are made from an 80-year-old recipe and, as with all of her chocolates, use the exclusive Fortina chocolate.
Alida Marstrand is the oldest of Copenhagen's chocolate temples, dating from 1930. It is easy to miss this small kælder (cellar) shop amid the stately grandeur of Copenhagen's royal quarter, Frederiksstaden, but it is well worth venturing in. Tove Marstrand, daughter of the original owner, continues to hand-make everything in the shop.
Cafes and cake shops for chocolate lovers
Amokka is famed for its chocolate creations, which are made with Valhrona chocolate. Check out their chocolate pasta, chocolate Happiness Pastilles (billed as an anti-depressant!) and own-brand chocolate body paint, on sale in their boutique in Grønnegade in the city centre, and at various stores throughout the city.
You would be hard pressed to nominate a finer cake shop in Copenhagen than the venerable La Glace. Located just off Strøget, the city's famous pedestrian shopping street, La Glace has been tempting passers by with its sensational cakes since 1870. The cake shop makes special occasion recipes, for instance they have made cakes in celebration of the royal couple, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary, confected a commemorative Hans Christian Andersen cake to mark his bicentenary in 2005 that to date has become a La Glace classic, and a cake to celebrate World Outgames 2009. La Glace is also worth a visit for its marvellous hot chocolate alone and needless to say, chocolate features as a vital ingredient in much of its cake repertoire.
In Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, the tables are set on a balcony overlooking the glass roofed palm gardens, complete with neo-classical statues and fountains. Mette Blomsterberg’s cakes from the café’s own patisserie are all home made and prepared as you wait
Copenhagen's Chocolatiers:
|
Summerbird Chocolaterie |
Kransekagehuset Summerbird |
|
Summerbird Chocolaterie |
Amokka |
|
Frederiksberg Chokolade |
La Glace |
|
Bojesen |
NIMB |
|
Alida Marstrand |
Løgismose |
|
Peter Beier Chokolade |
|
