Perfect Box of Chocolates

The Perfect Box of Chocolates

For a Mint, Chocolatiers Go Bespoke

By J.S. MARCUS

From left, Patrick Roger 'Colours', 'Embrace' and marrons glacés.

When it comes to the age-old question of which European chocolate is the best, it may simply be a matter of taste. In Belgium, the chocolate is sweeter, and in France, more bitter; Italians err on the side of boldness, the Swiss on the side of creaminess. But in recent years, all have been revolutionized as chocolatiers complement the art of making chocolate with the art of finding beans.
The precise sourcing of cocoa beans from previously unimagined corners of the tropics has led to new palettes of flavors and complicated labels. In response, chocolate lovers have become ever more demanding, as they calibrate the cocoa content of their candy bars and crave fresh flavor combinations.

Beschle 'Milk and White' collection.

Now, for a small group of aficionados with a bit of time and a lot of spare change, that novelty has come home to roost. Some of Europe's premier chocolate labels are offering a bespoke service that allows customers to adjust the look and tweak the taste of their truffles and pralines. With firms like Switzerland's Confiserie Sprüngli and Belgium's Mary, chocolatier to the Belgian royal family, willing to collaborate with clients, it is as if Château Mouton Rothschild decided to let customers design their own wine bottle, or ramp up the Cabernet Franc in their personal cuvée.
These chocolate makers often require a substantial minimum order, measurable in the tens of kilograms, and delivery times of a month or more. But if you get started now, you can have a unique and delicious holiday present for a few lucky friends and family members.

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Before the era of single-estate bars and tamarind-laced ganaches, Sprüngli's freshly made truffes du jour were the ne plus ultra of the chocolate world. Sprüngli is still tempting chocolate lovers with its truffles, but the company now also lets you get in on the act by specifying select flavors or ingredients, as well as shapes and decoration. "There are no limits," says Sprüngli Chief Executive Tomas Prenosil. Past orders have included pralines in the shape of racing cars. Sometimes, just changing the form can create a subtle new flavor. "Shape can affect taste," he says. Clients in the Middle East and India like to have bespoke packaging, like treasure chests of chocolates wrapped in silk.

Mary 'Caraques Noir'

Sprüngi's in-house chocolatiers will send you a prototype batch to sample before filling and shipping your request. It will consider orders as small as five kilograms, says Mr. Prenosil, but costs typically run between 3,000 Swiss francs and 5,000 francs (€2,490-€4,150).
Other artisanal Swiss chocolate makers offering bespoke services include Basel's Beschle, a traditional family firm, and Läderach, located in a village in the canton of Glarus, with a strong following in Switzerland and Germany. Beschle requires a minimum order of 50 kilograms, at about €60 per kilo, for personalized ingredients, and 10 francs a praline to customize the look of the chocolate. Läderach has a 500-piece minimum, which you can then distribute into some two dozen 18-piece boxes; price depends on ingredients.
In Belgium, Flanders's master chocolatier, Frederic Blondeel, has garnered attention for his use of herbs and spices. He whips up his creations on the Belgian coast, where he lives, and sells them at his flagship shop in Brussels. His chocolates with coriander ganache aren't being made this season, but he will concoct a special batch for you (30-kilogram minimum, at €60 per kilo). He also offers a wider bespoke service upon request—and consideration. "Sometimes I refuse," he admits.

Amedei 'Porcelana' chocolate bar.

Don't expect to find any newfangled flavors at Mary, the Brussels chocolatier. "We do the reverse," says Olivier Borgerhoff, Mary's managing director. He says Mary is "the most traditional chocolate maker in Belgium," with some recipes dating back 90 years. Everything is handmade, so bespoke orders are easy—if Mary agrees. "We do what interests us," says Mr. Borgerhoff. "If a king or a president asks us to make something special, we will." For bespoke orders, he says, "write us an email or call us up." Once a week, the staff meet and consider requests. Orders are pricey, even by bespoke standards: "We will probably start at €5,000 for 50 kilos."
In France, Patrick Roger offers a bespoke service, and even Jacques Genin, the self-taught genius of French chocolate, is open to customizing his creations. "If someone wants a special order," says his spokesperson, Emmanuelle Gillardo, "Jacques could do it."
Many fine chocolatiers, however, aren't open to suggestion. Amedei, Tuscany's high-end chocolate maker, won't consider creating a special flavor or adding a certain ingredient. But the company will consider requests for bespoke wrapping of its chocolate bars, like the "Porcelana," made of Venezuelan Criollo beans and considered the world's most exclusive chocolate bar, currently selling online for €13.80.
For a personalized selection of Europe's best artisanal chocolate, consider looking across the Atlantic and ordering your gifts from San Francisco's CocoaBella Chocolates, where you can combine Läderach and Mary with chocolate from Italy's Maglio, and then add in the best of America's growing artisanal chocolate scene, which includes Kansas City, Mo.'s Christopher Elbow, whose caramels feature strawberries and balsamic vinegar. CocoaBella will deliver by courier to Europe, with shipping costs starting at around $150 (€117).
Christine Olson Giebel, a self-described chocolate lover in California's Silicon Valley, says she regularly sends out personalized combinations of chocolate from CocoaBella. "They have the world's best purveyors all under one roof," she says, "and there is nothing like the gift of chocolate."

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