Yorkshire has never been short of character.

Its landscapes, ingredients, traditions and distinctive food culture have inspired generations of cooks, bakers and makers.

For me, as a Yorkshire chef and chocolatier, they also provide an extraordinary palette of flavours from which to create chocolate.

That thinking led to The Yorkshire Collection by Coeur de Xocolat: six handcrafted pralines, each inspired by a different ingredient, tradition or place within the county.

Some are reassuringly familiar.

One or two might make you wonder whether they have any business being inside a chocolate at all.

That is part of the fun.

Because chocolate can do far more than simply taste sweet. It can tell a story about a place.

And these six chocolates tell six very different Yorkshire stories.

Ampleforth Cider Caramel

Our journey begins among the orchards of Ampleforth.

Cider and caramel are natural partners. Caramel brings deep sweetness and richness, while the cider provides acidity, freshness and the unmistakable character of apple.

In this praline, the cider helps prevent the caramel from becoming overly sweet, giving the centre a more balanced profile with suggestions of cooked apple and autumn fruit.

It is smooth, comforting and rooted firmly in the Yorkshire countryside.

For me, this is the sort of chocolate that immediately evokes orchards, harvest and the changing seasons.

Ginger Parkin

Few foods evoke a Yorkshire autumn quite like parkin.

Traditionally associated with Bonfire Night, this wonderfully sticky ginger cake is one of those foods whose aroma can transport you instantly back to cold November evenings.

My Ginger Parkin praline takes that familiar combination of warming ginger and spice and translates it into chocolate.

The aim isn't simply to make a ginger-flavoured ganache.

It is to capture something of the memory of parkin: the warmth of the spice, its comforting richness and that feeling of cutting into a traditional cake and sharing it around.

The result is a rich, warmly spiced chocolate with a distinctly Yorkshire soul.

 

Rhubarb Triangle

If there is one ingredient almost inseparable from West Yorkshire food heritage, it is forced rhubarb.

The celebrated Rhubarb Triangle became famous for producing brilliantly coloured stems with a distinctive balance of sweetness and sharp acidity.

That acidity is particularly useful in chocolate.

Rich chocolate needs contrast, and rhubarb provides it beautifully.

Our Rhubarb Triangle praline uses that natural sharpness to cut through the richness of the chocolate, creating a centre that feels bright, lively and fresh.

There is nostalgia in the flavour, but it doesn't feel old-fashioned.

Instead, it demonstrates why regional ingredients can work so well in contemporary chocolate making.

This is our tribute to one of Yorkshire's most recognisable ingredients.

 

Yorkshire Lavender

Lavender is an ingredient that demands restraint.

Use too much and a chocolate can quickly become perfumed and overpowering.

Use it carefully and it can be wonderfully delicate.

For our Yorkshire Lavender praline, lavender is paired with wildflower honey and our house dark-chocolate ganache.

The honey softens and rounds the cacao, while the lavender contributes a gentle floral finish rather than dominating the chocolate.

The result is elegant, fragrant and subtle.

For me, it has something of a Yorkshire hillside in summer about it: floral, warm and quietly aromatic.

 

Salted Liquorice

Yorkshire's relationship with liquorice runs deep, particularly through Pontefract and its historic association with liquorice confectionery.

It is also an ingredient that works remarkably well with chocolate.

Liquorice has depth, bitterness, sweetness and an almost earthy complexity. Combine that with dark chocolate and you have two powerful flavours capable of complementing one another beautifully.

For our Salted Liquorice praline, a measured touch of salt sharpens the flavour and keeps the centre from becoming too sweet.

The result is dark, distinctive and slightly mysterious.

It probably won't be the first chocolate chosen by everybody.

But for the adventurous chocolate lover, it may well become a favourite.

“Ina Pickle” Piccalilli 

And then we come to the chocolate that usually raises the most eyebrows.

“Ina Pickle” Piccalilli.

Yes. Piccalilli.

Inside a chocolate.

Before dismissing the idea, think about what piccalilli actually contains.

Mustard.

Spice.

Sweetness.

Acidity.

Those are all flavour characteristics capable of working with chocolate.

The acidity cuts through fat and sweetness. Mustard contributes warmth and pungency. Spice provides complexity.

Suddenly, the idea isn't quite as strange as it first appears.

Piccalilli is deeply familiar on Yorkshire tables, particularly alongside cold meats, cheeses and a good pork pie.

Turning those flavours into a praline creates a completely different experience.

It is sweet.

Savoury.

Sharp.

Spiced.

Unexpected.

People tend to approach this one cautiously.

Then they taste it.

And whether it becomes their favourite or not, it is very often the chocolate they remember.

That, to me, is exactly what an interesting chocolate should do.

Six Chocolates, Six Yorkshire Stories

The Yorkshire Collection isn't simply intended to be a box of attractive chocolates.

It is a flavour journey through the county.

From the orchards of Ampleforth...

to the forced-rhubarb sheds of West Yorkshire.

From lavender fields...

to memories of Bonfire Night parkin.

From Pontefract liquorice...

to that unmistakable jar of piccalilli sitting beside a Yorkshire pork pie.

Every flavour has a point of reference.

Every chocolate has a story behind it.

Some are intentionally comforting.

Others deliberately challenge expectations about what belongs inside a chocolate shell.

Both have their place.

Because great chocolate should give pleasure.

But it can also provoke curiosity.

Create conversation.

Bring back memories.

And connect flavour with landscape, culture and place.

 

Made in Yorkshire

Being a chocolatier isn't simply about understanding cacao.

It is also about understanding the ingredients, people and places around you.

Yorkshire gives us a remarkable culinary vocabulary to work with, and The Yorkshire Collection allows me to bring some of those flavours together through chocolate.

It is not an attempt to make Yorkshire fashionable.

Yorkshire doesn't need that.

It is simply a celebration of a county with an extraordinary sense of identity and a rich food heritage worth tasting.

Six flavours.

Six Yorkshire stories.

One distinctive chocolate collection.

The Yorkshire Collection by Coeur de Xocolat

Ampleforth Cider Caramel • Ginger Parkin • Rhubarb Triangle • Yorkshire Lavender • Salted Liquorice • “Ina Pickle” Piccalilli