Once upon time in a land called Londinium, there lived a fair knight blogger named Angie SilverSpoon of Victoria. Now Angie had many tasks throughout the kingdom of Londinium, one of them being boldly reviewing restaurants and hotels to make sure that they were fit for the Queen.
One day her Royal Highness called Angie into her chamber…
‘Angie SilverSpoon of Victoria, I have a quest for you’
Angie was very excited, she loved a quest…
‘I want you to find me the ultimate guilty pleasure; It’s nearly Easter and I want you to find very best chocolate dessert in all of the land.’
It would be a tough quest, but a worthy one, and Angie was ready for the challenge.
For many years a brave knight honorary blogger, Sir SilverSpoon of Finchley (Sir S for short) had been courting Angie and in May of that year they were wed and headed off to the New World on their honeymoon. One of their first stops was the Napa Valley, a land rich in good food and wine. They began the quest in the French Laundry, a restaurant that had been bestowed with three stars of Michelin. After eating eight courses of food Angie was very full, but then this was placed before her….
‘I’m so full, yet I must eat at least one bite, it’s imperative to my quest!’
Angie boldly ate a forkful of the hazelnut chocolate cake and then something magical happened…she was able to finish the whole thing! ‘What sorcery is this?’ thought Angie as she mentally added the incredibly silky smooth and decadent chocolate dream to her list of the ultimate guilty pleasures.
Next Angie and Sir S departed to New Amsterdam (a city now know as New York, in honour of the Duke of York). New Amsterdam was also said to be plentiful in fine restaurants and eating establishments and once again Angie chose to continue her quest at La Bernadin, a restaurant crowned with three stars by Michelin.
When it came to dessert, Angie knew just what to choose…a milk chocolate mousse with dark caramel, candied peanuts and warm malted caramel that had been fashioned in the perfect sphere. It looked like a dragon’s egg resting on a little nest. Angie speared the surface of the orb and and allowed the fluffy mousse and warm caramel to melt in her mouth…and at that moment, she knew she’d found something that her majesty would totally adore.
Still in New Amsterdam Angie and Sir S ventured to Hakkasan, a restaurant that served exotic cuisine from the Orient. Hakkasan was a very special restaurant for Angie and Sir S as they’d dined there early on in their courtship, and Angie knew she would find a delicious morsel there to add to her list.
Angie totally embraced this chocolate delight; it was a ganache prepared with coffee and salted chocolate, surely the most ideal flavour combination in all the land? The gorgeous morsel was also topped with black sesame rice puffs, meyer lemon sorbet, a chocolate cigarette and caramelised popcorn. Is there anything better then that contrast of silky smooth melt-in-the-mouth chocolate and the satisfying crunch of the ideal accompaniment?
Angie and Sir S’s sojourn in the New World was at an end and they had not yet found the chocolate confection perfection which they sought. So they returned to the land of Londinium. When the Feast of St Valentine dawned, Angie and Sir S decided to return to the lodging where they celebrated their marriage.
The lodging was a beautiful palatial building known as The Dorchester and Sir S and Angie had danced the night away in their beautiful ballroom to the songs of a wonderful band of merry minstrels (the singers, not the chocolate). Tonight they decided to start their evening in a tavern and supped on glasses on pink bubbly mead.
Not quite…rumours abounded throughout the land of Londonium of a Golden Pudding served at Bob Bob Ricard…though Angie had seen images of this fabled dessert but she had never sampled it for herself.
Joining Angie and Sir S in the final trial of the quest were a fair Lady and a fine Gentleman, both also bloggers who’d undertaken may restaurants reviews and were well suited for the task of judging a chocolate dessert. After dining on sumptuous victuals, including a pie stuffed with the finest chicken and mushrooms, the Golden Pudding was brought to the table.
Though the lighting was low, the sun-like orb glimmered and sparkled and they knew that it contained a little bit of magic…
Hidden inside was a clever concoction a chocolate mousse, chocolate brownie, meringue, passion fruit and jelly. It was like a wicked witches brew that had cast a spell on me…everything about it the appearance, the smell and the taste…it was was dessert perfection. I’d finally found it the Ultimate Guilty Pleasure.
The next day Angie reported her findings to the Queen, who went to sample the Golden Pudding at Bob Bob Ricard. Totally blown away by it’s splendour, she immediately awarded Angie with an OBE for Services to Blogging and declared the day a national holiday.
‘We will call it National Chocolate Day’
And that is how National Chocolate Day came about in Britain, and you have Angie SilverSpoon to thank for it ;). How do you celebrate National Chocolate Day?
This little fairytale is part the travel link up hosted by Kiwi Princesses, Rebecca, Emma and Kelly and their guest host Polly. The theme is guilty pleasures, and you can be as creative as you like with your blog post. Between the 1st and 7th of April just pop your post up on the widget found on the hosting blogs.
I can’t wait to read everyone’s ideas!
