I have always maintained that I don’t want to make just make chocolates but to try and make chocolates that you cannot get anywhere else so I only use fresh ingredients and no preservatives. What this means is that the fresh truffles have a limited shelf life (you need to think general baking rather than sweets) as they are made of great chocolate covertures, cream, butter and fresh flavours; raspberries, fresh herbs, spices, friend fruit and nuts.

In response to a number of friends who cannot do dairy products I have been developing some dairy free options using a mixture of soya cream, coconut butter, and almond and hazelnut milk. Thanks Anna for the difficult and arduous job of being chief tester and assessor of all things dairy free!

Where I currently fail is the nut allergy issue. With only one kitchen and set of storage options there are days when I produce without having nuts around but cannot, at the moment, guarantee a nut free environment.

Here’s the list of stuff I have used and will continue to use

• Valrhona Covertures and cocoa products (www.en.valrhona.com)
• Fresh cream in all its form (whipping, double, clotted)
• Butter, cocoa butter and coconut butter
• Almond and hazelnut milk, soya cream
• Cocoa Butter
• Raspberries, passion fruit, fresh ginger
• Fresh mint, rosemary, basil, chillies, extra virgin olive oil
• Saffron, cardamon, black pepper, ground ginger
• Almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts
• Dried fruit: apricots, dates, raisins
• Sugar, glucose syrup, maple syrup