Bury St Edmunds announces its arrival with a sign declaring it a jewel in the crown of Suffolk. There are other jewels in Suffolk, but I do love Bury. For one it has a fine bakers (Woosters, makers of the morning bun, a ménage à trois of cinnamon bun/doughnut/croissant, which sells out almost the moment it makes it on to the counter); it has one of the best cinemas in the country (Abbeygate), rivalled only by London’s Barbican and the best bacon (pretzel) roll at No 5 Angel Hill. In all my years living in Suffolk I had not gone to its farmer’s market as my own town has a fine one. But a few weeks ago I did, specifically because I had heard a new chocolatier was in town called Xocolat by Louis Beckett.
There on display – and boy were they generous with the tasters – were the chocolates, bright as dolls’ eyes, and Pollocked with colour. At 11am I’m not overly fond of chocolate testing, but I tried the caramel macchiato, which was wonderful, so well judged and with punchy coffee riding high on the caramel. I got my husband to try the strawberries and cream, which he declared delicious and not too sweet, no mean feat when marrying fruit and chocolate. And then I bought two bars to test at home: peanut butter caramel (yum) and white chocolate with hazelnut praline (interesting, but too sweet for me). There were two other white chocolates, too, which I left behind. This is the place to look for interesting bars of the stuff. I regretted all week not buying the one with Biscoff. Prices start at £6.
Follow Annalisa on Twitter @AnnalisaB
