As you all know, at The Amazing Blog we like to treat ourselves to delicious delicacies - we all love our afternoon tea and coffee, especially if we've got yummy bits to go with them. And so we were rather excited to receive a beautifully wrapped box of Bianca Marton's Handmade Luxury Truffles particularly after hearing so many good things about them.

Bianca Marton offers great handmade dairy free chocolate truffles made with high quality chocolates and 100% natural ingredients, organically grown when possible, and suitable for vegans. She makes 16 different types of delicious truffles: Strawberry, Summer Berry, Dark Orange, Cinnamon, Poppy Seed, Hazelnut, Whiskey, Champagne, Unicum, Plum Schnapps, Sea-Salted Caramel, Organic Dark Chocolate, Fresh Mint, Mango and Chili, Coconut and Dark Raspberry - all of which are as scrumptious as they sound! Our personal favourites were the Sea-Salted Caramel and the Dark Orange, both of which had a rich flavour and just the right amount of chocolate.

You can purchase these exquisite truffles from Bianca Marton's website - choosing between Fruity Dairy Free, Dairy Free or After Dinner Special (these contain alcohol) selection boxes of 12, 18 or 24 truffles; or you can also choose individual truffles.

At The Amazing Blog we think Bianca Marton's Handmade Truffles are perfect for dessert, to go with your tea or simply as a self-indulgent treat if you're feeling particularly decadent!

The box of 24 retails for £25, the 18 one for £19 and the 12 one for £13. If you wish to purchase them individually, each truffle is £1.50.

So, it’s the beginning of not only a New Year but a brand-spanking new decade as well and as usual the array of newspapers and magazines lining the shelves of newsagents are bursting with ideas of how to ‘lose that stubborn stone’, ‘quit smoking for good’ and ‘tighten the purse strings in 2011’. All this talk of abstaining is enough to put anyone off making a New Year’s resolution. After all, where’s the fun in sacrificing something you love, be it chocolate, cigarettes or over-priced handbags? Even though it may be bad for your waistline, health or bank balance (delete as applicable).

This year we’ve decided to do things a bit differently and are, in fact, giving up giving up. Forget it being the year of austerity, this year, for everyone at Amazing PR at least, it’s going to be a year of indulgences. And indulge we shall sampling the creme de la creme of all things decadent; the richest of chocolate, the finest of spas and the most mouth watering of cocktails that this city has to offer. Our attempt at living a champagne lifestyle on a lemonade budget may not last a year, but we’ll sure as hell give it a try!

Having piled on an impressive ten pounds since the beginning of December, I’m going to have to stop gorging on all the Christmas left-overs I can get my hands on; no more chocolate pennies, selection boxes or Quality Street. I’m still bloated from all the colourings, additives and sugar, so my first quest of the New Year was to seek out a chocolate to champion all others. No more part hydrogenated fats, part plastic, I wanted the real deal.

Here at Amazing PR we love Marc Demarquette, creater of the finest British artisan chocolate. According to Demarquette there are health benefits to his chocolates, and lots of them! From boosting energy to acting as a form of anti-depressant, improving memory, attention span, reaction time and problems-solving skills. This, chocolate fans, is reason enough to indulge. Diet schmiet!

I stuggled over what to order, so tempting is the array of truffles, caramels and chocolate boxes on offer and all so beautifully presented. After much deliberation I opt for the Cornish Clotted Cream and Sea Salt Spread, priced at a very reasonable £10. And how is it eaten? According to the website ‘It’s great on freshly toasted muffins or baguettes, or as a pancake or waffle topping. Layered inbetween a sponge cake or piped into cupcakes, or gently warmed and poured over ice-cream...’ And so I wait with baited breath for my parcel to arrive so I can try out all of the above. Well, it would be rude not to!

A very happy New Year indeed!

We are feeling there must be some kind of meeting of minds/psychic connection/hocus pocus going on between us and the lovely Demarquette as this post was written over a week ago and we hadn't mentioned anything to them about it. However what should pop through our letterbox this morning but a box of Demarquette Dom Perignon truffles! Spooky stuff *said through a mouthful of truffle* many thanks for getting our year of decadence off to a cracking start!

Bianca Marton's Fine Handmade Chocolates

2011 A Year of Indulgence...Well Why Not?!