Press Information
November 2005

Short cut to Copenhagen's Chocolate Kings and Queens

These days Copenhagen is a hot bed of chocolate indulgence with numerous master chocolatiers striving to make the finest chocolates for an ever more enthusiastic and knowledgeable market. Many are, however, hard to find and can be easily overlooked by visitors, so in the interests of research here comes a short cut to Copenhagen's cocoa kings.

Copenhagen's current crop of chocolate makers often blend the skills and traditions of Europe's best chocolatiers with a contemporary experimental curiosity. Take for example Rasmus Bo Bojesen, one of the city's most famous chocolate innovators. Bojesen trained in France under various Michelin-starred chefs, most notably the famous chocolatier Bernachon, and returned to Denmark determined to transform the way the Danes looked at chocolate. . Now Rasmus Bo Bojesen has entered into an unusual collaboration with Anton Berg, a Danish chocolate producer of long standing. Together they are producing an exclusive new chocolate based on forresteros beans from Ghana and noble beans from Ecuador. Anton Berg’s usual production will be interrupted a couple of times a year to produce several tons of raw chocolate for Rasmus Bo Bojesen – the finished luxury chocolate with an up to 70% concentration of cocoa will be on sale through the Irma super market chain from the autumn of 2006

Bojesen's success over many years: filled chocolates often feature unusual flavours such as thyme, Earl Grey, fennel, Ricard and chilli, and all are made with special Venezuelan cocoa beans with no additives or preservatives. Bojesen chocolates can be sampled at his recently opened shop on Frederiksborggade.

Another of Copenhagen's famed chocolate-innovators is Peter Beier. Beier's expensive, yet ultra-high quality chocolates can be found in central Copenhagen in a tiny shop just off Strøget. PB Chokolade, next door to La Glace (see below), is run by Mr and Mrs Bagger, who realised every chocoholic's dream when they retired from 30 years working as butchers to indulge their passion for chocolate full time. The shop features a traffic-stopping chocolate fountain in the window and offers the full range of Beier's 70%-cocoa solid chocolates filled with cream, truffle, fruits, spirits, spices and nuts. There are three other Peter Beier shops tucked away, well off the tourist trail in Østerbro and Frederiksberg, all of which are worth checking out. The Østerbro and Frederiksberg branches boasts a café where you can sample eight different flavours of hot chocolate - including one with chilli, inspired by the Incas - milkshakes and a chocolate fondue. Beier also runs occasional tastings and demonstrations.

Summerbird Chokolaterie is located among an unlikely clientele of fashion models and designers on trendy Kronprinsensgade, and in an appropriately minimalist and stylish boutique. Made on the island of Fyn, Summerbird chocolates often feature marzipan or nougat, but their speciality is the flødeboller. Theirs is perhaps the ultimate incarnation of this Danish confectionary favourite, being made with crisp, dark 'grand cru' chocolate domes, the traditional sweet, white filling as light as air, and a marzipan base. As well as being served at one of Copenhagen's finest restaurants, the Michelin-starred Kong Hans Kælder, Summerbird chocolates, desserts and ice creams can also be bought at the renowned gourmet supermarket, Løgismose, a favourite with food lovers throughout the city. Their chocolate table also features various temptations from the famous French chocolate firm, Valhrona, among them their trademark railway sleeper-sized bars of cooking chocolate.  Recently a new outlet was opened on Værnedamsvej - Copenhagen's ‘Little Paris'.

Summerbird recently took over Kransekagehuset. Kransekagehuset specialises in the traditional Danish kransekage, but its small, exclusive selection of home made chocolates, diligently crafted by a team of eight confectioners on the premises, have a strong following among locals and passing tourists alike. You can be sure, their rum and raisin truffles are choctastic.

It is fitting that one of Copenhagen's most revered chocolate makers can be found amid the elegant fin de siècle apartments on that most Parisian of Copenhagen's boulevards, Frederiksberg Allé. The queues outside Frederiksberg Chokolade in the run up to Easter are testament to the exquisite quality of its chocolates, which are hand made on the premises. Tina Jacobsen (known as Copenhagen's Chocolate Queen) in 2002 won The Danish Chocolate Championship. Some of the 70 different types of chocolate available here are based on recipes dating back to 1923, but equally, Tina often tries out new recipes on her regular customers. The shop's speciality, Jubilæums Tærter are made from an 80-year-old recipe and, as with all of her chocolates, use the exclusive Fortina chocolate.

Alida Marstrand is the oldest of Copenhagen's chocolate temples, dating from 1930. It is easy to miss this small kælder (cellar) shop amid the stately grandeur of Copenhagen's royal quarter, Frederiksstaden, but it is well worth venturing in. Tove Marstrand, daughter of the original owner, continues to hand-make everything in the shop.

Cafes and cake shops for chocolate lovers

Amokka is famed for its chocolate creations, which are made with Valhrona chocolate. Check out their chocolate pasta, chocolate Happiness Pastilles (billed as an anti-depressant!) and own-brand chocolate body paint, on sale in their boutique in Grønnegade in the city centre, and at various stores throughout the city.

You would be hard pressed to nominate a finer cake shop in Copenhagen than the venerable La Glace. Located just off Strøget, the city's famous pedestrian shopping street, La Glace has been tempting passers by with its sensational cakes since 1870. The cake shop makes special occasion recipes, for instance they have made cakes in celebration of the newly engaged royal couple, Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary, and confected a commemorative Hans Christian Andersen cake to mark his bicentenary in 2005. La Glace is also worth a visit for its marvellous hot chocolate alone. And needless to say, chocolate features as a vital ingredient in much of its cake repertoire.

In Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, the tables are set on a balcony overlooking the glass roofed palm gardens, complete with neo-classical statues and fountains. Mette Blomsterberg’s cakes from the café’s own patisserie are all home made and prepared as you wait

Copenhagen's Chocolatiers: