Hilde Devolder Chocolatier november 2021

I am Hilde Devolder and the owner of a chocolate shop with atelier in Ghent since October 2010.

My slogan is:

‘I love chocolate. I love art. I love beauty. So I try to combine all of this in what I make with chocolate in my shop in Ghent, Belgium. And you? Do you like chocolate?’

A passion for healthy organic ingredients and ‘small but excellent’ are my starting points.

That’s why I chose a concept of small chocolates with lots of flavor. This was by minimizing added sugar. So I kill two birds with one stone.
By making small chocolates you can taste more flavors without eating too much chocolate. You can easily taste three different flavors instead of one large chocolate. Occasionally there is a larger chocolate in the box, this is mainly for the visual aspect and so, those who would rather have it pick out a larger chocolate.
By using less sugar is better for everyone’s health. Chocolate is not known as healthy. High-quality chocolate is a real treat.

The chocolates are made mainly with Valrhona chocolate and for the fillings I sometimes use a bean-to-bar chocolate and Casa Luker 1906 chocolate. Furthermore, the ingredients are organic as much as possible and I’m always looking for the highest quality. The hazelnut butter and the vegetable cream are produced by myself.

hilde devolder chocolatier salted caramel

The most popular ones are the lavender chocolate and the salted caramel chocolate.

The lavender chocolate is composed of a white, velvety-smooth chocolate ganache with essential oil of lavender, covered with a thin layer of dark chocolate and decorated with a lavender flower.

The salted caramel is a caramel ganache on the basis of  unrefined cane sugar with hand picked fleur de sel, covered with a thin layer of chocolate and decorated with a few grains of fleur de sel.

For vegans and those with allergens, there is a nice range which varies regularly. It is of course all about chocolates coated with a thin layer of dark chocolate. The ginger chocolate, the single origin Dominican Republic chocolate and the marzipan chocolate are one of them. The ‘Assortiment pralines‘ page provides a complete overview of all chocolates indicating ingredients, allergens and whether they are suitable for vegans.

Besides chocolates you will also find a wide range of other artisan and homemade chocolate products:

  • thin mendiants with nuts, seeds and dried fruits in milk- and dark chocolate
  • tuiles (chocolate discs) with 13 different nuts, seeds and fruits in milk- and dark chocolate
  • thin squares in milk and dark chocolate
  • orangettes, gingerettes, citronettes, bergamottes and pâtes de fruits of lime covered with dark chocolate
  • large and small bars with delicious organic hazelnuts from Piedmont
  • bars of different chocolates and/or origins also a vegan milk chocoalte (almond milk)
  • marzipan bars with dark chocolate
  • marzipan cubes with cacao powder

In addition to this, we also offer an extensive range of Belgian bean-to-bar chocolate, and, by extension, the bean-to-bar chocolate from around the world.
From the United States, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Nicaragua, Grenada, Iceland, Denmark, Scotland, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Switzerland, Poland, Lithuania, Madagascar to Vietnam and Indonesia.
Most of them are not only excellent chocolademakers, but real artists. These bars are often visually very appealing and the packaging is often a graphical treat.
In our webwinkel you will find a selection of our product range.

At our chocolate shop you can also find an extensive range of nuts and fruits with chocolate, crunchy pearls and couverture chocolate to get started with at home.

It’s a challenge to keep in control of everything and still ensure that the offer is regularly adapted to the seasons, trends and ever changing market.
I produce the chocolates and the related products myself in my open atelier and I am solely responsible for the sales in the store.
Besides that there is the website, web shop, administration, maintenance and many solutions to be found in unexpected situations.
Fortunately I can count on help regularly to make sure everything runs smoothly.

I hereby invite you to come out to try and soak up the delicious smell coming from the atelier.

It is also an ideal opportunity to get to know the bean-to-bar chocolates.
Every chocolate maker operates according to its own vision, method and taste. But they all have something in common. They are all very enthusiastic and they work directly with cocoa farmers or are assisted by an expert before purchasing the beans.
This method goes further than fair trade. Because the chain is kept short, you can be sure that you are doing your bit when you buy one of these bars.
There is something for everyone. Also for the people with allergies or for those who like more the white or the milk chocolate.
However, the range of the dark chocolate is the biggest.
For the 100% chocolate fans, its heaven on earth at our place.

If you wish, I like to give some more information about what is written above.

Chocolate products of high quality? What do I mean by that?

  • When you compare the quality of many products that are produced now with the quality of the product that were formerly produced, than you have to admit that we have lost a lot on flavor and healthy ingredients. That’s why I’m  looking for flavorful ingredients and I use as many organic products as much as possible taking into consideration the environment, animals and humans.

Sophisticated chocolate? What do I mean by that?

  • As you can find in the British dictionary, nothing more, nothing less: ‘having refined or cultured tastes and habits’, ‘ appealing to sophisticates’, ‘unduly refined or cultured’, ‘pretentiously or superficially wise’, ‘(of machines, methods, etc) complex and refined’.

Why I do everything myself?

  • For me this works currently the best. I do not run a company, but an exercise in craft. It’s become clear to me over the years that the two go hard together but advices are always welcome ;-).

So why ask for help?

  • During busy periods it is impossible to do this without help. Fortunately I can count on Peter for that, he assists me as much as he can. Thank you for that!

What’s so special about these chocolates?

  • Their own recipes of the chocolates are very simple in composition. I always work with just a few ingredients. For a chocolate with a ganache filling that is: chocolate + vegetable cream + honey + coconut oil + possibly an additional ingredient which is typical for that particular chocolate. For a chocolate with a praline filling that is: butter of nuts or puree of seeds + chocolate + optionally an additional ingredient that is typical for that particular chocolate. For a chocolate with a marzipan that is: marzipan + optionally an ingredient this is typical for that particular chocolate. This method has as a result that the chocolates have a very limited shelf life, a maximum of two weeks.
  • The basic ganache contains only vegetal cream of our own production and honey and coconut oil of organic origin.
  • De basic praline is 100% nut butter or tahine. Hazelnut butter is of own production. Almond butter, cashew butter, pistachio butter puree and tahine are of organic origin. Walnut butter and peanut butter are not of organic origin.
  • The coconut, lavender, rose, cardamom, cranberries, cashew nut, macadamia nut, blueberries, sesame seeds, chia seeds are of organic origin.
  • There are, of course, never added preservatives or flavouring agents.
  • The organic dark chocolate around the chocolates contains 70% cocoa solids from Peru and the organic milk chocolate around the pralines contains 39% cocoa solids from Peru.
  • The chocolates contain only the sugar that is present in the chocolate, except for the recipe of the salted caramel. The sugar used for this chocolate is unrefined organic cane sugar.
  • The best way to keep the chocolates is to store them in a cool and dry place. During the summer you can keep the chocolates in the refrigerator in a tightly closed box.
  • All chocolates contain soy lecithin.