Our high-cacao seasonal chocolate penguins are always a sophisticated choice – but for a particularly decadent take on Christmas chocolate, we give you our Dark Gianduja recipe. Donning their cute welly boots finished with a pink hue, these penguins are ready to bring you to the smoother, darker side of chocolate this festive season.

Each of these six gianduja penguins are filled with silky smooth dark hazelnut praline that melts in the mouth like butter. We take lashings of this deeply satisfying recipe and seal it in our signature 70% dark chocolate, for a truly decadent, cacao-rich experience.

Gianduja originated in Northern Italy, where it was invented out of necessity. In the 1800s, local chocolatiers struggled to maintain their cacao supplies due to the import restrictions imposed by Napoleon. In an attempt to make the chocolate go a little further, they began adding hazelnut paste to the mix. What was intended as a last resort turned into a satisfying new recipe – and the rest is history.

Gianduja now has a worldwide reputation for being one of the most luxurious and sought-after pralines – and it’s easy to see why. Gianduja is made from the finest Piedmont hazelnuts, coveted for their deep, complex flavour. When combined with our 70% cacao dark chocolate, the result is a rich praline with a velvet-smooth texture.

For a festive twist, we cast our best-loved gianduja praline recipe as our adorable chocolate penguins. First hand-sketched on paper, before being moulded in chocolate by our in-house chocolate sculptress, these bespoke penguins are (almost) too cute to eat.