FOR nearly 100 years Yorkshire family business, Bettys has been hand-crafting Swiss chocolate, keeping alive the skills and traditions of its founder, Swiss Master Chocolatier, Fredrick Belmont.

Bettys chocolate is made from the finest Swiss Grand Cru, which originates as the rare Venezuelan ‘Criollo’ cocoa bean. The Swiss Grand Cru has been meticulously roasted and ground to a specific recipe for Bettys by the Swiss family business, Felchlin, for many years.

The art of Bettys chocolate making has been passed down from generation to generation. Each chocolate Easter egg is individually hand-crafted with care by its experienced chocolatiers.

The chocolate room must be kept at a constant temperature of 18°C, to maintain optimum conditions.

To begin the chocolate crafting process, the chocolate is first of all ‘tempered’. The tempering process creates the smooth, glossy surface that it is renowned for.

To reach this stage, the chocolate couverture from Felchlin is melted down overnight and brought up to 45°C. It is then cooled down to 27°C and then raised back to a working temperature of 29°C at which point it has been tempered and ready to be used by the chocolatiers. The tempering process gives the chocolate its strength and structure, providing it with its shine and it’s ‘snap’.

Standing 28cm tall and weighing 1.3kg the Chocolatier’s Egg is a limited edition to this year’s Bettys Easter range. This large Grand Cru Swiss dark chocolate egg is decorated with hand-piped Royal icing roses. Skilfully hand-cut holes offer a glimpse inside, where a second, hand-decorated milk chocolate egg with a golden shimmer awaits.

A total of 100 Chocolatier’s Eggs are being lovingly hand-crafted. Bettys is set to have its busiest Easter with a total of 24,000 Easter eggs leaving the Craft Bakery.

Bettys Easter eggs are available at its six Cafe Tea Rooms in Yorkshire or through its online shop bettys.co.uk