IN its first-ever food collaboration, Bullion has produced a new milk chocolate bar incorporating crumbs of Grasmere Gingerbread®.

“It’s a melt-in-the-mouth match made in heaven,” said 31-year-old Bullionfounder Max Scotford.

Invented in 1854, Grasmere Gingerbread® is currently celebrating its 170thanniversary. Co-director Joanne Hunter heaped generous praise on Sheffield’s celebrated craft chocolate maker.

“When I first met Max I was personally blown away by his passion, creativity, transparency and entrepreneurial spirit,” she said.

“Equally, as a traditional Victorian company, it’s been very satisfying working with such a go-ahead 21st century business and exciting for us to be able to add something unique to his range of Bullion confectionery; it’s literally and metaphorically been a smooth blend of the old and the new.”

The new Bullion milk chocolate bar incorporating crumbs of Grasmere Gingerbread®

For Max, the culinary fusion of Grasmere Gingerbread® and his craft chocolate - which is made directly from beans roasted on site (unlike most chocolate manufacturers) and blended with pure cane sugar - is the realisation of a long-cherished dream.

“My family has always taken holidays at a farmhouse in Little Langdale in the Lake District after my maternal grandfather rode there from Sheffield on his Triumph Bonneville motorbike and declared ‘I’ve found heaven’,” explained Max.

As a toddler, he took his first steps there and as a young boy grew to love TheGrasmere Gingerbread Shop which is just a few miles away.

“I’ve always loved Grasmere Gingerbread®. It’s absolutely delicious; utterly unique and a very moreish cross between a biscuit and cake,” he said

“The crumbs are perfect in our new milk chocolate bar as they complement the type of Ghana origin cocoa bean we use.”

It took Max a few weeks to perfect the blend but he is delighted with the result which he described as “creamy with a delicate crumbly texture and a subtle aftertaste of spicy-sweet ginger.”

The new Bullion milk chocolate bar incorporating crumbs of Grasmere Gingerbread®

“I wasn’t sure how Grasmere Gingerbread® would react when I came forward with my idea but it has been a pleasure working with them over the past few months,” added Max.

As Grasmere Gingerbread® only collaborates with other artisan companies who share their ethos and values, Bullion was a perfect fit.

“Not only are their beans ethically sourced from reputable farmers who are paid a premium but their chocolate bars are palm oil free and unique - just like Grasmere Gingerbread®,” said Joanne.

Until the end of 2024, the new Bullion/Grasmere Gingerbread® milk chocolate bar will be sold exclusively over-the-counter at The Grasmere Gingerbread Shop in the Lake District and its sister shop in nearby Hawkshead, through the Grasmere Gingerbread® online shop at www.grasmeregingerbread.co.uk and from the Grasmere Gingerbread® stand at various festivals across the country - see  www.grasmeregingerbread.co.uk/events/.