I love good food and the majority of the time I’d opt for savoury over sweet. Give me a starter over a dessert or a packet crisps over chocolate anytime, however, there are couple of sweet treats that do win me over and they are Aero bubbles (the mint ones) and a peanut butter Kit Kat Chunky. These are the things I sneak into the shopping basket when my boyfriend isn’t looking. When I was invited to a preview of the Bar of Aero on Thursday night I jumped at the chance. The Bar of Aero is described as the ultimate bubble playground filled with innovative technology, a multi-sensory chocolate extravaganza. My love of Aero bubbles and the thought that there may be a hint to the magic in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory meant cough or not, I was going.
Walking in to the pop up bar located at Dray Walk Gallery at the Truman Brewery just off Brick Lane, I was greeted by a minty, bubbly paradise. Bubbles and Aero everywhere and a delicious peppermint scent throughout. Obviously there were also stacks and stacks of Aero chocolate. My hunch was right about my Roald Dahl favourite and there was a hint to Mr Wonka as the promotional staff were dressed top to toe in Oompa Loompa orange.
Experimental food designer Andrew Stellitano showcased the science behind the famous bubby treat in a specially designed master class. Who’d have thought there were 15 factors that went into making the bubbliness just right!? Burst or small bubbles leads to a dense chocolate bar experience and bubbles too big means it just doesn’t go down as well and melts a little slower as the chocolate is thicker. We got to try some of the ‘wrong’ Aeros followed by the perfect balance of bubbliness. I have to say, I loved them all! There were discussions about launching limited edition bars with oversized bubbles or tiny bubbles for a different experience but it was a unanimous decision that the perfect Aero was in fact the best.
Andrew shared a couple of tailor-made recipes designed to showcase the different ways that chocolate can be aerated to create a different bubbly chocolate experience. The carbonated Aero Mint Float was like an upgraded amazing mini milkshake with multi-bubbly layers and the Aero Mess was a combination of frozen aerated orange Aero with orange meringue and chocolate powder. Again, it was delicious but I can’t help thinking it would have been even better if there was something gooey in there such as cream or melted chocolate. I washed these treats down with some bubbly champagne and then a bubbly hot chocolate from the Aero fountain. The perfect medicine for a persistent cough I kept telling myself.
I was very grateful for the goodie bag full of bubbly, chocolatey treats and I have to say I am relieved that it has taken until now to discover Aero biscuits. They are amazing! I am due to wear a bikini next week as I’m off to Thailand and a whole packet of Aero biscuits, bags of Aero bubbles and bars of Aero chocolate are not helping with my bikini body mission but I’ve had fun eating them and I eat healthy and exercise regularly most of the time. Well, that’s what I’ve been telling myself.
The Bar of Aero is completely free and will be open all weekend from 12pm-7pm. As well as lots of free chocolate, there will be prizes on offer so if you’re planning to be East tomorrow, pop down and get your bubbly fix. Find more info here
No comments:
Post a Comment