This month, we have been speaking to Dean Lucas, from More Cocoa, one of our regular stallholders at the 24 Carrots Market to learn a little bit more about More Cocoa….
Dean is the founder of the company and grew up in the sunny South East. As a child, he spent a lot of time in France and Belgium and gained an interest in patisseries from admiring and tasting all the amazing treats they sold. Dean trained as a patisserie chef and after catering school he got a job with Eurotunnel, which again saw him spending lots of time in France and Belgium. Dean got involved in the chocolate workshops that happen regularly there and decided he wanted to bring something like this to the UK- More Cocoa was born.
Dean Started More Cocoa in 2006. Dean’s aim was to reduce the sugar in his recipes and to increase to cocoa content. To perfect this, Dean began by setting up in Farmer’s markets, using the visitors as taste testers- lucky things!
Dean imports his high quality chocolate from Belgium and uses Fairtrade cocoa powder in all his recipes. The eggs Dean uses are sourced from a farm near Tamworth and the fresh fruits for the hot chocolate fondue are sourced from a farm in Tamworth also!
Dean attends several other Farmer’s markets besides 24 Carrots, such as Moseley, Stafford Town and Stone Market (Staffordshire). More Cocoa also supply chocolate fountains for events- and with the amazing quality of the chocolate it’s sure to keep everybody happy.
More Cocoa is also popular among the students and Dean will be at Aston University serving delicious hot chocolate and treats on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s and to make sure the students of University of Warwick don’t feel left out, Dean will be there on Wednesdays! Dean is also often found at Village fetes and charity events- most recently, Dean was at the Starlight walk for Walsall Hospice- the hot chocolate went down a treat with all the walkers!
Dean has been a regular stall holder at 24 Carrots since we started over a year ago and every market he brings a smile to our face with his delicious hot chocolate and cakes. We’ve asked Dean why he keeps coming to 24 Carrots and his reply is that he comes every month because of the ethos of the market- he likes that we want to grow our community- and Dean loves it when local residents come and the atmosphere they bring with them.
More Cocoa is getting geared up for Christmas! Dean is planning to sell some flavoured hot chocolates along with his traditional mouth wateringly good one! Flavours will include mint, orange and rum! Dean is also developing some new cakes including a chocolate carrot cake (all the Carroteers will be queuing for a taste!) and a flourless chocolate cake.
And finally, Dean recommends you always use a 70% cocoa content chocolate when cooking, this will give you a rich and fuller flavour.
For more information on More Cocoa, please visit http://morecocoa.com/
