How sweet it is! Derbyshire – a chocolate heaven

Catherine Roth visits two of the county’s most successful chocolatiers – Holdsworth Chocolates of Bakewell and Barry Colenso

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In a career that has spanned over 40 years – including Head of Patisserie at a top London hotel, Master Chocolatier at Thorntons and making cakes for royalty – Barry Colenso is an expert on all things chocolate.

It all began when he left school and enrolled on a general catering course at college, becoming particularly interested in the pastry side. He says, ‘I’m creative and am always looking at things in a slightly different way, thinking how I can recreate them in chocolate. I was subconsciously drawn to the patisserie side – the most creative side of the kitchen.’ Barry moved to London where he developed his skills at a patisserie kitchen, before working at several five star hotels. He then landed a job at The Savoy Hotel where, at the age of just 27, he became Head of Patisserie. Whilst there, Barry created and presented the Queen Mother with a chocolate cake to mark her 85th birthday and created a chocolate cake for HM The Queen.

Barry’s reputation for working with chocolate did not go unnoticed and he was approached by Thorntons to become its Master Chocolatier, a career move that brought Barry and his family to Derbyshire where they settled in Holbrook. He worked for Thorntons for 22 years and since 2008 has run his own chocolate consultancy business as well as producing his own range of chocolates – mainly truffles made with fresh cream and single origin chocolate.