You may remember David Crichton from the final of TV’s MasterChef. You may not.
If you don’t – let me jog your memory. A commercial pilot from Bramhall, he reached the final of the show and although he didn’t win, he impressed the judges (and the public) with his highly experimental and creative cooking.
Well, what do you do once you finish on a show like MasterChef?
Some people go back to the day job, others open up their own range of restaurants (like Simon Wood) but David has gone down a different route; creating his own range of luxury chocolates inspired by none other than George Michael!
The Careless Collection is David’s interpretation of what luxury chocolate should be. He wanted to create a set of chocolates that become a “must have” both in terms of taste, texture and presentation. So he set about creating something highly unique and incredibly tasty.
David explains that his chocolates have been created to be different, supported by the fact that “nobody else makes luxury filled chocolate bars” with “textures that are very different to ordinary truffles” and “unique flavours that speak for themselves”.
He felt that the luxury chocolate boundaries and flavour combinations hadn’t been pushed very far and so went about creating a collection of 4 different variations.
Dark – Ecuadorian 71% shell, salted butter caramel, olive oil and balsamic ganache
Milk – toasted coconut and lime
Ruby – Muscovado caramel, rose and lychee
White – Blueberry, basil and Tonka bean.
But what makes them so different?
Well, first of all there’s the inspiration behind the whole thing. During MasterChef, one of the rounds required the contestants to make a dish for an idol. Straight away David knew it would be the late George Michael, and thus he set about creating a ‘Careless’ dessert for the judges.
The dish featured two chocolate mousse bars, one with salted caramel and the other with a balsamic reduction and chocolate soil, alongside caramelised oranges and a Greek yoghurt ice cream.
For the presentation, David smashed one of the bars up – and as he was presenting it to the judges, Gregg asked: “Why have you broken one in half?” David’s reply “I’ve been careless with my Wispa.”
Thus The Careless Collection was born, and since then David aimed to push the boundaries of what luxury chocolate should (and can) be – by creating something truly unique.
For example, David explains how Ruby chocolate isn’t around much today, and that he knows “nobody has ever made a chocolate with blueberry, basil and Tonka bean in it.” Until now that is of course.
He’s still looking to push those boundaries even further, and so we should probably expect even more unique flavours and textures coming from David. His experience on MasterChef will certainly be helpful in this respect and I for one am excited to see what he can come up with.
The Careless Collection is available mainly to buy from their website, but is also available in a few select shops throughout the North West.
