The best New Year gifts, once upon a time, used to be the monopoly of maashis and jethus, whose usual homecoming paraphernalia wouldn’t ever be complete without boxes of ‘foreign chocolates’. Then malls and retail chains happened to Kolkata, and juvenile chocolate snobs couldn’t just flaunt shiny little chocolate packs and call them ‘imported’. And that’s how the ‘homemade’ stepped out the shadows of the kitchen, and found pride of place in Kolkata’s gifting trends. “There’s a personal touch to what you are gifting and that makes homemade chocolates so special,” says Kanupriya Bajoria, who has been making chocolates for quite a while now.

From mint chocolates to ones with blueberry and raspberry fillings,homemade chocolates also offer a lot in terms of variety. “The customer can actually specify what filling he/she wants and can contribute in innovating,” says Manju Bothra who retails from Rawdon Street. So, apart from the usual almond chocolates, milk chocolates and chocolates with Tiramisu fillings, chocolatiers are happy consulting with customers in deciding how new favours can be worked on. “Apart from peanut butter, butterscotch and dry fruits, I have made fillings of amshoto, and jam- mixed fruit and strawberry both on suggestions from customers and also because I wanted to go beyond the usual,” says Sucheta Nandi, a Thakurpukur-based chocolate maker. Others, who experiment with liquor chocolates also says there is scope for innovation , but the same comes for a price. “I do take requests from customers, but mostly I sell what I make myself,” says Ranjana Roy, who makes truffle chocolates at home. Roy makes truffle chocolates flavoured with rum and tia maria usually. “There are times when for some request I do make almond chocolates though milk chocolate is not my forte,” says Roy.

And it’s not just personal gifting that is bitten by the homemade chocolate bug, corporate orders too keep coming in for these chocolatiers. “Firstly there’s a sense of exclusivity associated with homemade chocolates and then you can get flavours made, which is not available immediately in the market,” says Roy. Bajoria, who get several corporate orders during Diwali, Christmas and the New Year feels that one can also play with the shape of the chocolate which contributes to the growing popularity of homemade chocolates.

“I do receive specifications for shapes for corporate orders. Also when it comes to children and friends, people want chocolates in new shapes,” says Bajoria. She has made chocolates in the mould of feeding bottles, pens, stars and flowers according to the fancies of her customer.