Chocolate gift baskets make a wonderful gift for chocolate and candy lovers alike. They’re a perfect present throughout the year – birthdays, Christmas, Easter, Valentines, even Halloween. And let’s not forget just how far a box of expensively delicious, dark and dreamy chocolate will go in the forgiveness stakes.

Take it from a woman – you’ll get a lot further after your wife/lover/girlfriend has been left alone with her gift than if you walk in empty-handed.

Chocolate Gift Baskets

Chocolate gift baskets … think Mothers Day, Easter Sunday chocolate bunnies … Valentines chocolate hearts. Chocolate has so much scope. It comes in dark, milk, white – it even comes in a gourmet version, perfect for the chocolate connoisseur. Present any woman in your life with a basket or box consisting of Godiva Chocolates and you’re hitting the ground running.

The best thing about the gift baskets is the fact that you can purchase them online. Yup. Online. You can turn up, chocolates safely gift wrapped, present them with flare and the best thing is … you didn’t have to hit the high street to buy them. And they work equally well for the female buyers out there. Girlfriends, moms, sisters, colleagues and neighbours, there’s a basket for everyone.

Let’s start at the top …

Gourmet Chocolate Gift Baskets

A gourmet chocolate gift basket is for those that are not afraid to spend a few bucks. Or maybe you’ve got someone in your life that simply deserves that extra nine yards. If that’s the case, think about a Godiva Chocolates. A company that was originally founded in Brussels, some 80 years or so back, their chocolates can now be purchased in 80 countries around the globe. I feel like I ought to insert a wild word here. Like ‘whoopee’. Godiva chocolate warrants one.

The company is considered one of the best chocolatiers in the world and though expensive, they’re worth every last cent. They’ve turned the art of chocolate making into a fine art and they currently produce a range of 5 different gift baskets:

• Speciality gift baskets
• Thankyou gift baskets
• Signature gift baskets
• Birthday gift baskets
• Fall gift baskets

You can purchase any one from the above 5 ranges, each range has a minimum of 4 different priced Godiva chocolate collections, from $45 to $200.

Dark Chocolate Gift Baskets

Now, the dark chocolate gift baskets float my boat. I’m not the world’s biggest chocolate fan. But I do like it now and then. Among other things. And dark chocolate always gets my vote. It’s just so damn yummy. One word that’s often attached to dark chocolate is … decadent.

Now, as much as it’s a favourite with me, I’m not sure I ever feel in a debauched mood before, during or after eating it. But hey! I’m not everyone. Maybe dark chocolate will you know … inject some va va voom into your lives. In a slightly immoral way. If it does – drop me a comment. I’m curious.

And so – dark chocolate gift baskets. Pretty much stuffed with dark and delicious yumminess, cheaper than the gourmet version but beware – it’s not the chocolate for everyone. A great one to go for however, is Fair Trade. The taste is delicious and the price is more than reasonable.

And it’s worth considering throwing a few liqueurs in – a liquor works well with the taste of dark chocolate and you can always choose a few liqueurs that you enjoy. After all … chocolate’s for sharing, right?

Milk Chocolate Gift Baskets

Now milk chocolate gift baskets are a breeze. Most people love the delectable creamy flavour that a first-class milk chocolate delivers. And another great thing about milk chocolate is the fact that you can usually pick a favourite brand basket – shop around and you’ll find either a high street or online store that will create a milk chocolate basket around a favorite brand.

A delicious variety that comes wrapped up in silky smooth delectableness is Hershey’s – with Lindt on equal footing. Both companies supply gift baskets at affordable prices and both cover the various seasonal holiday events – Easter, Christmas etc – as well as birthdays, Mothers Day and similar. You can expect to pay anywhere from $30 to $50 or so for a decent sized basket and for the lady/ loved ones in your lives … it’s a small price to pay when showing your love and appreciation. And what price would anyone pay when a little grovelling is required?

Another wonderful thing about milk chocolate is the fact that it’s so easily melted down. It retains its flavour when it’s reduced to a liquid and … you know … melted chocolate is so delicious when licked from … strawberries. And other similar fruits/objects. Not that I’m hinting or being naughty.

How To Choose A Chocolate Gift Basket

Ok, here’s the ‘how to choose’ a gift basket low down:

• Choose either online or high street shopping
• Make sure that whoever you’re buying for likes the specific flavour that you’re about to buy. Don’t buy dark chocolate for a milk chocolate lover – and vice versa
• Consider what your budget is. Don’t start looking for at Godiva chocolates if you’re only wanting to spend around $40 for example
• Factor in what you’re buying it for. Is it a birthday or an Easter gift? And if it’s a grovelling basket – just buy Godiva
• Once you’ve got all your decisions made – buy the basket. That simple.

How To Make Your Own Chocolate Gift Basket

Why not make your own chocolate gift basket? Granted it may well cost around the same as a shop bought one but a home-made one will always have that extra touch … something that money can’t buy – the personal touch.

1. Decide on the chocolate variety.
2. Purchase a basket. If it’s dark or gourmet chocolate, buy a dark colored basket. Equally, buy a lighter one it you’re filling it with milk chocolate.
3. Consider adding a beautiful piece of fabric to line the bottom. A piece of velvet or silk for example.
4. Buy a piece of coloured cellophane – a smoky color works best. If in doubt, buy clear.
5. Buy some decorative bouquet ribbon. If it’s a Valentines gift, make it red. You get the idea.
6. Buy the chocolate. Buy a range – bars, speciality truffles, individually wrapped chocolates, molded chocolate. Maybe add a half bottle of wine or even champagne.
7. Carefully (read: artfully) arrange the chocolates and/or any other little extras (a rose?) into the basket.
8. Place the basket onto the cellophane.
9. Gather the cellophane up and over the basket and it’s contents. Secure as per a bouquet of flowers.

And that’s it, done. If you’re stuck for design ideas, just search online for ideas. It’s a lot easier that it looks. And if you really can’t manage a basket – then it’s back to the shops!

10 Chocolate Facts

1. The first culture or people truly known to have made and eaten chocolate were the Maya, in South America – way back in 250AD
2. Milk chocolate was created in 1875 – by way of adding condensed milk. The guys that invented it were Daniel Peter and Henri Nestlé. Yup – Nestlé.
3. Chocolate contains over 500 separate flavors. Hmmmmm.
4. Napoleon always carried chocolate with him – wherever he was.
5. Way back during the rule of the Aztec nation, slaves were bought and sold for the princely sum of … 100 cocoa beans.
6. In excess of $7 billion is spent on chocolate annually. That’s a whole lot of chocolate loving going on.
7. All the blood in the gory Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho? Chocolate syrup.
8. Eating chocolate makes you feel good – fact. Helps with PMT and depression. Feeling down or pre-menstrual? Eat chocolate. It contains tryptophan – a naturally occurring mood enhancer also recommended to help you sleep better.
9. Hershey’s chocolate was founded by one Milton Hershey, in 1871. He was 19 at the time.
10. Milk chocolate is the most desired flavour – over 90% prefer it, according to the stats.

And that’s your lot folks. All that’s now left is for you to go out and either buy a chocolate gift basket or make one. And buy an extra bar while you’re at it. Treat yourself – according to some of the above facts, chocolate is good for you.

Oh yes and final word ... save the world guys. It's the only known planet that contains chocolate.