Maya Chocolates

Master Chocolatier Fabienne De Mulder from Belgium tells us why she decided to set up the shop, Maya - Belgium Chocolates, in the Highlands of Scotland…

Fabienne came to Scotland because Scots appreciate good quality chocolate. She was a Maître (Master) Chocolatier in Belgium and came to Scotland for the first time in 1993. Fabienne was impressed by the Scottish scenery. She said, "We spent two weeks in Strathpeffer and toured the Highlands for our honeymoon. My husband and I are both from Belgium. I come from Brugges and my husband, Yves Pattyn, is from Ghent.

"We loved the scenery, the nature, the lochs and the mountains. And yes, even the weather suited us! The views you have in Scotland are amazing, especially for someone living in an overcrowded country, like Belgium."

Fabienne came back for holidays. But she enjoyed her visits so much that she thought about moving to Scotland. "When we were in Scotland we spent most of our time in Strathpeffer," she says. "The landscapes change so much when it gets sunny, rainy or misty. Nature here is so beautiful and peaceful. In the end I started thinking, 'maybe we'd like to move to this place one day'." Then it started to become a dream.

"I wondered whether it would come true. But a few years ago we met the owner of a property in Strathpeffer who was keen to sell. So we took the opportunity. It was just one of those moments in life when we felt ready for something else."

When Fabienne bought the shop, it was the perfect time for her family to move, including her daughter. "Yves was in IT when we lived in Belgium. Everybody loves chocolate, but not everyone loves IT! I knew Scots definitely appreciated good quality. So we decided to give it a go and bought the premises in April 2004.  We moved to the Highlands in June that year.

Maya – Belgian Chocolates opened in August 2004. "I first started with a small selection of 14 chocolates and some chocolate bars. I aimed to create more chocolates as time went on," says Fabienne.

"Three years later, I now have a range of over 40 different chocolates. They are all popular, although there are some bestsellers: Passion Fruit, Strawberry-Black Pepper and Earl Grey Tea. I have also added champagne, amaretto, cointreau, rum and butter cream truffles, shells and many more specialities."

Fabienne was surprise to find most of her customers prefer dark chocolate.

"Finding the right balance in bitterness and sweetness is very important. My Raspberry chocolate is a good example of that balance. The filling, which is made with dark chocolate and raspberry purée (bitter/sharp), goes into white chocolate (sweet). For the dark chocolate aficionados I often go really sharp, even in the filling."

Fabienne not only makes chocolates.

"I bake all sorts of little continental cakes and make a very popular chocolate mousse and crème brûlée," says Fabienne. "And last but not least, we also have our famous hot chocolate, which people have said is 'to die for'.

"Everything is made on the premises. The customers love to see me at work in my 'atelier' (art studio) through a window in the tearoom."

Although Fabienne is busy all year round with the chocolate shop, she still finds time to enjoy Scotland. She says, "The busiest time of year is Christmas, of course. It is nice to see that we have customers willing to travel long distances for our chocolates. Some of them come from as far as Stirling, Glasgow and Edinburgh. Some customers even come all the way up from London."

Fabienne loves working with chocolate. She says, "Making chocolates is not just a job; it has to be a passion. This passion for high quality also means I do not use preservatives and I reduce the use of sugar. Both are often used to lengthen the shelf life, but I dislike their impact on the taste.

"My chocolates have a shelf life of five to six weeks. But don't worry, they never last that long and anyway, they are meant to be eaten. And the fresh Highland Cream in Scotland makes them even more delicious!"

Related Links

• Maya – Belgian Chocolates
• Highland Feast