Do you remember your first day at school? I remember mine. I splodged a GIANT rectangle of thick brown paint onto a large sheet of paper! Then I added black grid lines across the rectangle and at the age of five, I believed I had 'created my first chocolate bar'

Many years later, I started reading up about this intriguing food. It's got quite a history. I'm discovering more and more daily, but what fascinates me, is that it is challenging. Chocolate has character! It can be temperamental but when you work with it and get to understand it more - it's a mixture of science and artistry. Everything is carefully moulded with good humour and I think you can tell what fun I've had doing this. I hope you'll share my enthusiasm and find it as exciting as I do.

My passion for working with chocolate grew, so I signed up for a masterclass in York which I successfully completed in early 2019. I'm hoping to learn more by attending more advanced classes in 2023. I wanted to share the rewards of my newly-acquired skills and research to bring you the finest, carefully sourced chocolate. Using the finest grand-cru chocolate couverture from the best cocoa growers across the world, I made the choice to only ever use ethically produced couverture. I am proud to highlight the chocolate and cocoa plantation regions in my ingredient lists. Where possible, I aim to use single-origin chocolate so that the credentials and quality can be traced to one region.

Not quite - after a few months, I 'recruited' an assistant. My long-suffering husband Richard, is now in charge of adding lollipop sticks, inclusions, cooling tunnel duties. Increasingly he's had to help out with local deliveries and creating 'tree branches'. He helps with pricing too because I really hate maths and have always feared even simple sums. I think I have a degree of dyscalculia. We are a husband and wife team. Personally, I really enjoy the challenges and being asked to create unique items. Oh and by the way... he also dropped my very first Easter eggs on the way to market. I'm not letting him forget THAT!

In three words: to learn more! Chocolate is a subject that I find inspirational and I'm always keen to discuss it as I find every aspect fascinating. My aim is to try to respect the environment and support fair trading. I'd like to be able to do more to encourage ethical values throughout the industry and the traditional and to do my bit to discourage deforestation by supporting our most valuable entrepreneurs - the cocoa farmers. Cocoa ecosystems are more fragile and vulnerable than ever.

After passing my food hygiene qualification with flying colours (5 star rating) and a very informative visit from trading standards I was ready to take our first stock to market. I learned how to comply with legislation on chocolate labels and to always discuss allergens with customer if required, to maintain the very highest standards.

The shop page doesn't always reflect the vast range of items available but the gallery on the home page has more to see. Please get in touch if there's something that you see there that you'd like. Alternatively you can check out the Instagram pages: Instagram You can order from stockists: Baked by Gill or if you prefer from this website. If you have special requirements - drop me an email. (See contact me page) I usually attend the infamous Sandbach Christmas market in December. I'm always happy to discuss how I can meet your requirements.