Snowman
Cheerful Snowman Advent Calendar with surprise treats including bonbons of milk chocolate with caramel or dark chocolate with sea salt and a new Christmas story.
Snowman Advent Calendar, £22.50, Prestat, prestat.co.uk
Wild Forest Creatures
Decorated with whimsical animals and frosted glitter, drawers containing 24 chocolates (salted caramels, pearls, truffles, soft pralines and ganache) spring a Christmas Eve surprise…
Ultimate Advent Calendar, £40 (gift-wrap, £1.99), Artisan du Chocolat, artisanduchocolat.com
Scandi
First ever advent calendar for the luxury French patisserie, Laduree who have chosen Scandinavian design as their inspiration. The calendar is limited-edition and contains chocolates, toffees, nougat and calissons
Scandi Advent Calendar, £32 Laduree, laduree.co.uk
Fairtrade Milk Chocolate
Stephen Waterhouse’s 10th advent calendar for Divine features a traditional Nativity scene and the bean-to-bar journey from Kuapa Kokoo to the UK. Each window reveals a step by step Christmas story and a milk chocolate heart. Waterhouse has included flags of the countries from which Divine chocolate is sourced and a Fairtrade board game on the back of the pack. Educationally speaking, a lot for your money. Divine have also sourced a 70% dark chocolate vegan advent calendar (£5)
Fairtrade Milk Chocolate Advent Calendar, £4 Divine, divinechocolate.com/uk/
Italian Luxury
Calendar tribute to the late Antonio Carluccio, containing mini versions of Italian products such as chocolate truffles, fig jam and biscuits as well as pasta, sauces and olive oils. Carluccio’s also do a less flamboyant version – a chocolate advent calendar featuring gianduja-filled chocolate characters wrapped in foil (£9.95)
Italian Luxury Advent Calendar, £85 Carluccios, carluccios.com
It takes two
Godiva’s first, bespoke luxury advent calendar. The Godiva Deluxe Calendar contains two chocolates of your choice behind every window. Share it with your beloved or go for Godiva’s singleton’s Advent Calendar, 24 milk dark or white chocolate treats (£15)
The Deluxe Sharing Calendar, £60 Godiva, godivachocolates.co.uk
Christmas Sculptures
Twenty-four solid reindeer, snowmen, penguins and enchanted spruces made from 40 per cent milk chocolate
The Chocolate Advent Calendar, £12.50 Hotel Chocolat, hotelchocolat.com
Merry Go Round
Advent calendar that opens up like a story book to reveal a collection of magical characters. Chocolate treats include almond praline, caramel hearts, milk pavé de tour, pistachio and nougat croustillant, pistachio hearts and soft cashew gianduja
Merry Go Round Advent Calendar, £49 Pierre Marcolini, marcolini.com
Selection Box
Chococo’s iconic limited edition Advent Selection – 25 fresh, handmade, luxurious chocolates, in a box containing a frosted, numbered sleeve & menu, so that the chocolates can be eaten in date order
Advent Selection Box, £23.50 Chococo (only delivered in the last week of November), chococo.co.uk
Popcorn
Designed to look like a Victorian shop-front, posh popcorn makers Joe & Sephs’ advent calendar contains 24 bags of seasonally flavoured popcorn including salted caramel, toffee apple and cinnamon
Pop Corn Advent Calendar, £25 Joe & Seph, joeandsephs.co.uk
DIY calendar
The inaugural Cocoa Runners craft chocolate Advent Calendar comes in kit form (festive string, pegs, envelopes and 25 tasting bars from Pralus, Original Beans and Pump Street Bakery). Tasting notes and a book to record your tasting impressions are included
Craft Chocolate Advent Calendar, £44.95 Cocoa Runners, cocoarunners.com/shop/the-craft-chocolate-advent-calendar/