To celebrate World Chocolate Day on July 7, Le Cordon Bleu is releasing a recipe from its global Chocolate Bible. Titled ‘The Marvel’, this mouth-watering chocolate masterpiece features chocolate sponge, caramelised walnut cream, chocolate praline mousse and chocolate shards.

Created in 2008, Le Cordon Bleu’s Chocolate Bible contains 180 recipes with a range of techniques illustrated in step-by-step photographs.

Le Cordon Bleu Executive Dean, Professor Alan Bowen-James says, “It’s a very rare occurrence for us to release a recipe from the Chocolate Bible, but we thought World Chocolate Day was the perfect opportunity to invite you into Le Cordon Bleu’s decadent world of chocolate.

“The Marvel is the perfect dessert for chocolate lovers who want to try their hand at creating something a little more challenging, it’s also a great dessert to impress family and friends at your next dinner party.”

The five elements of the Marvel will take one and a half hours of preparation time, 20 minutes to assemble and less than a few minutes to devour.

The origins of who came up with the idea of World Chocolate Day are unknown, but it is celebrated every year on July 7 as this was the day chocolate was first bought to Europe in 1550.

World Chocolate Day is the perfect opportunity to indulge in one of our favourite sweet treats and if that wasn’t an excuse in itself, the health benefits of chocolate may also persuade you to enjoy a few squares—dark chocolate has a range of antioxidants, has been found to help lower blood pressure and blood flow and reduce the risk of heart attack.

Some chocolate fun facts:

• Aussies consume on average 32kgs of chocolate per person per year—the equivalent to 3 x 200g family blocks a week
• Women are Australia’s leading consumer of chocolate
• It takes 400 cocoa beans to make about 450g of chocolate.
• Around 70 per cent of the world’s cocoa beans come from four West African countries

For food aficionados who want to ‘step-up’ their passion for cooking, learn about cooking with chocolate and various techniques without having to commit to a full-time degree, Le Cordon Bleu has a variety of patisserie and cuisine short courses popping up Australia-wide.