Personalised gifts are much more meaningful: Joanne Peh

Recently-wed celebrity couple Joanne Peh and Qi Yu Wu shared how chocolate had figured in their history together when they headlined the launch of Ferrero's first Southeast Asia boutique, Pasticceria Ferrero. 

The Mediacorp stars were at the boutique outside Wisma Atria along Orchard Road in Singapore last evening.

"I used to eat it layer by layer as in the TV commercial," said the Singaporean actress of the classic Ferrero Rocher praline. She used to buy Ferrero Rocher at Chinese new year for the gold packaging, she shared. Gold coloured items symbolise prosperity during the Chinese new year period, while round items symbolise completeness.

Peh recounted a time before they were married, when they were both at work. She remembered that Qi had snacks in his bag and some had melted from the heat. He took out a whole chocolate out of his bag for himself, then offered her a melted one before asking if she would prefer the whole chocolate. 

Qi shared that he had never given her chocolate as a formal gift. "Today might be the first time," he said, explaining that to him, giving chocolate to someone is not done lightly. 

Peh added that personalised gifts can be very meaningful. "What do I want to convey with the choice of chocolates? Knowing your friend and the effort that you put into it - it's that which means so much more," she said.

Read the blog post about the boutique here.

Exclusive Ferrero Rocher pralines available at the Pasticceria Ferrero, in Singapore for the festive season

Launch headliners Qi Yu Wu and Joanne Peh pose for pictures.

Ferrero Rocher has launched its first Southeast Asia boutique, Pasticceria Ferrero, the only store of its kind in the world this festive season, at Wisma Atria along Orchard Road in Singapore. 

Before the official launch.

The boutique allows visitors to assemble customised boxes of chocolates with new and exclusive variants of the Ferrero pralines that are only available during this time of year.

Visitors can create their own customised gift boxes with pralines only available at the boutique during this festive season.

Leonardo Perrone de Almeida, Marketing Director, South East Asia, Ferrero Asia, spoke of the brand's long tradition in the fine art of gifting. "As the number one chocolate brand in Singapore, Ferrero certainly has a special place in the heart of Singaporeans. This year we wanted to offer Singaporeans.. a piece of our tradition and heritage to South East Asia," he said. 

Guests at the launch of the Pasticceria Ferrero were shown how each Ferrero Rocher praline is made by Luca Dellapiana, a Ferrero Chef from Italy. The seven-step process begins with filling the two halves of the wafer sphere with a creamy chocolate filling. A handpicked premium hazelnut is then popped in, and the two wafer halves are joined into the familiar spherical shape. The wafer sphere is then dipped in chocolate, which is tempered at 45 degrees Celsius, then cooled to 29 degrees to give it the crunch and the shine. The praline is then rolled in crushed hazelnuts, after which the whole is dipped in tempered chocolate again, and then chilled for a few minutes before it is ready to eat. 

The Rocherones are available in 'giant' (left) and 'mini' (right) sizes. Both Rocherones and the Christmas pyramids (below) are Christmas Limited Edition offerings. 

Live demonstrations by Chef Dellapiana and Chef Alessandria Davide, also in Singapore only for a limited time, will be conducted for the next four weekends, till 1 December, at the Pasticceria Ferrero. Chef Dellapiana's original creations are also on show at the boutique: look out for the Christmas Limited Edition Rocherones, which are shaped like a giant-sized classic praline and filled with smaller pralines. The Christmas Pyramids are also only available during this time. 

Some of the exclusive pralines available only during the festive season at the Pasticceria Ferrero. 

The special pralines only available for Christmas include: 

• Ferrero Tenderly White, a white chocolate praline with a hazelnut filling.
• Ferrero Capuccino, crispy wafer specialty with a smooth coffee filling
• Ferrero Tenderly Nougat, milk chocolate praline, creamy nougat and a whole hazelnut.
• Ferrero Manderly, a crisp hazelnut-covered specialty, with a smooth hazelnut filling and almond centre.
• Mon Chéri: Launched in 1956, this praline marked the beginning of Ferrero history in the world of boxed chocolates. The recipe combines dark chocolate, liqueur, and cherry. 
• Pocket Coffee, available from 1968, a dark chocolate praline filled with liquid espresso.
• Kusschen White: 'küsschen' means 'little kiss'; a white chocolate praline with hazelnut filling.
• Kusschen Milk, a milk chocolate praline with hazelnut filling.
• Kusschen Dark, a milk and dark chocolate praline with hazelnut filling.
• Raffaello: Introduced in 1989, Raffaello consists of a whole almond in a creamy filling enclosed in a crispy shell, covered in flakes of coconut.
• Ferrero Rondnoir: a crisp dark chocolate covered specialty, with a smooth filling and a dark chocolate and hazelnut centre.

Ferrero is also the company behind Nutella, Kinder and Tic Tac. Read about Peh and Qi's thoughts on Ferrero Rocher and chocolate here.