chocolate intensity

After several days of not having real chocolate (the closest I have had was the raw cacao I mentioned last week), I went along to a corporate tasting with Seventypercent last night. As one of the team I needed to try all the chocolate as the guests were (obviously!); oh, all right, I was desperate to eat good chocolate. I think, though, that my tolerance levels went down during my abstinence. I don't think I tried more than two pieces of each of the ten delights we were sampling, which normally is easily done, yet somehow the chocolate high was totally overwhelming. In a delicious, delirious way, of course. It's 3.50pm and I haven't felt l'chocolat calling me back yet. Which is lucky because I deliberately left it all at home. I am getting very keen to try out some new recipes soon though. I imagine I will have no shortage of guinea pigs. Steve and Martin mentioned they sell Chuao and other great brands by the kilo. Hmmm... I think it's time to go shopping!

Chocolate high without the sugar...

Well, I had some salmon last night at Yo Sushi, but have still not (knowingly!) eaten wheat, dairy or refined sugar.

On Thursday I found creative ways to get a chocolate hit, avoiding the chocolate in my cupboard. It's quality stuff and is much lower in sugar than anything you would buy in a supermarket, but still would break "the rules" which I was determined to try and carry on as long as possible.

So how did I get my chocolate high?

I took a teaspoon of organic white almond butter and put it in a mug with a date and poured a small amount of boiling water on them to mash them together into something of a paste. Then I added a large teaspoon of raw cacao powder and when they all blended together I added a bit of cold water, then a bit more hot to make a warm chocolate. It was really good. Perhaps I just thought so because it was my first taste of anything chocolate-y for 48 hours.

So far I am still without sugar but I'm currently looking at chocolate recipes on the web and getting very tempted to fall off the wagon. Do you think if I substitue agave syrup it will count as sugar free? :-)

A chocolate free day!

I did it!

Also minus wheat, dairy, animal products and refined sugar. Ahem, yes, pat me on the back. And then feel free to call me crazy.

It was easier than I expected it to be, so I might try keeping free of the wheat, dairy etc tomorrow too... We'll have to see about the chocolate...

It snowed!!

It snowed!! How pretty. Despite this being my third year living in London, I had not yet seen it snow. This was helped by expertly timed trips the last two winters, where I skipped off to warmer climes within days of blizzards beginning. Pretty though it was, it seemed to cause chaos to the traffic.

Chocolate resolutions

I made a new year's resolution to have two days a month completely free of sugar, wheat, dairy and animal products. I don't think I have a lot of these things anyway, but the last month or so have had a considerable amount of the first two. Eating chocolate every day makes the first one a bit challenging. I've managed one so far this month. I did eat some raw cacao nibs though. But no sugar. This is tough as am in the middle of a very busy work period. I think the second day will have to wait. Though, in theory, avoiding those things should really help me to cope during a busy period...

One more day this month to go...

Chocolate High

I love doing Chocolate Tours. Which I guess is a good thing! I always feel on such a high at the end of a tour. Which I'm sure is in part due to all the good stuff in good quality chocolate! But it's also fun getting to know other chocolate lovers. My theory that people who love chocolate are all the loveliest people continues to be reinforced!

I also think I'm beginning to understand why people like shopping: I'm a strange exception to my gender that generally dreads shopping. We pass so many lovely shops along the walk that even I am usually tempted. Yesterday I went back to one of them and I now I understand one possible reason why people like shopping: I asked the staff for help in finding me clothes. Sales assistants say all sorts of nice things to get you to buy things - great for the ego! They also hunted out good things for me so I just got to follow and approve or veto. So lazy! Way to feel good... Lucky there's still chocolate, which is likely to be a cheaper way to feel good!

Happy New Chocolate!

er, I mean Happy New Year!, of course.

Though I did decide to go walking in the rain on December 31st to visit the "new" chocolate shop in Kensington. We had planned to wait and just stepped out to get olives for the olive bread (incidentally found some amazing organic ones in Luscious Organic on the way) but then decided to keep walking. Good decision as also managed to (finally!) buy some new boots.

Sorry, the chocolate: one day Pierre Marcolini closed in Lancer Square; the next Luento Santoro opened. Named after a little boy who used to spend his time at the South American plantation the store looks strikingly similar but is confusing customers who wander in looking for Marcolini. I hadn't been in there myself for over a year. While I like Marcolini chocolates it just isn't in a convenient location for me. So this was a special trip to see what had happened. Why had the Marcolini store changed it's name? Were the chocolates actually different?

The very helpful lady behind the counter kindly let us try a chilli chocolate. Good choice. Very creamy and sweeter than some, this had just the right amount of chilli. So we bought one of almost everything. Except the pralines. And devoured them over the next few days. The chili remains the favourite. Like Marcolini (very like Marcolini in fact) these chocolates are good. Unfortunately not so good that I will make special trips to get some. But I am glad to know that if I am ever in High Street Kensington I can get a quality chocolate fix. The chocolate covered cocoa beans are very good. I'm afraid what might happen if I eat these too often though! Useful if I ever need to stay up all night.

I hope you all had a fabulous new year's celebration and that 2007 brings you everything you could want, and lots of chocolate!

Chocolate Beetroot Cake

I have been kicked out of the kitchen where Thai Green Curry is being made so I thought I would update the latest chocolate news.

I just spent Christmas in the Lake District where my Chocolate Chip Cookies appeared to go down rather well. (For the recipe go to http://www.chocolateecstasytours.com and sign up for the newsletter.) I also made some oatmeal and raisin cookies too. the cookie supply ran dangerously low so I improvised in the cottage kitchen and made some Christmas Cookies - nutmeg, raisin and orange.

One of my Christmas presents was the Chocolate recipe book from Green and Blacks. As soon as we returned to a full kitchen I headed to Tesco for inspiration (having spent some time poring over it beforehand). I saw the beetroot in the vegetable section (would you believe the organic beetroot is cheaper than the regular kind?) and decided I had to try to make beetroot cake. I first saw chocolate beetroot cake at Chatswood House but I didn't buy it, and then I saw the recipe in this book.

It is such an easy cake to make, you don't need to cream butter and sugar, or whip eggs. Though I guess you do need to process the beetroot to mush and melt the chocolate with butter. I was going to take a picture but I couldn't remember where I left my camera (in my handbag!) until after it was already cooked and cut.

I hope you all had a nice chocolatey Christmas!

visions of Chocolate from Russia

I finally have my photos on my computer. There was just so much chocolate on display here!

Chocolate Christmas pudding

I remember when I was a kid and we used to be served Christmas pudding, the only reasons my brothers and I used to accept it was for the promise of coins. And the brandy butter. We use to dig around in the dessert, eating little bits of pudding with large amounts of the accompaniments until we found coins.

Now that I'm all grown up I like Christmas pudding more - though still mainly for the brandy butter. I went searching on the internet for a chocolate Christmas pudding recipe. Though in November I was so organised and made my recipe for the December newsletter I decided last week that I would try and make a chocolate Christmas pudding instead. So the newsletter has been delayed because today has been the first day I have been able to make it. Actually, I started last night. I've never made any kind of steamed pudding before and didn't realise it is supposed to stand in the dish overnight. So I finally took it off the boil at about midnight (did you know they have to boil for 1 3/4 hours? The tedium. Fortunately I was simultaneously making several batches of biscotti.

The final unveiling occured at midday today. The bowl was not quite right, but the pudding still tasted good. A quick trip to the supermarket in the afternoon to get some milk because I was going to make custard. Then I decided brandy butter would be easier, so the milk is still sitting in the fridge. I wouldn't normally use milk for anything but custard is so precarious to make from scratch I decided I better not risk using rice milk or a similar substitute.

Here is the pudding and the recipe can be found in the December newsletter which I will send out tomorrow. I took the picture before I had any cream or anything else pretty to decorate it, so please excuse its nakedness.

Happy Holidays!

(Oh, how politically correct!)

Dominiques Chocolate

I confess, I took some chocolate with me to St Petersburg. I had no idea if Russian knew anything about chocolate. Whether you could get any good chocolate. I wasn't going to risk it.
We walked past Grand Hotel Europe and saw they had "Europe's finest afternoon tea". As we had eaten a very late (and large) breakfast and booked to go to the ballet that evening, we decided afternoon tea might be better than dinner. On the mezzanine we discovered now only a selection of cakes (which, incidentally, the ones we tried weren't that great) but CHOCOLATE! The hotel has begun making their own selection. We tried 13 of their 15 (I don't like praline that much) and totally fell in with their green apple and madras curry. I also really liked both of their cassis chocolates. And the banana and vodka pepper was nice too!

from Russia, with Chocolate

We are definitely staying in the right hotel. It was obvious from the moment we arrive in the room. Two blue-paper wrapped squares bearing the hotel name sitting on a silver tray on the desk, on the underside the words, "60% Kakao". Excellent. Not so much the quality but the knowing that there was some chocolate to hand. And I was so grateful I had dropped one in my handbag as it was a life saver in the Hermitage when my blood sugar was dangerously low but I didn't want to leave as we hadn't yet seen all the highlights on our list. It tied me over till our lovely Russian lunch.

Got to, off to dinner. More later on the Russian chocolate discoveries.

Low Battery - Noooooo.....

I’m on the plane to Russia and the Low Battery warning is popping up. No…. I’m sure I remembered to pack the adaptor. I know I packed the cord, because I was careful to avoid putting the still-warm hair straighteners too close to it when I was packing the suitcase. I was rather hoping that delaying the trip to St Petersburg until December might mean there would be snow on the ground, but no, it will

Just be cold. That’s where it went into hibernation. Still over an hour to go on the flight. I didn’t know how to pass the time. I’m such a geek. I don’t take books travelling, I take my laptop.

Anyway, am in Russia now so will enjoy being in Russia and write more on my return! (Yes, I found chocolate!)

Chocolate IS good for you!

I picked up London Careers magazine on my way into the tube this morning. No – definitely not looking for work, just wanted to read the articles. I haven’t taken one in about a year and interestingly this particular issue, apart from having a very strange error in printing that positioned an article on cures for diseases next to an unsmiling photo of Cameron Diaz, had an article about chocolate. How the dark stuff is useful in people at risk of heart attack. According to this article it thins the blood. They found this out because in a trial where people where on a restricted diet to minimise the extraneous variable some of the participants refused to give up chocolate (smart people) so they decided to monitor them separately. They had healthy readings! Hooray! Long live chocoholics!

Discovering country chocolatiers

A perfect weekend for country driving, though it felt and sounded like someone was throwing full buckets of water onto the window last night this morning the sky was washed clean and blue again. Perfect for family visiting. We went to visit Donnington brewery, where my grandmother grew up. Described as the prettiest brewery in the UK, with its lake and old stone buildings it really is beautiful as though painted into life. It is not open to the public. Nearby is gorgeous Stow-on-the-Wold. My father was born there. It is such a pretty town. Not a high street chain in sight. Plenty of quality food shops, making me very happy. Even better a chocolatier opened about six months ago. The lovely Katherine owns and runs Miette in Stow. A chocolatier and patisserie. In the lead up to Christmas the patisserie has been put on hold because the demand for chocolates is so high. Which is a shame, because I do like quality baked things, especially when baked by a chocolatier – you can guarantee they would have used good chocolate. Miette means small, sweet thing. According to Katherine some of the locals seem to think it is called “meat”; a little unfortunate but it doesn’t seem to affect the rave reviews.

Whilst not all the range that I would have liked to have sampled were available yesterday the fig and orange marmalade truffle was just lovely. Not too orangey. One or two left to try still…

The brownies from Maby’s are also worth trying if you happen to be in Stow.

Fountains of chocolate

It seemed only right that being the chocolate girl I am that I have at least some chocolates at my birthday party. I was planning on serving chocolate cake, but then lovely friends offered to loan me their chocolate fountain – even though they couldn’t come to the party! So I ordered 2.5kg of 72% Callebaut from Raj (my new supplier ;-) ). Delighted that I could get cocoa butter to use to thin it down rather than vegetable oil (ick!). It was rather popular. (Understatement.)The marshmallows went quickly. Sponge cake, apples, grapes and bananas also were divine. Mmm…

I am grateful people never arrive on time because I still had my dressing gown over my dress to protect me from blending the dips! I kind of invited lots of people, rather casually, not really sure who might turn up, and not remembering to invite everyone (sorry!). Funny how those parties always end up the most fun. To be honest, I think most people came because I promised them food and cake! Well, I delivered, and the bonus fountain seemed a pleasant surprise and kept the party kicking until well after 2am (love that chocolate stuff! OK, so all the bottles of champers on the "bar" may have helped too).

I finally went to bed about 3.30am, leaving my brother and a couple of his mates and the mess, and more chocolate… Though we made quite a dent on the 2.5kg, I’ll be making more cakes and things soon I think, with this stock I will have to!

A chocolate birthday

Today is my birthday and I was given chocolate flowers. The most precious of all the cacao plantations in the world is the Porcelana plantation in Venezuela. Valrhona have created a signature gift box of three layers of chocolate pieces laid in the shape of an open flower. When you lift the cardboard layers that open like petals (and then the protective plastic) the smell is just divine! I had to leave the house at 7am to train 25 boys in public speaking so I decided to hold off on my treat until I returned.

I was treated to chocolate cake by the lead trainer after we finished. We debated whether the quality of the local Literary Café’s chocolate cake might only disspoint me but I was so desperate for chocolate by the end of this long day that if I was going to eat sugar it had to be with chocolate. It was a very satisfying cake. Moist and made with cocoa, just like the quick cakes I used to make when I was younger. A comforting, nostaligic treat.

Tonight I’m being taken for a surprise dinner… as long there is chocolate somewhere on the menu! :-D

5 desserts, but no chocolate?

Five desserts and not one of them chocolate. Surprising.

I had been counting down the days to last night's dinner in the Library at Sketch. I went with my foodie friend Kevin and his fiance and Kevin's friend Matt who runs a very cool cookery school for everyone: www.undergroundcatering.com

The lack of chocolate in the five dessert selections was made up for by the petit fours to follow: a white chocolate and chartreuse ever-so-light whipped ganache, a piece of milk mendiant bark, with pistachio, hazelnut and dried fruit, an incredible milk chocolate case with a passionfruit and salted caramel centre; and a (non-chocolate) rhubarb jelly square. I could have eaten a plate of the passionfruit chocolates. The five desserts were also very good. The first course of my taster menu was divine too: a beetroot and raspberry coulis with coco beans.

Newtons Chocolates in Clapham.

My uncle is visiting from South Africa and he took us out for dinner last night. We went to Newtons on Abbeville Road. It was almost empty when we arrived just before 8pm but gradually filled up. The staff are really friendly with just the right amount of attentiveness. My brother and uncle loved their lamb shanks. When it came time for dessert we had trouble deciding. We couldn’t decide who should get the chocolate brownie and who the lemon tart, with the plan to share but knowing that like with all siblings we probably wouldn’t if one of them was especially good. We both got the brownie. It was served hot and very dense. With walnuts which apparently so rare in brownies these days that my brother wondered what they were doing in there. Also on the menu were Newtons Chocolate truffles. After ordering the brownie I quizzed the waitress: “They are made with Valhrona”. Darn it. This meant I just had to try them. We ordered 6 to take away after dinner, and each ate one at the table. They were just taken from the fridge so apart from recognising they were good it was impossible to tell just how good. The liqueur was so subtle we couldn’t even taste it, and the chef who had made the batch earlier that day had left and so couldn’t tell us what it was. Upon trying another truffle again this morning I could see that they really were made with Valhrona. It’s amazing what a difference it makes tasting it at room temperature. Having them cold completely dulls the taste.

La Plaisir Chocolates

I have now tried all of the chocolates. I bought so many at once that I haven’t actually eaten them all, but I have at least had a small taste of each. I found them really buttery, so I went back (under the guise of asking the question but really because I wanted to try one of their other cakes). Of the 25 or so I selected (and I avoided all of the white ganaches) there were three that I would return to try: the Bitter almond and apricot, prunes and armagnac and the Laphroang. I am told there is no butter in the ganache, it is perhaps due to a high quantity of cocoa butter in the chocolate. They use Callebaut but are looking at commissioning their own couveture soon. The flagship store in Edinburgh opened 7 years ago and, except for the store where they are made, all the other stores and Harvey Nichols concessions were opened in the last 18 months: Manchester, Edinburgh, London and Dubai.