tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28701985984182721172024-03-05T18:34:47.272+00:00The World of ChocolateChocolate, Men, Coffee...Some things are better richChocchickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044308587323622002noreply@blogger.comBlogger271125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870198598418272117.post-77159428734594866072017-02-05T15:01:00.001+00:002017-02-05T15:01:56.185+00:00Hei Cenato - Have you had dinner?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp7D_QaNgmNuCxr8bGmvlslgfq0hxtEZJDU4ccrsXmmK9IyRCxBItyjnv7MiLxUAhLwqd17dRWhCFaGaiQGqnHljORuKK7BuAgu-0OdzTogDxkLERi2ojK_Wh12APyeHcyGOnlX0Zzdzo/s1600/474.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> </div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Jason Atherton, ignores recent downturn in the service sector and opens yet another restaurant, <a href="http://www.haicenato.co.uk/" target="_blank"><strong>Hei Cenato</strong></a>, for our delectation and delight. Temple and Sons, based in the City, opened to rave reviews a few weeks ago and now he's heading south into relatively unknown territory, Nova, Victoria. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is Jason's first venture into the Italian restaurant scene and I sense a possible theme that could be replicated in other parts of the UK...Jamie Oliver watch your back!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Frustratingly, this restaurant is very hard to find. Located in the middle of a building site and well hidden from obvious view it is only 5 minutes walk (when you know where you're going) from Victoria main line and underground stations.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";"><a href="http://www.novasw1.com/" target="_blank"><strong>Nova</strong></a>, is a massive development boasting 17 restaurants. A smorgasbord of culinary delights, including Shake and Shack, Aster, and Greenwoods, to name just 3.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";">The restaurant officially opens on 7th February but I was lucky enough to have a sneak preview of what to expect. Once through the curtained doorway your straight into the restaurant and immediately two huge pizza ovens grab your attention. This is where all the action is and the closeness of the tables to the kitchen adds to a buzzy but relaxed atmosphere. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";">The menu is extensive with a wide variety of 'small plate' starters, pizzas, pastas and desserts. Many dishes are available to share. This will suit the business brigade and hordes of </span><span style="font-family: "verdana";">hungry shoppers looking for a glass of Prosecco and pizza combo before heading home. Early morning commuters will also be able to pick up their caffeine shots and pastries to go.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";">This new venue also has its own bar, The Drunken Oyster, which will serve classic Italian Cocktails with typical Jason Atherton twists.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDJnJz4BwEY0JVj5hk3oLNDvRqftff0AAS8gi0keYac6fmyysQtuEik592prRmQfjlZgdxYyb4ToCGiDn1BpUll1KnZSL7dLD2hLztz8GagomZNOAhru1A_cG7-eMFYR1UasdPRWKOi20/s1600/WP_20170202_14_44_12_Pro%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDJnJz4BwEY0JVj5hk3oLNDvRqftff0AAS8gi0keYac6fmyysQtuEik592prRmQfjlZgdxYyb4ToCGiDn1BpUll1KnZSL7dLD2hLztz8GagomZNOAhru1A_cG7-eMFYR1UasdPRWKOi20/s200/WP_20170202_14_44_12_Pro%255B1%255D.jpg" title="Hei Cenato - Octopus and Black Bean" width="112" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNVg1efBjs4k9R8CHKVmm-sjZQhqm0aOCUkEbzejaHGoggJsWiUSXKPo2a98IUYVtpW_4uAmU4zrzL_X343tT7WKB9qCTzws97fSjspUtoVu_GZBwM2AHKLSYpBJ4-R_cHdbHlgf0VbH8/s1600/WP_20170202_14_44_17_Pro%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNVg1efBjs4k9R8CHKVmm-sjZQhqm0aOCUkEbzejaHGoggJsWiUSXKPo2a98IUYVtpW_4uAmU4zrzL_X343tT7WKB9qCTzws97fSjspUtoVu_GZBwM2AHKLSYpBJ4-R_cHdbHlgf0VbH8/s200/WP_20170202_14_44_17_Pro%255B1%255D.jpg" title="Hei Cenato - Sea Bass" width="112" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Starters of Octopus and Black Bean and Sea Bass are beautifully presented on colourful plates. Whilst presentation is fairly minimal and some might even say rustic the overall flavour and tenderness of the octopus was awesome as was the ceviche of Sea Bass which was again full of wonderful flavours. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";">It should be said that the team are full of energy and keen to explain every element of the menu. Unsurprisingly, they almost all seem to be Italian!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp7D_QaNgmNuCxr8bGmvlslgfq0hxtEZJDU4ccrsXmmK9IyRCxBItyjnv7MiLxUAhLwqd17dRWhCFaGaiQGqnHljORuKK7BuAgu-0OdzTogDxkLERi2ojK_Wh12APyeHcyGOnlX0Zzdzo/s1600/474.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp7D_QaNgmNuCxr8bGmvlslgfq0hxtEZJDU4ccrsXmmK9IyRCxBItyjnv7MiLxUAhLwqd17dRWhCFaGaiQGqnHljORuKK7BuAgu-0OdzTogDxkLERi2ojK_Wh12APyeHcyGOnlX0Zzdzo/s320/474.jpg" title="Aritchoke Basille's Pizza New York" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Artichoke Pizza - New York</span></strong></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Obviously, pizza, features heavily on the menu. Each pizza is presented on a stand which encourages you to share with your dinner date. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";">In comparison to a typical New York pizza from <a href="http://www.artichokepizza.com/locations.html" target="_blank"><strong>Artichoke Basille</strong></a>, these have been scaled down to suit the UK waste lines and it just goes to prove that size isn't everything especially when it comes to pizzas! The fennel sausage topping was delicious and not at all overpowering, perfectly balanced.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXlMVom3W2VpXy3Lk-YI57t9EB1AfQ6jcUtcGsSMSmddZBF4gWnRofankCtR_34iHakL_1_fW_-ElmFaptxd7uW5q9oVp2kiCnGFZM-7SWEjTsaLU-pNotCM1bCWLNUqfoJDYuDIq9BvY/s1600/476.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXlMVom3W2VpXy3Lk-YI57t9EB1AfQ6jcUtcGsSMSmddZBF4gWnRofankCtR_34iHakL_1_fW_-ElmFaptxd7uW5q9oVp2kiCnGFZM-7SWEjTsaLU-pNotCM1bCWLNUqfoJDYuDIq9BvY/s320/476.jpg" title="Artichoke Basille's Pizza New York" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><strong>Artichoke Pizza - New York</strong></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhygHe8KevjhjWutxNkqP9oPMprzLa1TC3X1nZygz_x91spjRmoQxOsZwKikr6mbM-0P9d0MM-4ExoHqGKXiGrR8O8WlyuWvuAmEmk8D1_p3Rh-rQEYP1mrQS6b67BhUZWp6_ej-o1HGBE/s1600/WP_20170202_15_08_06_Pro%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhygHe8KevjhjWutxNkqP9oPMprzLa1TC3X1nZygz_x91spjRmoQxOsZwKikr6mbM-0P9d0MM-4ExoHqGKXiGrR8O8WlyuWvuAmEmk8D1_p3Rh-rQEYP1mrQS6b67BhUZWp6_ej-o1HGBE/s400/WP_20170202_15_08_06_Pro%255B1%255D.jpg" title="Hei Cenato Pizza" width="400" /></a></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Whilst starters and main courses received high praise I could not say the same for my dessert, Brioche and Gelato Burger, which had me beaten. It was just too much after pizza. It didn't help that it was also lacking any colour. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana";">Overall a promising start and an enjoyable and tasty meal. Fairly pricey for an Italian. Jason and his team seem to have every hour of the day covered!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://www.haicenato.co.uk/" target="_blank"><strong>Hei Cenato</strong></a> - <span class="_Xbe">2 Sir Simon SW1E 5DJ, Milton Rd, London SE24 0NL</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.wikio.com/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2FTheWorldOfChocolate"><img src="http://www.wikio.com/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://www.wikio.com"/></a></div>Chocchickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044308587323622002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870198598418272117.post-92122294678597231892016-01-24T11:44:00.002+00:002016-01-24T11:44:26.663+00:00New Row - London<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCq9L2r49cqst9zwsrsaLqlt6Gwp65yivPkSpEZjzEwjaBhCAX0YvURN4VIG3BXGea0rKa7_26P6Ze-MrxoExmpOBrbk9slONGYd0Bt5vW5xTj4k5da28hGX4oQG85ICXuVR49Trw2ZtQ/s1600/20160122_130558236_iOS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCq9L2r49cqst9zwsrsaLqlt6Gwp65yivPkSpEZjzEwjaBhCAX0YvURN4VIG3BXGea0rKa7_26P6Ze-MrxoExmpOBrbk9slONGYd0Bt5vW5xTj4k5da28hGX4oQG85ICXuVR49Trw2ZtQ/s320/20160122_130558236_iOS.jpg" title="Pan de Vie" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dark clouds, rain lashing down with no sign of abatement, protected only by a flimsy umbrella that has seen better days, is certainly not the best time to be walking the streets of London in search of new food ideas. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Of course, weather has no impact and does not deter the serious foodie from its quarry, no matter what is thrown at you the prize will always be obtained. New Row is just off St Martin's Lane in Covent Garden. Business was 'slack' and dribbling much like the rain...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.pandevie.com/"><b>Pan de Vie</b></a> is relatively new to the food scene in London according to the <a href="http://www.catersales.co.uk/pan-de-vie-opens-in-covent-garden-catersales/"><span style="color: blue;"><b>Catersales</b></span></a> website, opening in December, 2015. <a href="http://www.pandevie.com/"><b>Pan de Vie</b></a>, described as a French-Chinese fusion offering good coffee and even better patisserie. Their website is still under construction.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO_GK4y_kC-rfR6ixLlueHUKQOKqGOODJ8fwNu-VDOzFykXOkJBKi_0Rirakcp058El7pp43_JsSf7IR7jdr8dS6CnZTtlXgczdFRyY7NG4f47fUWpwEyPh1fsdFgqRd8uc7_i3wjWOR4/s1600/20160122_130527097_iOS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO_GK4y_kC-rfR6ixLlueHUKQOKqGOODJ8fwNu-VDOzFykXOkJBKi_0Rirakcp058El7pp43_JsSf7IR7jdr8dS6CnZTtlXgczdFRyY7NG4f47fUWpwEyPh1fsdFgqRd8uc7_i3wjWOR4/s400/20160122_130527097_iOS.jpg" title="Pan De Vie - New Row" width="297" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The shop is bright, with white counter tops and good lighting around the main counter. My only criticism would be that the lighting in the corner requires a torch in order to see some very interesting baking products including: Japanese Matcha Melon Bread; Japanese Beef Curry Bread; Cherry Bacon Mayo Bread; Japanese Chicken Teriyaki Bread. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6XAyKylDqOHN6oEY52QL3WfChmEfW-5Wom1ktNxnZdMxVnD0iRIK9nTRAORDovAC1k6DUO0IwLQJcCq0fRugUlhnupcNQXXG1QdKk_AIPC7WVRcm9WcUKERgWjxLJoi3UCROU3sW6h7Q/s1600/20160122_130615485_iOS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6XAyKylDqOHN6oEY52QL3WfChmEfW-5Wom1ktNxnZdMxVnD0iRIK9nTRAORDovAC1k6DUO0IwLQJcCq0fRugUlhnupcNQXXG1QdKk_AIPC7WVRcm9WcUKERgWjxLJoi3UCROU3sW6h7Q/s320/20160122_130615485_iOS.jpg" title="Pan De Vie - New Row" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All items are ready to grab and go priced from £1.95 upwards. I was slightly alarmed that many of these products were not chilled...one can only assume a coach load of Japanese tourists were due in soon! Great blocks of Matcha Castella, a popular Japanese honey-sponge cake, were on sale at £8.95, gift boxes available.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-wrbYSgnlFdq5wo8UPo3sOgbefFbP3rSIhHr7jY-IuIrTCS5w4I-JUbhwP_FuW7X8xGGt5y9PfRhPdXbUZyPy4d6nMtiGu-AaaQ9wjtFAsgNq7_MCVXGpikmzo5wo0sTKhTai4YKgzpY/s1600/20160122_130715637_iOS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-wrbYSgnlFdq5wo8UPo3sOgbefFbP3rSIhHr7jY-IuIrTCS5w4I-JUbhwP_FuW7X8xGGt5y9PfRhPdXbUZyPy4d6nMtiGu-AaaQ9wjtFAsgNq7_MCVXGpikmzo5wo0sTKhTai4YKgzpY/s320/20160122_130715637_iOS.jpg" title="New Row" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Two employees were working in the shop on the day of our visit both extremely well presented, engaging and obviously loved their jobs! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Across the road from Pan de Vie is the <a href="http://jamaicapatty.co.uk/"><b><span style="background-color: yellow; color: black;">Jamaica Patty Co</span></b></a>. Jamaican food</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBqOtFzBqULw9yNh4U24LWXUMfj-kvNixUcKMOEFGHWMWpcQNQq5gAxWKqnBMHYR_69ilfSW5TLVZ2UU19V8k3aRNor4-1f2ofWC8EFAt5TsvbGZZsK2YI4p1rUyd_jIUlEsnCDK4trvI/s1600/20160122_125801707_iOS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBqOtFzBqULw9yNh4U24LWXUMfj-kvNixUcKMOEFGHWMWpcQNQq5gAxWKqnBMHYR_69ilfSW5TLVZ2UU19V8k3aRNor4-1f2ofWC8EFAt5TsvbGZZsK2YI4p1rUyd_jIUlEsnCDK4trvI/s200/20160122_125801707_iOS.jpg" title="Jamaica Patty Co" width="149" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">has been around for a long time but has kept a low profile. This was one of the main reasons that Jamaican born Theresa Roberts decided to open her business, frustrated by a limited Jamaican food offering on the high street, JPC came to fruition in 2013. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheAGgV6z2j8beM5ZC88L_voDvUx_aY8o6iBAQy3Hwb6kyxVer6hM5A1V6xR3HWnmTan1STzGsRfZsAz-fXXxGQyuSSMoXr3eATEvFd7hb3Gm-MNaNd9nfYbQhS2qONzPLvDGzDiYnuWaA/s1600/20160122_125656678_iOS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheAGgV6z2j8beM5ZC88L_voDvUx_aY8o6iBAQy3Hwb6kyxVer6hM5A1V6xR3HWnmTan1STzGsRfZsAz-fXXxGQyuSSMoXr3eATEvFd7hb3Gm-MNaNd9nfYbQhS2qONzPLvDGzDiYnuWaA/s400/20160122_125656678_iOS.jpg" title="Jamaica Patty Co" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Unlike Cornish pasties the crust is made with Tumeric to give it's distinctive colour. Fillings include, Jerk Chicken; Beef; Spicy Beef, Curried Goat and Vegetable. The owners other half was braving the rain providing samples on the day... and very tasty they were indeed. Having a sweet tooth meant that the Tortuga Rum cake was to die for!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTx63UmYiLTcXCVAKuVbsZa6K9lwhH2adKfgP3-4wF0BJC-1pMgfJcw-u98zqdy9bQp0Fhw-rxGIJ0bfnlWh0Cm11ngQY-qkgWvBbVza6awicjgc0fbd8nYruWKLYSrABWpxkM-a4UKh4/s1600/20160122_131212720_iOS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTx63UmYiLTcXCVAKuVbsZa6K9lwhH2adKfgP3-4wF0BJC-1pMgfJcw-u98zqdy9bQp0Fhw-rxGIJ0bfnlWh0Cm11ngQY-qkgWvBbVza6awicjgc0fbd8nYruWKLYSrABWpxkM-a4UKh4/s400/20160122_131212720_iOS.jpg" title="New Row - Benito's Hat" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Interestingly, at the top of New Row you will find <a href="http://benitos-hat.com/"><span style="color: red;"><b>Benito's Hat</b></span></a> a bustling Burritos bar which was doing a roaring trade on this wet and grey day, selling tacos and Mexican tapas all washed down with a Margarita cocktail or a chilled bottled beer. Posted by Spike.</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.wikio.com/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2FTheWorldOfChocolate"><img src="http://www.wikio.com/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://www.wikio.com"/></a></div>Chocchickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044308587323622002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870198598418272117.post-37979360353418897592015-07-05T18:13:00.001+01:002015-07-05T18:14:52.044+01:00Fancy a PLOPP?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIveXvLnOz1xNhRH0OyYjc0JSVj6zeNw9kOajIvWVNUBKd-4lR9SjvIXJ8aI_llR3HXZ0Z32dL6J-0K1Hc8BBo1k8rI4XqHTcYzPBqn_GaXaWsGqNrmhBFOSdJvpPs7V2Pf9UPXAfI_hc/s1600/IMG_3611.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/fancy-plopp.html" border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIveXvLnOz1xNhRH0OyYjc0JSVj6zeNw9kOajIvWVNUBKd-4lR9SjvIXJ8aI_llR3HXZ0Z32dL6J-0K1Hc8BBo1k8rI4XqHTcYzPBqn_GaXaWsGqNrmhBFOSdJvpPs7V2Pf9UPXAfI_hc/s320/IMG_3611.JPG" title="Fancy a Plopp" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">PLOPP...yes, you did read that correctly. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Plopp, is a popular Swedish chocolate bar but alas I had never come across these humorously named bars until I met the guys from <a href="http://hejcoffee.co.uk/"><b><i>Hej Coffee</i></b></a> who were handing out some freebies at a recent event, much to me delight. How can anyone make it through the day without a Plopp?! Ok, I promise to keep the lavatorial jokes to a minimum. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Plopp, produced by <a href="http://www.cloetta.com/en/about-cloetta/"><b><i>Cloetta</i></b></a>, founded in 1862, is a leading confectionery company in the Nordic region, employing 2,500 people, 6 countries, according to their website. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Plopp was created in 1949 as a small bar and has been improved upon ever since with interesting flavour additions such as Liquorice; Currant; Caffe Latte and Tutti Fruitti. Has anybody tried these?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, I left my Plopp sitting in the baking July sunshine and you know what that means. A few minutes in the fridge helped rescue my melting bar! Fortunately, its taste was not impaired by being zapped by the sun. Overall, this is a pleasant and not too sweet, milk chocolate and soft caramel snack. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiYO_bF_59Ba_CXtL-QuNVAx-qsbA-uRYE1t3vbyrGu0vtoxKe7_UJBdFNOGfhPpoKWY37jrYYVltNAxLVPPUHPZ3vJB1mjQhlhdiJjoE8tWme7E-JR25LQav6m0CE96MmVDgc8H0QY48/s1600/IMG_3615.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/fancy-plopp.html" border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiYO_bF_59Ba_CXtL-QuNVAx-qsbA-uRYE1t3vbyrGu0vtoxKe7_UJBdFNOGfhPpoKWY37jrYYVltNAxLVPPUHPZ3vJB1mjQhlhdiJjoE8tWme7E-JR25LQav6m0CE96MmVDgc8H0QY48/s320/IMG_3615.JPG" title="Fancy a PLOPP" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Swedish Milk Chocolate and Caramel Centre</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><i><a href="http://www.totallyswedish.com/en"><span style="color: yellow;">Totally </span><span style="color: blue;">Swedish</span></a> </i></b>sell this chocolate bar which is available online or in their stores located in Marylebone and Barnes. Totally Swedish provide anything from herring to books in an attempt to satisfy our lust for all things Swedish and of course the many Swedes that have made London their new home and might feel a little homesick. To buy online click <a href="http://www.totallyswedish.com/en/webshop/food/sweets-snacks/cloetta-plopp"><b><span style="color: blue;">here</span></b></a></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.wikio.com/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2FTheWorldOfChocolate"><img src="http://www.wikio.com/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://www.wikio.com"/></a></div>Chocchickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044308587323622002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870198598418272117.post-20756232871972727122015-05-02T08:38:00.002+01:002015-05-02T19:39:16.245+01:00Doisy & Dam - goji & orange<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFKn20sqkoQvPJtkvhIY8y0LrmN3VNzEWdNtryx36NUrSbomUpwsYnrz3BXoPU6UmtqD-N6fq2nl82fN952Khd9mWQTwA9qYunRkBkRJidr0dPN9RoYB-G9d4WJU_CmA9uZS-Vk11gwNA/s1600/Doisy+&+Dam+GO.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/doisy-dam-goji-orange.html" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFKn20sqkoQvPJtkvhIY8y0LrmN3VNzEWdNtryx36NUrSbomUpwsYnrz3BXoPU6UmtqD-N6fq2nl82fN952Khd9mWQTwA9qYunRkBkRJidr0dPN9RoYB-G9d4WJU_CmA9uZS-Vk11gwNA/s1600/Doisy+&+Dam+GO.jpg" height="400" title="Doisy and Dam - Goji and Orange" width="298" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Before we get down to the delicious subject of chocolate lets talk coffee...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Inspiration comes in many guises and a recent visit to <span style="color: black;"><a href="http://www.londoncoffeefestival.com/" target="_blank"><b><i>The</i></b> </a><b><i><a href="http://www.londoncoffeefestival.com/" target="_blank">London Coffee Festival</a></i></b> </span>certainly helped provide that necessary ingredient by the bucket load. It has been a while since I've attended such a vibrant and enthusiastic event. It made me realize how creative, diverse and brilliant the London coffee scene is. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As you'd expect I literally left the place buzzing, not from the caffeine hit, I didn't touch a drop, but the sheer vibrancy of the place. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, even if you don't know your v60 from your espresso why not percolate yourself down to <a href="http://www.londoncoffeefestival.com/" target="_blank"><b><i><span style="color: black;">The London Coffee Festival</span></i></b></a>, Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Grab a deckchair, watch the coffee masters fight it out, visit a lab, indulge in some Bavarian comfort food from Herman Ze German and finish off with a joyous sticky Crosstown doughnut. Follow the exit signs and wander through Milk and Sugar for some retail therapy. Festival ends 3rd May...</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_UsTKKSdlxpvWuh1WYNlfJ2gMIVpowjnqOd9TJDzBhGJEs-Id_vXs_ZBSuI67YATLBW-PXwNKTKYLMtcXAgLdWiAHk-jhhavJcsYa-GUrzQfFnZFjX9FYN6BlJQJzWHuIR-ZS7_wNpdY/s1600/IMG_3144.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/doisy-dam-goji-orange.html" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_UsTKKSdlxpvWuh1WYNlfJ2gMIVpowjnqOd9TJDzBhGJEs-Id_vXs_ZBSuI67YATLBW-PXwNKTKYLMtcXAgLdWiAHk-jhhavJcsYa-GUrzQfFnZFjX9FYN6BlJQJzWHuIR-ZS7_wNpdY/s1600/IMG_3144.JPG" height="298" title="Doisy & Dam - goji & orange" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Doisy & Dam - Goji and Orange</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">New kid on the chocolate block is Ed Smith's, <b><i><a href="http://doisyanddam.com/">Doisy and Dam.</a></i></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;"> Made in Norfolk...yes you heard me correctly, made in Norfolk. Has climate change shifted dramatically in the night? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Not only is their dark chocolate organic it is also suitable for vegans, gluten free and soy-free diets...ticking a lot of boxes so far. Current range is made exclusively from Dominican cacao, 74%. But a little birdie tells me white and milk chocolate varieties are not far off coming to market. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chocolate is always finding new ways of promoting itself as being healthy and Doisy and Dam has gone down the the super-food route. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Introducing interesting but little known ingredients such as, hemp seed and Lucuma, a fruit native to the Peruvian Andes, that you wouldn't necessarily come across in other chocolate bars.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ORjQWOeOrgDV0IkRxAx4hwkfG26NKHz-xJjwJyfCasMutN_vlEtnoOWAYkqrUrdBS_uSXXcpQHWFW6oe-V-srWA5PIqoFxzptik3uhS7oKj_D6AnzgRYB-DWqg4a7XQvNn5xCym-zAc/s1600/IMG_3145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/doisy-dam-goji-orange.html" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ORjQWOeOrgDV0IkRxAx4hwkfG26NKHz-xJjwJyfCasMutN_vlEtnoOWAYkqrUrdBS_uSXXcpQHWFW6oe-V-srWA5PIqoFxzptik3uhS7oKj_D6AnzgRYB-DWqg4a7XQvNn5xCym-zAc/s1600/IMG_3145.JPG" height="320" title="Doisy & Dam - goji & orange" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dominican Cacao 74%</span></b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For this particular bar goji berries have been added and in my opinion not necessarily for the better. The dark chocolate is certainly delicious but the goji berries are an unwelcome guest in this menage a trois of chocolate, orange and berry. However, the other half did say that the addition of the chewy goji berries added another texture...so there! The bar is well balanced and the orange is not at all over powering. However, coming across a goji berry lurking in the depths is like chomping on a piece of foil and needless to say you know what that feels like...I enjoyed this bar, minus the goji, and look forward to trying the other varieties in their range including, ginger, chilli flakes and hemp seed; coconut and lucuma.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ocado and Planet Organic currently stock Doisy & Dam priced at £3.75 for a 100g bar. Click <a href="https://www.ocado.com/webshop/getCategories.do?tags=134504" target="_blank"><b><i><span style="color: cyan;">here</span></i></b></a> to buy online or go directly to the Doisy & Dam <a href="http://doisyanddam.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: magenta;"><b><i>shop</i></b></span></a>.</span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.wikio.com/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2FTheWorldOfChocolate"><img src="http://www.wikio.com/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://www.wikio.com"/></a></div>Chocchickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044308587323622002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870198598418272117.post-16323638826155689142015-03-28T17:40:00.002+00:002015-03-28T17:41:27.498+00:00Sea Salted Caramel Bar - Paul A Young<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRx2nCxz714Vz3GZpOlsbF6oUyoJP8WQISiH9B7urzTO6xTxxm5GT8zuuDYR6yDt5pOJS5G4bu3o3uDTcjWFqiCsjMfrcJfbx9e7yqYocpdELD9lGhQCDCTViv-r7oqi0SSZrmQmmHaAc/s1600/Paul+A+Young%231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/sea-salted-caramel-bar-paul-young.html" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRx2nCxz714Vz3GZpOlsbF6oUyoJP8WQISiH9B7urzTO6xTxxm5GT8zuuDYR6yDt5pOJS5G4bu3o3uDTcjWFqiCsjMfrcJfbx9e7yqYocpdELD9lGhQCDCTViv-r7oqi0SSZrmQmmHaAc/s1600/Paul+A+Young%231.JPG" height="320" title="Sea Salted Caramel Bar" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">An early raid on Easter chocolates was usurped by a bar of Sea Salted Caramel from Paul. A. Young. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Phew...that was a close one!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For those of you who are new to the world of chocolate, </span><a href="http://www.paulayoung.co.uk/2013/behind-the-scenes-film/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank"><b><i>Paul.A.Young</i></b></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, is a confectionary wizard when it comes to making fine chocolates with fresh ingredients. You can find PAY stores in Wardour Street, Camden Passage, The Royal Exchange and Heals. His empire is certainly expanding! I recently discovered that you can buy some of his chocolates online at </span><a href="http://cravedlondon.com/collections/paul-a-young-fine-chocolates" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank"><b><i>Craved</i></b></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can find such flavours</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">including Sourdough; Chilli and that old favourite you either love it or hate it, marmite. Not surprisingly this rather edgy <a href="http://cravedlondon.com/collections/paul-a-young-fine-chocolates/products/marmite-dark-chocolate" target="_blank"><span style="color: #783f04;"><b>marmite bar</b></span></a> is on offer at £3.50 reduced from £5.90.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Paul and his team of apprentice wizards, that's certainly an apprenticeship to end all apprenticeships if they offer such things, make all their chocolate delights without the use of complicated tempering machinery preferring the coolness of marble to facilitate the magical process.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As you would expect, the chocolate, a 64% Madagascan dark chocolate, is delicious, delivering a woody and fruity almost zesty aroma.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVhGBLIyDE3jGdE2v_smn_bXWVu_T2auh1ahq6R_MBy0E4uUR8JCq3Ozm1hUkesWvLyhWkTf_qAiUyGx2sQbnlRLS0Cqfm-Yu7LZ4ibzQ_DcozFEFt0LjaExbLbp45wf9GEHdUVGD7m_s/s1600/Paul+A+Young+%232.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/sea-salted-caramel-bar-paul-young.html" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVhGBLIyDE3jGdE2v_smn_bXWVu_T2auh1ahq6R_MBy0E4uUR8JCq3Ozm1hUkesWvLyhWkTf_qAiUyGx2sQbnlRLS0Cqfm-Yu7LZ4ibzQ_DcozFEFt0LjaExbLbp45wf9GEHdUVGD7m_s/s1600/Paul+A+Young+%232.JPG" height="320" title="Sea Salted Caramel Bar" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">50g - Sea Salted Caramel Bar</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The soft caramel has been sandwiched in between two pieces of chocolate which have been cleverly glued back together. Maldon sea salt has been combined with the sweet caramel to provide a little astringency; very subtle. This particular bar won Gold at the International Chocolate Awards European Semi-Final. You can now learn how to make this bar by joining one of his workshops, but hurry as these events are selling out fast.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5R7tPfo_uIo5oW3_Ywr6AKPDQI5xNCMoPBhRYfsIszb58qlmeb2exZiYbnPk7SkzGTgh7FjfGjL5-tNTkeqy_ddeDlSr_wGzx9GTBdQ71Gx8NswPWIg9vqeCnTddRjpprh0p8G_gVPBQ/s1600/Paul+A+Young+%233.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/sea-salted-caramel-bar-paul-young.html" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5R7tPfo_uIo5oW3_Ywr6AKPDQI5xNCMoPBhRYfsIszb58qlmeb2exZiYbnPk7SkzGTgh7FjfGjL5-tNTkeqy_ddeDlSr_wGzx9GTBdQ71Gx8NswPWIg9vqeCnTddRjpprh0p8G_gVPBQ/s1600/Paul+A+Young+%233.JPG" height="320" title="Sea Salted Caramel Bar" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Little effort or for that matter expense has been made in regards to packaging. A simple piece of fairly thick clear plastic held together with two labels and a purple bow. Paul makes it clear he wants his chocolate to do all the talking. Substance over style. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nowadays caramel and sea salt is probably the most popular flavour in the world and can now be found in absolutely anything. I enjoyed this bar which is really well balanced but to be honest I prefer a plain bar rather than the squidgy mix.</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.wikio.com/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2FTheWorldOfChocolate"><img src="http://www.wikio.com/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://www.wikio.com"/></a></div>Chocchickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044308587323622002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870198598418272117.post-38935690075100176772015-03-16T14:36:00.004+00:002015-03-16T14:46:55.194+00:00Ecuador - Marks and Spencer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFIIFa09btix0jDI_X4pJ3BXxmM-W4vO9yrwQ4R_wIN4si94DU1ZkvPF-_Z0PYN9boK0VR5Y0stYvIRjN83jRPj2TEs4kZ4Sef7JijGV6AtSwPIWJO2UHVZMc_dQWeg6A5IwhDjgXQjxs/s1600/Ecuador.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFIIFa09btix0jDI_X4pJ3BXxmM-W4vO9yrwQ4R_wIN4si94DU1ZkvPF-_Z0PYN9boK0VR5Y0stYvIRjN83jRPj2TEs4kZ4Sef7JijGV6AtSwPIWJO2UHVZMc_dQWeg6A5IwhDjgXQjxs/s1600/Ecuador.JPG" height="317" title="Ecuador - Single Origin Dark Chocolate" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hopefully, today we will be on safer ground and the actual wording on the outside of the packet will represent what is on the inside, see my previous post regarding the Marc De Champagne Egg.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On first inspection this looks like an interesting bar of chocolate titled, 'Equador' - single origin dark chocolate, from Marks and Spencer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As with the Marc De Champagne Egg, this piece of chocolate also seems to be part of <i>'The Collection'</i> which I now believe is a totally overused term and meaningless, as everything sold in Marks and Spencer seems to be part of <i>The Collection</i>. </span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI0IBiVKfJIimYWP3g6-KDKHHI5uZY6_6JTpT9j9zsz68wOIGGwIhdeutuZesaE_VwM7ARWKdouaA3l4uMFOnawQFXJTLu4Gl_yfGzKt_HIDYx_6CVrzWW77vSGE0a9-4ZIlugbIiCl3A/s1600/IMG_2952.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI0IBiVKfJIimYWP3g6-KDKHHI5uZY6_6JTpT9j9zsz68wOIGGwIhdeutuZesaE_VwM7ARWKdouaA3l4uMFOnawQFXJTLu4Gl_yfGzKt_HIDYx_6CVrzWW77vSGE0a9-4ZIlugbIiCl3A/s1600/IMG_2952.JPG" height="200" title="Ecuador Single Origin Dark Chocolate - M&S" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For some bizarre reason the packaging designers have become all excited and decided to go with two alternative spellings for the words 'Ecuador', spelt 'Equador' and 'Ecuadorian' spelt 'Equadorian'. Why?</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGqxOzcpo2o5RQw4obzhTU42KalxRiaZrjfYiTR0_YgieFL3Bc2Eh_d0pmWcVV0PPy6Sj9M2YGyOqMambOi7sqvOskOK2ELrboeeYg4Si-9XsVqA92SAfjPhtHXLIqnQZq6kv4Rrp9aKQ/s1600/IMG_2953.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGqxOzcpo2o5RQw4obzhTU42KalxRiaZrjfYiTR0_YgieFL3Bc2Eh_d0pmWcVV0PPy6Sj9M2YGyOqMambOi7sqvOskOK2ELrboeeYg4Si-9XsVqA92SAfjPhtHXLIqnQZq6kv4Rrp9aKQ/s1600/IMG_2953.JPG" height="200" title="Ecuador - Single Origin Dark Chocolate M&S" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The chocolate slab itself is bright and ebony in presentation and has an excellent snap. Marks and Spencer has described this chocolate thus, "<i>this Equadorian dark chocolate possesses floral Jasmine notes with a slightly nutty aftertaste. The touch of astringency gives a surprising wholeness to the flavour profile. Perfectly paired with an aged tawny port"</i>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have noticed more and more retailers are now pairing their chocolates either with fine wines, ports or surprisingly beers. Another retail opportunity never to be missed! In fact you can now buy some interesting bottled beers from M&S...try their <a href="http://www.marksandspencer.com/cheshire-chocolate-porter-case-of-20/p/p60023866" target="_blank"><b>Cheshire Chocolate Porter</b></a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To be honest I can't place the Jasmine but I can certainly pick up a slight tobacco aroma with a hint of lemon. Just breathe it all in...delicious! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The dark chocolate melts quickly with a slight sweetness and a fair amount of acidity which hangs around for a while. This is not unpleasant and compliments the rich, silky smoothness of the melting dark chocolate. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In terms of ingredients there are not many, including: Cocoa Mass - Sugar - Cocoa Butter - Emulsifier: Sunflower Lecithin...which is good news if you are allergic to Soya Lecithin.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM6Ljf1jxtmrrxu5xbINkIp21PTdIRY-4Zi9h7UXUO22bkc_6H61puX3nmNXvNYhboRJXMHKdcGWP8IOqlzys9Tj74VUExYPvGZIqUofqieEOG5TvEtCVnqXzSmMS9gHZlMHIE_XH2Xj0/s1600/Ecuador%232.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM6Ljf1jxtmrrxu5xbINkIp21PTdIRY-4Zi9h7UXUO22bkc_6H61puX3nmNXvNYhboRJXMHKdcGWP8IOqlzys9Tj74VUExYPvGZIqUofqieEOG5TvEtCVnqXzSmMS9gHZlMHIE_XH2Xj0/s1600/Ecuador%232.JPG" height="386" title="Ecuador - Single Origin Dark Chocolate M&S" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Single Origin Dark Chocolate - Ecuador</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I really enjoyed this bar of chocolate and at £3.00 for 80g it proves to be good value for money. If you are looking for alternatives check out similar chocolates from </span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.chocolatiers.co.uk/collections/60" target="_blank">Chocolatiers</a> </b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">but expect to pay a bit more.</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.wikio.com/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2FTheWorldOfChocolate"><img src="http://www.wikio.com/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://www.wikio.com"/></a></div>Chocchickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044308587323622002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870198598418272117.post-17369478631411578872015-03-14T14:48:00.001+00:002015-03-14T17:55:19.808+00:00Marc De Champagne Egg - M&S<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzOe8mofwTSezw-cTJx96Bq-gs3SUE7H5ZAqpTs5hck-i0ZsGagpu_vni9I87zmEaqRnEgs_naURuU-kqqab5Ob3sz-HIyfnFfRs99g4BS2A6KPwwncy8j-FoVEAbiAeyd85RlnpL8KMM/s1600/M&S+Egg.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzOe8mofwTSezw-cTJx96Bq-gs3SUE7H5ZAqpTs5hck-i0ZsGagpu_vni9I87zmEaqRnEgs_naURuU-kqqab5Ob3sz-HIyfnFfRs99g4BS2A6KPwwncy8j-FoVEAbiAeyd85RlnpL8KMM/s1600/M&S+Egg.JPG" height="320" title="Marc de Champagne Egg - Marks and Spencer" width="312" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Marc De Champagne Egg</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Remember that old saying, "All that glitters is not gold" and so it would seem with this Easter Egg purchased from Marks and Spencer earlier today. Beware and read the label carefully before purchasing one of these colourful eggs...unlike me. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At a quick glance you may be forgiven for actually thinking that you are buying a chocolate egg filled with marc de champagne truffles. When in actual fact you are buying a decorative piece of cardboard, tied with a turquoise bow, in the shape of an egg filled with marc de champagne truffles. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This attractive and eye catching Faberge style egg stands about 6.5" or 16.5 cm high and is filled with 10 marc de champagne truffles, approx. 145 g, sealed within a plastic bag to stop the icing sugar going all over the place. This particular egg has been earmarked as being part of <b><i>"The Collection"</i></b> which as far as I can make out could apply to anything from denim jeans or a pair of slingbacks. So, just another nonsensical marketing ploy to make you think somebody has selected this item for its uniqueness and quality. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKBCztjkDV9pmUF7UValrKZtGceVPm92wcxZiR5EbMSpJSlZ3fhrESCbsWCJia4Ra1lHwsPz7hC2ZshgPnXs0rB3v8Nh6ekZNQ7we83BPWB4bgDqD9Ja7rcj_T1H8RFFwB3hRhshQcA2k/s1600/M&S+Egg+Truffles%232.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKBCztjkDV9pmUF7UValrKZtGceVPm92wcxZiR5EbMSpJSlZ3fhrESCbsWCJia4Ra1lHwsPz7hC2ZshgPnXs0rB3v8Nh6ekZNQ7we83BPWB4bgDqD9Ja7rcj_T1H8RFFwB3hRhshQcA2k/s1600/M&S+Egg+Truffles%232.JPG" height="400" title="Marc De Champagne Egg - Marks and Spencer" width="305" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Made in Ireland</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've never been a great fan of </span><a href="http://www.marksandspencer.com/c/food-and-wine" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank"><b><i>Marks and Spencer</i></b></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> truffles and this offering is very much the same old, same old, sugary and overly sweet concoction that I have come to expect from them. Each truffle is well made and covered liberally in icing sugar, perhaps best eaten naked. The soft sweet ganache is en-robed in a fairly thick casing of milk chocolate. I suggest you cut the truffle in half and scoop out the ganache with your tongue. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The marc de champagne is not overpowering and adds a slightly pleasant alcoholic flavour. If only <a href="http://www.marksandspencer.com/c/food-and-wine" target="_blank"><b><i>Marks and Spencer</i></b></a> could cut down on the sugar and increase the cocoa content of their truffles then this might be a fairly pleasant experience. However, after the sugar hit you are left with a gloopy and slightly acidic feeling as it slides down your throat. Not the nicest of experiences and on reflection I've had more enjoyable sore throats.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicDyRhJAORonRS29dQkmIvM8Cktxvz2ialU3ejTx0ZMLRqxq1jTdVRZ5edG4l_l3d1zU4LxeKEhNRg0O2-57S9rvaKPt4rwqNoLOqlwAzB6_QpSlNMEeKyJEb8LdktoMukwf8KTJ2MJ2Y/s1600/M&S+Egg+Truffles.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicDyRhJAORonRS29dQkmIvM8Cktxvz2ialU3ejTx0ZMLRqxq1jTdVRZ5edG4l_l3d1zU4LxeKEhNRg0O2-57S9rvaKPt4rwqNoLOqlwAzB6_QpSlNMEeKyJEb8LdktoMukwf8KTJ2MJ2Y/s1600/M&S+Egg+Truffles.JPG" height="259" title="Marc De Champagne Egg - Marks and Spencer" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Marc De Champagne Truffles - 30% Cocoa</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was disappointed from the start with this egg especially on discovering that there was no actual chocolate egg for me to crack open! So, staying objective was a problem from the beginning. However, the egg is well presented as are the champagne truffles. For the cost of £9.00 you do get a lovely egg shaped box and 10 'gob stopper' size champagne truffles. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">However, I feel that I could have done better with my money and perhaps I should have gone with a Percy Pig! However, if M&S is not your thing then here are a couple of examples of Easter chocolates available on the internet and high street:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This year's Easter gifts <a href="http://www.chococo.co.uk/chocolate-gifts/easter-gifts" target="_blank"><b><i><span style="color: #cc0000;">Chococo</span>-<span style="color: #6aa84f;">st</span>yle</i></b></a> from £9.50...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Or</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Something with imagination from <a href="http://www.hotelchocolat.com/uk/shop/easter-eggs/chocolate-eggs-soldiers" target="_blank"><b><i>Hotel Chocolat</i></b></a> from £7.00...</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.wikio.com/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2FTheWorldOfChocolate"><img src="http://www.wikio.com/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://www.wikio.com"/></a></div>Chocchickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044308587323622002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870198598418272117.post-51117053238108145482015-03-12T15:42:00.003+00:002015-03-12T15:42:56.125+00:00Van Der Burgh Chocolaad - 72<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQvkpwES1l3NV19dMbuaZnICWHzMY93idtQ9efY_iNELBxPT1mPaIlfTmeXZ6u5m2gjtDNcoXLy-NVNWF65ZgtkxlvnYF8oAwLoMyknz2x79JCv0UuCc1x0wDLZd-upWCyl7VC9wz8_hY/s1600/SAM_4121.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQvkpwES1l3NV19dMbuaZnICWHzMY93idtQ9efY_iNELBxPT1mPaIlfTmeXZ6u5m2gjtDNcoXLy-NVNWF65ZgtkxlvnYF8oAwLoMyknz2x79JCv0UuCc1x0wDLZd-upWCyl7VC9wz8_hY/s1600/SAM_4121.JPG" height="400" title="Van Der Burgh Chocolaad" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">72% Fairtrade Cacao</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you're looking to escape the busy canals and hedonistic but picturesque streets of Amsterdam then a trip to the historic town of Delft on a Monday is surely the place to go. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Where clearing the beautifully kept canals of discarded bikes is probably the highlight of the day for most inhabitants and for that matter most visitors who unfortunately find themselves in this situation. This is no fault of the town or the good townsfolk of Delft its just what happens when you visit out of season. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Delft is about an hour away by Intercity train from Amsterdam's central station. Double decker trains run every 15-20 minutes and are speedy, fairly tidy and reliable as they whisk you through the flat, yet to be filled with tulips, countryside. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A bonus of travelling by train in Holland is that as long as you 'touch in and touch out' you can stop off at every station without paying any additional fee which is not necessarily the case in the UK. Stop off at <a href="http://www.denhaag.nl/en.htm" target="_blank"><b><i>The Hague</i></b></a> or continue onto <a href="https://en.rotterdam.info/visitors/" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">Rotterdam</a><b style="font-style: italic;"> </b><i>if you choose. A visit to the </i><a href="http://www.royaldelft.com/static.asp?myid=135&menu=3" target="_blank"><b><i>Royal Delft Potteries</i></b></a><i> is well worth a trip located outside the town centre. If you fancy a stroll alongside the canals and into residential Delft, allow 20 minutes for an easy walk from the town centre.</i></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMHH4lZwoy8yhG68tx75mbrhmoAzMfXtM81WvXAnwBhdKN0Sfu4cilEFUkJ3DLLMjrwGhDoZeBmVdebvPPH6mx2tMhp6e9fq8R5Nra2wqWpxLNs98h7nNSyaeEVIm_pDAR6L5nxwVR-SA/s1600/Delft+Canal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMHH4lZwoy8yhG68tx75mbrhmoAzMfXtM81WvXAnwBhdKN0Sfu4cilEFUkJ3DLLMjrwGhDoZeBmVdebvPPH6mx2tMhp6e9fq8R5Nra2wqWpxLNs98h7nNSyaeEVIm_pDAR6L5nxwVR-SA/s1600/Delft+Canal.jpg" height="400" title="Van Der Burgh Chocolaad" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Where many bikes and even cars end up!</td></tr>
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</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To my surprise one of the few shops that was open for business was a chocolate shop that of </span><a href="http://www.vanderburghchocolaad.nl/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank"><b><i>Van Der Burgh Chocolaad</i></b></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. A the time of our visit the occupants were busy making and hand wrapping big bars of chocolate. Unfortunately, my Dutch isn't what it used to be and we just had to gaze at the 00's of bars that were being wrapped for sale. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4ibdzcBKaNSapotc8XUUfiWKtLE2rsme_ezIhjQ0UW1ABNaakvewkvpOTQ1diVS0750I-1NSs2M38aau12xVC1ivZdic5ujrkbQ0dORGzFE5Twy_Sg2Q0uoMLsRXW-vTFyMZceBNPdts/s1600/Van+Der+Burgh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4ibdzcBKaNSapotc8XUUfiWKtLE2rsme_ezIhjQ0UW1ABNaakvewkvpOTQ1diVS0750I-1NSs2M38aau12xVC1ivZdic5ujrkbQ0dORGzFE5Twy_Sg2Q0uoMLsRXW-vTFyMZceBNPdts/s1600/Van+Der+Burgh.jpg" height="200" title="Van Der Burgh Chocolaad" width="148" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Historical Chocolate Shop</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">According to their website the business was founded in 2011 by Richard and Joyce van der Burgh as a result of an extensive search for handmade chocolate bars. No boring packaging for them! Their bars are indeed resplendent and made in one of the most picturesque locations of town. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Using only Fairtrade cacao they make a variety of bars including milk and dark either on their own of mixed together with nuts, Ethiopian coffee or dried fruits such as cranberries. It was difficult to tell whether they actually make their chocolate from scratch but they do seem to imply this in their message? </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivfyo4jNJRQZ_z-ts76lQLcM-48P_Nz9U0CPQfTlRpX9Zu-nhiWouulNIySrpKtU_zr8yqzWZBRwBfCGr7odt60hJZKgnHNA_K8tND-n1T7Q_2wH6sLrXBl1eyBAxtuj-H9kVn-vtG1No/s1600/Van+Der+Burgh+Dark+72.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivfyo4jNJRQZ_z-ts76lQLcM-48P_Nz9U0CPQfTlRpX9Zu-nhiWouulNIySrpKtU_zr8yqzWZBRwBfCGr7odt60hJZKgnHNA_K8tND-n1T7Q_2wH6sLrXBl1eyBAxtuj-H9kVn-vtG1No/s1600/Van+Der+Burgh+Dark+72.jpg" height="200" title="Van Der Burgh Chocolaad" width="165" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Handmade in Holland</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Their chocolate bars are certainly beautifully packaged and have the wow factor. Unfortunately, in terms of design there is no inkling as to where their inspiration came from.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I picked out a 72% dark chocolate bar with whole hazelnuts. These are certainly hefty bars weighing in at 100g and the fact that they have used whole nuts makes the packaging feel even bulkier and almost fit to burst. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Personally, I thought the dark chocolate was too thick and if you are worried about your dentures take a hammer to the bar before you get your pearly whites around this little bruiser of a bar. The chocolate itself is not particularly big on flavour and whilst it is well made the depth of flavour is somewhat lacking with little fruit or acidity....all a bit flat, like the landscape, in my opinion. The hazelnuts provide extra crunch. To buy click <a href="http://www.vanderburghchocolaad.nl/a-26769641/online-shop/pure-chocolade-100-gr-fairtrade-72-cacao-dark-chocolate-100g-fairtrade-72-cacao/" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: purple;"><i>here</i></span></b></a>.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ1X-O_V6rjQoSfHuwi6UenyKKKWeYTB8jEIP_QTBsSVE3cq7dOTq0RO4eesS6NL3hgFh38EVYtOXbx5VSPGi8zJ4unIJgtM0GZXugxRor_Dy1hYEUfvzm4ngTEHBjBDbzmhMpZV4vOxg/s1600/SAM_4124.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ1X-O_V6rjQoSfHuwi6UenyKKKWeYTB8jEIP_QTBsSVE3cq7dOTq0RO4eesS6NL3hgFh38EVYtOXbx5VSPGi8zJ4unIJgtM0GZXugxRor_Dy1hYEUfvzm4ngTEHBjBDbzmhMpZV4vOxg/s1600/SAM_4124.JPG" height="640" title="Van Der Burgh Chocolaad" width="425" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chunky Van der Burgh</td></tr>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.wikio.com/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2FTheWorldOfChocolate"><img src="http://www.wikio.com/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://www.wikio.com"/></a></div>Chocchickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044308587323622002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870198598418272117.post-56692937319924680142015-02-22T16:11:00.005+00:002015-02-22T16:11:56.967+00:00Lime and Ginger Chocolate<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-QJbMZ73nSnPNoTmTgnVA8P39En3NV5GIRpWYIfWWk7rtnblfRrXU7eZ4k43ic33TvanoYPKgcuOjo7ryiGDRIEgRwWRALEFK1xqlK7UPItUP783m3OJYBAGT09DZkNXOwCFLpUNqY0E/s1600/IMG_2796.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-QJbMZ73nSnPNoTmTgnVA8P39En3NV5GIRpWYIfWWk7rtnblfRrXU7eZ4k43ic33TvanoYPKgcuOjo7ryiGDRIEgRwWRALEFK1xqlK7UPItUP783m3OJYBAGT09DZkNXOwCFLpUNqY0E/s1600/IMG_2796.JPG" height="297" title="Lime and Ginger Chocolate by Merry Berry" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Lime and Ginger Chocolate Shards Merry Berry</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A visit by my daughter to a recent Chelmsford beer festival resulted in a surprise gift of chocolate from Merry Berry, based in Burton-on-Trent. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chocolate has taught me one thing, 'never judge a book by its cover'. However, I have to admit that I was slightly skeptical about the combination of chocolate and beer festivals. Where was the link? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well, a quick look at <i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/merryberrytruffles.chocolates" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #4c1130;">Merry Berry's Facebook</span></b></a> </i>page showed me that there were indeed a lot of people out there pairing up chocolate with beer and actually enjoying it. Ok, I have heard a lot about pairing wines with chocolate but never beer. This is not just your bog standard industrial brewed beer but artisan, handcrafted, extraordinary beers from the likes of <a href="http://www.brewdog.com/beer" target="_blank"><span style="color: #990000;"><i><b>Brewdog</b></i></span></a>. So, there must be something to it. Check out December's tasting at <a href="http://www.brewdog.com/event/beer-and-chocolate-pairing" target="_blank"><i><b><span style="color: #990000;">Brewdog</span></b></i></a>, Liverpool. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj74lCLk_yYUTj-1snbKW2FDYhOv6D9wfrvKYnh2NkylumNG1razomwKblQHwNof81JDgYkd7tBUK2Vhjm2q_q0v3itwnqrYNEn3Dq_ELA0NW-GcAG_6bvF5YA8A1cELAB6apRm35e_mto/s1600/IMG_2797.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj74lCLk_yYUTj-1snbKW2FDYhOv6D9wfrvKYnh2NkylumNG1razomwKblQHwNof81JDgYkd7tBUK2Vhjm2q_q0v3itwnqrYNEn3Dq_ELA0NW-GcAG_6bvF5YA8A1cELAB6apRm35e_mto/s1600/IMG_2797.JPG" height="298" title="Lime and Ginger Chocolate" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The chocolate (Belgian?) has a cocoa content of 53.8% and does not overpower the lime and ginger. However, the light dark chocolate goes perfectly well with both. There is a strong aroma of crisp, fresh lime on opening the packet. The chocolate melts quickly and smoothly in the mouth with loads of tangy lime. The ginger comes later offering up a little heat at the end with the lime continuing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is a very agreeable and well balanced piece of chocolate, priced at £2.20 for 50g. To buy follow the link <a href="http://www.merryberrytruffles.co.uk/product/flavoured-chocolates/lime-and-ginger-flavoured-chocolate-pieces/" target="_blank"><b><i><span style="color: #4c1130;">here</span></i></b></a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Merry Berry Truffles also make truffles. Quelle Surprise! Interestingly, they make a chilli bar which is rather dramatically named <a href="http://www.merryberrytruffles.co.uk/product/flavoured-chocolates/scorpion-death-chilli-chocolate/" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>'Scorpion Death Chilli Chocolate'</b></span></i></a> which has a disclaimer as people have been made to cry. I can only assume they've been using it as a face pack? The mind boggles! The reviews of this chilli chocolate are great....enjoy!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I'm next in Southwold I'll try a piece of chocolate with some <a href="http://adnams.co.uk/beer/our-beers/adnams-old-ale/" target="_blank"><i><span style="color: #660000;"><b>Adnams Old Ale</b></span></i></a> which has an aroma of caramel and nutty chocolate.</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.wikio.com/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2FTheWorldOfChocolate"><img src="http://www.wikio.com/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://www.wikio.com"/></a></div>Chocchickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044308587323622002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870198598418272117.post-29270398521926462402015-02-14T11:14:00.002+00:002015-02-14T11:14:21.329+00:00Peruvian Gold<div style="text-align: left;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCaWEVRinFy3q_a-eDOtjsywaOJoWamvV7xm_xW7eo18NcFgMB9OYIs3OYakQ7unOkay9Xjuazibv7GxzPuZaM9DZL7Y4oEVwD278LptN8BomlCT_XgQC33Sdhsn00VMrAxq6bQ1dFBsM/s1600/Peruvian+Gold%231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCaWEVRinFy3q_a-eDOtjsywaOJoWamvV7xm_xW7eo18NcFgMB9OYIs3OYakQ7unOkay9Xjuazibv7GxzPuZaM9DZL7Y4oEVwD278LptN8BomlCT_XgQC33Sdhsn00VMrAxq6bQ1dFBsM/s1600/Peruvian+Gold%231.JPG" height="239" title="Peruvian Gold - Willies Cacao" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b>Chulucanas 70</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Not wanting to start this post on a downer...but our bodies have just made it through January and we're now talking about chocolate and 50 shades of something, blah, blah, blah. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Many of you will understand and recognise this never ending</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">nightmare, that we find ourselves in. Throughout January</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> you will have religiously attended many exhaustive, hot and sweaty sessions at the local gym and consumed vast quantities of stomach stripping detoxing 'green juices' in a never ending futile attempt to rejuvenate, replenish and miraculously turn that Christmas Pudding shaped stomach into something representing a washboard. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, come February everything and everybody is plotting against us and as soon as we have shed those few pounds our bodies are thrown into the next retail battleground</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> that is Valentine's Day. Even the government is getting in on the act deciding it is a good time to slap our lardy arses and cut benefits to the plumpy dumpies amongst us. Where can we find salvation? Could this spell the end for chocolate? Uh, no I don't think so. Not when it comes to tasting such delicious and possibly 'healthy' offerings from the likes of Willies Cacao.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdz1hG1clVQuFAXuIBQjZ5TogIRW05xPL48uXxaHEyJAaKHWGCFrCOy6uSrq5oFDjNKjnUwnXVAJxj8Y3SZSR-NuVg75CjlLTCGcSbJ1juIGVKXz-aC1hb29axc4IpeldViuhmBu5f9eI/s1600/Peruvian+Gold+%232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdz1hG1clVQuFAXuIBQjZ5TogIRW05xPL48uXxaHEyJAaKHWGCFrCOy6uSrq5oFDjNKjnUwnXVAJxj8Y3SZSR-NuVg75CjlLTCGcSbJ1juIGVKXz-aC1hb29axc4IpeldViuhmBu5f9eI/s1600/Peruvian+Gold+%232.jpg" height="316" title="Peruvian Gold" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Two Squares of Peruvian Gold 80g</span></b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Willie Harcourt-Cooze founder of <a href="http://www.willieschocolateshop.com/" target="_blank"><b><i>Willies Cacao</i></b></a> and real life Willy Wonka has not been seen on our tv screens for several years when he was last seen running naked down that Exeter country lane. There is nothing he doesn't know about chocolate and he will go to great lengths to bring us delicious and flavoursome chocolate without the necessity of adding processed sugar or other additives. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chulucanas 70 is described as instant gratification... how appropriate. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Made from single origin Criollo beans this chocolate has distinctive notes of raisins and plums. For a 70% dark chocolate it melts quickly in the mouth giving up it's citrus flavours with additional plum and liquorice. This is a beautifully balanced piece of chocolate and if anybody thinks dark chocolate is bitter then you have to try this bar. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxBAkAfhjS8U280UYvgB6lDwnncvWyR4k-P7VnO5LsSKAgmwuvgjV4fcknOKnRHsm41dbIhBBmr1OhBFW0hvBXua17dcAlTG1v3FqcPa2g96wH4V9gvrWr8zEMLFkMpJ8LfSa9d0H-ZtA/s1600/Peruvian+Gold%233.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxBAkAfhjS8U280UYvgB6lDwnncvWyR4k-P7VnO5LsSKAgmwuvgjV4fcknOKnRHsm41dbIhBBmr1OhBFW0hvBXua17dcAlTG1v3FqcPa2g96wH4V9gvrWr8zEMLFkMpJ8LfSa9d0H-ZtA/s1600/Peruvian+Gold%233.JPG" height="297" title="Peruvian Gold" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The word Chulucanas actually comes from a town in the Piura region of Peru. The town of Chulucanas is apparently famous for its black and white pottery and ceramic characters. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This bar is priced at £2.99 and you can buy online by following the link </span><a href="http://www.willieschocolateshop.com/gourmet-dark-chocolate.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.</span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.wikio.com/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2FTheWorldOfChocolate"><img src="http://www.wikio.com/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://www.wikio.com"/></a></div>Chocchickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044308587323622002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870198598418272117.post-20549043214920286552015-02-08T09:47:00.002+00:002015-02-08T10:46:33.017+00:00Spiced Apple Cake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO6vtNNpQml7kSEBr7PsAbuceoyO7Rpmv3ZayvnvnJ_j_Ct2fDW_mPIoig4buqlpx1jXfYz8FUH92LzRC2Es7NUK6VhLb4f-qW10pTe_clWnN9JLQINvwRuEYA15uZVpYEKi2uFosd01M/s1600/Spiced+Apple+Cake+%232.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Spiced Apple Cake, The World of Chocolate, Recipe" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO6vtNNpQml7kSEBr7PsAbuceoyO7Rpmv3ZayvnvnJ_j_Ct2fDW_mPIoig4buqlpx1jXfYz8FUH92LzRC2Es7NUK6VhLb4f-qW10pTe_clWnN9JLQINvwRuEYA15uZVpYEKi2uFosd01M/s1600/Spiced+Apple+Cake+%232.JPG" height="400" title="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" width="297" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: center;">This particular recipe was taken from </span><a href="http://desarapen.blogspot.co.uk/2006/04/spiced-apple-cake.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><b>English Patis</b></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> who tweaked a Delia recipe. I used golden caster and left out the pecan nuts to please all members of the family.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Ingredients:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">350g peeled and chopped apples - I used Braeburns</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">275g plain flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">110g butter - melted</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2 eggs - slightly beaten</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1/2 tsp salt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 Tbsp. baking powder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 tsp ground cinnamon</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1/8 tsp ground cloves (optional)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1/2 whole nutmeg - finely grated (about 1 tsp)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">170 g golden caster sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">175 ml milk</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Topping:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">75g Demerara sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">75g self-raising flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 tsp ground cinnamon</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">25g butter - softened</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">50g pecans or walnuts - roughly chopped - optional</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 Tbsp cold water</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Method:</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Preheat oven to 165C fan. Grease the bottom of a 3 lb loaf tin and line with a strip of greaseproof to aid removal once cooked.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mix the topping - combine the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and flour in a small bowl. Cut in the soft butter with two butter knives into the mixture. Then proceed to rub in it with your fingertips. Add in the nuts - mix well. Sprinkle the cold water and toss. Set aside.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Combine the flour, cinnamon, cloves, baking powder, and salt in another bowl.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Put the eggs in a large bowl. Add in the milk, sugar, and melted butter.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Add the flour mixture into the egg mixture with a wooden spoon and mix well stirring in the chopped apples.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pour into the greased cake tin</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sprinkle the topping on the surface of the batter.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bake in oven for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Cool for about 5 minutes, turn out from the pan then cool completely.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY7I5m9iePGd0EMdoTCGRvwoELdGaJk95GXB-0xwOhEuMGkhUQ55dlwaaOkvIMI0KpjVVxflOSEdDeYZ_0LK5P8074CgYXQRu5lGh0dZvmzI4Dbr50Je8VbiUSdYOAOsSe6HircuPeDPo/s1600/Spiced+Apple+Cake.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="Spiced Apple Cake, The World of Chocolate" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY7I5m9iePGd0EMdoTCGRvwoELdGaJk95GXB-0xwOhEuMGkhUQ55dlwaaOkvIMI0KpjVVxflOSEdDeYZ_0LK5P8074CgYXQRu5lGh0dZvmzI4Dbr50Je8VbiUSdYOAOsSe6HircuPeDPo/s1600/Spiced+Apple+Cake.JPG" height="297" title="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Serves 10-12 portions and at the time of writing this recipe the cost of producing this cake was £2.75.</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.wikio.com/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2FTheWorldOfChocolate"><img src="http://www.wikio.com/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://www.wikio.com"/></a></div>Chocchickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044308587323622002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870198598418272117.post-85912836786305224082015-01-31T17:25:00.003+00:002015-01-31T17:32:33.623+00:00Shoreditch <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim0KjYlLGK6ChbBwbDMvvokewrC-7uw1MougWKMXFALzwUGQ4_FxvGgBnftz7OhQs9t142sGAe0YQBMWytjkruGlmfURpT9Ly4bA_E2THgfrXM6bTBb35bb4D2_znrPwN2Zcs-gPT5g1c/s1600/Shoreditch+%231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim0KjYlLGK6ChbBwbDMvvokewrC-7uw1MougWKMXFALzwUGQ4_FxvGgBnftz7OhQs9t142sGAe0YQBMWytjkruGlmfURpT9Ly4bA_E2THgfrXM6bTBb35bb4D2_znrPwN2Zcs-gPT5g1c/s1600/Shoreditch+%231.JPG" height="320" title="Shoreditch" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>SHOREDITCH</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Shoreditch, home of <a href="http://www.yalla-yalla.co.uk/" target="_blank"><b><i><span style="color: black;">Yalla Yalla</span></i></b></a> and The Hoxton, is just a 5 minute walk away from the busy train terminus that is Liverpool Street station and the City, work place of bankerman. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We nipped over to Shoreditch or as it was known in a previous life as 'Sewer-Ditch' when the area was not much more than a boggy landscape. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well, you'll be pleased to know things have moved on since then even though the weather may still be the same, wet and very, very cold. Us Southern folk are such wimps when it comes to the cold. Fail!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The thrust of urban development is creeping little by little with new flats rising from what seems like the very cracks in the pavement and interestingly we came across the <a href="http://marchforhomes.org/" target="_blank"><b><i>March for Homes</i></b></a>, a demonstration against "social cleansing". </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hundreds of people walked the streets protesting against the lack of affordable housing. Like most modern cities London is a place of extremes with people sleeping rough alongside 3 bedroom flats on sale for £2.4M. The March for Homes is said to be the first of its kind, bringing campaigners, retailers and trade unionists together to highlight the lack of affordable housing and spiralling rents.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEBbej-b9NZm3pEbv9cj_aLW6kN6giSPBvtn73ELBumU6u4OXTs-YAkMO7avZyd4YtL5rXnxtzEQtD8fKiMpVPV5hnoCh7odw5BUJSqejVfSWYpF9JAGl1xXsnTy_GE9qyt1PZpeAW04M/s1600/SAM_3785.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEBbej-b9NZm3pEbv9cj_aLW6kN6giSPBvtn73ELBumU6u4OXTs-YAkMO7avZyd4YtL5rXnxtzEQtD8fKiMpVPV5hnoCh7odw5BUJSqejVfSWYpF9JAGl1xXsnTy_GE9qyt1PZpeAW04M/s1600/SAM_3785.JPG" height="266" title="March for Homes" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>March for Homes</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Stopping off for an impromptu haircut at a Turkish barbers I managed to get warm again, whilst my old man had the haircut to end all haircuts. Not having witnessed the intricate skills of a Turkish barber I nearly jumped off my seat when said barber set fire to my husbands hair and then proceeded to slap him with hot wet towels, followed by i</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">ntense massaging of the upper body. With only a slight whiff of burning protein in the air my husband escaped with his hair intact, well what was left. In fact it was the best haircut he'd ever had, certainly the most entertaining.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Street art is everywhere....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZYQKjo8clTpXHoXFEdS87vksD3I-15_Ue1x50O7pm6hjc2YjufgWMrZ0R57Z8nWR4gAhxVyCE7OYX4iUeA1zuu5ACQtN0yls2UepG2QXLdd_fWZ84L7iHjn1ynRmLUafHedrToQEQ3ME/s1600/SAM_3796+(3).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZYQKjo8clTpXHoXFEdS87vksD3I-15_Ue1x50O7pm6hjc2YjufgWMrZ0R57Z8nWR4gAhxVyCE7OYX4iUeA1zuu5ACQtN0yls2UepG2QXLdd_fWZ84L7iHjn1ynRmLUafHedrToQEQ3ME/s1600/SAM_3796+(3).JPG" height="273" title="Shoreditch Street Art" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Smokers take shelter</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizFVADR6puu_vhx6ALzjWhnjIp1SNYx7qGkZt4-3FoE4yxj2p7xGPZw0ck6Hg5Z2ot1njW3nZIELSzwYkz7Mi4MpblKAgAr2JZ3eaQaqtH3drM7R68texuSY2N6YOe5Kn1cDiu4-Wkf2k/s1600/SAM_3789+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizFVADR6puu_vhx6ALzjWhnjIp1SNYx7qGkZt4-3FoE4yxj2p7xGPZw0ck6Hg5Z2ot1njW3nZIELSzwYkz7Mi4MpblKAgAr2JZ3eaQaqtH3drM7R68texuSY2N6YOe5Kn1cDiu4-Wkf2k/s1600/SAM_3789+(2).JPG" height="640" title="Shoreditch Street Art" width="355" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Foxy....</b></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9DeQRZF43I3HJ6rLwbD0FNFBwTPVIuQatxNbx30xpM01Xd5Hn13VxqKEijRbnchT8ef4waGCYuN1Jcn-J8WaZGmifgoZ4kKx0Y7HL_00zvu1RFzhOBN4XGwu7UrlxZLRznCFYXNAn2oo/s1600/Tramshed%235.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9DeQRZF43I3HJ6rLwbD0FNFBwTPVIuQatxNbx30xpM01Xd5Hn13VxqKEijRbnchT8ef4waGCYuN1Jcn-J8WaZGmifgoZ4kKx0Y7HL_00zvu1RFzhOBN4XGwu7UrlxZLRznCFYXNAn2oo/s1600/Tramshed%235.JPG" height="400" title="Tramshed" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Damien Hirst at The Tramshed </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By chance we came across <a href="http://www.chickenandsteak.co.uk/" target="_blank"><b><i><span style="color: #4c1130;">The Tramshed</span></i></b></a>, Mark Hix's celebrated Chicken and Steak eatery and headed inside mainly to escape from the weather. Fortunately, for my purse, the Weekend Brunch menu was available and we sat and enjoyed a 'Cock 'n' bull hash with a double yolker' and a Salt beef sandwich. Its not everyday that you can sit under a piece of Damien Hirst artwork. A word of warning don't have the fries they're more expensive than the main course....cunning naughty sides! Well worth a visit and not just for the food. At the moment kids under 10 eat free!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdqT-WYQt5ZHUydEykkt8GS9m4bm2ZQQDbwP6WPpErEe3yrOCzxA6kpGOTn1Zf7HGg0FjKQ0p_YBr2SJXqe5ZivU-O0aa3qjE5v6KKpYFdTN6DEVqdza2QT7Hc-l-PplSGwmO-YJ5NJRs/s1600/Tramshed%231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdqT-WYQt5ZHUydEykkt8GS9m4bm2ZQQDbwP6WPpErEe3yrOCzxA6kpGOTn1Zf7HGg0FjKQ0p_YBr2SJXqe5ZivU-O0aa3qjE5v6KKpYFdTN6DEVqdza2QT7Hc-l-PplSGwmO-YJ5NJRs/s1600/Tramshed%231.JPG" height="266" title="The Tramshed" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cock 'n' bull hash with a double yolker</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVI8qD_G16tHN8Blop5euxXUoNWIOwxBXHJukEEaErjW9XJjSmHXYpxpSMxWF0IRf37wy-efsfmXBfTn20rpMBASqgLgxZiT7CWD9LcReSba8VY0Cox7Icztw4z9FkOECtV6QJv1LqPKQ/s1600/Tramshed%232.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVI8qD_G16tHN8Blop5euxXUoNWIOwxBXHJukEEaErjW9XJjSmHXYpxpSMxWF0IRf37wy-efsfmXBfTn20rpMBASqgLgxZiT7CWD9LcReSba8VY0Cox7Icztw4z9FkOECtV6QJv1LqPKQ/s1600/Tramshed%232.JPG" height="266" title="The Tramshed" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Salt beef sandwich</td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Staff are friendly and food was delivered quickly and efficiently, they even had time for a chat. </span><span style="text-align: left;">If you have time, pop into the </span><a href="http://cocknbullgallery.co.uk/" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #660000;">Cock n Bull gallery</span></b></a><span style="text-align: left;"> for some arty inspiration. Shoreditch....we'll be back when the sun comes out again.</span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.wikio.com/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2FTheWorldOfChocolate"><img src="http://www.wikio.com/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://www.wikio.com"/></a></div>Chocchickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044308587323622002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870198598418272117.post-3276244700819668642015-01-03T15:00:00.001+00:002015-01-03T15:00:09.752+00:00Marou - Ben Tre 78% Dark Chocolate<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzC4cm_OQjl3i-QuQn-ByPtFauJjiEmIm6sGNQqvtXqwJUnB4peRD_RIOSNoJJF10LXxEEVlyFbQjXXIr3FqGmQVn7-7czsE_TS8yKkidF_x-28JR8gnuXK_hGazCUFqv09VjRjx_OQqc/s1600/Marou%236.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzC4cm_OQjl3i-QuQn-ByPtFauJjiEmIm6sGNQqvtXqwJUnB4peRD_RIOSNoJJF10LXxEEVlyFbQjXXIr3FqGmQVn7-7czsE_TS8yKkidF_x-28JR8gnuXK_hGazCUFqv09VjRjx_OQqc/s1600/Marou%236.jpg" height="400" title="Maou Ben Tre 78% Dark Chocolate" width="307" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At Christmas I am your ideal person to buy a gift for. Why? Well, just gift me a few chocolate bars, truffles or such like and I'll be as happy as Larry for several days, possibly months! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Of course, this year all my presents were wonderful even those pairs of socks! But one of them particularly appealed to me. A bar of Ben Tre 78%, single origin dark chocolate, that had been on my list of chocolates to try for 2015.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Vietnam is not a country that springs immediately to mind as a cocoa producing country. My memories of Vietnam were shaped by the many Hollywood blockbusters including Apocalypse Now, Hamburger Hill, Full Metal Jacket and of course images of Napalm Girl. Oh, and not forgetting MASH! </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Americans infamously dumped millions of gallons of Agent Orange onto the country in order to destroy Vietnam's jungles and ultimately the cover it provided the Viet Cong. Interestingly, Ben Tre was mentioned in the Viet Cong's failed Tet offensive of 1968 where the town was pretty much destroyed by the Americans who were actually trying to save it.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBjD62PCclpkJ_KMHwno1Q4MRWWBHl91ahkY7GE6i0uz6mu33yKyQb_cbpSraf20eMrkJVH8V4VQ_OFf7dRR_Z7SuBM6BdNwaMRzk_xMdnvgLKb319WjIN_Wl60SW2T31iws6TSnNSUuo/s1600/Marou%231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBjD62PCclpkJ_KMHwno1Q4MRWWBHl91ahkY7GE6i0uz6mu33yKyQb_cbpSraf20eMrkJVH8V4VQ_OFf7dRR_Z7SuBM6BdNwaMRzk_xMdnvgLKb319WjIN_Wl60SW2T31iws6TSnNSUuo/s1600/Marou%231.JPG" height="320" title="Marou - Ben Tre 78% Dark Chocolate" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well things have certainly moved on in terms of agriculture since the 60's. Overseas investment has meant that small businesses such as cocoa farmers have flourished, making Vietnam one of the newest and most exciting cocoa producers in the world. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In 2010, I reviewed two limited edition bars of chocolate from the UK's very own Marc Demarquette, a fine chocolate specialist. You can read the review <a href="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/vietnamese-milk-chocolate-from-ben-tre.html" target="_blank"><b><i>here</i></b></a>.<b> </b>The quality of Vietnam's cocoa<b> </b>is born out by the fact that<b> </b>Marc is still using their cocoa today, to find out more <a href="http://www.demarquette.co.uk/index.asp?function=search" target="_blank"><b><i>click here</i></b></a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ok, back to Samuel and Vincent, two Frenchman who followed their gut instincts and set up <a href="http://marouchocolate.com/" target="_blank"><i><b>Marou</b></i></a>. Essentially these guys have escaped the daily grind in spectacular fashion. Landing in Saigon where they literally hunt down the best and most interesting cocoa beans, design their own chocolate making equipment and then produce some amazing bean to bar chocolates. Voila! Now their chocolate is sold and enjoyed around the world.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGuTZOue7eTJJ1Q8CawZYLcaZFTYpHyjNyrvg2b4yRb8IwBfSXk-B6vowt_DHPLQc_xcSVqDha4rw6AZmH_jFKj9tkxrxpFHb7uJgcIoWhMjk20S7-sP7t01MVqd2Wu0Dzgk6Izc9wLl4/s1600/Marou%234.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGuTZOue7eTJJ1Q8CawZYLcaZFTYpHyjNyrvg2b4yRb8IwBfSXk-B6vowt_DHPLQc_xcSVqDha4rw6AZmH_jFKj9tkxrxpFHb7uJgcIoWhMjk20S7-sP7t01MVqd2Wu0Dzgk6Izc9wLl4/s1600/Marou%234.JPG" height="400" title="Marou - Ben Tre 78% Dark Chocolate" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Firstly, this is a big bar of chocolate not your measly 70g that seems to be standard and secondly it has been beautifully packaged and presented especially with a sumptuously thick golden outer. If James Bond purchased chocolate then this is what he'd buy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm not usually a great fan of chocolate with a cocoa content over 65%. However, the fluidity of this bar is excellent with only a slight chalky mouthfeel.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A deep 'forest floor' aroma emanates from the bar as you open up the packaging. The chocolate is really well made and melts quickly with a relatively high fruit acidity with hints of liquorice. Overall a very enjoyable bar of chocolate, irresistible and super sexy....I've obviously eaten too much chocolate!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Buy online from <a href="http://www.chocolatiers.co.uk/products/marou-ben-tre-78" target="_blank"><b><i>Chocolatiers</i></b></a>, priced at £5.35.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://marouchocolate.com/post/58397164815/products" target="_blank"><b><i>Marou</i></b></a> is certainly doing good!</span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.wikio.com/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2FTheWorldOfChocolate"><img src="http://www.wikio.com/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://www.wikio.com"/></a></div>Chocchickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044308587323622002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870198598418272117.post-29502708015184803972014-12-29T20:07:00.005+00:002014-12-29T20:07:56.236+00:00Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh by Rococo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdd2iqEel-FFPj2dniOmaxn_s-IufdgakGNIRyjac02S6KKSRA06hJzgtTxrIi12-zuGEYrZLvFpZIP4FnkUK7WrkwZGeQgLLR8MpDwb0tlyUL3vwL8scK8RgXNhacYU3LcrMMswJdFzo/s1600/Rococo+GFM+%236.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdd2iqEel-FFPj2dniOmaxn_s-IufdgakGNIRyjac02S6KKSRA06hJzgtTxrIi12-zuGEYrZLvFpZIP4FnkUK7WrkwZGeQgLLR8MpDwb0tlyUL3vwL8scK8RgXNhacYU3LcrMMswJdFzo/s1600/Rococo+GFM+%236.JPG" height="400" title="Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh by Rococo" width="278" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Officially it is still Christmas and there are a few more days to go! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, with that in mind and before we stagger into the New Year there is still an opportunity for a swift review of a 'blinging' dark chocolate Christmas bar from <a href="http://www.rococochocolates.com/Gold-Frankincense-Myrrh-Chocolate-Artisan/dp/B009LI2FKA?field_availability=-1&field_browse=3750056031&id=Gold+Frankincense+Myrrh+Chocolate+Artisan&ie=UTF8&refinementHistory=subjectbin%2Cprice%2Cgeneric_number_1%2Cgeneric_number_2%2Ccatalog_number%2Cgeneric_text_2-bin%2Cspecial_features%2Csize_name&searchNodeID=3750056031&searchPage=1&searchRank=salesrank&searchSize=12" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: purple;"><i>Rococo Chocolates</i></span></b></a>, Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Obviously, there are religious connotations going on here but, I'm sure a bar of chocolate wasn't on the Three Wise Men's gift list when they visited the young baby Jesus. But, who knows....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gold! Yes, no expense has been spared and they really have served up some 22 carat gold leaf bringing a little bling into our world. Ok, so its a trace but its awesome.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankincense" target="_blank"><b><i>Frankincense</i></b></a> is an aromatic resin obtained from trees of the genus Boswellia and is well known for its use by religious orders as incense. Approximately 1,000 tonnes of resin are tapped from trees each year and its becoming harder and harder to locate. The tree can be found in the most inhospitable places and can literally grow out of solid rock. Somalia is the biggest exporter of the resin. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myrrh" target="_blank">Myrrh</a></i></b> is another aromatic resin taken from the thorny tree, Commiphora Myrrh. Also found in Somalia. In traditional Chinese medicine Myrrh is classified as 'bitter' and 'spicy' having the ability to assist with the body's circulatory problems.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0NMIe1zmNaEUiYZFU9nDa5109s25-f52ajH25bJo_kVi6CsZ-eMEAGv_AK-81NEynQzFMAtYP0GBasRpMLg6CQqgLQlxTivWDSiVJsUmUppsqYuRPSXipHT20QiofKbAXQd8vMB-ygnc/s1600/Rococo+GFM+%237.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0NMIe1zmNaEUiYZFU9nDa5109s25-f52ajH25bJo_kVi6CsZ-eMEAGv_AK-81NEynQzFMAtYP0GBasRpMLg6CQqgLQlxTivWDSiVJsUmUppsqYuRPSXipHT20QiofKbAXQd8vMB-ygnc/s1600/Rococo+GFM+%237.jpg" height="400" title="Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh by Rococo" width="298" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The bar was originally created by Rococo in 1996. Presentation is excellent and the dark chocolate is shiny and snappy with a subtle orange aroma. The gold adds nothing to the flavour but provides a little luxury. A 65% cocoa content means that the dark chocolate melts quickly with a hint of bitter sweetness combining deliciously with the orange. I'm not sure I'm picking up the woodiness from the Frankincense but overall this a great bar of chocolate. Priced at £4.95/70g. To buy click <a href="http://www.rococochocolates.com/Gold-Frankincense-Myrrh-Chocolate-Artisan/dp/B009LI2FKA?field_availability=-1&field_browse=3750056031&id=Gold+Frankincense+Myrrh+Chocolate+Artisan&ie=UTF8&refinementHistory=subjectbin%2Cprice%2Cgeneric_number_1%2Cgeneric_number_2%2Ccatalog_number%2Cgeneric_text_2-bin%2Cspecial_features%2Csize_name&searchNodeID=3750056031&searchPage=1&searchRank=salesrank&searchSize=12" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: purple;"><i>here</i></span></b></a>. You still have time....</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.wikio.com/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2FTheWorldOfChocolate"><img src="http://www.wikio.com/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://www.wikio.com"/></a></div>Chocchickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044308587323622002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870198598418272117.post-72214150549954730012014-12-28T17:24:00.000+00:002014-12-28T17:24:16.900+00:00Wild Gorse Flower by Chocolarder<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW5xYPSuj2L_jlGtUFKtfmfwIimmioll9KENsLOM0PsFiS3oiNQ9QyVC2z78vWzwNkuri_yZ5ljfrjb1Df4Ol_znAAXY1YflNFyP6_F6UHUyV4ZS7IEksvp0U0mQEUvtccMqQ9_oh9QNg/s1600/Wild+Gorse%234.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW5xYPSuj2L_jlGtUFKtfmfwIimmioll9KENsLOM0PsFiS3oiNQ9QyVC2z78vWzwNkuri_yZ5ljfrjb1Df4Ol_znAAXY1YflNFyP6_F6UHUyV4ZS7IEksvp0U0mQEUvtccMqQ9_oh9QNg/s1600/Wild+Gorse%234.jpg" height="320" title="Wild Gorse Flower by Chocolarder" width="239" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you are a visitor to Southwold, Suffolk, especially during the magical month of May, you will be familiar with a striking and prickly yellow shrub that is known as Gorse which bursts like a ray of sunshine from the scrub. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A bright colour is not its only attractive quality but it also has a heady, thick coconut scent that envelops everything within a few metres. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Certainly not something I would consider combining with chocolate, but the guys at <a href="http://www.chocolarder.com/" target="_blank"><b><i><span style="color: #bf9000;">Chocolarder</span></i></b></a> have been working their magic to produce an aptly named <a href="http://www.chocolarder.com/product/wild-gorse-flower/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #bf9000;"><b><i>Wild Gorse Flower</i></b></span></a> bar of chocolate. According to the words on the packaging, <i>"Gorse flowers are handpicked from around Cornwall's coast and steeped in cocoa butter for several weeks to impart their heady scent. Added to 40% milk Javan milk chocolate".</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chocolarder is an artisan bean to bar chocolate maker based in Cornwall and I've taken a paragraph directly from their website, <i>"The Chocolarder is one of the only small batch bean-to-bar chocolate makers in the country. We produce fine quality, stone ground chocolate using organic beans imported from single estate, family run plantations in Venezuela, Java, Madagascar, Peru and the Dominican Republic. The select beans used at The Chocolarder are roasted, winnowed and ground over 4 days before being left to mature for 30 days. The chocolate is then hand tempered and made into bars. This obsessive attention to detail yields some of the finest chocolate in production today"</i>.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTLcPQcwR06DmLtjglM3JG5rxyX4h3rMy6pzh4F8oopADkGWd2zd-JdeR_Ce-z9kzk3gugMTBgKDXyChAC5b_TzcVbrzQIQLQ6pK3fMOgpfFXomVdQg2qrAWDL0DHgAfy3QXQg_Xh149g/s1600/Wild+Gorse+%232.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTLcPQcwR06DmLtjglM3JG5rxyX4h3rMy6pzh4F8oopADkGWd2zd-JdeR_Ce-z9kzk3gugMTBgKDXyChAC5b_TzcVbrzQIQLQ6pK3fMOgpfFXomVdQg2qrAWDL0DHgAfy3QXQg_Xh149g/s1600/Wild+Gorse+%232.JPG" height="298" title="Wild Gorse Flower by Chocolarder" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><b>Chocolarder packaging is all recyclable</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The chocolate is a single origin milk chocolate made from Trinitario beans from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: purple;">Java</span></b></a> with a 40% cocoa content, infused with Wild Gorse flowers. The beans themselves have been through a grind length of 68 hrs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As I said on my previous tasting, their packaging is very good and also completely recyclable or sourced from recycled materials. On opening the greaseproof outer there is a very, very strong aroma of coconut, which brings back memories of sunbathing using coconut oil and gently frying in the Mediterranean sun. The coconut flavour is so strong that I almost expected there to be a white centre not unlike a Bounty. The 40% milk chocolate is lost in the strong coconutty flavour but melts easily with a fudge like texture. To be honest the chocolate does not come through until long afterwards.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOAaRhCxT0mYMMjtDwCpLdcjyhACR1bl_uR0ju1xnSel4uUmr4RjE3DUKC9mjJzAyz7sh86jm-kAcuh7aZFhwNq_H4Nv0P1397tx8wELwePWfPILv0GdrvsN6ZgyhwgOJVhI4x-QR5770/s1600/Wild+Gorse+%236.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOAaRhCxT0mYMMjtDwCpLdcjyhACR1bl_uR0ju1xnSel4uUmr4RjE3DUKC9mjJzAyz7sh86jm-kAcuh7aZFhwNq_H4Nv0P1397tx8wELwePWfPILv0GdrvsN6ZgyhwgOJVhI4x-QR5770/s1600/Wild+Gorse+%236.jpg" height="320" title="Wild Gorse Flower by Chocolarder" width="212" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Ingredients:</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Cocoa Beans</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Raw Sugar Cane</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Whole Milk Powder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Cocoa Butter</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gorse Flowers</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My only question is why did you have to use such a good quality chocolate that ends up being masked by such a strong flavour. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed it and so did everybody else who was lucky enough to try a piece.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Reasonably priced at £3.95 per 70g. To buy click <span style="color: purple;"><a href="http://www.chocolarder.com/product/wild-gorse-flower/" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>.</span> </span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.wikio.com/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2FTheWorldOfChocolate"><img src="http://www.wikio.com/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://www.wikio.com"/></a></div>Chocchickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044308587323622002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870198598418272117.post-10197097846584109072014-12-27T15:02:00.002+00:002014-12-27T15:02:33.827+00:00Silly Old Egg Tart!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo0ekx4ro1BGxX_FXXPLStTU16RepNSFGeQuJKAkF3y88R80fPl8bLdcy8pUIrZhyphenhyphenmLJ0tWrAnHHFbIM83D5mbLBSK81rEVvohdDtM9hguathynM0rUHFK-HEYtXGPzqzfOAzqOvrcAyg/s1600/Egg+Tart.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo0ekx4ro1BGxX_FXXPLStTU16RepNSFGeQuJKAkF3y88R80fPl8bLdcy8pUIrZhyphenhyphenmLJ0tWrAnHHFbIM83D5mbLBSK81rEVvohdDtM9hguathynM0rUHFK-HEYtXGPzqzfOAzqOvrcAyg/s1600/Egg+Tart.JPG" height="238" title="Egg Tart" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><b>More like the surface of the moon!</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In theory, an egg tart, should be one of the simplest things to make from my limited culinary perspective. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">However, attempting a new recipe from the <a href="http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1583638/custard-tart" target="_blank"><b>BBC Good Food</b></a> website on Christmas Eve with two additional and enthusiastic kitchen assistants was a recipe for disaster. The writing was already on the pastry! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My calamitous kitchen episode can be avoided by closely following this recipe. </span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ingredients:</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">140g butter, chilled and diced</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">250g plain flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">zest 1 lemon</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">100g caster sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 egg, beaten</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 tbsp whole milk</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>For the custard</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">250ml double cream</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">250ml milk</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 vanilla pod, split</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 strip lemon zest</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">whole nutmeg</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">8 egg yolks</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">100g caster sugar</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Method</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To make the pastry, rub the butter into the flour with the lemon zest and a pinch of salt until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar, egg and milk and bring together to form a dough. This can be made 2 days in advance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On a lightly floured surface, roll the pastry out and use it to line a 20cm tart tin, leave 2cm of pastry hanging over the edge. Chill for 30 mins.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTVLCRd_z6Ha_mxTxmyXiOVUpgvzPYKhS18I1x08c2cwKW9bqOby01rzyPBYqpNKRaQbpnBoAZ3S-17CDz4huuDGGismK-07J1C759jZRTsHUt__nQ1e9xgXIg3g9yeWz09uW_mF_kBQ8/s1600/Bake+Blind.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTVLCRd_z6Ha_mxTxmyXiOVUpgvzPYKhS18I1x08c2cwKW9bqOby01rzyPBYqpNKRaQbpnBoAZ3S-17CDz4huuDGGismK-07J1C759jZRTsHUt__nQ1e9xgXIg3g9yeWz09uW_mF_kBQ8/s1600/Bake+Blind.JPG" height="149" title="Silly Old Egg Tart" width="200" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAZm0Sof5dPPV0xDLxvDOpgcX12sEsl7NT_oLxYZ1rc7lukqOKvshOW6VPIt7Y_nTrdZ-5DyioU4Feog4vzseCS5FyomWzhxloz9XjwuOsGkx-qL809MtH0qg2Yrc7g94LVYauiXf8k40/s1600/Egg+Tart+Blind.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAZm0Sof5dPPV0xDLxvDOpgcX12sEsl7NT_oLxYZ1rc7lukqOKvshOW6VPIt7Y_nTrdZ-5DyioU4Feog4vzseCS5FyomWzhxloz9XjwuOsGkx-qL809MtH0qg2Yrc7g94LVYauiXf8k40/s1600/Egg+Tart+Blind.JPG" height="149" title="Silly Old Egg Tart" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Heat oven to 180C/160C fan. Line the case with baking beans, bake blind for 20 minutes, then remove the beans and continue to cook for a further 20 minutes until the base is biscuity. Remove from oven and reduce the temperature to 140C/120C fan.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn9uCFbUWXW-YcceVWtFL8nxu3jIRWHiNSVgbd05gRKAegB0MEQ9wdCaJUhJBXMwmuy0YbSvyYlC9W9sSIQkQqo1GvzqZRPk0yPe12k4JcZYo-SsWUjWfScEWq7mi5dUnF1nBjIqmQadY/s1600/EggTart+Nutmeg.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn9uCFbUWXW-YcceVWtFL8nxu3jIRWHiNSVgbd05gRKAegB0MEQ9wdCaJUhJBXMwmuy0YbSvyYlC9W9sSIQkQqo1GvzqZRPk0yPe12k4JcZYo-SsWUjWfScEWq7mi5dUnF1nBjIqmQadY/s1600/EggTart+Nutmeg.JPG" height="149" title="Silly Old Egg Tart" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bring the cream, milk, vanilla pod, lemon zest and a small grating of nutmeg to the boil. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until pale, then pour the hot milk and cream over, beating as you go. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcF-ewSTjHmemVozdfQC0EbiP9MSOJ6N4EcNT1oJVQ8R9yzyzpB9X2kZ79Qw2lWh2G7wBRSx79Tl_L0yPvRsTlf40vMX-g_VoKpVgzs8v0V49lu1702Y6UpuloF-7KCjYhHaIAKN6MY2I/s1600/Whisk+Eggs.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcF-ewSTjHmemVozdfQC0EbiP9MSOJ6N4EcNT1oJVQ8R9yzyzpB9X2kZ79Qw2lWh2G7wBRSx79Tl_L0yPvRsTlf40vMX-g_VoKpVgzs8v0V49lu1702Y6UpuloF-7KCjYhHaIAKN6MY2I/s1600/Whisk+Eggs.JPG" height="200" title="Silly Old Egg Tart" width="149" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7xOhjdB8qbLccbYduDOlnJWKkI4TYKQs7dnpo1sMXXB7x6Y9PrdOFYduAIGbEItNJrnHVdSvyms-qBXcmIFEnI-HtjHvCUTyB3nOQ26Mp4-Kmqj6xXPUXAJUFibdQFY3KSkU2Eo8xRSc/s1600/Egg+Yolk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7xOhjdB8qbLccbYduDOlnJWKkI4TYKQs7dnpo1sMXXB7x6Y9PrdOFYduAIGbEItNJrnHVdSvyms-qBXcmIFEnI-HtjHvCUTyB3nOQ26Mp4-Kmqj6xXPUXAJUFibdQFY3KSkU2Eo8xRSc/s1600/Egg+Yolk.JPG" height="149" title="Silly Old Egg Tart" width="200" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Strain custard into a jug, allow to settle for a few minutes, <b style="text-decoration: underline;">then skim off any froth.</b> Don't forget to do this part of the recipe! Otherwise your egg tart will have a surface skin not unlike the surface of the moon!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Carefully pour the custard into the tart case, grate some more nutmeg over the top and bake for 40 minutes or until just set with the very slightest wobble in the middle. Remove from the oven, trim the pastry edges off, then leave to cool completely before serving in slices with a grating more of nutmeg.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh3oKVGLka87oO0Ow39TgyVjOeXJOP90fLbrpn5_wPzRpFxn36srPjpOlGbvb3HaWCLus6_Y3GtqwclSKUp90eP4ouzgbrEE1xWQ-l3xdr_pG67htssDZR7PEQMTXgi1NYkMNkU1jqTBw/s1600/Egg+Tart+Cracked.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh3oKVGLka87oO0Ow39TgyVjOeXJOP90fLbrpn5_wPzRpFxn36srPjpOlGbvb3HaWCLus6_Y3GtqwclSKUp90eP4ouzgbrEE1xWQ-l3xdr_pG67htssDZR7PEQMTXgi1NYkMNkU1jqTBw/s1600/Egg+Tart+Cracked.JPG" height="238" title="Silly Old Egg Tart" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Got it cracked!</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Well, the good news is that it certainly tasted better than it looked and I would probably reduce the sugar by 20g next time.
</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.wikio.com/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2FTheWorldOfChocolate"><img src="http://www.wikio.com/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://www.wikio.com"/></a></div>Chocchickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044308587323622002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870198598418272117.post-81655742995937409082014-12-20T13:24:00.002+00:002014-12-20T13:24:32.917+00:00Pineapple Christmas Fruit Cake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioxFead3sDLI7UfRF_swwGqNgV6RkncOLvE0hOLSpCbk79MqdMN3UT_iHvnU8kIXMoytXlr8vdDD9FzYFnwijtp56as4JdUrGDAAwJt8sJZNJfqI1c76oofLW9iMbl8T4KZ9HZ_09QGp8/s1600/Pine+Xmas+Cake+%234.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioxFead3sDLI7UfRF_swwGqNgV6RkncOLvE0hOLSpCbk79MqdMN3UT_iHvnU8kIXMoytXlr8vdDD9FzYFnwijtp56as4JdUrGDAAwJt8sJZNJfqI1c76oofLW9iMbl8T4KZ9HZ_09QGp8/s1600/Pine+Xmas+Cake+%234.JPG" height="400" title="Pineapple Christmas Fruit Cake" width="298" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Ho<span style="color: #990000;"> Ho</span> <span style="color: lime;">Ho</span>!</b></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tis the season to be jolly and so it should be with this simple, last minute, Christmas Cake. For those who are a little bit behind with their Christmas organisation pop this in the oven whilst throwing up the Christmas tree...its that easy! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This recipe has been handed down through the generations hence why the measurements are in old and new weights. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To be honest I've only just got used to decimal currency. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This recipe uses light brown sugar as opposed to dark brown sugar which you would find in a rich fruit cake recipe and there is no treacle. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, probably not one for the purists!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Ingredients</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">10 oz <span style="font-size: x-small;">(283g)</span> Mixed dried fruit</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2 oz <span style="font-size: x-small;">(57g)</span> Glace cherries (chopped)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4 oz <span style="font-size: x-small;">(113g)</span> Butter</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">8 oz Light soft brown sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">14oz <span style="font-size: x-small;">(396g)</span> Crushed pineapple</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">8oz <span style="font-size: x-small;">(226g)</span> Self raising flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2 Eggs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pecans halves</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Glace Cherries - red and yellow</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Prunes - ready to eat</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Apricots - ready to eat</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2 tbs Apricot Jam sieved</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Method</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Put all ingredients <b><span style="color: red;">except</span></b> flour and eggs into a saucepan and slowly bring to the boil and simmer. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally and then allow to cool.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Grease and line a 3 lb loaf tin or an 8" round tin with greaseproof paper, double lined. Some people will wrap their tins in newspaper to stop cake from burning</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Heat oven to 170 degrees C.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Beat the eggs into the cooled boiled mixture followed by the sifted flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Spoon into the tin and level off</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bake for 1 hour, then cover with two layers of foil and bake for a further 50 minutes to 1 hour. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Test with a skewer, which will come out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglK-sxqF_0aJHMU02SYL1CoIKv75NMrEyrVH9zyhMyj54q6YsBDsJO_RJh2ahghcz3egnPP2OK2CfnlWJWc0pS673ZilC9cjIhUYkHdKdhNsc0jdv0UHvAi5LrcAkg6gc-fmRp1ZzDfZM/s1600/Pine+Xmas+Cake+%232.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglK-sxqF_0aJHMU02SYL1CoIKv75NMrEyrVH9zyhMyj54q6YsBDsJO_RJh2ahghcz3egnPP2OK2CfnlWJWc0pS673ZilC9cjIhUYkHdKdhNsc0jdv0UHvAi5LrcAkg6gc-fmRp1ZzDfZM/s1600/Pine+Xmas+Cake+%232.JPG" height="400" title="Pineapple Christmas Fruit Cake" width="298" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Allow cake to cool completely. Brush the top liberally with some of the jam and arrange the fruits. Brush with more apricot jam and tie a decorative ribbon around the edge. Voila! My job here is done.....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCTc9HYr3LzypurR-84sasHOpQcQKwBh1coXZ71eWOETfh75SSM1oPQFxW5T9R-yOmFau5WPSSfRDPrnl0FZZwr9IhWPDk7rO2Ujyk0-grWJti87mUUzQMeRp4QsZZI98FVWas1V1c-0o/s1600/Pine+Xmas+Cake+%233.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCTc9HYr3LzypurR-84sasHOpQcQKwBh1coXZ71eWOETfh75SSM1oPQFxW5T9R-yOmFau5WPSSfRDPrnl0FZZwr9IhWPDk7rO2Ujyk0-grWJti87mUUzQMeRp4QsZZI98FVWas1V1c-0o/s1600/Pine+Xmas+Cake+%233.JPG" height="298" title="Pineapple Christmas Fruit Cake" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.wikio.com/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2FTheWorldOfChocolate"><img src="http://www.wikio.com/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://www.wikio.com"/></a></div>Chocchickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044308587323622002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870198598418272117.post-9995699706959843542014-12-14T15:45:00.002+00:002014-12-14T15:56:28.148+00:00Organic Matcha Green Tea Brownies<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8_eIjKKPMsIFQkjhOcCQRyijvWx-ZUkq0VteDSqMyoO7nfaTiBC8FptOiHrt5sm3892abc8nCzHlC7bpT28QbdF2qHa2Bd8jhUzeM8-rNMDcsYoZ7hQX7icX8jm7MiuXApHWWKbYJX5c/s1600/Matcha+Green+Tea.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8_eIjKKPMsIFQkjhOcCQRyijvWx-ZUkq0VteDSqMyoO7nfaTiBC8FptOiHrt5sm3892abc8nCzHlC7bpT28QbdF2qHa2Bd8jhUzeM8-rNMDcsYoZ7hQX7icX8jm7MiuXApHWWKbYJX5c/s1600/Matcha+Green+Tea.JPG" height="213" title="Organic Matcha Green Tea Brownies" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Organic Matcha Green Tea</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Organic Matcha Green Tea Brownies.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The lovely people at <a href="http://kissmeorganics.com/matcha/" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #6aa84f;">KissMeOrganics</span></b></a> invited me to try some of their Organic Matcha green tea powder in a recipe or two. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, with the help of the internet I found some interesting recipes including products such as Okara which I have not come across before. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've altered my recipe so you do not have to search the stores form Okara</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. This is a pulp consisting of insoluble parts of the soybean which remains after pureed soybeans are filtered in the production of soy milk and tofu.....after that description I'm probably glad its not in my store cupboard. But, have no fear this recipe can still be made without the missing Okara.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: lime;"><br /></span></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Ingredients:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />225g White chocolate <span style="font-size: xx-small;">(Dominican Republic)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">150g Butter</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3 Eggs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">105g Caster sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1.5 tablespoon of rum</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">75g of plain flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A Pinch of salt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1.5 tspn of baking powder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">75g Pecan nuts</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">15g Almonds</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">15g of Matcha powder <span style="color: #6aa84f; font-size: xx-small;"><b><a href="http://kissmeorganics.com/" target="_blank"><i>(from KissMeOrganics)</i></a></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">30g Icing sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">According to<span style="color: #6aa84f;"><b> <a href="http://kissmeorganics.com/" target="_blank"><i>KissMeOrganics</i></a></b></span>, Matcha tea, has some hidden health properties. Not only is it certified organic but provides additional energy and helps to boost our metabolism. Matcha tea has been around for thousands of years and </span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Preparation:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj79wKmSsbrbsromKZ-TglvDhl1fp_egVY10h9pH-lMDfMCO5XrtBaHA7pxCrni7Wn6W0Ok7DV-CfLaopi0z7QXvuoqUvs8o-CBaBnbTfchUXukRTQW85Q_fNCTE7eetMmFus73rMA9S0g/s1600/SAM_3770.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj79wKmSsbrbsromKZ-TglvDhl1fp_egVY10h9pH-lMDfMCO5XrtBaHA7pxCrni7Wn6W0Ok7DV-CfLaopi0z7QXvuoqUvs8o-CBaBnbTfchUXukRTQW85Q_fNCTE7eetMmFus73rMA9S0g/s1600/SAM_3770.JPG" height="320" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Whisk eggs and sugar</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Heat oven to 100 degrees centigrade and toast pecans.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Butter and line a tin </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">(18cm x 27cm)</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> with greaseproof paper </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Melt the chocolate and butter in bowl using a water bath. Do not overheat the chocolate.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In a medium bowl, mix together the eggs and sugar. Beat them well until thick and cloud like - see picture.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Add salt and rum to the whisked mixture.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Combine flour, baking powder and Matcha powder. Sieve and mix well.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Combine with melted butter and chocolate, mix well.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Stir in pecans and almonds</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bake for about 30-35 minutes in a pre-heated fan oven 160 degrees C.</span></li>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7PuGBSIiAbat38joUHo2SOPWtKkemaybnPmoZAow7dbcwOHqGpqr2ubCkC-TKkF084h5nEDjOSOwOk8EcP1UWAQc3huFcsYC_I7ab7c8keaMrnlLVsEhUQOcjaTmAu2gXHbO7gR8KTHE/s1600/Matcha+Green+Tea+Brownie.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7PuGBSIiAbat38joUHo2SOPWtKkemaybnPmoZAow7dbcwOHqGpqr2ubCkC-TKkF084h5nEDjOSOwOk8EcP1UWAQc3huFcsYC_I7ab7c8keaMrnlLVsEhUQOcjaTmAu2gXHbO7gR8KTHE/s1600/Matcha+Green+Tea+Brownie.JPG" height="263" title="Organic Matcha Green Tea Brownies" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Stir in the Pecans and Almonds</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sprinkle icing sugar on top before serving hot with ice cream.</span></li>
</ol>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibsIdbAW7SOassDe-O05UqeuZRSrnINgNPE9-CN2PHgzPzsYrCCdAGU9m7diq6N51KtHnYvFFUW0Ezmw5YvdtuwV8zOc63hOZoWyQPyv-cQ3hR1JjbP-DmnrmWbskGfnpebd16af4MzwY/s1600/SAM_3776.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="<iframe src='</span><a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/KMO/snippet/kom.html" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://s3.amazonaws.com/KMO/snippet/kom.html</a><span>' width='550px' height='230px' align='middle' frameborder='0' scrolling='auto'> <p>Your browser does not support iframes.</p> </iframe>" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibsIdbAW7SOassDe-O05UqeuZRSrnINgNPE9-CN2PHgzPzsYrCCdAGU9m7diq6N51KtHnYvFFUW0Ezmw5YvdtuwV8zOc63hOZoWyQPyv-cQ3hR1JjbP-DmnrmWbskGfnpebd16af4MzwY/s1600/SAM_3776.JPG" height="266" title="Organic Matcha Green Tea Brownies" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Organic Matcha Green Tea Brownies</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The finished article! The matcha tea is not overpowering and the finished article is very light and sweet, the pecans add a good crunch. A moist cake rather than brownie in my opinion but none the less </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">delicious. Looking forward to enjoying it with some ice cream! To buy your Matcha powder click </span><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Matcha-Green-Tea-Powder-Antioxidant/dp/B00DDT116M/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1418571801&sr=8-6&keywords=organic+matcha+green+tea+powder" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.</span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.wikio.com/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2FTheWorldOfChocolate"><img src="http://www.wikio.com/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://www.wikio.com"/></a></div>Chocchickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044308587323622002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870198598418272117.post-91148539980720190142014-12-06T18:18:00.001+00:002014-12-07T20:10:00.467+00:00Cacao and Maca Organic Bar<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOz-Hr2IrXpCuHmzaiyoWICZgZAQkcmbKXRZwJWPvjOkDgqG1pcTq3Hgirvq_1SdYwsUt067bUoCJ_vNWRj-ftBUEcL7t9WWHqd_PaWbf3GZ6bifYpOcoh5tXsOXiS4lHrysBD-a-aqeo/s1600/Cacao+&+Maca+Bar.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOz-Hr2IrXpCuHmzaiyoWICZgZAQkcmbKXRZwJWPvjOkDgqG1pcTq3Hgirvq_1SdYwsUt067bUoCJ_vNWRj-ftBUEcL7t9WWHqd_PaWbf3GZ6bifYpOcoh5tXsOXiS4lHrysBD-a-aqeo/s1600/Cacao+&+Maca+Bar.JPG" height="320" title="Cacao & Maca Organic Bar" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Cacao and Maca Organic Bar</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Cacao and Maca Organic Bar, sounds like it will do me the world of good especially as we're entering flu jab season and merry xmas, runny, snotty nose time. Isn't it compulsory for anybody over the age of 50 to be pricked by nursey? Well, you know what I mean... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://eatloveraw.com/" target="_blank"><b><i><span style="color: #38761d;">LoveRaw</span></i></b></a> is a <b><span style="color: purple;">Superfood</span></b> company based in Cambridgeshire founded by former investment banker, Rimi, who found inspiration on her travels to Andalucia, Spain. Whilst visiting the many farmers markets she discovered organic foods and a healthier way of life. LoveRaw cater for a growing band of consumers who want to enjoy products free of gluten, dairy, wheat and soya. </span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk8BarACHlRg6BABubfymIrmC3AQpcovLOPDsFeWDyqJLjSJ5bBJ4bJsqZZA_cTh_vZTjFMMSNUU6jTdgrVkc2CX9pzlAXvxGXYFXiJuWvYCu8mBRiB89AxsTMwxWXv3e5LrFb7eSaf70/s1600/Juice+Tonic.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk8BarACHlRg6BABubfymIrmC3AQpcovLOPDsFeWDyqJLjSJ5bBJ4bJsqZZA_cTh_vZTjFMMSNUU6jTdgrVkc2CX9pzlAXvxGXYFXiJuWvYCu8mBRiB89AxsTMwxWXv3e5LrFb7eSaf70/s1600/Juice+Tonic.JPG" height="239" title="Juice Tonic Soho" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><b>Coldpressed - Juice Tonic</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As I recently discovered on a tour of Soho all strip joints have been replaced by<a href="http://www.juicetonic.com/cold-pressing/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #274e13;"><b> <i>'coldpressed'</i></b></span></a> juice bars. Everythings Naked with Energy Balls......so, no change there! Apparently, these artisan juice bars are all the rage amongst young, trendy and wealthy clientele who have deep pockets and want to keep their complexions sans spots and crater free for years to come. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Coldpressed basically means that all the good stuff your body needs is extracted at low temperatures without destroying them. You can spend £6.00 for a bottle of cocoa goodness from </span><a href="http://www.juicetonic.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #274e13;">Juice Tonic</span></b></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. Leaves your wallet feeling slightly under the weather but you'll feel like you've discovered the elixir of life. Ok, getting back to the main attraction LoveRaw have applied the same principle and slow dry at 38 degrees C keeping food at its optimal nutritional value.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwotZF0zj43zQ3mAbKs-VIti4_ciPBgNxO13BudovxLB95ffRZSeezMhMpos3Y3zcVl4t0Xe7jcyiyHiQMsX0yRaUhMoJ8lJbWixaMk-1rASCB1Kb__kkOjiqmZuRsReVlYxwEmTz9Fq8/s1600/Cacao+&+Maca+Org+Bar+%234.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.co.uk/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwotZF0zj43zQ3mAbKs-VIti4_ciPBgNxO13BudovxLB95ffRZSeezMhMpos3Y3zcVl4t0Xe7jcyiyHiQMsX0yRaUhMoJ8lJbWixaMk-1rASCB1Kb__kkOjiqmZuRsReVlYxwEmTz9Fq8/s1600/Cacao+&+Maca+Org+Bar+%234.JPG" height="400" title="LoveRaw Cacao and Maca Organic Bar" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Naked!</span></b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Not only is this bar good for those people who suffer from allergies but it may also help boost their dwindling sex drive. Nothing sells like sex. Maca Root, looking not unlike a small sugar beet, hails from South America and allegedly has the ability to improve your libido. The only down side is you have to be careful how much Maca you use. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It all sounds wonderful but how does it taste? When opening the packet there is a strong malty aroma running thick with dates which just happens to be the main ingredient. </span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpCgpgBd-FMiAfiPHAFfaLhMyM4IcSDbOGpgEz_lw2fyRVqT7Lnnua_88BhVvy6Vmys_lftHTWAd8hroSCMT5pk10EWIlpS3WipFCQBB8szIASzTjwBsLIL-8sERTceqfQOQJuVEIuORo/s1600/SAM_3656.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="http://chocchick.blogspot.com/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpCgpgBd-FMiAfiPHAFfaLhMyM4IcSDbOGpgEz_lw2fyRVqT7Lnnua_88BhVvy6Vmys_lftHTWAd8hroSCMT5pk10EWIlpS3WipFCQBB8szIASzTjwBsLIL-8sERTceqfQOQJuVEIuORo/s1600/SAM_3656.JPG" height="265" title="LoveRaw Cacao and Maca Organic Bar" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Did you hear about this great bar?</span></b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The texture is dry and crumbly with a nutty crunch provided by almonds and cashews. Within the mix you'll find Ecuadorian raw cacao and raw cacao nuts with only naturally occurring sugars. As this was my first time I wasn't disappointed but I'm not sure I'll swap my chocolate bar overnight for a bit of LoveRaw just yet. A box of 12 will cost you £29.88 or £2.49 for 48g.</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.wikio.com/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2FTheWorldOfChocolate"><img src="http://www.wikio.com/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://www.wikio.com"/></a></div>Chocchickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044308587323622002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870198598418272117.post-6526035567104124752014-11-30T18:38:00.001+00:002014-12-05T20:27:58.193+00:00Christmas Pudding Dark Chocolate by Rococo<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNxTXySVPQJxgmp0qYAFUILxzg_LE8r22w1hRA1crwxPP1kg1zKQROQf6KIb3bmX1uiq-ZHj-rdbUwAWNC3Y8utIHyqXab7q-UAbUcBx4xu8lSDWKLZkU1rKeekjTMbXaVKCUa_IBcKXc/s1600/IMG_2156+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The World of Chocolate" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNxTXySVPQJxgmp0qYAFUILxzg_LE8r22w1hRA1crwxPP1kg1zKQROQf6KIb3bmX1uiq-ZHj-rdbUwAWNC3Y8utIHyqXab7q-UAbUcBx4xu8lSDWKLZkU1rKeekjTMbXaVKCUa_IBcKXc/s1600/IMG_2156+(2).JPG" height="400" title="Christmas Pudding - Rococo Chocolates" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #4c1130; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Christmas Pudding</b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once again, I've been taken by surprise. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No, not in the way you're thinking.....naughty. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Christmas, Black Friday, Cyber Monday or whatever we are calling it these days has arrived, landing on my doorstep, like an unannounced Jehovah witness telling me its time to find a friend in Jesus. That's it! I've had a Mellor moment a bit like a senior moment but with more alcohol. Absolutely, I'm definitely heading for some type of chocolate hell where all chocolate bars are just tantalisingly out of reach. Unbeknownst to me a 60 ft Christmas tree, maybe a slight exaggeration, has arrived in the garden even before November has scuttled off the calendar for another year. It's all too much! Bah humbug! Fortunately, chocolate is at hand to save us....well to save me really as it is one of my few remaining vices.</span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrQj3ipYfKo8JhcZUds7jRN4jE5dN28-307UO-zyaecs-v0N8GotgymKsyKCr50wU6RmTawkK-JS8M1oaA7PgK2f7yx-19M6V8LbBIgwuGSBzDqzL34AXVsYkaDc3PouDnqgZrXRnp-Dg/s1600/IMG_2160+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The World of Chocolate" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrQj3ipYfKo8JhcZUds7jRN4jE5dN28-307UO-zyaecs-v0N8GotgymKsyKCr50wU6RmTawkK-JS8M1oaA7PgK2f7yx-19M6V8LbBIgwuGSBzDqzL34AXVsYkaDc3PouDnqgZrXRnp-Dg/s1600/IMG_2160+(2).JPG" height="400" title="Christmas Pudding Chocolate Bar by Rococo" width="297" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Dark Chocolate Christmas Bar</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.rococochocolates.com/" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: #cc0000;"><i>Rococo's</i></span></b></a> founder and Creative Director, Chantal Coady, was inspired by Moroccan encaustic tiles which decorate the 'MaRococo' garden in their Belgravia store to create the covers. Apparently, you can visit the garden in the summer when it can be viewed at its best. Rococo has shops, sorry slip of the tongue, stores, in charming hamlets such as Mayfair, Belgravia, Marylebone and Chester the new home of football. I snipped open the silver foil packaging yesterday to get a sense of what this festive bar might have to offer. Wow! Talk about Christmas in a bar....a heady, heady aroma indeed. Such is the strength of cloves and Cognac erupting from the packaging I wonder whimsically if I'm possibly too young to try this? Sadly, I'm not.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Christmas Artisan selection of chocolate bars was created to celebrate 30 years changing the world of chocolate. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are three bars in the range including, <a href="http://www.rococochocolates.com/b/3750056031" target="_blank"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><b><i>Christmas Pudding, Morello Cherries and Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh.</i></b></span></a></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.rococochocolates.com/b/3750056031" target="_blank"><span style="color: #4c1130;"><b><i> </i></b></span></a></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8W5030DPzvufZ7K5oB6AynSzSJDss24e6xPzabtQtFuNoUSgKhR9j-3T1iwQ3_jqKCLiFcie89U6w0GCGC3kI17OvFKwOelWrfEjt_BLwYzxAWW5dUHgJXb_qSvbs7CySTnaLZNXcUWc/s1600/IMG_2163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8W5030DPzvufZ7K5oB6AynSzSJDss24e6xPzabtQtFuNoUSgKhR9j-3T1iwQ3_jqKCLiFcie89U6w0GCGC3kI17OvFKwOelWrfEjt_BLwYzxAWW5dUHgJXb_qSvbs7CySTnaLZNXcUWc/s1600/IMG_2163.JPG" height="320" width="239" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This bar is well stacked, literally bursting with ingredients, including a number of truly festive favourites, Cognac soaked raisins, toasted almonds, cloves and cinnamon wrapped in 65% dark chocolate. The first section of dark chocolate I break off contains several </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">whole plump raisins which don't burst as much as I had first imagined not even a dribble of Cognac. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The dark chocolate is delicious but the 'clove hit' or should that be 'slap about the face' is a bit over the top which would be good if I had toothache. The dark chocolate is lost which is disappointing especially as it has such a good pedigree. Read about <a href="http://www.rococochocolates.com/info/Grococo" target="_blank"><b><i>Grococo</i></b></a> where Rococo's organic fine dark chocolate comes from.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The overall experience is not unpleasant and once the clove hit has gone you're left with cinnamon spice. The almonds provide great crunch and texture. Even after 5 minutes, if you shut your eyes tightly enough, you can imagine that you have indeed just eaten a delicious piece of spicy Christmas Pudding without the stodgy bits. Certainly an interesting bar of chocolate and I look forward to trying the Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh bar. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These festive bars are on sale now at £4.95/70g....<a href="http://www.rococochocolates.com/b/3750056031" target="_blank"><b><i>click here</i></b></a> to buy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think the remainder of this bar is destined to be melted over my Christmas Pudding. Happy days. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....</span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.wikio.com/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2FTheWorldOfChocolate"><img src="http://www.wikio.com/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://www.wikio.com"/></a></div>Chocchickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044308587323622002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870198598418272117.post-39371013697187231622014-11-23T15:44:00.001+00:002014-11-23T16:41:27.121+00:00Chocolarder - Cornish Honeycomb<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoqR7KBm4BACPSY-QSxYVReobk1xKaiKK87VR3ut04TLQmVlF0Q40iQPWqAV65H8x0kgKoQfmZn4QwQt6CKl_THcPpa7Gy8jHg8PNC3E_Wf8dfkwSMLTt9W65WDMKd3CVi-70C3pbVCFg/s1600/20141123_100220229_iOS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Cornish Honeycomb, Trinitario, Java" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoqR7KBm4BACPSY-QSxYVReobk1xKaiKK87VR3ut04TLQmVlF0Q40iQPWqAV65H8x0kgKoQfmZn4QwQt6CKl_THcPpa7Gy8jHg8PNC3E_Wf8dfkwSMLTt9W65WDMKd3CVi-70C3pbVCFg/s1600/20141123_100220229_iOS.jpg" height="320" title="Chocchick Blog - The World of Chocolate" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Handmade in Cornwall</span></b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.chocolarder.com/shop/" target="_blank"><b>Chocolarder</b></a>, new kid on the block when it comes to bean-to-bar UK chocolate makers. One of a handful of chocolate specialists including the likes of <a href="http://www.duffyschocolate.co.uk/" target="_blank"><b>Duffy</b></a> of Red Star Chocolate Ltd, based in Lincolnshire</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> and<b> <a href="http://www.pumpstreetbakery.com/chocolate" target="_blank">Pump Street Bakery</a></b> based in picturesque Orford, Suffolk.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Chocolarder is an artisan bean-to-bar chocolate maker based in <a href="http://www.chocolarder.com/contact/" target="_blank"><b>Penryn</b></a>, Cornwall. One of Cornwall's most ancient towns and an important harbour in years gone by. Now the centre of artisan chocolate production on the Lizard Peninsula. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Michael Longman, a former pastry chef, started Chocolarder in 2012 after deciding he'd had enough of mass produced chocolate. A small chocolate bar maker with a strong sense of social responsibility demonstrated by sourcing only organic and sustainably grown cocoa beans from family run plantations. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The packaging is very functional with a wallet like feel which allows you to keep your chocolate treasure in safekeeping for later nibbling.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLmdf7MusDKlceI4KiRbPLdOen1y1uO282C2CivsJ2z8ihlH3mrHUDluF2uFTXUhyJFbyVWBgjgmz06GK9CAV-cpF1De2xiCmYzAdrLaYCyZ210Q7j8RB5DTlN2YdGuaGjNjNKajYUvAs/s1600/20141123_100845519_iOS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLmdf7MusDKlceI4KiRbPLdOen1y1uO282C2CivsJ2z8ihlH3mrHUDluF2uFTXUhyJFbyVWBgjgmz06GK9CAV-cpF1De2xiCmYzAdrLaYCyZ210Q7j8RB5DTlN2YdGuaGjNjNKajYUvAs/s1600/20141123_100845519_iOS.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;">Single Origin Milk Chocolate with Honeycomb</span></b>....this 70g bar of milk chocolate, 40% cocoa solids, is made using single origin chocolate, Trinitario beans from Java with honeycomb pieces. The label also tells us about 'grind length' a statement that could be misconstrued but, essentially this tells us this is a bar of quality chocolate. A longer conche effectively translates into a dream bar of the brown, sweat stuff.....well that's the theory. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A beautiful shiny exterior glistening like polished mahogany even under these gloomy grey Essex skies. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A good snap and a creamy smooth rich fudgy loveliness intermingled with honeycomb crunch. The accompanying tasting notes suggest strong earthy and floral tones from locally sourced honey which has been cold-pressed. Allegedly this process ensures all the good stuff including vitamins and nutrients remain intact and are not destroyed by heat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've diligently placed what's left of my chocolate bar back in the wallet to be enjoyed later. But, it keeps calling me back which means it will be devoured sooner rather than later. Good job I ordered two! </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, just on this premise alone this is a good bar of chocolate and competes well with the likes of Duffy and Pump Street. Priced at £3.95 for 70g. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well done my lovelies!</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.wikio.com/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2FTheWorldOfChocolate"><img src="http://www.wikio.com/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://www.wikio.com"/></a></div>Chocchickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044308587323622002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870198598418272117.post-64983655487348574242014-11-08T17:36:00.000+00:002014-11-08T17:42:52.908+00:00Old Macdonald had a farm......but for how long?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNmLPbDV52HLNWfSWTh_GBUp3S9w448PWWn5KYlPws3N4L0Kp1T0xmHk94_4nfT0nJhCGaHlTGxgw4XHJaR63P4x18zR8HIdRlk91-nbcKd4D34cKvite1U6Y4-Ph7enPStk-6HwBA3xg/s1600/iStock_000026239573Large+(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Cows chewing on the green stuff" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNmLPbDV52HLNWfSWTh_GBUp3S9w448PWWn5KYlPws3N4L0Kp1T0xmHk94_4nfT0nJhCGaHlTGxgw4XHJaR63P4x18zR8HIdRlk91-nbcKd4D34cKvite1U6Y4-Ph7enPStk-6HwBA3xg/s1600/iStock_000026239573Large+(1).jpg" height="212" title="The World of Chocolate" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Old Macdonald had a farm...but for how long will this be the case for our British milk farmers? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Milk prices are crashing, Russia has closed its borders to UK food imports and Dairy Crest has sold its loss making milk side of the business to </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">zee Germans. Obviously, der Deutsch menschen are far more efficient than us Brits and have obviously seen something we've missed. Dairy Crest has retained the more profitable cheese (Cathedral City) and spreads (Country Life butter) parts of the business.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How long will it be before there is no longer a 'moo-moo' here and a 'moo-moo' there and a 'moo-moo' everywhere? Britain's landscape would certainly be a poorer place without those familiar 'black and white' beasts chewing on the green stuff. If prices continue to fall we might have to import our milk. The good old British public will have to dig deep and perhaps be waking up to the fact that they should be paying a realistic price for their daily pint of Semi-Skimmed. Ironically, I couldn't find a cow today but, we are in Essex!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ok, enough of the doom and gloom....Some farmers are showing initiative and turning their farms into farmers markets at the weekend encouraging those high spending foodie types looking to buy local produce. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsBunVJenTFpF8gZSXkkHZqMnEs75jSsqFMtnMBQjVGAPPUj8MqBmOe_ydPO5NlICukFpVJ2zmehDP64EqTDPV5X4YV_mQEIHYi1bp3j19P1dgANCNlHIG1WYNKy7W-dwBhpUnwlPh7Tg/s1600/20141108_100451540_iOS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Great Garnetts Farmers Market" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsBunVJenTFpF8gZSXkkHZqMnEs75jSsqFMtnMBQjVGAPPUj8MqBmOe_ydPO5NlICukFpVJ2zmehDP64EqTDPV5X4YV_mQEIHYi1bp3j19P1dgANCNlHIG1WYNKy7W-dwBhpUnwlPh7Tg/s1600/20141108_100451540_iOS.jpg" height="239" title="The World of Chocolate" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Great Garnetts Christmas Market</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoBF7heNQUfip8A-aUHk3E6bR6zNY72lO9iW6WSbq0z3xkmq6mTQzcd3h4Lf_BVw1HiZ8b89oFv720j-MNNs4uo-Sw9NHc7ixtNiZROQV07Ke7kfqlO9nRF4atltswQtcuVKplTysoYV8/s1600/20141108_102712957_iOS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoBF7heNQUfip8A-aUHk3E6bR6zNY72lO9iW6WSbq0z3xkmq6mTQzcd3h4Lf_BVw1HiZ8b89oFv720j-MNNs4uo-Sw9NHc7ixtNiZROQV07Ke7kfqlO9nRF4atltswQtcuVKplTysoYV8/s1600/20141108_102712957_iOS.jpg" height="200" width="149" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Of course farmers markets have been around for many years but even they are beginning to show signs of reduced footfall with many going by the wayside. As years of near zero inflation and minimal wage increases takes effect on household incomes. However, some remain a good source of income for the farmer and help promote local businesses who work hard to provide some fantastic products that I guarantee you will not find in a superstore.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsYdcHjjeKb9domwYCgJuFTql4fSahXpn4bagVt7QRVQ7gOIAZfWpv4SixbWOSLg6OoAZCJd8gxuHTDcW5ChKCxMFSMwcC675iiSgmieFTAWwOGG0ZBbRhMKxDYu2JYEy9MFgKJeH3Jks/s1600/20141108_130734542_iOS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsYdcHjjeKb9domwYCgJuFTql4fSahXpn4bagVt7QRVQ7gOIAZfWpv4SixbWOSLg6OoAZCJd8gxuHTDcW5ChKCxMFSMwcC675iiSgmieFTAWwOGG0ZBbRhMKxDYu2JYEy9MFgKJeH3Jks/s1600/20141108_130734542_iOS.jpg" height="147" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The likes of <a href="http://www.greatgarnetts.co.uk/" target="_blank"><b>Great Garnetts</b></a>, continues to buck the trend by providing their own hand reared high quality, award winning pork. At this time of year you will find some spectacular bronze turkeys just ready for Christmas, Boxing Day and into the New Year if you buy a monster! Sorry, not long to go guys....yikes! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you have not heard of Great Garnetts farmers market you can find out more information on their website by clicking <a href="http://www.greatgarnetts.co.uk/" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzJeroTiqVB5tzGnAPM73Wh6oY3KbjxfT-0z0UW3uy9irCyyLQT3SwVlhgQK37rKfvusErgkoTrYfb7tFUyQaJo3iUJayANIMn5pPZZIyO4LTYec4vaZH-kG4AC65UdQSxMPtoPuhUzok/s1600/20141108_125725466_iOS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Great Garnetts, Turkey" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzJeroTiqVB5tzGnAPM73Wh6oY3KbjxfT-0z0UW3uy9irCyyLQT3SwVlhgQK37rKfvusErgkoTrYfb7tFUyQaJo3iUJayANIMn5pPZZIyO4LTYec4vaZH-kG4AC65UdQSxMPtoPuhUzok/s1600/20141108_125725466_iOS.jpg" height="400" title="The World of Chocolate" width="293" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gt Garnetts turkeys in the field</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The turkey side of the business has flourished since it began in 1971 when fifty farm fresh turkeys were produced for customers. Today several thousand turkeys are produced exclusively for the Christmas market. Before the big day their turkeys enjoy life both outside in the paddock and sleep peacefully</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> at night under protection of the barn.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fresh local groceries from </span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><a href="http://www.rocketandrhubarb.co.uk/" target="_blank">Rocket and Rhubarb</a>.</b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Kerry and Martin manage a small holding producing a diverse range of fruit and vegetables just outside of Ford End, near Chelmsford. Since 2010 they have been building their business and now deliver their vegetables across Essex to the local community.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlbYwJpjn-rPc4vFabBbbHMWQRd_0MvjUMsjQmpgJN0nwAMi5mGi1Wd5QxBlNBqCrFoCxzYHeIANYx6-5aH_QG-SpFzXyTUenZA9pb4iRI60cLTCvbbx_trWKYyzjyteFfDQIWPXH6WoE/s1600/20141108_085421659_iOS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Rocket and Rhubarb, groceries, box scheme" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlbYwJpjn-rPc4vFabBbbHMWQRd_0MvjUMsjQmpgJN0nwAMi5mGi1Wd5QxBlNBqCrFoCxzYHeIANYx6-5aH_QG-SpFzXyTUenZA9pb4iRI60cLTCvbbx_trWKYyzjyteFfDQIWPXH6WoE/s1600/20141108_085421659_iOS.jpg" height="640" title="The World of Chocolate" width="472" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was interested to read on an American <a href="http://www.wisebread.com/what-not-to-buy-at-a-farmers-market" target="_blank"><b>website</b></a> about the 10 things you should <b><u>NOT</u></b> buy when visiting a farmers market. Interestingly, clean vegetables, honey and chocolate were on the list!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPrxfjXGfYC7ckJBETLeG0IZUQ4yEazni_pTDUOlIs81w3Z2YwHbQK4xdBMrBrRH-HK5yXIPCqrwqDAYPBrdLQ3guEm3UDydFIIXc_p_iP1QVbP14Ta_hUk_OogCL88NEN3QZ2iESC6C4/s1600/20141108_085554113_iOS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Magnificent Meringues Wood Cottage Pastries" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPrxfjXGfYC7ckJBETLeG0IZUQ4yEazni_pTDUOlIs81w3Z2YwHbQK4xdBMrBrRH-HK5yXIPCqrwqDAYPBrdLQ3guEm3UDydFIIXc_p_iP1QVbP14Ta_hUk_OogCL88NEN3QZ2iESC6C4/s1600/20141108_085554113_iOS.jpg" height="297" title="The World of Chocolate" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Magnificent Meringues </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Wood Cottage Pastries</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEWGGlyQHWeGv8iWl0-8ayG294rII7oUlOPl6Nsdv_NfnGVkxjAeH3xNk1JTdNjNtx2D3F36Mwd-ORkr4_XPWGMOEN9ZpYtGQ1bxVVJGf5a8ebvNyE91dtYzUtFVRUv64UfK-3uUoWHe8/s1600/20141108_142549056_iOS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Dark Chocolate Mint Truffles, Wood Cottage Pastries" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEWGGlyQHWeGv8iWl0-8ayG294rII7oUlOPl6Nsdv_NfnGVkxjAeH3xNk1JTdNjNtx2D3F36Mwd-ORkr4_XPWGMOEN9ZpYtGQ1bxVVJGf5a8ebvNyE91dtYzUtFVRUv64UfK-3uUoWHe8/s1600/20141108_142549056_iOS.jpg" height="298" title="The World of Chocolate" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Handmade Mint Dark Chocolate Truffles </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">by Steven Tittle, Wood Cottage Pastries</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As always it's good to end on a chocolate high! <a href="https://www.facebook.com/WoodCottagePastries?ref=ts&fref=ts" target="_blank"><b>Steven Tittle</b></a>, started his pastry chef career in Knightsbridge and in 2010 he set up his dream job as an artisan pastry chef producing a range of pastries, desserts and truffles. These delicate mint dark chocolate truffles were certainly a good choice and at £2.95 for eight handmade truffles an absolute bargain.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Not only are farmers markets good for farmers but also for the people who frequent them. Little did I know today that I would learn about the benefits of wearing silk underwear in the Siberian winter while building an oil pipeline! Who'd have guessed......</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.wikio.com/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2FTheWorldOfChocolate"><img src="http://www.wikio.com/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://www.wikio.com"/></a></div>Chocchickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044308587323622002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870198598418272117.post-77423813062447586682014-11-01T18:16:00.000+00:002014-11-01T18:36:47.357+00:00Labooko Zotter Kaffee<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ2kFZ9KPnDuU5Fn5EgWXi9h9CR2PjbIb0uAjrg9en4ugKtkJnncEu-9JZ22bZc9WHzro60pMoAbL6qU2e2GJqp1taIGsO70QUwUkjYeQi7lVPbc2fEGmraDArlc3nRwy0nzzWlFmSquo/s1600/IMG_1758.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The World of Chocolate" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ2kFZ9KPnDuU5Fn5EgWXi9h9CR2PjbIb0uAjrg9en4ugKtkJnncEu-9JZ22bZc9WHzro60pMoAbL6qU2e2GJqp1taIGsO70QUwUkjYeQi7lVPbc2fEGmraDArlc3nRwy0nzzWlFmSquo/s1600/IMG_1758.JPG" height="239" title="The Southend Pier" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The St John Betjeman train</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.visitsouthend.co.uk/" target="_blank"><b>Southend-on-Sea</b></a>, reminds me of an old mans mouth slightly fleshy, watery and slack after years of consuming too many sugary donuts and greasy fish n chips. A face battered by strong oily winds blowing in across the Thames estuary from Canvey Island. Teeth resembling a mix of slightly yellowing crowns, a few unsightly gaps, the odd blackened incisor and finally a splattering of pearly white shinners that are so intense they blind you with their brilliance. Southend-on-Sea, similar to Las Vegas is perhaps better seen at night. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpdBIw8q2XwRBjqg29r_Cln5ZdT8P1fpBIZDNjBDK2BX8aZ5rZEKK2cVXnm5hyphenhyphenGpATRjarBj0a9LNZWmcOdzIaLfdTUvyQTPAxy_4xHydW9Bdlb2QQd_gmaZAd_qy2E-904ZgxsOGajns/s1600/IMG_1771.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The World of Chocolate" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpdBIw8q2XwRBjqg29r_Cln5ZdT8P1fpBIZDNjBDK2BX8aZ5rZEKK2cVXnm5hyphenhyphenGpATRjarBj0a9LNZWmcOdzIaLfdTUvyQTPAxy_4xHydW9Bdlb2QQd_gmaZAd_qy2E-904ZgxsOGajns/s1600/IMG_1771.JPG" height="320" title="Dream Machine Classic Lancia Flaminia" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Dream Machine Classic Lancia Flaminia</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Southend pier is without doubt a 'pearly white' if we are to continue the mouth teeth thing... It is the longest pleasure pier in the world and a Grade 2 listed building with amazing views of mudflats that extend for miles. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Apparently, in the 19th century wealthy tourists would not stop at Southend preferring to birth their yachts at Margate thus avoiding the mud. In the olden days, when Councils had bright ideas, they decided to build this lengthy piece of wood into the estuary. This meant you could dock your schooner at anytime without having to worry about tides or mud, for that matter. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The pier has its own train that runs up and down the whole length but you can walk the 7,080 ft for £1 and back again after a rest on the sundeck. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfTewyAoHgycTcRagKceT1KpUi317Sd05U3FtDDfjYlleOirexlvwt0Rj5rG-eN9DXYuj798rgssl44NGLiRCaxd6msWbz4xyTcHidB1YPc0guZIsh5SZrhGaw84w-gyq56HSXwsxCqX0/s1600/IMG_1772.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The World of Chocolate" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfTewyAoHgycTcRagKceT1KpUi317Sd05U3FtDDfjYlleOirexlvwt0Rj5rG-eN9DXYuj798rgssl44NGLiRCaxd6msWbz4xyTcHidB1YPc0guZIsh5SZrhGaw84w-gyq56HSXwsxCqX0/s1600/IMG_1772.JPG" height="148" title="Southend on Sea" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is not Jamie's Cafe</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Disappointingly, Jamie Oliver's cafe looked as though it had seen better days. The film production team had long left and the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Jonathan Ross and friend Jimmy Doherty had obviously moved elsewhere. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jamie Oliver refurbished the cafe in 2013, turning it into an ice-cream parlour. Not much going on now? Well, who needs Jamie Oliver when you can have fantastic views of mudflats, big ships, Curlews and </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Oystercatchers! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7deIHdNh4jNEJsS-CIBKEsi0_v9eZyqc3Xo9aPH7Llzokvm5fg-ZsuaNIRQrztXf9TpKfU2wa9BPUeu6sRhaUjIcsi7aXL4TfWhacJTb2CWw848yK_YlglxbBWCDnD-j0wCCLZkshu0g/s1600/IMG_1782.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The World of Chocolate" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7deIHdNh4jNEJsS-CIBKEsi0_v9eZyqc3Xo9aPH7Llzokvm5fg-ZsuaNIRQrztXf9TpKfU2wa9BPUeu6sRhaUjIcsi7aXL4TfWhacJTb2CWw848yK_YlglxbBWCDnD-j0wCCLZkshu0g/s1600/IMG_1782.JPG" height="298" title="Labooko Zotter Kaffee" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ACHTUNG nicht essen!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ok, lets talk about chocolate from Zotter. I purchased this bar of Zotter Kaffee from a fantastic market in Vienna several months ago and as all the packaging is written in German I can't tell you too much about it. However, Zotter does have a good tip and warns you not to eat the chocolate unless you follow his top tip, "If you want to be a fine chocolate maker then you must not chew the chocolate but, enjoy the melting". Well something like that...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This has to be one of the most straightforward and underwhelming chocolates I've ever tasted from Zotter. Perhaps that's the point.....If it hadn't been for the packaging I'd find it hard to believe it was from Zotter. A million miles away from 'Plum and Caramelised Bacon'. I can only say the milk chocolate is smooth, creamy and sweet with a delicious and inoffensive coffee flavour. The packaging is probably the best thing about this bar but I did polish off both bars!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOLY2hqhD0pIaOmqGflPp9TaN_BVNmtKD2bQ329vH8EgMxu6ICFvMtjfJiwMHHugpkgCwByA2uDJlV5q64OfuG1u9CVDje75-_flTrGAF9WzHi3samvNo1lpm0sCmEeNn7wIW4aMUHvss/s1600/IMG_1780.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The World of Chocolate" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOLY2hqhD0pIaOmqGflPp9TaN_BVNmtKD2bQ329vH8EgMxu6ICFvMtjfJiwMHHugpkgCwByA2uDJlV5q64OfuG1u9CVDje75-_flTrGAF9WzHi3samvNo1lpm0sCmEeNn7wIW4aMUHvss/s1600/IMG_1780.JPG" height="297" title="Labooko Zotter Kaffee" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e69138; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Labooko 2 Bars - Zotter Coffee</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.wikio.com/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2FTheWorldOfChocolate"><img src="http://www.wikio.com/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://www.wikio.com"/></a></div>Chocchickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044308587323622002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870198598418272117.post-75248470490311703682014-09-21T15:51:00.000+01:002014-10-18T12:41:37.153+01:00Banana, Orange and Chocolate Cake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaekGt7OB8qWRdvTlg6Q8l_gsuZ-TNm3Y8RcVxLgAUpaQWbNyOfyM49c3xXf2iu4LsbTgK37Szvj3tV08GTa9HV-WW3jgBi-ogWb5XXMaO5mHjnN3LtxFSkQZyIdc89E3hna_YRlRBprQ/s1600/20140921_111006998_iOS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="The World of Chocolate " border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaekGt7OB8qWRdvTlg6Q8l_gsuZ-TNm3Y8RcVxLgAUpaQWbNyOfyM49c3xXf2iu4LsbTgK37Szvj3tV08GTa9HV-WW3jgBi-ogWb5XXMaO5mHjnN3LtxFSkQZyIdc89E3hna_YRlRBprQ/s1600/20140921_111006998_iOS.jpg" height="320" title="Banana, Orange and Chocolate Cake" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This cake has been in my recipe book for more years than I care to remember and I cannot remember when I actually made it last, possibly decades!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A straightforward, quick recipe and a great way to use up bananas that look more black than yellow. I've tweaked this recipe with a little added milk chocolate to compliment the orange.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="color: orange; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Ingredients</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3 ripe bananas</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">8 oz/250g self raising flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 oz/25g ground almonds</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 tsp baking powder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5 oz/140g soft brown sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3 oz/75g soft margarine</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2 eggs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 orange and zest and 1/2 for juice</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2 tbsp marmalade</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4 oz/100g dark chocolate</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Method</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3KXbfyTk5ldFWfc136NhiVhrm8HL9YyPXX6kvHWn14CEQPT9jR8xDoGh1SGdaLbVPRkEnDlFb4WkaNepxURwtfIAMLtd0KpzBeuIOC16YnE5rEc6OSDZs341Zxtay0LotjOVjZKbbsjo/s1600/20140921_125528120_iOS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The World of Chocolate" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3KXbfyTk5ldFWfc136NhiVhrm8HL9YyPXX6kvHWn14CEQPT9jR8xDoGh1SGdaLbVPRkEnDlFb4WkaNepxURwtfIAMLtd0KpzBeuIOC16YnE5rEc6OSDZs341Zxtay0LotjOVjZKbbsjo/s1600/20140921_125528120_iOS.jpg" height="296" title="Banana Orange and Chocolate Cake" width="400" /></a></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Grease a 2lb loaf tin and line with a strip of greaseproof paper</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Peel and mash bananas</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Beat in flour, almonds, baking powder, sugar, margarine and eggs until well blended</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Add the orange zest and juice and the chocolate and mix well</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pour into loaf tin and bake at 160 degrees C Fan/Gas Mark 4 for 55 minutes. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Remove and brush with marmalade and return to the oven for a further 10 minutes.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Check that the cake is cooked by inserting a skewer into the centre which should come out clean if fully cooked.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Allow to cool in the tin</span></li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPsN6ktdPA0iuJQa0emp6jQew8l0JjNqfNyjznjiO7P2xa0CB60Fjmstn-nzmscWBmD72odP8vBRPCID8ZCgoglmfmKVstDDHncAP0Fq01B_lKsSNtsNRiiQ22tOfYdcxdTq49NwWGTOE/s1600/20140921_152151645_iOS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The World of Chocolate" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPsN6ktdPA0iuJQa0emp6jQew8l0JjNqfNyjznjiO7P2xa0CB60Fjmstn-nzmscWBmD72odP8vBRPCID8ZCgoglmfmKVstDDHncAP0Fq01B_lKsSNtsNRiiQ22tOfYdcxdTq49NwWGTOE/s1600/20140921_152151645_iOS.jpg" height="298" title="Banana Orange and Chocolate Cake" width="400" /></a></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The zesty orange and tangy marmalade work really well with the milk chocolate...one slice is not sufficient!</span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.wikio.com/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2FTheWorldOfChocolate"><img src="http://www.wikio.com/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://www.wikio.com"/></a></div>Chocchickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044308587323622002noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2870198598418272117.post-60450543631491495602014-09-07T17:43:00.000+01:002014-09-07T17:43:03.739+01:00Chocolate Beetroot Cake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf2CmnBs2jyD3nOEADNCxBeUMK00JXImmGeyp5IgBJe1EaMr1cKMIvtkf0fMhhD3eE71p0lZ_GBsjgLdJU1uaWpXqjrOkBjemSIxvm7OYb3pZtWTWGy9YOuyOxp5gMtQOehktX_7U_cj0/s1600/Beetroot.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Chocchick Blogspot, Chocolate, The World of Chocolate" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf2CmnBs2jyD3nOEADNCxBeUMK00JXImmGeyp5IgBJe1EaMr1cKMIvtkf0fMhhD3eE71p0lZ_GBsjgLdJU1uaWpXqjrOkBjemSIxvm7OYb3pZtWTWGy9YOuyOxp5gMtQOehktX_7U_cj0/s1600/Beetroot.JPG" height="400" title="Chocolate Beetroot Cake" width="296" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Beetroot, a vegetable full of rich, damp, earthy aromas is not an ingredient you would associate with baking. A salad yes but a cake?! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well, strange as it may sound beetroot and dark chocolate actually make the most perfect bedfellows. T</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">hose earthy smells just melt away leaving a delicious sweet cake.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With all this good weather my late planted beetroots have done really well and are now ready to be transformed into cake! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I used a recipe from the 'delicious magazine' website just click <b><a href="http://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/chocolate-beetroot-cake" target="_blank">here</a> </b>to read more. I did not make the icing but the recipe is shown below if required. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you want a cake with 'wow' factor click on the link and follow this recipe from <b><a href="http://joythebaker.com/2012/01/chocolate-beet-cake-with-beet-cream-cheese-frosting/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #741b47;">Joy the Baker</span></a></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Ingredients</b><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">250g dark chocolate, broken up</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3 large eggs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">200g light muscovado sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">100ml sunflower oil</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 tsp vanilla extract</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">100g self-raising flour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">a pinch of salt (not in the original recipe)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">½ tsp bicarbonate of soda</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">½ tsp baking powder</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">50g ground almonds</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">250g raw beetroot</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>For the icing</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">150g dark chocolate</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">100g icing sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">100g soured cream</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Method</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/gas 4. Grease a 22cm round, loose-bottomed cake tin with a little butter and line the base with baking paper.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. Place the dark chocolate in a bowl and set over a pan of gently simmering water. Allow the chocolate to melt slowly until smooth, then set aside to cool.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3. Place the eggs, sugar and sunflower oil in a large mixing bowl and whisk together, using an electric hand whisk, for about 3 minutes until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in vanilla extract, then sift over self-raising flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and gently fold in, together with the ground almonds.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4. Using a pair of rubber gloves to protect your fingers from staining, peel and grate the beetroot, then squeeze out the excess liquid. Fold the beetroot into the mixture with the cooled chocolate, until thoroughly mixed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 50 minutes-1 hour. Cover with foil if the cake browns too quickly. Test the cake by inserting a skewer into the centre to see if it comes out clean. Cool for a little while, then remove from the tin and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPON_TnfPrOekzxMSLwxEz6Ht15WOWWlvEPvLs037aFiUtDe03W_3iDmcDWmx1ntYiA-Im4qzegXI_bdqeTmcwrT0HB0EHmC-_kVCgH85yow3Y2hkAeSDR2_PNB4uH8IKk0l3U33Mh8kw/s1600/Beetroot+Cake.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The World of Chocolate, beetroot, chocolate" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPON_TnfPrOekzxMSLwxEz6Ht15WOWWlvEPvLs037aFiUtDe03W_3iDmcDWmx1ntYiA-Im4qzegXI_bdqeTmcwrT0HB0EHmC-_kVCgH85yow3Y2hkAeSDR2_PNB4uH8IKk0l3U33Mh8kw/s1600/Beetroot+Cake.JPG" height="298" title="Chocolate Beetroot Cake" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">6. For the icing, place 150g dark chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water. Allow to melt gently until smooth. Set aside to cool, then beat in icing sugar and soured cream until you have a thick, creamy and spreadable icing. Spread it over the top and sides of the cooled cake and serve.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.wikio.com/subscribethis?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2FTheWorldOfChocolate"><img src="http://www.wikio.com/shared/images/wikiothis/buttons/wikio_btn_abo-univ_rounded-open-blue_en.png" style="border: none;" alt="http://www.wikio.com"/></a></div>Chocchickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00044308587323622002noreply@blogger.com0