Doisy & Dam - goji & orange

Before we get down to the delicious subject of chocolate lets talk coffee...

Inspiration comes in many guises and a recent visit to The London Coffee Festival 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. 

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. 

So, even if you don't know your v60 from your espresso why not percolate yourself down to The London Coffee Festival, Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane. 

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...

Doisy & Dam - Goji and Orange

New kid on the chocolate block is Ed Smith's, Doisy and Dam. Made in Norfolk...yes you heard me correctly, made in Norfolk. Has climate change shifted dramatically in the night? 

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. 

Chocolate is always finding new ways of promoting itself as being healthy and Doisy and Dam has gone down the the super-food route. 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.

Dominican Cacao 74%

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.

Ocado and Planet Organic currently stock Doisy & Dam priced at £3.75 for a 100g bar. Click here to buy online or go directly to the Doisy & Dam shop.

Banana, Orange and Chocolate Cake

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!

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.

Ingredients

3 ripe bananas
8 oz/250g self raising flour
1 oz/25g ground almonds
1 tsp baking powder
5 oz/140g soft brown sugar
3 oz/75g soft margarine
2 eggs
1 orange and zest and 1/2 for juice
2 tbsp marmalade
4 oz/100g dark chocolate

Method

• Grease a 2lb loaf tin and line with a strip of greaseproof paper
• Peel and mash bananas
• Beat in flour, almonds, baking powder, sugar, margarine and eggs until well blended
• Add the orange zest and juice and the chocolate and mix well
• Pour into loaf tin and bake at 160 degrees C Fan/Gas Mark 4 for 55 minutes. 
• Remove and brush with marmalade and return to the oven for a further 10 minutes.
• Check that the cake is cooked by inserting a skewer into the centre which should come out clean if fully cooked.
• Allow to cool in the tin

The zesty orange and tangy marmalade work really well with the milk chocolate...one slice is not sufficient!

Orange and Spice - Fairtrade The Co-Operative

Exams! The Evening Standard had a piece on exams yesterday which brought back such fond memories. Yeah, right. Fond is probably not the right word. The person writing this piece actually said that learning Latin was easy. Well, let me tell you she was wrong. I remember trying to learn Latin and amo, amas, amat, amamas, amatis, amant was the best I could do. I can also decline (is that correct?) Bellum.....but let's not go there. Typically I only remembered the words for love and war! Love em or hate em we all have to take exams at some stage in our lives. Whilst we all have to do them I still remember them with dread. I can remember falling asleep on my bed and waking up from a dream not knowing what day it was and almost believing that I had slept through them all! I can still summon up that feeling of panic! If you're in the middle of taking your exams good luck and fingers crossed for August! 


I think this is my first review of chocolate from The Co-op. In 2002 the Co-op switched their entire own brand chocolate bar range to Fairtrade. Their range is produced by Divine Chocolate, using high quality cocoa beans of Kuapa Kokoo, a co-operative of 45,000 farmers in Ghana. Click on the Kuapa KoKoo link to find out more.

Orange and Spice

The Chocolate: 98% of this product is Fairtrade using sugar from Malawi, Cocoa  Butter and Cocoa Mass from Ghana and spices from Sri Lanka. Spices include cardamon, Cinnamon and orange oil. The cocoa content is 51% which is low for a dark chocolate.

A well presented 'thin' bar of chocolate which has a good overall shine the lower cocoa content gives it a milky appearance. The chocolate melts quickly releasing the orange oil which provides a good citrus mouth feel. Initially the cocoa flavour is lost to the stronger orange and spice flavours. However, a slight 'tobacco' flavour pops through at the end.


I can't get overly excited about this bar but I'm not having any problems demolishing it! For a Fairtrade product it has to score reasonably well and 6/10 is a good score in my view competing well with the Maya Gold from Green and Blacks. Oops! I can't find the price for this bar so I'll have to update it later. Enjoy the weekend even if it is raining! 


Posted by Richard.....

Seeds of Change - Organic Dark Chocolate - Orange and Fig

I have to admit this is a bit of a strange one. The name "Seeds of Change" conjours up visions of loamy soil, well tendered allotments with row upon row of onions, new potatoes and runner beans. It says nothing about chocolate! According to the information provided on the inside of the wrapper and on their website chocolate was a happy accident. Seeds of Change started life in seeds, with a mission to create strictly organic seeds for like minded gardeners and farmers. Not only did they want to created organic seeds but they wanted to retain and preserve heirloom seeds which were rapidly disappearing from the allotments of England's green and pleasant land. Apparently "Seeds of Change" is a division of Mars Food UK famous for brands such as Mars, Galaxy, and many more. You learn something new everyday! 


Not only do they sell chocolate but they also provide pasta, pasta sauces and cooking sauces. The business was originally started in 1989 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. The presentation is good and I like all the information provided inside the wrapper.

They provide 4 different bars including Dark Chocolate Orange and Fig; Dark Chocolate; Dark Chocolate with Hazelnut and Walnut; Milk Chocolate with Hazelnut and Cashew. An interesting selection. The chocolate is from the Dominican Republic and they state that they help their farmers protect their crops and achieve higher prices. They have also teamed up with Conservation International in Brazil, supporting projects on sustainable cacao growing and sharing practices that protect forest biodiversity. 1% of their revenue is set aside for research into sustainable organic agriculture and the preservation of biodiversity.


The Chocolate: As already stated the chocolate is from the Dominican Republic and is organic made from Trinitario cocoa. Chocolate contains 59% cocoa solids.

The chocolate has a lovely soft aroma and the orange oil seeps through your nostrils with a hint of cocoa in the background. The bar is well made, shiny and has a great snap as I break off the first square.The Chocolate melts quickly to reveal the firm and crunchy figs and there are plenty of them in each square. The chocolate is a little lost with the figs and zesty orange which I have to say is a strange combination but it works to a certain degree. At the end you are left with an orange/fig flavour in your mouth which isn't unpleasant.

The presentation is good but the flavours of orange and fig are a bit odd and I probably wouldn't run out to buy another bar straight away but it is not a bad bar of chocolate and I've already eaten most of it! Even though this is an organic bar the price is fairly reasonable at £2.09 for 100g. I purchased this bar  from Waitrose.

70% Dark Chocolate with Ginger and Orange

I must admit that before I started writing this blog I did not know a lot about Divine. However, the more Divine chocolate I review the greater understanding I have of their company. Which can only be a good thing.

Divine: What and who is Kuapa Kokoo? To explain this I've just quoted what is on their website, as follows: 


Supported by Twin and SNV, a Dutch NGO, they set up their own company to buy their cocoa and sell it on to the Government Cocoa Buying Board. The cocoa farmers' organisation was founded and named "Kuapa Kokoo" which in the local language, Twi, means "Good Cocoa Farmers Company". Their motto is "Pa Pa Paa" which means "the best of the best of the best".

The organisation is for farmers and set up by them with the mission to effect:

    * increased power and representation within the market for the farmers
    * social, economic and political empowerment
    * enhanced women's participation in all its affairs
    * environmentally sustainable production processes

Kuapa Kokoo consists of:
Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Union
This is made up of village societies that elect society committees and representatives at regional level, who in turn elect representatives to the national Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Union.

Kuapa Kokoo Limited
The trading arm of Kuapa Kokoo.

Kuapa Kokoo Farmers Trust
Responsible for distributing money for community projects, generated from the fair trade premium between the farmers.

Kuapa Kokoo Credit Union

Provides credit and banking services for the farmers.

The Chocolate: This is a 70% dark chocolate with added orange granules and ginger flavouring. In total 89% of the ingredients are certified to International Fairtrade standards. All Divine chocolate is made in Germany using Ghanaian cocoa. Ginger is the main aroma that comes through as you open up the packaging. The chocolate is well tempered, bright in colour and has a good snap. The cocoa provides a good back drop for the ginger and orange flavours. The granules of orange are a bit off putting as you feel as though you've eaten a fruit gum which is not a good marriage.

This is a reasonable bar of chocolate but I think they could have done better by adding real pieces of ginger. Considering they go to so much trouble sourcing fairtrade products why don't they try a little bit harder with the other ingredients. Overall I give this bar 5/10 for flavour which comes across as being a bit artificial and 10/10 for ethical policy.


To read more about Divine click here.

Montezuma's Space Hopper with Orange

The boiler has broken! I think it's warmer outside but I'm not going to venture out there to check. Unfortunately, the man who can fix the boiler will not be with me until Tuesday. Thank god this didn't happen a few weeks ago when it was really cold! Oh well with 15 layers of clothing and a bit of typing to keep my fingers moving and the blood flowing. I'm sure blogging will help me forget about the cold for a while. Thanks to everybody who has supplied heaters.


Welcome to the cold World of Chocolate and another offering from Montezuma. Space Hopper a clever and aptly named milk chocolate bar laced with orange oil. According to Simon Pattinson, co-founder, orange oil is usually used with dark chocolate but actually works better with milk chocolate. I haven't always been a fan of orange oil probably because I've never been able to source the right one or manage to perfect the right amount for my own bars.

The Chocolate: Apologies for the picture quality in reality the box is orange rather than blood red orange as my picture seems to suggest. The bar also seems to have received a little bit of damage from it's journey in the post. 


This particular chocolate is from Venezuela and has a cocoa content of 43% and milk solids of 19%. The bar is listed in the single origin section of their website but after a little checking I couldn't fine any more information on this particular chocolate apart from a few lines of text. It would be good to know whether this bar of chocolate has been fairly traded as Montezuma talk about this in detail on their packaging and on their website. 


The chocolate itself has a great snap and brightness about it even though I've roughed it up somewhere along the line. As you would expect when you open the packaging there is a strong orange aroma with a sweet cocoa hint in the background. No surprises there! What is surprising is that the aroma does not carry through to the chocolate. The orange flavour is very well balanced with the not too sweet milk chocolate. There is an after taste of orange but I didn't find it bitter or off putting.


Overall this is a very palatable bar of chocolate and works really well especially for a Sunday afternoon when watching your favourite film. The price is also amazing at £2.00 for a 100g bar you are getting true value for money. Good chocolate which has been well made and presented. What more could you ask for, 7/10.


To buy this bar click here.

Montezuma's Orange and Geranium on Dark Chocolate

All these early mornings and late nights are causing havoc with my blogging! There just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day at the moment. Anyway enough of my moaning let's taste some chocolate!


Orange and Geranium certainly sounds like a weird combination and I'm sure it presented a real challenge for the guys and gals at Montezuma when some bright spark came up with this idea!


I wondered why anybody in their right mind would want to include Geranium oil in their chocolate. So, a quick search on the internet turned up a number of health benefits that can be derived from using this oil. You'll be amazed to know that it acts as an astringent to induce contractions of muscles, blood vessels and  prevents skin from hanging loose which is always good to know. It will also stop bacteria multiplying on wounds and it also acts as a deodorant. The list goes on and on but I think you get the picture that it's doing you some good, allegedly. 


The Packaging: As with all their packaging their colorful concepts have been continued through in this range of bars. Montezuma packaging is always very good and I like the bright and bold statements them make. They also like to think about the effect their packaging has on our little planet which is very Eco-friendly of them. To find out more about their Trading Fairly policy click here.

Orange & Geranium on Dark

The Chocolate: To counteract the strong floral geranium and citrus orange a 73% dark organic chocolate has been used. When you open the packaging you are hit by a strong orange aroma which hides the geranium and to some extent the cocoa. The chocolate is well tempered and passes the snap test with flying colours. This bar of chocolate reminds me of a fine wine from the French region of Alsace where the famous Gewürztraminer is produced. Those of you who have tasted this wine will know that it is highly perfumed and spicy. This is exactly what you'll experience when you taste this chocolate. The perfume of the geranium works well with the dark chocolate which just about holds up.

Overall I really enjoyed this bar of chocolate even though it was a bit unusual. I'm therefore going to score this bar 8/10 for balancing of flavours and 9/10 for price. I could not see this bar on their website but similar bars are priced at £2.39 when you buy a pack of three. 


Click here to buy similar bars.