CHOCOLATE

Everyone loves chocolate, including myself; however I do not eat much of it, as I am very picky about it, even though  I am not at all a chocolate connoisseur.  Once in a while, my family indulges me with a special treat of fine quality chocolate.  I found that Swiss and Belgian chocolates have a more delicate and chocolaty taste.  Dark and milk chocolates are enjoyable, but I am not so sure about the white chocolate.

Is Chocolate Gluten Free?
Well, it is a difficult question, before I could answer that I have to learn a lot more about chocolates.

Three types of chocolates: white chocolate, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate

1. White chocolate is made from cocoa butter, sugar, milk and flavouring such as vanilla
2. Milk chocolate is made from cocoa liquor, cocoa butter, sugar, milk and flavourings
3. Dark chocolate is made from cocoa liquor, cocoa butter, sugar, and flavourings

One of the excellent commercial chocolates in Australia may be the Cadbury products, but I found them too sweet, I could have a square piece from the chocolate block to go with my coffee, not more than that.  Often the children took me out for chocolate drinking or eating, at the Koko Black.  I like their chocolates, I think they have high-quality products, and the hand made chocolates are so delicate and decadent.  Melanie loves to get them for us.  One help, a small hand made chocolate is plenty for me.
By the way, thanks to Jane for the sugar-free chocolate.

Easter Time - Chocolate Indulgence

Chocolate 
As Marcel Desaulniers said in his book about chocolate.
Chocolate is indeed mysterious.  Its ancient history is clouded by pagan rituals and human sacrifices.  Cacao trees, bearing the cacao pods from which chocolate is manufacture, were cultivated by Central and South American Indians.  The harvest was used for a bitter drink that was thought to have aphrodisiacal powers.  And so it was that for hundreds of years, chocolate was enjoyed solely as a beverage.  Chocolate, as we experience it today, is a contemporary concoction.  Eating chocolate was not discovered until the nineteenth century.  Happily, for those who love chocolate, there has never been such variety and quality available.  Just like the birds and the monkeys of Central America who spread the seed of their addiction to cacao pods, so have contemporary chocophiles travelled and learned and developed chocolate confections that deliver the most pleasurable sensual experiences known.

Death By Chocolate Cake of The Trellis Restaurant

Cooking with Chocolate in my Kitchen.
Chocolate muffins and chocolate cakes are baked in my kitchen for special occasions.  I am also very adventurous regarding using chocolates in cooking, such as braised beef with chocolate.  Chilli and chocolate goes very well, I did nuts cashew dip in chocolate and chilli, it's excellent flavour as I love hot and spicy food.  Chocolate sauces, ganache to dress any cake or desserts, are popular too in my kitchen for special treats.
Chocolate cocoa powder is excellent for baking cakes and biscuits, I use them for my cakes, sponges, fried cookies-fried dough biscuits: Elephant Ear biscuits, and so forth.
I baked a  rich chocolate cake of Mary Berry's the British author of cake books.  I did her recipe of orange chocolate cake, but I omitted the orange flavour, and it worked well.  I love to show you what I did, and if you like, you may have the recipe too.

Preparation of Chocolate Orange Cake, recipe by Mary Berry

The ingredients of the cake 

Line two sandwich tins - 20 cm

Beat all ingredients together into a smooth mixture

Freshly baked sponges

The top is even and smooth.

Wait until the cakes are fresh and fill the sponge with buttercream filling and decorate as you wish.

There was a leftover of the cake mixture to bake mini cupcakes, it made four.

The leftover chocolate cake mixture made four mini cakes

The cakes dressed in chocolate ganache and fresh raspberry

Chocolate as Panacea.
(From the book: Death By Chocolate- By Marcel Desaulniers)
Chocolate is a perfect food, as wholesome as it is delicious, a beneficent restorer of exhausted power; but its quality must be good, and it must be carefully prepared.  It is highly nourishing and easily digested, and it is fitted to repair wasted strength, preserve health, and prolong life.  It agrees with dry temperaments and convalescent, with mothers who nurse their children, with those whose occupations oblige them to undergo severe mental strains, with public speakers, and with all those who give to work a portion of the time needed for sleep.  It soothes both stomach and brain, and for this reason, as well as for others, it is the best friends of those engaged in literary pursuits. 
Baron von Liebig
Renowned Know-It-All

There is conclusive evidence today of the alimentary value of chocolate.  It contains calcium, phosphorous, potassium, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, and vitamin A.  Of course, it is not a cure-all; instead, it is a food that brings great pleasure to the palate along with its nutritive value. 

I understood, may be it is a good thing to have more chocolates in our diet.  More is never enough, but less is plenty, does it make sense?  I do agree that chocolate is a restorer of energy.  From my experience if I am feeling fatigued, I need to have something sweet, a piece of chocolate would help me to regain my strength back.

I could not bring myself to try to bake - Death By Chocolate-cake, it is not only a complicated process but also it is a very decadent rich cake, each slice of the Death By chocolate (above picture) contains 1354 calories (5687 kJ) according to the author. 

A mini chocolate cake dressed in chocolate ganache and fresh raspberry served with small black coffee may be a perfect cake to end any meals.



To be continued.  Stay Tuned


Thanks For Stopping By
Susy