chocolate Archives - Joie De Vivre

Chocolate, Cookies, Brownies & Bars, Joie De Vivre, Sweet

Oat + Nut Cookies {VG} {GF} {SF} and seriously YUM!

As a mum of a toddler, I like to make stuff that even Baby Doll can eat, along with us, or else I inevitably get guilted into giving her morsels of goodies what we eat and she should technically NOT be indulging it, quite yet at least! To tackle this, I’ve come up simple yet effective meals for her and us, that actually taste great to all palates of all ages. Some examples are: grated carrot salad with an orange juice dressing, tomato basil salad with some extra virgin olive oil salt and pepper, asparagus risotto (without the wine, of course!), grilled paneer with lime and coriander, whole wheat spaghetti pomodoro, guacamole sans the jalepeno – you get the drift! So when it comes to desert, whyever not have a desert that is baby friendly, diet friendly and daddy friendly? Read more…

February 26, 2018 | 0 comment

Chocolate, Cookies, Brownies & Bars, Fruit Inspired, Sweet

Fruit & Nut Chocolate Slab (without the extra calories!)

Yes, its true. Chocolate can save the world, one tongue at a time. And my quick and easy recipe combines fruit and nut mix with semi sweet chocolate, perfectly forming a Fruit & Nut Chocolate Slab (without the extra calories!). Remember, because I use semi sweet chocolate, I am effectively lowering the calorie count, and by adding nuts and dried fruit – we counter the bitterness of the chocolate with a hullabaloo of a mixture of chewy, crunchy and crispy! Now I do not obviously advise eating slabs by the handful, rather having a 1 or 2″ square would be enough to give you your kick of sugar, without the unnecessary guilt!

Breakfast Banana Muffins with Coffee-Chocolate Chunks, Hazelnuts and Oats

The last weekend has been a busy busy but fantastic one. It started with a day dedicated to cooking and baking and making everything look pretty and yet relaxed. My idea of entertainment involves very little effort once the guests arrive, I prefer everything to be laid out and let the guests have a little fun DIY-ing and playing around with different stuff, that may to may not work well together. But that’s all the fun! There was: mango feta crostini with red wine fleur de sel, paprika spiked hummus, valrhona cointreau cupcakes, layered lemon cake with lemon cream cheese topped with fresh cranberries and gaufres shards, as well as some mini-mosaic apple tarts. It was quite a day night! And, of course, when at 2am this and this (the British version, of course!) makes a debut, you know the entertainment has taken the best possible turn!

With a Friday like that, even the best of us couldn’t rise and shine from the wee hours into a domestic diva. The thing is, I love the idea of grabbing a weekend (or any day, really) breakfast/brunch/late lunch comprising of breakfast favourites. I love the concept of brinner too (breakfast for dinner, get with the lingo!). The only part which tends to evade this achievement is the fact that it’s usually in the morning, and mornings and me haven’t become quite that friendly yet. That’s kind of how I stumbled upon the idea of making Breakfast Banana Muffins with Coffee-Chocolate Chunks, Hazelnuts and Oats the previous day, so I wouldn’t have to rise and shine early (eek!) to made a hot breakfast treat, I’d just drizzle it with some homemade warm salted caramel, and breakfast is served! Read more…

June 8, 2015 | 0 comment

Cookies, Brownies & Bars, Sweet

salted chocolate chunk cookies

Once in a while, life throws you something quite unbelievably amazing. It happens on a random unassuming Tuesday, lingers till Friday, when you just relent. Because, how can I not?!

In other words, this is the untold story of my tryst with my new go-to cookie. And it’s not just any cookie; make way for salted chocolate chunk cookies. And no, it’s not just any chocolate “chip” cookie with a dusting of sea salt; it has blogging blue-blood history, and lineage. And the best part – the first time I tried my go-to no-egg adaptation (1 tbs cornflour + 1 tbs water), it worked so god dam beautifully, not one blessed cookie came apart or crumbled undesirably.
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April 27, 2015 | 0 comment

Chocolate, Pies & Puddings, Sweet

Salted Caramel + Chocolate Ganache Tart

In an almond shortcrust pastry tart shell, I might add. You know, just in case the Salted + Chocolate Ganache Tart title wasn’t enticing enough 😛

So I saw a friend’s Instagram feed a few weeks ago, where she made 2 beautiful tarts: one was an oreo and chocolate ganache tart and the other, a salted caramel and chocolate tart. As destiny had it, I wanted to use up some of the beautiful Valrhona that I had been hoarding, as well as the salted caramel that I impulsively picked up at Laduree. [Yes, this story already has two fabulous elements of success: valrhona and laduree.] The result? A luscious chocolate ganache piled over a thin layer of salted caramel, enveloped in a almost crumbly almond shortcrust tart shell.

And ever since, I’ve already dished out over a dozen of these babies, and still going strong! Read more…

April 13, 2015 | 4 Comments

Chocolate, Pies & Puddings, Sweet

Spiked Chocolate Mousse

Spiked Chocolate Mousse. Pudding. Pots.

I GIVE UP.

Let’s just stick to Spiked Chocolate Mousse.

I hoard chocolate. Well, to be honest, I hoard a lot of things, chocolate being just one of them. What better way to reduce my inventory of chocolate than to use it up in the most fantastic way ever – an almost mousse consistency chocolate pot, spiked with a dash of amarula and some good old instant coffee. The recipe is inspired entirely by Donna Hay’s fast, fresh, simple. I still find this book extremely practical, and the recipes are a perfect balance of pushing one’s mundane cooking skills ever so slightly, but resulting in a hearty and beautiful end product.