chocolate chips Archives

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!

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.

Mastering the Basics: Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have a theory. Well, lets be honest – I have many theories, but this particular one that I am sharing with you today revolves around mastering the art of the perfect chocolate chip cookie. It involves the perfect base – caramelised brown sugar and butter being optimal, with excellent quality slightly larger than normal semi sweet chocolate chips, so that each bite of the chocolate chip cookie really does melt in your mouth, and each mouthful can wait for the next. Now there are people who prefer certain cookies over the others, but mastering a basic like chocolate chip just opens up horizons of options for the average Jo.

Double Chocolate Banana Bread with Fleur de Sel

I often find myself hoarding (and loving to hoard) certain specific baking ingredients, without which a deep sense of insecurity prevails. To counter that unnecessary emotion, and to feed my retail-therapy hormone, I obsessively purchase vats of different qualities and variations of chocolate chips, cocoa powder and vanilla. In each of these hoarded products, there is a specific appeal that calls out to me.

Let me elucidate.

For chocolate chips, I enjoy trying varied versions of white, milk and dark chocolate chips, the variety ranges from small packets of supermarket quality chocolate chips to couverture. I find that with every brand, comes a different flavour and texture – some are too dry and don’t melt kindly into a ganache or truffle that may be the requirement of the day. Some on the other hand, are too rich to go into a frosting – and need instead to be added to a banana bread or chocolate chip muffin, allowing their flavour and texture to truly shine through. And yes, size does matter. Too big a chip (like melting discs) will overpower a cupcake or muffin, and too small, won’t be felt on the tongue at all.
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May 15, 2014 | 2 Comments

Chocolate, Cookies, Brownies & Bars, Sweet

Double Chocolate Walnut Cookies

Its been a confusing and somewhat tempestuous decision to take joie de vivre a step forward, in the grander scheme of things. Here’s how: first and foremost, after months of procrastinating and undue delay, I finally had a sit down with Gunjan of Design of Information for a successful and excellent brainstorming session, the fruit […] Read more…

October 18, 2013 | 0 comment