I have recently bought some cacao paste from Sunfood.com. I seem to be paralyzed, though. I am not sure what I want to do with this cacao paste. I mean, the longterm goal is to make the most delicious and healthy chocolate in the world. The short term goal is to learn how to make it sweet, and have the right texture. I happen to think texture is important in my chocolate sampling. It seems to [...]
Lately I have been experimenting with superfoods…. of course that means I am experimenting with superfood chocolate as well. When I eat my chocolate now, I am convinced that I am eating heath food. I am still working my way through that 10 pound box of chocolate that I wrote about earlier. (I love that entry…. the story about the chocolate guy who came for the California gold rush, and he found out that people were more than glad to [...]
We are going to our neighbors’ tonight for dinner. They said not to bring anything, but how can I do that? I haven’t been to the grocery store in about a week, so a fruit salad isn’t an option…. Oh what to do? Then I remember, I have a HUGE box of Guittard Chocolate. I can make a chocolate something. But, I don’t feel like tempering chocolate today. OH OH OH…. I can make a chocolates spread. No, what would [...]
Maybe not the greatest photo, but it sure was the greatest chocolate. Brook was asking me what kind of cake or pie I would like for my birthday. As I thought about it, I decided that if it really was my day to have my favorite things, I was going to have to make my own chocolate… I just like my own recipes the best. (Of course if it had really been all about me, one of the recipes would [...]
This is a fun experiment! I saw a recipe for white fudge (AKA: Opera Fudge). It seemed like it would be a wonderfully adaptable base recipe. I could mix in flavorings, fruit and nuts, even peanut butter, and it could be a different fudge each time. This was my very first time making fudge. I didn’t like the “beating with a wooden spoon for 10 minutes” part. But, I survived. I put Jasmine tea and raw vanilla bean into the [...]
I’ve been making these for years. I think they are such a cute candy. A mix of sweet and sour. I cut strawberry marshmallows in half. I dip them in white chocolate. I have found that enrobing chocolate makes for a prettier dipped piece. (Smaller foot, smoother shape.) Then I sprinkle lemon-aide mix onto the top of the chocolate while it is still liquid. The lemon-aide mix is sour, the marshmallow and white chocolate is sweet. Fun, cute, sweet! I’ll [...]
When I was in Peace Corps in Niger, West Africa, there was not a lot of candy to be had. As grace would have it, I had a handy dandy Peace Corps cook book. It was made especially for people living in sparse conditions… like me! I noticed that candied orange peels might satisfy my sweet tooth. Plus it only require 2 ingredients: orange peels and sugar. Nice! I can’t find my Peace Corps cook book! No! So Sad! But I looked [...]
I am very pleased with this experiment, too. It was very easy to make, and very tastey. I melted milk chocolate, and poured it into a silicone ice cube tray, 1/3 full. Then I put a big chunk of granola in each “cube”. Then I put more granola into each cube. I pushed it into the chocolate with a spatula & let it harden. The result is a thick, deep, chunky, 3-bite nugget. I used Bar Naked brand granola. It [...]
I don’t really know what to call this experiment. I haven’t really tasted it yet, just licked the spatula at the end. I ground up jasmine pearls into a fine powder and then mixed them into a dark enrobing chocolate. I cut marshmallows in half and dipped them into the melted mixture. Then I sprinkled finely diced walnuts and organic nibs on the top. I was disappointed that the chocolate got a little hazy white after it set up. I [...]
I have been researching affordable chocolates today. I did order some more Bada Bing Bada Boom chocolate because it is tastie and easy to work with. But, it is a compound chocolate. I’d also like to get more familiar with what I am tempted to call “real” chocolate. The difference is that what I am calling real chocolate has cocoa butter in it. It is the cocoa butter that makes tempering chocolate so tricky. That leads me back to the [...]