cooking with chocolate Archives - The Melting Pot

Best Bunny Buys this Easter

Posted on 3 April 20233 April 2023 by Dawn Fry

The Easter Bunny made some recommendations last year, including eggs, hunts, hot cross buns, and lunch. It’s that time of year again and therefore time for an update. https://makechocolates.co.uk/?s=the+easter+bunny+recommends

What are the best bunny buys this Easter?

Waitrose Food Magazine

There are some great ideas in the Easter Edition.

A round-up of hot cross buns from Cheddar and Stout to White Chocolate and Lemon – the flavour combos of these delights get ever more inventive.

Devilled eggs – including beetroot and horseradish, green eggs and ham, and sun-dried tomato and harissa (obviously not everything has to contain chocolate!)

A look at Easter symbolic treats from around the world.

My favourite recipe was an easy no-cook pudding simnel-spiced fridge cake – adding marzipan, ginger nuts, dried apricots, and spices into the chocolate mix, then topped with a circle of Maltesers as a nod to a traditional cake.

Best Easter Egg Buys for 2023

Someone has always done the hard work for us – taste-tested lots of chocolate treats to recommend the best buys.

This year I’ve gone with Delish magazine, who offer us 12 options.

Top of the taste list was Sainsbury’s Milk Chocolate Sticky Toffee Pudding Egg.

No. 2 was M & S Hot Cross Bun Egg

No. 3 an Aldi White Chocolate Strawberry Sundae topped with filled eggs

I will let you discover the others on the list – they all sound a little too sweet for me (No 6 sounded more up my street – what would your fav be?)

How Crafty are You?

Good Housekeeping has come up with 80 (!) Easter crafts for kids and adults to celebrate spring. Now that should keep some entertained for a while.

BBC Good Food also has some good craft inspiration including making bird feeders and salt dough decorations.

Easter Lunch Inspiration

I’ve opted for a more budget Easter lunch this year and will be serving up Shepherd’s Pie instead of a leg of lamb (it’s made and in the freezer). I did buy the mince from the farm shop and was happy to pay more for a good quality ingredient. Here’s a recipe from Mary Berry as shared on Lovefood.com.

Making this with lentils is just as tasty and even more cost-effective as well as being veggie (or vegan) friendly.

If you would like more Easter lunch inspiration, then have a look at these options via BBC Good Food. Do come and share your menu with us, I love talking food!

Always a good moment to share some chocolate recipe inspiration too.

Have a very good long weekend, whether you celebrate Easter or not, I hope it’s spent with loved ones and lots of chocolate!

Brown Thursday

Posted on 19 January 20234 April 2023 by Dawn Fry

In the week that we survived Blue Monday, I thought we might celebrate Brown Thursday!

chocolate heart in melting chocolate puddle

A PR guru I follow said that Blue Monday had been dreamt up by the travel industry to promote holiday bookings. Last year I shared how I beat the January blues by focusing on my holiday plans for the year ahead, so they must be on to something.

It got me thinking, why not promote Brown Thursday this week. Let’s celebrate all things chocolate (you must be over your Christmas chocolate indulgence by now)?

Chocolate is Good for You

“Definitely chocolate is my kind of healthy plant! If over 70 percent cacao and good quality with no more than 4 ingredients.” Tim Spector, Professor of Genetics and Author. Prof Spector studies and researches the microbiome, the large community of microbes that live in our gut, skin, and body.

A small amount of good quality dark chocolate eaten each day has been proven to be good for you. If you are not yet a fan of the dark side, why not start with something not too strong? You can build up your cocoa content over time. I now prefer chocolate over 80% cocoa. The everyday chocolate that I grew up on tastes more like a sweetie to me now. Once you get used to the dark side, there’s no going back!

Chocolate Makes you Feel Better

There are chemicals in chocolate that are mood enhancers as well as a form of caffeine. It really does feel like it ‘picks you up’ and can be just the treat you need.

The people at Cocoa Runners (a great gourmet mail-order chocolate company) have written an interesting article about whether the claims about chocolate are too good to be true. It includes an interview with Prof Tim Spector (mentioned above).

Enjoy cooking with chocolate

The smell in the kitchen, the satisfaction of creating something tasty, and the delicious treat to share with friends/family. Cooking with chocolate always feels good.

Christmas cake with chocolate icing and sprinkles topped with holly

If you want to make some chocolates at home, here are my tips on how to temper your chocolate – the key to success.

I have some of my favourite chocolate recipes to share with you too. Let us know what you made, and maybe come and share a picture on social media.

Feeling a bit chilly and not up to cooking too much? How about making yourself a hot chocolate follow the link for inspiration!

Treat yourself

Why not treat yourself to some posh chocolate and go gourmet? There may be some good stuff to buy in the sales if you are quick.

Some good sites to visit: Fortnum & Mason, Chococo, Cocoa Runners, Hotel Chocolat

Once you’ve invested in some good stuff, you may want some tips on how to taste it properly!

Chocolate Therapy

Last, but not least, why not come along and try a chocolate workshop experience here at The Melting Pot?

It really is chocolate therapy.

There’s a large vat of molten chocolate, the smell is incredible, and there are like-minded people enjoying the experience with you. Then you have the making element, dipping fillings into the tank, tasting chocolate, and taking all your creations home to share and/or enjoy.

Escape from the usual trials and tribulations of life and immerse yourself in the world of chocolate for a couple of hours.

Hope to see you at the chocolate tanks very soon.

Happy Brown Thursday.

Too hot for choc?

Posted on 4 August 20224 August 2022 by Dawn Fry

Heat is a bit of an issue with chocolate, here are some stories, ideas, and inspiration when it’s a bit too hot for choc:

Melting Chocolate

The melting point for fat molecules in chocolate is about 36 degrees, which is very close to our body temperature of 37 degrees, hence the melting in the mouth experience.

There are lots of things you need to know to temper chocolate but allowing it to set at the right temperature is a must too. Ideally, you want to ensure that the room you are in never exceeds 20 degrees.

It’s been a little challenging lately tempering and setting chocolate in this heat. Here are some tips to help when chocolate becomes a bit of a disaster darling!

Spare a thought for the poor contestants in the Bake-Off tent – a hot tent with all those ovens on is just impossible!

What about the Workshops?

I have a lovely summerhouse where I host most of my chocolate workshops. At this time of year, I try and book my events in the morning as the building is much cooler then.

A trusted portable air con machine is also on hand should the temperature start to get a little too high.

The temperature did defeat us when it reached the mid-to-high-30s and sadly, we had to postpone a couple of events. Even if we had got everything made and set, getting them home would have been a challenge.

If you are attending any chocolate event, or off to buy some chocolate treats, remember a cool bag to bring them home in to avoid a puddle by the time you get in.

Chocolate in the Fridge

If you are working with chocolate and you want to pop your tempered chocolate in the fridge to help it set then pop it in for just five mins or so and it will not go dull.

When you package up your creations you can then keep them in the fridge at this time of year (if you have a cool dark space, even better).

For really posh chocolate, you might want to protect this in a container or ensure it’s well wrapped before popping it in your fridge.

For your everyday chocolate, fridge-cold is just how it’s enjoyed by many of you.

Crowdfunding saves Shop

Did you hear the one about the corner shop where all the chocolate melted?

A local shop in Scunthorpe lost £1,000 worth of chocolate as it melted in the recent heatwave. The shop owners have had such a difficult time in recent months and due to the high level of excess payment required didn’t feel they could claim on their insurance.

The owners’ daughter appealed to the local community and set up a crowdfunding page, asking for small donations to help save the shop. The owner cried every time someone offered some support and a significant amount has been raised to help replace the chocolate stocks.

Now that’s a story to melt the heart.

I Scream for Ice Cream

We need to finish off with a little cooler, what better way to do this than enjoying our chocolate ice cream style?

whippy ice cream with chocolate flake starting to melt

Fancy making your own?

This recipe from BBC Good Food has good ratings and they claim is easy to make.

Foodism magazine has done some great research for you – the best supermarket ice creams to buy.

These range from trusted favourties to vegan, gluten-free, palm-oil-free, organic, and artisan options. The pics are enough to get you drooling.

Does the ice cream van still visit your area? Can you hear their tune calling you? How about a 99, one way of stopping your flake from melting, stick it in your Mr. Whippy!

Stay cool, it’s never really too hot for choc.

The Easter Bunny recommends…

Posted on 14 April 202219 February 2023 by Dawn Fry

Whether it’s the best eggs to buy, running the best egg hunt, enjoying a special lunch, or munching on a delicious hot cross bun with a cuppa, read on for some Easter inspiration.

Easter Bunny sitting on a tablecloth with spring flowers

The Easter Bunny recommends….

The Best Easter Eggs

Good Housekeeping has done all the Easter Egg research for you this year.

Chocolate Easter egg sitting on a bed of smarties

Chocolatiers and supermarkets submitted their recommendations to the Good Housekeeping Institute. They actually tested 135 eggs (are you now thinking you need a new job?). Hot Cross Bun Egg anyone?

These are the categories they cover:

Milk chocolate Easter eggs
White and blonde chocolate Easter eggs
Dark chocolate Easter eggs
Kids Easter eggs
Vegan Easter eggs

The Best Easter Egg Hunt

Colourful eggs and a basket on the grass

If you want to try some alternative ideas for your hunt this year, Country Living Magazine has come up with 27 creative hunt ideas for indoors and out and including online options.

The Best Hot Cross Buns

I love a hot cross bun.

I’ve tried making them, they are a lot of work and mine were a bit of a disaster. Hot Cross Rocks would have been the better description! There are so many varieties to choose from these days.

Here’s a list of good supermarket buys from Olive magazine. Alternative options include dark chocolate and ginger and a white chocolate and lemon version mmm.

The Best Easter Lunch

The BBC Good Food team has come up with the ultimate Easter lunch menu. It does sound rather tasty:

Pea, mint & spring onion soup with parmesan biscuits to start
Roast lamb studded with rosemary & garlic (they also give plenty of veggie alternatives), served with dauphinoise potatoes, spring vegetables, and lemon & thyme baby carrots
Chocolate egg baked tart

I’m very pleased to see they ended the meal with chocolate. If you want more chocolate pud inspiration, try these.

Whether you celebrate Easter or not, I do hope you are able to enjoy some downtime with family and friends and of course add lots of chocolate into the mix too.

Happy Easter

If Chocolate be the Food of Love

Posted on 9 February 20229 February 2022 by Dawn Fry

Eat on……

Chocolate sales soar for Valentines, have you bought yours yet? (Please see below for some inspiration).

As Valentines is around the corner, I thought it might be timely to look at the connection between chocolate and love.

So, if chocolate be the Food of Love – why?

A tonic aphrodisiac!

Emperor of the Aztecs, Montezuma, loved his chocolate. He is renowned for drinking 50 golden goblets of chocolate drink in a day. With a reported harem of 50 young women to entertain too, drinking chocolate was believed to increase stamina!

Chocolate has a fascinating history, used as currency, but also a sign of your strength, wealth, and prowess. In the time of the Aztecs, women were not even allowed to drink chocolate. Boo.

Luckily women have made up for that since and it is believed that Marie Antoinette wouldn’t start her day without a cup of chocolate. We like her style.

“Dear Diamond, we all know who really is a girl’s best friend. Sincerely yours, Chocolate.”

Chocolate contents

Chocolate contains phenylethylamine and serotonin both of which are mood-lifting agents found naturally in the human brain.

Consumption causes your brain to release the pleasure chemical dopamine, which could well put you in the mood for love.

“Biochemically, love is just like eating large amounts of chocolate.” John Milton

Clever Cadbury

Richard Cadbury, the eldest son of John Cadbury, founder of the world-famous company, created the first known heart-shaped box of chocolates for Valentine’s Day 1868.

He was a pioneer in chocolate box design and often used his own paintings to make the lids of the boxes more appealing. He created heart-shaped boxes decorated with rosebuds and Cupids, which were already popular symbols of romance among the Victorians. Thus, a new Valentine’s Day tradition was born.

Be my Valentine

The people over at Hello Magazine have done all the hard work for us and produced a list of the best chocolate boxes and sweet treats to buy this Valentines’ Day! Go get your brownie points.

“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” Charles M. Schulz

Chocolate on the menu

Don’t just stop at a box of chocolates. Why not go all out and make some delicious chocolate creations to share at home.

Here’s some inspiration:

Top of the chocs – my top five favourite chocolate recipes shared with you.

Chocolate Vodka (although you should have started this a bit ago), is still worth the wait.

If you are making your own creations, then here’s how to temper chocolate at home to avoid disasters like bloom.

The best hot chocolate, ideal for warming up and as a tasty treat, win, win.

Or maybe you want to go out for a chocolate-inspired meal. We are talking starters and mains as well as dessert.

“Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump

Whatever you do to celebrate love I hope it contains lots of chocolate – whether that is shared or just for YOU!

How to deal with Empty Nest Syndrome

Posted on 7 September 20217 September 2021 by Dawn Fry

It’s that time of year when young ones are stretching their wings and preparing to move on.

They may be starting school for the first time, moving onto ‘big’ school, or indeed leaving home to start Uni, college, or even a real job!

Whatever the reason, it’s hard for us to adapt to these big changes and see them growing up too fast.

Here’s how I tried to deal with empty nest syndrome (I hope they might help you too):

Acknowledge your feelings

three faces with happy, neutral and sad, with tick boxes beside

Accept that you can’t make Empty Nest Syndrome go away. These feelings are valid and real.

You have spent years nurturing, supporting, cooking, cleaning, and clearing up after your little angels and now they don’t need you in the same way anymore. That is a huge adjustment to make for starters.

I felt really bereft when my eldest first left home for Uni, and I kept laying the dinner table for all five of us before realising he wasn’t here and getting upset (again). My other kids laughed at me and told me to a grip.

The joys of family banter!

Give yourself permission to be sad, tearful, thoughtful, reflective. Make some time and be kind to yourself. Whatever you are experiencing is not going to last forever.

Do something new

There should be a little more space in your life with your responsibilities shifting. What might you decide to do?

Is there a hobby or craft that you have neglected for too long?

Perhaps there is a new skill or experience you would like to try?

What about taking up a new sport or joining a club to play a sport that’s been neglected for a while?

Start baking or cooking up a storm in the kitchen. Chocolate always helps – here’s some inspiration.

Take on a challenge

There are many opportunities to join challenges. They might relate to health, fitness, personal growth, or mindset. You might decide to support a charity and take part in an organised event.

I offer a free 6-day challenge called Creating Magic – where you focus on you for a change and find out how to bring some sparkle into your life.

Think about starting your own business. This can be something on the side, earning from a hobby or craft, or something more serious. Having my own business to focus on during these times has been genuinely helpful. Being my own boss also means if I’m struggling and need time out, I can take it.

This is the ultimate for a great challenge and distraction!

Plan your trip

A pile of recently washed up dishes and other kitchen utensils

This is just for you with the older ones, heading away from home. Obviously, they need some time to settle in, but get a date in the diary when you can visit and take them out for dinner, buy a huge food shop, do the heaving pile of washing up and a huge load of washing for them!

It really helps to have visits planned. We have really enjoyed exploring new locations in the UK as part of this process.

It’s good to talk

A cuppa or a glass of wine with friends and family is definitely a help. They may be experiencing similar feelings to you if they have children of the same age. Don’t forget to reflect on the opportunities and achievements of your children. They will have worked hard to achieve a place at Uni in really difficult circumstances. Maybe heading to a new school without all the usual visits and reassurances.

Here’s to our kids and their super resilience – they are amazing!

I once met a lady at a craft fair, she had gone out and bought a job lot of scarves, so she could spend her evenings selling them and not sitting at home sad that her children had left. She told me that it felt like her arm had been cut off. I think I can totally relate to that. You do feel like something is missing. When they come and go, you experience that time and again, but it does get a little easier and if they are happy, then you are allowed to be too.

If you have some top tips to add, please pop over to my Facebook page to share.

Best of luck.

How to get great results with chocolate

Posted on 8 June 20218 June 2021 by Dawn Fry

It’s all about the chocolate

So many of the problems that people face in their home chocolate creations are because they started with the wrong ingredient!

They bought chocolate – but not the right kind of chocolate!

If you want to get great results with chocolate, you need to buy great chocolate.

What type of chocolate should you buy?

squares of white and dark chocolate in a pile

Now we’ve all heard about the magic 70%; buying chocolate with 70% cocoa content means that it must be a quality bar. Well in some cases that will be true of course. Just because it has more chocolate in it, doesn’t mean the chocolate is of good quality. Please don’t be fooled by numbers – it’s really about what you like the taste of!

Saying that numbers are important! You are looking to buy chocolate with a minimum of 30% cocoa content – any less, and you will have real troubles trying to get it to ‘temper’, especially if it contains vegetable fat!

Where can you buy the right chocolate?

I recommend the supermarket’s own brands for home chocolate cooking, they have some really good and more interesting chocolate bars in stock. If you are looking for gourmet, Willie’s Cacao and Valrhona are two quality brands that can be found fairly easily at Waitrose and often good deli’s too.

Gourmet chocolate is making its mark, so if you want to explore some fantastic bars, read my interview with Master Chocolatier Paul A Young for some top tips on the best artisan producers and bars around on the market today.

Can you work with different chocolate?

If you are looking to work with either white or milk chocolate, then you need to ensure that it has a minimum cocoa content of 30%. if you are working with dark chocolate, then usually you will be looking at around 70%.

It does depend on the flavour profile of the chocolate, one of my favourites is a 64% cocoa Ecuadorian chocolate which has a great depth of flavour. Taste it first, and see what you think!

You can use 100% cocoa (such as Willie’s cacao) to which you would add more sugar to the recipe! Here’s a dark chocolate cake recipe to try.

Experiment and see what you like best. Use the cheap stuff and you will always struggle to get decent results (your average Cadbury bar has only around 20% cocoa content). If you experience a chocolate disaster, take a look at some tips to remedy things.

Too hot to handle!

Temperature is everything with chocolate!

If the room is too warm then it will not set properly and you will see dull and streaky results. “Ah, I shall pop it in the fridge then” – I hear you cry! NO! Cool too quickly and this can also ruin your finish!

So, the key thing is to work at a cool temperature, but not too cool! Your room needs to be 20° or below. If you go much above 20° you will start to have problems setting your chocolate.

If you were thinking of making those truffles on the hottest day of the year, think again – or get up very early!

Chocolate does not like humidity either, so a very wet day can also cause problems. Don’t have the kettle on too often and fill your kitchen with steam!

Once you have made your chocolate creations, leaving them to set at room temperature (provided your room is at the right temperature), in a cool pantry, a shed, or even garage is ideal.

When you have properly tempered your chocolate, leave it to cool at the right room temperature, it will start to set fairly quickly.

Leave it for around 30mins at least to make sure it’s fully set (more for thicker creations).

You should see a nice smooth, shiny finish and chocolate that easily pops out of moulds or comes off the surface easily, without any hassle!

Losing your temper with chocolate!

Now chocolate is a fickle friend, and the way we handle the chocolate will be key to getting great results. It’s all about getting a good temper on the chocolate – and each chocolate will have a different tempering point!

Tempering chocolate changes the structure of the crystals within chocolate so that we get a nice shiny finish and snap to our chocolate when set. To do this we heat the chocolate to 45° to melt away the main crystals, then cool quickly to a very specific point (usually around 30° to 32°) to make the right crystal present. Sounds very scientific and rather complicated, doesn’t it!

As chocolatiers, we will usually use tempering machines, temper traditionally on marble, or the seeding method (my preferred choice) where we add fresh chocolate to heated chocolate to cool the chocolate mixture to the right point.

You are not likely to have access to such expensive equipment, or indeed work with such quantities of chocolate, so read my secrets to successfully ‘tempering’ chocolate at home.

Show us what you made! Come and share your creations over on my Facebook page. Let’s talk chocolate!

Dark Chocolate Cake

Posted on 14 May 202114 May 2021 by Dawn Fry

Ingredients

180g 100% cacao chocolate, grated
250g unsalted butter
6 eggs
50 light muscavado sugar
125g golden caster sugar
100g ground almonds

For the icing:

250ml double cream
75g golden caster sugar
90g 100% cacao chocolate, grated

Method

Preheat the oven to 170°C.
You will need a 25cm springform cake tin, lined with baking paper.
Put a glass bowl over a pan of simmering water, ensuring the bowl is not touching the water – melt the grated chocolate and butter together and remove from the heat.
Beat the eggs with the two sugars (using your mixer preferably) until pale and doubled in size.
Once cooled, gently stir the melted chocolate into the eggs with a large metal spoon, and then fold in the ground almonds.
Pour the mixture into your tin and bake for 35 mins, or until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave the cake to cool in the tin.
To make the icing, heat the cream and sugar together until it comes to a light simmer. Remove this from the heat and wait one minute (exactly, put the timer on!). Stir in the grated chocolate until it has melted. Leave this to cool and spread over the cooled cake. You can add shavings or other adornments to your finished cake as you wish.

Dawn Says

There is no sweetness in the chocolate as it is 100% cacao. You can add more sugar to taste. You can buy 100% cacao in most supermarkets. Look in the cooking aisle instead of the chocolate section. It does give a wonderful full chocolate flavour. I love the intensity as I prefer things less sweet!
Inspired by the Cloud Forest Chocolate Cake in Willie Harcourt-Cooze’s book ‘Willie’s Chocolate Factory’

This is number three in my top of the chocs recipes to make at home. For more inspiration visit my facebook page.

If you love chocolate have you ever considered what it might be like to make chocolate your business?

Chocolate Crunchy Nut Squares

Posted on 14 May 20214 April 2023 by Dawn Fry

Ingredients

200g dark chocolate
100g milk chocolate
125g unsalted butter
3 x 15ml tbsp golden syrup
250g salted peanuts
4 x 40g Crunchie bars
1 baking or foil tray, approximately 30 x 20 x 5 cm. (if using a baking tray, line with parchment or greaseproof paper)

Method

Add chopped chocolate, butter, and syrup to your saucepan and place over low heat. Bash up your crunchies, measure out your salted peanuts and mix together in a separate bowl. Pour the melted chocolate mixture over the nut/honeycomb mixture, stir well and pour into your tin. Smooth out (add extra goodies if you wish, like mini marshmallows or edible glitter) and leave to cool. Once cooled, pop in the fridge for a few hours, then remove and cut into squares. Bet you can’t eat only one square!

Dawn Says

Use good quality chocolate. Minimum of 70% cocoa for the dark and 30% cocoa for the milk chocolate. You can buy some supermarket own-brand chocolate for this.
I buy honeycomb in chunks for my chocolate workshops – so I use this instead of buying Crunchie bars. I add a little extra milk chocolate too to compensate!
Inspired by Nigella Lawson’s Sweet and salty crunch nut bars, as appears in ‘Kitchen’

This is number five in my top of the chocs recipes to make at home. For more inspiration pop to my facebook page.

If you love chocolate, have you ever considered what it might be like to make chocolate your business?