Fancy, Tasty, Healthy Chocolate

In an attempt to improve the firmness of the chocolate we make and also add more flavour a few changes were made to the recipe.

The recipe is 3 x Coconut Oil, 1 x Honey, 7 x Cocoa Powder

We replaced one of the Coconut Oils with Cocoa Butter - good result i.e. more flavour and firmness.

Then instead of one type of Cocoa Powder we used one third Raw Cocoa which is lighter in colour but supposedly healthier and a third each of two other brands for more darkness.

Then came the discovery of the century. A big smattering of our own home made peanut butter made from roasted raw peanuts run through the Champion Juicer. At a rough guess about 2 to 3 measures. But by all means make it up yourself. Wow, what a combination. Be prepared to get fat.

See the posts on making the chocolate chocolate.

Remember not to skimp on the quality of either the Coconut Oil or the Cocoa.

Chocolate Making

We ran out of chocolate two nights ago. Jean likes the shard style that I make and I like the roasted peanut and coconut shreds/chips style. We enjoy a small piece after dinner.

I'm one of those people who thinks if you are going to the trouble of dirtying the implements you may as well make it worth the effort. To that end I decided to make a few other styles such as Hazel Nut, Almond and Ported Prune in ice cube trays.

Hazel Nuts and Almonds in the top tray and peanuts in the lower

Trays of Peanuts and Coconut shreds

Ported Prunes

Hazel Nuts and Almonds

The tray used for shards

Shards a simply just a thin layer of chocolate about 3-5 mm thick that provide a pleasant sensation in the mouth.

Two of the ingredients - Coconut Oil and Cocao Powder

We normally use Van Houten Cocoa which is available in the super market. But we recently found another brand which we tried and also liked. It is a darker Cocoa powder from Callebaut a Belgian supplier. We found at our wholesaler.

The third and final ingredient - Creamed Honey from HHF

Mixing

One of the secrets to a nice texture is stirring. Keep stirring until you get a smooth and silky texture. Don't over heat. The water bath supporting the mixing bowl should be warm not hot.

The blend is 3 parts Coconut Oil, 1 part Honey, 7 parts Cocoa Powder (or to your own taste.

The final result

Refrigerate just long enough for it to cool and set then repackage into airtight containers and store in the refrigerator.

Concrete Mixer, Chocolate, Stray Dog, Torch Repair

We have visitors coming next Sunday for lunch. Some friends that we haven't seen for a few months. Jean has been inspired to try a few different recipes for the event.  Smoked Salmon Pinwheels, Anchovy Straws, Baked Camembert, Fetta Tart Vanilla Bean Pastry with Chocolate Ganache, mixed berries and Cream.

The lead up work has been trialling some of the not previously attempted dishes which is just as well as there have been some serious disasters. Not that I'm complaining as I've been the recipient of some meals that didn't work out (they may not look right but they taste fine). On one particular day for some inexplicable reason everything Jean trialled failed to come together as it should. Fortunately, perseverance paid off.

My small contribution was the chocolate for the Ganache. The standard recipe of three parts Coconut Oil, one part Honey and seven parts Cocoa Powder always works out to provide a rich extremely tasty chocolate. After making a large block of plain for Jean to melt into the Ganache it was decided to restock our chocolate supplies; Plain thin chocolate shards which just melt in the mouth - Jean's favourite, Chocolate block with roasted peanuts and coconut chips - my favourite, Ported Prunes dipped in chocolate, roasted Almonds in chocolate and with the leftover material Chocolate and Almond Meal shards. That should keep us going for the next few days.

Plain shards

Chocolate Roasted Almond

Anzac Day started with a lengthy thunderstorm with which the rain was welcome. It also brought with it a stray dog who was wandering up and down our house yard fence line in distress. Jean let her in and although she didn't want to be touched she settled down on the door mat and wandered in and out of the house from time to time. Tentatively wearing welder' gloves I eventually grabbed her to inspect the collar but it had no ID. Jean, who has a memory for these things had a vague recollection that she had seen the dog before. We were going to wait until the morning to take her to the vet to scan for a microchip but eventually Jean went into the township to find the suspected owner. She returned with no good news. The woman who she thought might own it said it didn't sound like her dog which supposedly was with her kids at the local bowling club. Jean left our address just in case.

An hour later the woman turned up and claimed the poor dog!

One of our really old rechargeable torches was waning. Rechargeable batteries eventually reach end of life after a certain number of charges. Being a frugal and enjoying a challenge I dismantled the torch and removed the batteries. They are not designed to be replaced but being standard AA batteries a little soldering and an hour's effort provided a fully functioning torch which will ,be handy in the workshop as often I'm caught there after dark groping my way back to the house.

Last month the bulky items clean up yielded a functioning but old concrete mixer. It has been sitting in the workshop for a month teasing me with the excitement of a dismantle, clean and rebuild. Today the process was started. What an amazing piece of equipment. Despite having been out in the weather for a long time, under previous ownership, is still in good shape. The high quality metal construction has some surface rust only. The screws and bolts are of such quality that they unscrew with ease despite the rust. Each bolt and screw is of the ideal length for the job. This thing must be 50 years old, manufactured in those days when high quality built to last materials were used. I'm going to enjoy this.

And it Continues to Rain

Another day of rain. Not heavy just a steady drizzle from time to time, but it keeps coming back. Another 16 mm overnight. After a prolonged dry spell farmers say "We need 3 inches to give it a good soak". We have now just passed the 3" mark.

The plan was to wash the Cave floor gradually over the next week, but in the absence of something else to do in the wet it proceeded to get done today. Washed a section, then when it dried moved a bit of stuff about and washed another section. I've found that the scrubbing brush is adequate but that a big handful of steel wool is even better. Especially getting crushed grape berries off.

I'm only using a little cloudy Ammonia in the scrubbing water and just plain water and a rag to wipe up the mess. Slow and steady progress and by late afternoon it was all done. Not under any moveable objects close to the wall or too close to the edges where the visitors (termites) might be put off by the smell as I didn't want to disturb the little visitors at this time. Once they have left home I'll get in and do the remainder of the floor.

This is one of the Termite baits. You can see they have built a protective edge around the foil which means they are eating it. Lovely!

What is a bit of a shock is how dirty and discoloured the floor had been. Not that I managed to get it pristine this time round but it is so clean that when the light is turned on it is extremely bright in the room. The floor was originally painted with a pale yellow cement paint and now that the stains are removed there is a certain lightness.

So clean

Yesterday's writings mentioned Core Strength training. Well today just for something different we did Yoga. It's a DVD that we have been using for years by Gary Bromely. Just about the right level of difficulty for us, easy to follow and an excellent mix of stretches. We enjoyed it having not done a session for while and felt great afterward. Something special about doing Yoga first up in the morning before starting the day.

Things pottered on nicely all day. A batch of Fetta started and finished and another batch of chocolate using our newly created recipe of 3 Coconut Oil, 1 Honey and 7 Cocoa. Jean has taken a fancy to just plain chocolate that is moulded flat and quite thin i.e. less than 5 mm. It has a great texture and the thinness lets it melt nicely in the mouth. And the good bit is that it is full of Cocoa and a small piece is filling.

Chocolate Making Conquered

Making chocolate with Coconut oil, Dextrose and Cocoa powder has been going on for a while at HHF but although satisfying it has never been a really great product. Mainly because the Dextrose didn't quite dissolve as well as would be liked and didn't have that flavour that one looks for in a good chocolate. The chocolate melts easily because of the coconut oil.

Then the a spark of an idea or in this case two ideas. Why not reduce the amount of Coconut oil to make a thicker consistency and less melty. The second idea was to use the Creamed Honey of which there was so much.

Hard to believe but the first trial was a success. Absolutely beautiful with a wonderful texture and flavour.

3 parts Coconut (get good quality stuff)

1 part Creamed Honey

7 parts Cocoa Powder ( again get the best quality

Melt the Coconut oil in a Baine Marie add the honey and chocolate and stir until smooth. Pour into moulds and set in refrigerator.

We love roasted peanuts in ours. We roast some raw nuts and place a single layer in the mould. A sprinkling of toasted Coconut chips, shreds or desiccates is also nice.

Chocolate making and Blood Donation

Christmas Eve and the Blood Bank is in Clarence Town. We ran into some of the regulars who turn up every three months and make their contribution. Over the years because our appointment time varies you get to see most of the local donors. A lot quieter than normal as people are away. Often visitors staying in the camping ground will turn up. It's good to see people give a little of themselves and the timing is perfect in many ways.

We are going to have lunch with friends tomorrow and one job is to make some healthy chocolates for the event. We've been experimenting with the quantities. Less Dextrose and more Cocoa powder. 5 scoops of Coconut oil, 2 scoops of dextrose and 7-8 (and maybe a little more) scoops of Cocoa powder. Just done to taste.

For the occasion some experimentation with additives. One batch with Ported Prune centres – a little bit messy. Three separate batches with roasted nuts, Almond, Hazelnut and Peanut. A batch with toasted Coconut chips. And finally Sultanas which have been soaking in (home made) Grappa for 5 or more years. Apart from cleaning windows and other surfaces this may be the only other safe use for home made Grappa. 

 

 

These are not artisan style perfect in every way chocolates but they are home made.

 

And since we're at it a couple of standard un-fancy blocks for us.

 

 

Jean knocks out a Panforte. This can be a tedious preparation event but is made a lot easier by using her visiting mother as a kitchen hand. Lots of chopping involved. I'm hoping they have enough strength remaining to make one for us keep.

Coconut Yogurt, Chocolate Making, Drying Cheese, Testing two blue cheeses

Once again into the fray to try and make a yogurt like product from Coconut milk. Starting from scratch in went four small cans of pure Coconut milk i.e. no other additives. We have only found two brands that don't have additives Ayam and A&T. A generous amount of culture ex Cheeselinks and three tablespoons of Tapioca starch as thickener. We will see.

More chocolate making today. A big block for Jean in case she needs to make more Hazelnut Brownies which have been a huge success at morning tea. You have to have something to look forward to each day.

I made a standard issue block with roasted peanuts and then two small batches of samples. One batch was just chocolate with some Coconut flour for thickening and flavour. This wasn't refrigerated until the next day to ensure the flour full absorbed. And a small batch with just roasted Coconut chips/shreds. We are using only Dextrose for sweetening and keeping the levels lower than usual but adding more Cocoa powder to get that really chocolaty flavour.

The technique we use for drying cheese prior to cheese coating seems to work very well with the resultant cheeses not having excess moisture when opened nor being too dry. Once the cheese is brined it is put on a cheese mat to drain for 24 hours then a paper towel is folded to the size of the cheese and placed beneath to absorb liquid. Each cheese has two paper towels. One drying the cheese and one being dried before reuse. These two towels are alternated until the moisture on the towel does not form a full impression of the cheese. At this stage the cheese coating starts and when two coats are applied to the top half of the cheese it is flipped over and the bottom half done. And then finally the wax and label applied and into the cheese refrigerator to age.

Tonight we looked at two blue cheeses aging in the refrigerator. A stilton and a mock Roquefort.

The Stilton is just right. Fully ripened with not only good blue mould in the needle holes but also blue mould throughout the cavities. The mock Roquefort has good blue formation in the holes but has not fully ripened. You can see in the photograph how it is gooey around the outside but still a bit chalky in the centre. Another couple of weeks at least. It still tastes good though

Chocolate - Home Made

All those lovely chocolates in the stores, Australian, Swiss, Belgian, Austrian etc. But all of them made with a list of ingredients that you would prefer to not put in your body. Well you can have your chocolate and eat it by making your own. It's easy and it's quick. Fill a saucepan with warm water and sit a bowl (not plastic) in the saucepan so the base of the bowl is in contact with the water. Keep the saucepan warming on the stove top. You need the water warm but not too hot.

Ingredients required: Coconut Oil, Cocoa Powder, Dextrose.

Optional Ingredients: Nuts of your liking, Shredded Coconut, Vanilla pod or essence.

Scoop in 5 measures (spoons, cups whatever) of Coconut oil into the warming bowl and allow it to melt. You can melt it in warm water before hand.

Put in 5 measures of Dextrose. The dextrose will need some time and stirring to dissolve. You can use more less Dextrose depending on your sweet tooth.

When you think the Dextrose has dissolved add 5 measures of Cocoa powder. More if you want a more intense chocolate flavour. Stir without heating too much so the mixture becomes smooth. Taste it to see if you want more Dextrose or more Cocoa.

We use two different moulds. I prefer a flat based plastic container which allows me to break up the chocolate into rough pieces but I also use ice cube trays for even cubes. Let it set in the refrigerator until firm and then eat. Its keeps well in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

My favourite optional ingredient is roasted unsalted peanuts, just a thin layer in the base of the mould with the liquid chocolate poured over it. Texture wise I've found a thin layer of chocolate is best i.e. no more that 10 mm thick for the best mouth feel. We buy raw blanched peanuts and roast them in the oven. Shredded coconut raw or toasted in a frying pan is best added to the chocolate mix before pouring into moulds. I use it along with the nuts sometimes. Once you have the flavour right you can put in all sorts of additional goodies such as Vanilla Essence or pod scrapings, dried fruit, chilli, salt etc – entirely up to you.

There are different brands of coconut oil some are very expensive and some are very cheap. I have only come across one that was putrid and even the chooks wouldn't touch it when I threw it out. Some supermarkets carry Coconut oil as do most health food shops as well as Indian and Asian food stores. Try a few until you find one you like as they do taste a little different because of the processing.

Cocoa powder (use Dutch Processed) varies dramatically. Some only produce a light chocolate flavour and colour and others a much more intense colour and flavour. Again supermarkets and health food stores carry them.

Ingredients - Coconut Oil, Cocoa Powder, Dextrose

Shredded Coconut being toasted

Trays prepared for chocolate addition

Bain Marie using a saucepan and bowl

Just poured

 






The finished Product