Flavours and Textures | Chocolate Apprentice

Clotted Cream and Caramelized White Chocolates

“Uh, dearest?”

“Yes?”

“Do you see this?”

(Showing him a clear plastic bag with a small handful of blonde chocolate fèves in the bottom)

“Oh yes, they are really good.”

“Uh …”

“I ate them.”

“Yes ….”

“Were you saving them for something?”

“The blog. I was going to make something with them.”

“Ohhh … They were really good – especially at night, when you wake up and you just want a little something tasty …

(sees me shaking the sparse contents of the bag)

“Can you do anything with that many?”

“I guess I’ll find out.”

“Well, at least there are enough to photograph.” [Read more…]

Good For What Ales You, Scotland

I have the most lovely friends.

After hosting a couple of them to afternoon tea last week, my friend and colleague, Amanda surprised me with a wee giftie as we were driving in to teach Musical Theatre to 6 year olds, VERY early last Saturday morning.

As the gift was a beautiful box of four Historic Ales From Scotland, we both deemed it best to save them for later.

And I immediately decided that at least one of them had to be made into chocolates (not to be confused with my exploration two years ago of chocolate beer). [Read more…]

Peppermint Chocolate

I love chocolate peppermints. They remind me of winter, cold noses, hands wrapped around steaming mugs of hot chocolate, Vick’s vapo-rub …

And maybe because they are “very refreshing” to quote a certain episode of Seinfeld, I never feel like an absolute glutton after eating them … just someone with really fresh breath.

On occasional winter afternoons when I was a kid, I used to buy a quarter pound of after dinner mints for about 50 cents, at the candy shop in the mall . They were the cheapest thing on offer. I would then sneak them into the Saturday movie matinee. [Read more…]

A Chocolate Thank You

Although I have now been working with chocolate for three years (gosh, has it really been that long?) and have had the privilege to write this blog all that time, I am still very much an apprentice and feel I always will be.

So when my dear friend, Steph asked if I would make some chocolate thank you gifts for generous folks who have supported a wonderful organization we both work with (Vocal Eye Descriptive Arts), I became very nervous.

“I’m really not a professional, you know. Won’t they be disappointed?” [Read more…]

Some Bloody Good Chocolate

I made a chocolate coffin, this week. And then I stuffed it with dark chocolate bleeding hearts. It was a lot of fun especially with Hallowe’en coming.

My old alma mater, Studio 58, did a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which they are billing as “Shakespeare with Bite” … because the director has set it in the Carpathian mountains and the fairies are vampires who “taunt and terrorize all who wander there”.

I know, I know. Haven’t we had enough of vampires? Actually no, judging by this tongue-firmly-in-cheek, very creative and energetic take on this classic play. [Read more…]