Seductive Hot Chocolate

I'ts winter and there's nothing better than warming your self with a decadent cup of hot chocolate. This winter you might want to forget about the stuff you get in a tin at the supermarket and try making you a cup of your very own sinfully rich hot chocolate. Now's not the time to be worrying about calories (at least on the day you will be making this). Pair this off with the chocolate biscuits I posted previously and you will have your taste buds singing Whitney Houston's I will always love you. Now you don't want to have this everyday we do need to keep an eye on our waistlines but feel free to enjoy it occasionally or on weekends like I sometimes do. So grab a blanket, cuddle up and start a new love affair.


You will need to use the best chocolate you can get your hands on. I like to use Lindt chocolate but any fine chocolate will do. You could use any type or flavour of chocolate but I recommend that you use dark chocolate or 70% chocolate. Use white chocolate for a white hot chocolate drink.

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups milk
½ cup fresh cream
100g dark chocolate
Pinch of salt
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

Directions:

1. Using a serrated knife chop the chocolate finely on a clean cutting board or counter. Make sure that the surface you are using, especially if you are using a wooden cutting board, has not been exposed to any strong smelling foods that could impart bad flavours to the chocolate.
   


2. Heat milk over low heat and slowly add the chocolate stirring until all the chocolate has melted.
   


3. Add salt and vanilla if you are using it. (You don’t need to use the salt but using it brings out the flavour of the chocolate and also cuts back a bit on the sweetness.)
   


4. Increase the heat to medium and gently bring to a boil stirring continuously.
   


5. Remove from heat as soon as it begins to boil and serve immediately.
   


6. You can store unused hot chocolate in the fridge and re-heat before serving.

Tips and Variations:

• For a chilled refreshing drink cool the hot chocolate and then refrigerate until cold, Pour into cups top with whipped cream. Sprinkle shaved or grated chocolate and serve
  


• For a lighter hot chocolate drink replace the fresh cream with milk or water and use less chocolate
  


• For a less sweet hot chocolate use 70% or 85% chocolate.
  


• For those of use who are worried about too much calories you can replace the milk with use low fat or fat free milk and the cream with water. Cut back on some of the chocolate you use and use dark chocolate as a healthier option.


• 
  For those of us who would like to make white hot chocolate you could sprinkle some ground cinnamon into your hot chocolate for a nice touch.
  


• If you one those people who like to live on the wilder side of life you could add a dash of nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice and chilli powder. If you want add lots of flavour from the spices add them after you add the salt and before you increase the heat. If you want less flavour from the spices add them when you remove the pot from the heat just before serving.
  


• If you want a more adult drink you can add a dash of your favourite liquer. Good options are Grand Marnier, Kahlua, Irish cream liquer, Frangelico, peppermint liquer or chocolate liquer. If you adding liquer you would need to do so before increasing the heat to make sure that the alcohol is burned off.

The possibilities are endless

Another for you to try

Nutella Hot Chocolate

Ingredients

3 tablespoons Nutella
1 1/3 cups milk

Directions

1. Put Nutella and 1/3 cup milk in small saucepan over medium heat.


2. Whisk until blended.


3. Add remaining milk, increase heat to medium-high, and whisk until hot and frothy.


4. Pour into a mug and enjoy.

For extra decadence you could top your cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream or marshmallows

Chocolate Kissed Biscuits (Cookies)

What could be better than biscuits covered in chocolate with a cup of hot chocolate on a cold winters day. Every winter I make these and I can't get enough of them. Because I love chocolate so much I decided that I would like to try the chocolate version. I'm going to keep myself busy making these this coming weekend.

Don't make too many though otherwise you won't be able to keep your hand out of the biscuit tin. I always make and share with my friends and neighbours. You could use milk or dark chocolate with these but I prefer milk chocolate cause I find it not too overpowering. You don't need a lot of time to make these so they good for any day of the week. Bon Apetit!

Ingredients

225 g self-raising flour
90 g cocoa
30 g cornflour
225 g unsalted butter or margarine, softened
90 g icing sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
115 g chocolate, melted
icing sugar, for, dusting

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
2. Grease 2 large baking sheets.
3. Into a bowl sift together the flour,cocoa and cornflour.
4. In another large bowl beat the butter and icing sugar until fluffy.
5. With the beater on low speed gradually add in the flour mixture and vanilla essence until it becomes a soft dough.
6. Shape into'bar' shapes about 10cm long by 5cm wide. Allow room for spreading. OR Fill a piping bag with a star nozzle and pipe and pipe into finger shapes about 5 to 10 cm long. Allow room for spreading.
7. Bake about 15-20 minutes until light golden brown, rotating baking sheets at half-time to allow for even cooking.
8. Keep an eye on them as they should only be slightly firm and all ovens are different.
9. Leave to cool for about 5 minutes on the baking tray and then transfer to a wire rack and cool until firm.
10. Dip one end of each cookie into melted chocolate and place back onto greaseproof paper and allow chocolate to set. Alternatively you could dust with icing sugar
11. Store in container with waxed paper between layers.

There are so many ways that you could change the recipe to give you differnt varieties.

• You could leave out the cocoa to make them plain. Pipe rosettes instead of "fingers" and dip the bottom of the biscuits in chocolate. If you want to make them extra special you can place a small glaced cherry in the centre of the biscuit prior to baking.

• You could also mix chopped pecans into the dough and instead of piping roll into little "fingers". Dust them with icing sugar after they have baked.

• You could also pipe circles and place a little jam in the centre before baking. Dust with icing sugar after they have baked.

The possibilities are endless! Have fun.

Chocolate Eruption

Anybody who knows me knows that I have a weakness for chocolate. It's funny cause my love for chocolate started only a few years ago. There's something about eating chocolate that hits you in all the right places. It's no wonder it's the first thing many of reach for when we need our spirits lifted. If you've never had premium chocolate like Lindt or Callebaut then you can't really say that you've had chocolate and a true chocolate lover would know this.

I remember the day I fell in love with Lindt chocolate. I would always pass it in the aisles cause I felt that I could just never pay that much money for a bar of chocolate. One day I was felt like rewarding myself with something good so I decided to go ahead and buy one. I chose the plain milk chocolate bar(no particular reason). I still remember thinking I can't believe I'm spent so much money whey I could have spent so much less for my then favourite chocolate.

I took my first bite and then I paused, I had just experienced something new with chocolate. The chocolate was light, smooth, creamy and velvety, everything a good chocolate should be.

I have decided to share to treats with you just in time for the cooler weather. When preparing your favourite chocolate desserts or cakes don't use chocolate that you wouldn't normally eat. Good chocolate = Good desserts.

Molten Chocolate Cakes

There's something about soft gooey chocolate that makes you go weak in the knees. These small decadent cakes are sure to have that effect on you. These cakes are best served warm with your favourite ice-cream or fresh whipped cream or maybe both. They are easy to prepare and bake in no time and that is what I love about them.

If you love chocolate you will enjoy making and eating these.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for muffin tins
1/3 cup granulated sugar, plus more for muffin tins
3 large eggs
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
226 g (8 ounces) bittersweet chocolate, melted
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Whipped Cream, for serving

Directions

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius / 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Generously butter 6 cups of a standard muffin tin. Dust with granulated sugar, and tap out excess. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and granulated sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, beat in flour and salt until just combined. Beat in chocolate until just combined. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups.

Place muffin tin on a baking sheet; bake just until tops of the cakes no longer jiggle when the pan is lightly shaken, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven; let stand 10 minutes.

To serve, turn out cakes, and place on serving plates, bottom sides up. Dust with confectioners' sugar, and serve with whipped cream (or your favourite vanilla or chocolate ice-cream), if desired.

Chocolate Fountains

Chocolate fountains are all the craze right now. You will find them at weddings, parties or maybe you have one at home. What I like about them is that anyone can enjoy them cause there'll always be something for somebody. Some enjoy it with fruit or nuts, others biscuit and some with marshmallows. Whatever you choose you know you will enjoy it cause what could be better than a never ending flow of chocolate. Most people enjoy it with fruit, nuts, biscuits, or marshmallows. I prefer pouring some of the chocolate into a bowl and dipping some of my favourit nuts. That way I don't eat too much cause the nuts fill me up fast. For times when I'm watching my waistline I prefer to go with fruits like strawberries, oranges or bananas. When I'm tired of fruits and nuts I always reach for marshmallows another favourite of mines.

I love marshmallows and I love that I can make them on my own. If you've never made marshmallows before don't be afraid to try. They are so easy to make and you only need a handful of ingredients. I have decided to share a recipe that I have from Michael Smith, one of my favourite chefs from BBC Food.

Homemade Marshmallows

Timing Hints: Marshmallows can be made a week in advance and refrigerated.

4 gelatin packages
1 1/2 cup of water
2 cups of sugar
1 1/2 cup of corn syrup
1 Tablespoon of pure vanilla extract
a pinch of salt

In a small bowl sprinkle the gelatin powder over 1/2 cup of the water. Place the sugar and the remaining one-cup of the water in a pot and heat until warm to the touch. Add the gelatin mixture to the warm syrup and stir until fully melted.

Pour the gelatin syrup mixture into the bowl of a large stand mixer ( I use a large bowl and a hand mixer) fitted with a whip. Add the corn syrup (glucose syrup) and vanilla and begin beating at high speed. You may find it useful to cover the bowl with plastic wrap while it beats to keep down the splatter.

Continue beating until the mixture cools, increases in volume, and forms soft peaks. Working quickly before the mixture fully sets in the bowl transfer to either a standard hotel pan (rectangular baking tray or pyrex) dusted with powdered sugar for later cutting into cubes or transfer to a piping bag fitted with a straight tip and pipe mounds onto a non stick surface such as a silpat mat dusted with powdered sugar.

Tips:

• Unfortunately here in S. Africa we don't have corn syrup but you could use glucose syrup. You can find it in a shop that supplies baking ingredients.


• Use a large bowl as the mixture will increase in volume and you the last thing you need is marshmallow all over your floor and walls.


• You can smooth the top surface of the marshmallows by placing a greased piece of wax paper over the entire top surface and smoothing it out with your hands.


• Instead of dusting the tray you can grease it and roll the cut marshmallow into toasted coconut. I would use this for with the chocolate fountain though cause the coconut might clog it.

Peppermint Crisp Fridge Tart

I spent the whole day in the kitchen on Saturday baking a few of my favourite desserts. These included Peppermint Crisp Fridge Tart and a decadent chocolate cake layered with a melt-in-your-mouth chocolate mousse and then draped in chocolate ganache. I forgot to buy flour for the cake so I used a cake mix that I had in the cupboard (very disappointing). I really enjoyed the peppermint crisp fridge tart a South African favourite and a big hit in my family. I don't need a recipe for this one cause I've been making it for years. For those of you South Africans who don't have the recipe (shame on you) I have decided to post it.

Here is the recipe:

500ml fresh cream or any other whipping cream
1 can Caramel Treat
3 bars of Peppermint Crisp Chocolate (grated or chopped into small pieces)
1 pack Tennis Biscuits
Peppermint extract (optional)

1. Whip cream until stiff
   
2. Gently fold in the caramel and two thirds of the peppermint crisp chocolate to combine.
   Add a few drops of peppermint extract if you like a stronger peppermint flavour. I add just 2 or three cause I don't like it to be too over powering.
   
3. Layer tennis biscuits at the bottom of a square or rectangular dish about the size of an oven tray. (Use a smaller dish if you want the dessert to be thicker)
   
4. Spoon the cream mixture over the tennis biscuits.
   
5. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate over to garnish.
   
6. Leave in the fridge to set for a few hours.

Grab a plate and a few friends and enjoy!

Notes:

Some people like to use 250ml cream but I find that the dessert is too rich and sweet for me. If you don't like you desserts rich then you can also use a light whipping cream.

Tennis Biscuits

The tennis biscuits can be replaced with any digestive biscuits. I like to put all my tennis biscuits at the bottom of the dessert but you can also layer it alternating a layer of biscuits and a layer of the cream finishing off with a cream layer. For this you might need another packet of tennis biscits. I also like to crush my biscuits and add a little melted butter to form a "crust" at the botton of the dessert. Anyway you make it is still going to be delicious.

Caramel Treat

Known to others as Dulce de Leche

If you can't get your hands on Caramel treat then you can make your own using condensed milk. Place an unopend can of condensed milk (375g) in a pot. Cover with water and boil for 3 hours topping with hot water whenever necessary. I also like to turn the can over every 30 minutes to ensure that the milk cooks evenly. You would need to be extra careful to prevent burns. Turn off the stove after 3 hours and leave the tin to cool completely in the pot before opening.

Peppermint Crisp Chocolate

Rumour has it that Nestle only distributes Peppermint Crisp chocolate in South Africa and Australia.If you can't get your hands on peppermint crisp chocolate use any other chocolate with mint toffee pieces (mint cracknel) could be used.

Chocolate Chip Cookies that warm the heart

It's been a long long time since I've made these but I still remember the warm fuzzy feeling I got after eating one of these out of the oven. Having been the first chocolate chip cookie recipe that I'd sampled I swore then and there that it will be the last. Crisp around the edges, soft and chewy in the centre, I had to practically chain my hands to keep myself from going back for more. I ate so much I could feel my hips expanding in a "Nutty Professor" kind of way. Nonetheless they were calories well spent. I'm gonna dig deep into the coffers to find this recipe cause I am really starting to crave these. Hopefully I'll be able to post the recipe so that you too can experience them (not for the faint hearted).