chocolate – Page 4 – Bit of the Good Stuff

Chocolate and Almond Biscotti (Vegan / Dairy-Free / Egg-Free)

Published on December 20, 2013 by Sharon18 Comments

It took me a while to pluck up the courage to trying baking biscotti. I always thought it would be a challenge to achieve the perfect, crunchy texture. However, as soon as I spotted the biscotti recipes in Isa and Terry’s Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, I knew it would all work out fine. This amazing little recipe book has never let me down yet.

Baking biscotti is way easier than I ever imagined… even with the double bake aspect to it. I love experimenting with different flavour and ingredient combinations for the biscotti. The chocolate and almond version has especially been a hit with everyone that’s tried it 🙂

The recipe is based on Isa and Terry’s ‘Kitchen Sink Chocolate Biscotti’ recipe. The ingredient quantities are only given in cups, so I weighed them today for anyone that doesn’t use measuring cups (and that includes most of my friends and family!) Cups are readily available in the UK now so, if you do fancy trying more US/Canadian/Australian recipes, I highly recommend buying a set. You’ll find them in the larger supermarkets (like Asda-Wal-Mart and Tesco), kitchen shops, as well as Amazon.

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Makes: about 18 biscotti

Hands on time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 1 hour Ready in: 2¼ hours

Ingredients
60ml / ¼ cup soya milk
2 TBSP ground linseed (flaxseed)
100ml / ½ cup rapeseed (canola) oil (preferably organic)
200g / scant 1 cup unrefined caster sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
135g / 1 cup plain (all purpose) flour
70g / ½ cup fine wholemeal (wholewheat pastry) or chapatti flour
55g / ½ cup cocoa powder
1¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
75g / ½ cup whole almonds, roughly chopped
100g / ½ cup dark choc chips

Method

Get prepared:

Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F.
Line a baking sheet with non-stick baking paper.
Grind the linseed (if not pre-ground).
Coarsely chop the almonds.

Ready, set, go!

In a large bowl, whisk together the milk and linseed with a fork. Whisk in the oil, sugar and vanilla until smooth and caramel-like. Sift in the flours, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Stir to form a smooth dough, then knead in the almonds and choc chips. Push any pieces that pop out back into the dough.

Place the dough on the prepared baking sheet and form a log about 25cm / 10 inches long by 10cm / 4 inches wide. Use a silicon spatula to level it out and round the edges. Bake for 30 minutes until the log is puffed and firm. Some cracking is okay. Place the baking sheet on a wire rack, turn off the oven and allow the log to cool for at least 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 160C / 325F. Very carefully slide the log off the baking sheet and onto a cutting board. With a sharp, heavy knife cut the log into ½-inch thick slices, using one quick and firm motion, pressing down into the log. Discard the end pieces if they are too browned. Very gently move the slices back onto the baking sheet, standing them on their bottom edge. Bake the slices for 26-28 minutes (they should appear dry, though the choc chips will still be wet and melted). Allow the biscotti to cool 10 minutes on the baking sheet, then carefully move them to a wire rack to complete cooling (warm biscotti will be fragile).

Check each biscotti slice and gently trim off any edges that are too browned using a sharp, heavy knife. I also like to slice the biscotti pieces in half again, as this makes a good size piece to enjoy with a cuppa (plus you can always go back for ‘seconds’ 😉 )

Store the biscotti in a loosely covered container (to prevent it going rock hard), where it should last a good couple of weeks.

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Products used in this recipe
Aasani almonds, found on the world food aisle in Tesco
Tesco Chapatti Flour, found on the world food aisle
Tesco Organic Rapeseed Oil
Morrisons Dark Choc Chips

I’ve made lots of batches of biscotti this month. I don’t know why, but I always think of December as ‘biscotti month’! I’ve really enjoyed sharing them with friends, family, my study group… and a homeless guy in Bath. His dog loved it too! (Don’t worry, it wasn’t the chocolate version 😉 )

I also made a batch today to give to Lil’ L’s teacher as a ‘thank you’ gift.

Do you like biscotti? If so, what’s your favourite flavour?

Have you ever tried making it at home? If you’ve got any great recipes, please do link up below x

Dairy-Free / Vegan Chocolate Advent Calendars and Stocking Fillers

Published on November 25, 2013 by Sharon7 Comments

I can’t believe it’s only a week until the start of December! When this realisation dawned upon me yesterday, I thought I’d better start looking for advent calendars. Since my family loves chocolate so much, I’ve sought out some great options that suit both the milk and dark chocolate lovers. Along the way, I also came across some cute chocolatey stocking fillers 😉

All the festive chocolates presented in this post happen to be dairy free and vegan, so they can be enjoyed by anyone, including those that are intolerant to dairy.

And I mean anyone! Who was the party pooper that decided that advent calendars and stockings were only for children? If there’s chocolate involved, I’m definitely joining in 😉

For Milk Chocolate Lovers ♥

Moo Free Organic Fairtrade Dairy Free Advent Calendar
Moo Free has replaced cows milk with rice milk to create a delicious dairy free and vegan confectionery that actually taste like milk chocolate! The award-winning Moo Free chocolate calendar is available in the UK from Waitrose and other high street and online retailers. It’s also available in Europe and the US.

Priced £4.75 – £4.99 (120g)

Moo Free Organic Dairy Free Chocolate Santa
These milky chocolate santas would make a great stocking filler for vegans, or anyone with a dairy allergy or lactose intolerance.

Price: 99p (32g)

Plamil Organic Fairtrade Milky Dairy Free Advent Calendar
Here’s another scrumptious chocolate advent calendar that has all the taste of dairy milk but with no dairy! It’s made in their own factory which never uses dairy, gluten or nuts.

Price: £4.95 (135g)

Plamil Dairy Free Chocolate Snowmen
Another scrummy stocking filler for kids of all ages!

Price: £4.95 (125g)

Plamil chocolates are available to purchase from many UK health food shops or online, directly from Plamil or from other online stores. They’re also available to purchase in Europe.

For Dark Chocolate Lovers ♥

Hotel Chocolat Ultimate Dark Chocolate Advent Calendar
I checked this out yesterday in our local Hotel Chocolat, and it’s absolutely exquisite! It contains 24 fabulous Christmas sculptures cast in 70% dark chocolate.

Price £12.50 (125g)

Hotel Chocolat Dark Tiddly Penguins
These penguins are so cute! They’re cast in 70% rick dark chocolate and would make a super addition to stockings or as an after dinner chocolate (for big and small kids alike 😉 )

Price: £5.50 (85g)

Hotel Chocolat Ho Ho Ho Dark Chocolate Pillow Pack
I think any dark chocolate lover would be happy to find these cute santas in their stocking!

Price: £2.50 (30g)

Hotel Chocolat confectionery is available to purchase online from their UK and US sites. They also have a number of high street stores. I found that the availability of dark chocolate festive treats was limited in the Hotel Chocolat in Bath, but I’m pleased to find that their website provides a ‘click and collect’ service, with free collection.

Montezuma’s Organic and Dark Chocolate Advent Calendar
This top quality calendar is filled with Montezuma’s wonderful house-blended organic dark chocolate. Perfect for all dark chocolate lovers, including vegans and those on dairy-free diets.

Price: £9.99 (240g)

Montezuma’s Dark Chunky Snowmen
This set of eight cute little snowmen, made of organic 73% dark chocolate, would make the perfect stocking filler for dark chocolate lovers ♥

Price: £4.99 (110g)

Montezuma’s chocolates can be purchased directly from their website. It’s also available in high street health food shops and online stores.

Are you planning on having an advent calendar this year? I’ll definitely join in the fun (if one of Santa’s little helpers happens to treat me 😉 )

Vegan Chocolate Celebration Cake (Dairy-Free / Egg-Free)

Published on November 15, 2013 by Sharon18 Comments

At the start of the Autumn half term school holidays, Lil’ L moved into double digits. I’m still dumbfounded as to how my boy grew up so fast. Seriously, where did all those years go?

His day kicked off with present & card opening. I love watching his facial expressions as he opens presents!

Another sign that he’s growing up is the lack of toys on his birthday wish list. Instead, he wanted new wheels for his scooter, a skater helmet and books (so glad he still enjoys reading!)

The birthday celebrations continued for the next few days (one of the perks of having a birthday in the school hols!) and included a Laser Quest party; a trip to Dorset to visit his Nan; walks in the forest; and bike rides with his Dad and cousin. What a lucky boy he is!

As usual, he requested a vegan chocolate cake for his birthday. This year, I made a very simple chocolate victoria sponge sandwich cake, which worked out surprisingly well. It was moist, held together well when sliced, and wasn’t too rich or sickly sweet.

I was all set to use cashew cream frosting (which I prefer a million times over to regular frosting) … but then had a change of heart. This cake wasn’t for me, it was for Lil’ L and his friends. Rather than impose my preferences on them, I ditched the cashews and dug out an old box of icing sugar from the back of the cupboard. I even went to the shops and bought some sugar sprinkles.

The cake got great feedback from the family (including my mum!) as well as Lil’ L’s friends. I was particularly surprised when Lil’ L’s best friend came up to me after the party to tell me how much he’d enjoyed the cake. This meant a lot as he isn’t normally a ‘cake person’ (you’re much more likely to seeing him diving into a fruit bowl or tucking into roasted nuts and seeds!)

The cake was super easy to make. Here’s how I did it:

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Makes 1 x 9 inch sandwich cake Serves: 12-16
Hands on time: 20 minutes Ready in: 2 hours

Ingredients
480ml / 2 cups soya milk
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
200g / 1½ cups plain (all purpose) flour
200g / 1½ cups fine wholemeal (wholewheat) or chapatti flour (I use the latter)
60g / ½ cup cocoa powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
140ml / ⅔ cup rapeseed (canola) oil (or other neutral-flavoured oil)
330g / 1⅔ cups unrefined cane sugar (e.g. golden caster sugar)
2 tsp vanilla extract

Decorating options:
– chocolate frosting (recipe below) and vegan-friendly sprinkles (e.g. Sainsbury’s or Morrisons Sugar Star sprinkles, Dr Oetker Sugar Stars and Sugar Strands)
– raspberry jam or fruit spread (e.g. St Dalfour) for filling and a dusting of icing (powdered) sugar on top

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan) / 350F. Lightly oil 2 x 9 inch spring-form or loose-bottomed cake tins and line the bottoms with non-stick baking paper.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the milk and vinegar, then set to one side.

In a separate large bowl, add the dry ingredients (flours, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt) and stir through to combine.

Add the oil, sugar and vanilla extract to the milk and vinegar, and whisk until fully combined. Sieve in a third of the dry ingredients and whisk to combine. Add another third and whisk to combine. Add the last third along with any remaining wheatgerm. Stir through to combine (but do not over stir).

Divide the batter equally between the prepared tins. Place on racks as close to the centre of the oven as possible. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until a skewer inserted through the middle comes out clean and the cakes are springy when lightly pressed. (In my oven, I find the cake on the higher rack is ready after 40 minutes, and the cake on the lower rack needs an extra 10 minutes). If both cakes are domed, decide which one will be the bottom tier, cover with a clean tea cloth and gently press down to level.

Leave the cakes in their tins for at least an hour (they will firm up as they cool), then transfer to a wire rack. Once completely cooled, decorate and assemble the cake. Chill before serving.

Stored in an airtight container, this cake will keep for up to a week in the fridge. (I find the flavour and texture of the cake actually improves in the next day or two after baking). It also freezes well.

Chocolate Frosting
The quantities below are sufficient for frosting the centre and top of a 23cm/9 inch cake (as shown in the picture).

Ingredients
150g / 1 cup icing sugar
35g / ¼ cup 4 cocoa powder
50g / 4 TBSP dairy-free spread/vegan butter (e.g. Vitalite, Flora Dairy Free, Pure)
1 – 1½ TBSP water

Method
Sieve the icing sugar and cocoa powder into a large bowl. Add the dairy-free spread/butter and 1 TBSP water. Stir with a metal spoon until it starts to combine, then beat with an electric whisk until light and fluffy. If the frosting looks a little dry, add another ½ TBSP water and keep beating. This frosting will keep for a week in the fridge.

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Products used in this recipe
– Morrisons 23cm Non-Stick Springform Cake Tins – These are made in the UK, cost only £4 each and have a 5-year guarantee!
– Salter Aquatronic Electronic Kitchen Scale – These scales are great as you can weigh everything directly into the same bowl. As an added bonus, they come with a 15 year guarantee!
– Tesco Chapatti Flour – I use this flour in all my baked goods. It’s a very fine wholemeal flour and super cheap too!
– Dr Oetker Sugar Stars and Sugar Strands – Purchased from The Co-Op; also available from Tesco

For those of you that dislike the traditional Christmas fruit cake, I think this would make a great alternative. You could even add some festive sprinkles!

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Top Ten Vegan Easter Eggs & Chocolate Treats 2013

Published on March 20, 2013 by Sharon9 Comments

The shops are currently laden with Easter eggs, but it can be quite hard to find eggs suitable for vegans or those on a dairy-free diet. Just in case you need a helping hand, I’ve selected ten of my favourite vegan Easter treats on sale this year. All are available online, and some you will also find on sale in health food stores and supermarkets in the UK.

1. Hotel Chocolat Seriously Dark Egg Sandwich £8.00

2. Hotel Chocolat Easter Tiddly Chicks £5

3. Hotel Chocolat Egg Catcher Tablet £1.95

4. Divine Dark chocolate Easter Egg with a bar of Divine’s Ginger & Orange Chocolate £10.00

5. Divine Small Dark Chocolate Easter Egg £3.00

6. Divine Dark Chocolate Mini Eggs £4.25

7. Montezuma’s Organic Dark Chocolate Chunky Egg £7.99

8. Montezuma’s Dark Chocolate Mini Eggs with Almond Praline £5.49

9. Montezuma’s Organic Dark Chocolate Cheeky Bunnies £4.99

Montezuma is donating 5p towards the Butterfly Conservation from this Easter product.
www.butterfly-conservation.org

10. Sjaaks Organic Chocolate Filled Eggs £7.50 (Available in the UK from Viva)

If you’re buying an egg for someone with a dairy allergy, do make sure to check out the dietary information labels first. While the above eggs do not contain dairy as an ingredient, they are likely to have been made in a factory that handles milk (this isn’t an issue for me, but it could be for others).

Of course, you can always make your own Easter eggs, and that way you can guarantee that they will be dairy free. You can also make them raw and sugar-free, using a raw chocolate making recipe like this one. There are some cool chocolate silicone egg moulds on sale online, including some great value moulds on Amazon and Ebay.

Please note that this isn’t a sponsored post but, if the Easter Bunny happens to be reading it, I’d like him to know that I’d be delighted if any of the above were to land on my doorstep 😉

What are you hoping that the Easter bunny will deliver to your house this year?

International friends, how easy/difficult it is to get vegan/dairy-free chocolate Easter eggs where you live? If you have a favourite brand, I’d love to hear about it.

Yummy Scrummy Winner… and a Blu Animation!

Published on October 17, 2011 by Sharon7 Comments

Hello lovely readers! Hope you all had a fantastic weekend and a great start to the week!

Before I talk about anything else, I better put you out of your misery and announce the winner of the Yummy Scrummy giveaway.

To select the winner, I allocated all the commenters a number (except Dan as it didn’t seem to fair to give him the chance to win his own chocolate brownie 😉 ) and then used random.org to generate a number.

I’m excited to say that the lucky winner is…. Ragnhild (Vegan Aphrodite). Congratulations Ragnhild! I’ll be in touch shortly to get your postal address.

Thanks to everyone who took part. I wish I could send you all a Yummy Scrummy! I can’t do that BUT I have got another exciting giveaway planned for next month AND it has a chocolate theme again! I’ll post a note on Facebook/Twitter once I know which week the giveaway will fall in.

Before I sign off tonight, I just wanted to share a surreal moment that I had at the weekend. On Saturday morning, Lil’ L and I went along to the kids club at The Little Theatre Cinema in Bath. The session was described on the billboard as ‘Animation Extravaganza’. Considering the average age of kids at the club is around 5, I imagined that they would be showing a series of short cartoons like Tom & Jerry. I was wrong! Very wrong!

One animation involved a zombie (eyes popping, bits of brain dripping out, blood splattering the pavement) chasing a chicken down a road. Even Lil’ L buried his head into the back of the chair! I sat there in amusement, taking sneaky peaks at the other parents to see the looks on their faces 😉

Whilst still inappropriate for 5 year olds (IMO), the next animation absolutely blew me away. It’s by the graffiti artist Blu and is called ‘Big Bang Big Boom’. It’s described as ‘a short unscientific story about evolution and its consequences’. I found it utterly mesmerizing.

Maybe I’m just ‘not down’ with what 5 year olds are watching these days! 😉

The Wonders of Raw Chocolate… and a Yummy Scrummy giveaway!

Published on October 10, 2011 by Sharon25 Comments

It’s Chocolate Week here in the UK, so happy chocolate eating everybody!

Those of you who know me will be aware that I’ve become just a teensy weensy bit obsessed with raw chocolate. 😉 For most of my life, I’ve never been that bothered about chocolate… but all this changed when I experienced my first piece of raw chocolate. As soon as I popped it into my mouth, I could feel its magical properties taking hold. I was hooked! I immediately went home and googled ‘raw chocolate’ to see what I could find out about the wonder food. I also got myself a copy of David Wolfe & Shazzie’s ‘Naked Chocolate’.

Have you ever wondered where cacao beans comes from? Well, they come from the beautiful Theobrama Cacao.

Theobroma cacao Luis Ovalles — (c) Luis Ovalles

I love the cocoa pods. Aren’t they beautiful! Here’s a shot of them at various stages of ripening.

And here’s a peek at the cacao beans inside one of those beautiful pods:

Cocoa beans in a cocoa pod — (c) US Department of Agriculture

And what did I discover from my research? Well, listen carefully chocolate lovers… raw chocolate is SUPER GOOD FOR YOU! It’s absolutely brimming with nutrients, which explains why my body felt like it was ‘zinging’ after one small mouthful. Here’s a list of some of the important nutrients found in raw chocolate:

Magnesium (important for a healthy heart, muscle relaxation, strong bones, growth and repair, brain function. Sadly it’s the most deficient mineral in the diet)
Calcium
Iron
Zinc
Copper
Manganese
Phosphorous
Thiamine
Riboflavin
Niacin
Vitamins B and C
Antioxidant flavonols
Phenylethylamine (PEA) (dubbed the ‘love chemical’, PEA seems to help create feelings of attraction, excitement and euphoria. PEA is noticeably abundant in the brains of happy people 🙂 )
Anandamide (known as the ‘bliss chemical’. Anandamide is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘ananda’ meaning ‘bliss’)
Stimulates the release of Serotonin, Tryptophan and Dopamine (also powerful mood-enhancing nutrients)
Fibre

The above is just a fraction of the nutrients contained in raw chocolate. It truly is a ‘super food’!

Cocao beans — Raw Cacao Beans (c) David Monniaux

Cacao has been dubbed ‘Nature’s Prozac’ as it contains three neurotransmitters – serotonin, dopamine and phenylethylamine (PEA) – which help alleviate depression and are associated with feelings of well-being.

It has also been suggested that eating raw chocolate can help with weight control as it diminishes appetite. I’ve experienced this for myself. In the past, I could have easily guzzled a whole box of milk chocolates. With raw chocolate, I literally feel full up after one or two small pieces.

So why should we be eating raw chocolate rather than regular chocolate? Well, most commercial chocolate is highly processed and heated to very high temperatures, which means that most of the nutrients are destroyed or altered. Commercial chocolate is often loaded with refined sugar, causing energy spikes and slumps, as well as weight gain. It can also contain processed fat, various synthetic chemicals, artificial preservatives, cheap emulsifiers and other fillers. Adding dairy milk also blocks the absorption of the great antioxidants in chocolate.

Macmillan Cake Stall — I love making my own chocolates and giving them to friends & family. This is a shot of the Macmillan event where I sold raw chocolate to raise funds for the charity.

At the Love Food Festival in Bath yesterday, I bumped into Dan and Paula from Elements for Life, and I bought some bars of their award-winning Yummy Scrummy raw chocolate brownie.

To celebrate the fact it’s Chocolate Week (and recognising it would indeed be greedy to keep all the bars for myself 😉 ) I’m going to give you guys a chance to win a bar and experience the delights of Yummy Scrummy for themselves. 🙂

To enter the giveaway, simply leave me a comment and describe your favourite chocolate flavour. My current 3 favourite flavours are goji berry & nut; orange; and coffee.

The winner will be chosen at random at 7pm (GMT) on Monday 17th October.

Good luck everybody!