As we’ve learnt, cocoa is a pretty versatile ingredient. As it’s naturally bitter in flavour it can be adapted for use in all kinds of food and drinks and can be used in both sweet and savoury dishes. It can also be turned into an alcoholic drink. Liqueurs often tend to be sweet and many [...]
Hot chocolate, drinking chocolate, a nice cup of cocoa – call it what you will but people have been enjoying the benefits of liquid chocolate for thousands of years. It was the ancient Mayan and Aztec civilisations that first discovered this drink, although, of course, it was rather a bitter concoction back in those days. [...]
Come on, admit it; who hasn’t been tempted to raid the baking box when the biscuit tin is empty and a swift chocolate fix is required? I’m not going to answer this one myself but suffice to say I don’t keep cooking chocolate in the house any more unless a baking session is imminent.
So, what [...]
Unfortunately, chocolate production isn’t something that can really be done in a domestic kitchen very easily. It’s a shame as it would be great to be able to whisk up a batch of chocolate bars on demand. For the time being though, I think we’ll need to leave it to the experts and make do [...]
Obviously, cocoa beans are a pretty important ingredient in chocolate but what else is required to produce your favourite sweet treat? Well, this isn’t actually a straightforward question to answer and it really depends on the variety and quality of chocolate. Chocolate now takes on so many different forms that’s it’s possible to include any [...]
Melting Chocolate
1. Melt in a Double Boiler
This is the best method for melting chocolate. Put the chocolate in the top of a double boiler; put water in the bottom pot and heat until the water is hot, but not boiling. Stir the chocolate until it is melted. If you don’t have a double boiler, place [...]
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