Recipes

Our latest blog saw us talk about the essential ingredients of chocolate! Additionally, about the new laws that have come into place and how ingredients will look on our packets from now on! But first, shall we just have a quick recap?

Okay, so to super sum up, we learned that the main ingredients required in chocolate are cocoa either on its own or with sugar (to make dark chocolate). There is also cocoa butter that can be found in both dark and milk chocolates. Additionally, we learned that milk chocolate has a minimum of three ingredients, of course including milk to the standard sugar and cocoa! However, on the other hand, we learned that white chocolate has zero cocoa beans but has cocoa butter instead, along with the milk and sugar. 

In this blog post, we are going to focus on the more debated ingredients of chocolate that can be taken or left

So, you have managed to find yourself some quality looking chocolate. The price looks reasonable and the usual vocabulary in its pretty font is clearly plastered over the front but is this all just a charming distraction? We have all been here before, but what is actually in our chocolate?! Fortunately for us all, it is now a mandatory requirement for all foods to have packaging that has a clear and orderly list of all ingredients. Since 2014 and then additionally in 2016, the laws surrounding food ingredient listings became even strict. Furthermore, all allergens have to be listed in bold so that at a quick glance anyone can make an informed decision as to whether to eat it or not. Additionally, it is required that the way the ingredients are listed is just as important. They now have to be in the order of quantity, meaning whatever features in your chocolate the most will be at the top of the list! Hopefully, Cocoa!

Here at Choc on Choc, we thought that it would be informative

Nothing is more comforting than a warm chocolate chip cookie straight from the oven.

The chocolate still soft, and the insides still gooey. Sat down with a cup of tea in hand, TV on, perfect! Read on for the perfect recipe.

Ingredients 

200g plain chocolate chips or chunks

150g salted butter, softened

80g light brown muscovado sugar

80g granulated sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 large egg

225g plain flour

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

Despite being surrounded by chocolate all day, its one of those foods that always hits the spot and could quite easily be devoured at any point in the day, breakfast, lunch or supper is all perfectly acceptable. But chocolate is one of those foods that is propelled to another level when paired correctly with another fine food.

White chocolate can be the most challenging due to its subtle flavour, here’s a list of our favourite things to try it with!

Matcha tea  
Cardamom
Saffron
Sea salt
Wasabi  
Sea salt caramel
Maple syrup
Lemon
Lime
Orange
Cranberry
Blueberries
Brie

Chocolate is our number one love and there are a number of reasons why chocolate is so popular. One of those reasons is the fact that chocolate is such a versatile product and can be paired with a range of different textures and flavours. From savoury to sweet, there are so many different ways that chocolate can be enhanced. Milk chocolate is sweeter than other and is therefore more suitable for use with other sweet flavours such as caramel, honey or butterscotch.

 
It can also work well with the following:
Coconut
Lavender
Orange
Strawberries
Raspberries
Darjeeling tea
Smoked black tea
Colombian coffee

Or how about trying one of these unusual pairings:
Jalapeno peppers
Bacon

Its National Avocado Day and what better way to celebrate than with a delicious chocolate and avocado cookies recipe (taken from Jamie)

1 ripe avocado (when it’s skinned and de-seeded we need around 100g)
1 large free-range egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp xanthan gum (optional – without this, your cookie will be crumblier)
1 tsp baking soda
150g light brown soft sugar (or caster sugar)
50g cocoa powder
pinch of salt
50g gluten-free flour (any combination of the following flours will work – standard gluten-free flour, rice flour, gram flour, quinoa flour)
100g roughly-chopped dark chocolate (over 70% cocoa solids should always be dairy free, but check the packet)

Method

Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4 and line a baking tray/sheet with parchment paper. Scoop your avocado into a large bowl and

Chocolate spread will never get old. Here at Choc on Choc, we love slathering it on warm toast all year round – so here’s a little recipe (taken from Jamie Oliver) to get you through the last slices from that loaf of bread.

Spread 40g of hazelnuts evenly on a baking tray and cook at 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6 for 10 minutes until golden, then leave them to cool completely.

Place the cooled nuts in a blender with 100g of golden caster sugar and blitz until you get a fairly smooth paste. Then, break up 450g of quality dark chocolate, at least 70% cocoa solids, into a medium heatproof bowl, and rest over a pan of simmering water on a medium heat. Stir until melted, then add in 225ml of double cream and 100g of unsalted butter.

Stir until the mixture is smooth and combined, then fold in 1 big pinch of sea salt and the hazelnut paste you made earlier. Divide the spread into sterilised jars, and you can store it for a few weeks in the fridge. Now get some bread in that toast

If the summer heat is leaving you desperate to cool down, but you also want chocolate, we’ve got you covered with some of the best chocolate milkshake recipes. Because summer is too short not to spend it drinking chocolate milkshakes.

 The original

This BBC recipe combines hazelnuts and chocolate for a delicious nutty, chocolatey drink.

Start by loading the back of a teaspoon with some hazelnut chocolate spread and spread it on the inside of a sundae glass in a thin layer. Put the remaining teaspoon of spread in a saucepan and heat on a low heat until runny.

In the meantime, put 250ml semi-skimmed milk and 2 scoops chocolate ice cream in a blender and whizz until smooth. Top with a layer of marshmallows and drizzle on the melted spread, sprinkling on a few toasted hazelnuts to finish.

 Peanut butter chocolate milkshake

If you want something a bit

If you’re feeling proactive this Easter, you might want to try your hand at creating an Easter egg – with or without the kids (we won’t judge). All the fun of making something yourself – plus a delicious chocolate egg at the end to enjoy.

If you’re feeling creative, our Make Your Own Chocolate Egg kit is perfect. It contains all the ingredients and tools you’ll need, complete with chef’s hat and a yummy bag of sweets to decorate. Simply melt the delicious Belgian milk chocolate we provide, mould it into our egg moulds, and wait for the magic to happen. Once it’s set, use the sweets to decorate into a face.