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Chocolate Orange Hot Cross Buns: Easter

The other day I mentioned saving holiday recipes from the newspaper, blogs and articles on line. A few years ago Jo Pratt posted this Easter Recipe on the Mailonline. It's a great recipe for Chocolate Orange Hot Cross Buns. If you want to make hot cross buns and add chocolate without making a chocolate bun, you can make regular hot cross buns and add chocolate chips instead of raisins. But give this one a try. This recipe for Chocolate Orange Hot Cross Buns, a yeast bread, is great. Once again I've converted the measurements from the U.K. to the U.S. They're not totally exact, but very close. If you want to check out the original recipe with UK measurements, go HERE. Makes 12 buns.

CHOCOLATE ORANGE HOT CROSS BUNS

Ingredients
1/2 cup milk
4 tbsp superfine sugar (castor sugar)
5 tbsp sweet butter
3 1/2 cups white flour
4 tsp. dark cocoa powder
1tsp mixed spice  (combo of allspice, cinnamon, clove, coriander, ginger and nutmeg)
1tsp salt
2 1/2 tbsp chopped mixed peel (candied citrus peel)*
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
1 3/4 fast action dried yeast
1/2 cup or 4 ounces dark chocolate, broken into pieces, or chocolate chips
1 egg, beaten
Flour for dusting

For the crosses and glaze
1/4 cup white flour
1tbsp sunflower oil
 2-3 tbsp water
2 tbsp orange juice
2 tbsp caster sugar

METHOD
Place the milk in a saucepan over a low heat. Just before it boils, remove from the heat and stir in the sugar and butter, until they have dissolved. Add 1/4 cold water and leave to cool down until you can comfortably hold your finger in it for a few seconds.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, mixed spice (if you're using it) and salt into a large bowl and stir in the mixed peel, orange zest and yeast. Make a well in the center and pour in the warm milk mixture and beaten egg. Mix together until you have a sticky dough. Add the chocolate chips or broken chocolate, and knead on a floured surface for 8-10 minutes until it's smooth and elastic.

Place the dough in a large, lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until doubled in volume. Punch the dough and knead for a couple of minutes. Divide into 12 pieces and shape into buns.

Place on greased baking sheets, leaving enough space between each for rising. Cover with the tea towel and leave to rise again until doubled in size – about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400 F.

For the glaze, mix the flour and oil with 2-3tbsp water until smooth.

Lightly cut a cross in the center of each of the buns with a knife to mark out your crosses. Using a piping bag (or use a plastic bag with a corner snipped off), pipe on the crosses. Cook the buns for 15-18 minutes until they are golden and sound hollow when tapped underneath.

Place the orange juice and sugar in a small pan, and gently heat until the sugar dissolves. As soon as the buns are out of the oven, brush with the glaze and leave to cool slightly on a wire rack before serving warm.

Photo: Mailonline

Chocolate Humming Bird Nests for Easter & Earth Day

Here's a fun recipe you can make with your children or grandchildren. This is perfect for Easter and Earth Day (except maybe the jellybeans). And, if you omit the jelly bean eggs, it's also perfect for Passover. It's a Trifecta! Recipe adapted from the  Disney Family Fun site: Hummingbird Nests. I use dark chocolate about 60% cacao, but the original recipe calls for milk chocolate which would make the Bird Nests sweeter, since there's no added sugar.

CHOCOLATE HUMMING BIRD NESTS

Ingredients
1 cup chocolate (60%), broken (or chocolate chips)
1 cup shredded coconut (can be toasted coconut for a sharper taste)
Jelly bean eggs

Instructions
1. Melt the chocolate chips, following the directions on the bag. When the chocolate is smooth, stir in the coconut, then drop the mixture by the heaping tablespoon onto waxed-paper-lined cookie sheets.
2.While the nests are still warm, use your thumbs to poke an impression into the middle of each. Cool them, then fill with jelly bean eggs. Makes about a dozen.

If you make fewer of them and make them bigger, you can put Peeps inside. Fun for Easter. Great Kid-Friendly Recipe!

Photo: Disney Family Fun

Chocolate Truffle Cake: Easter

I used to clip recipes out of the newspaper, especially around holiday time. Those recipes would fall out now and again when I opened a cookbook or looked for something else. Always a nice surprise! Now I have a vaguely organized system for articles and recipes online.

This recipe appeared in the Daily Mail at Easter two years ago (Jo Pratt's Chocolate Truffle Cake). I've converted (and adapted) the measurements for a US audience, but if you're in the UK, be sure and check back to the original recipe. To make this cake even more 'Easter-y", shape the truffles into oval 'eggs'!  You're going to love this cake. It''s really easy, too!

CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE CAKE

Ingredients 
For the cake

3/4 cups self-rising flour
4 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
5 oz superfine sugar
2 1/4 tbsp golden syrup  (Lyle's is available at many stores/ do not substitute)*
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup mil
1/2 cup corn or vegetable oil

For decoration
1 cup whipping cream
11 ounces quality dark chocolate  (70-80% cacao)
1 1/4 ounces butter
Dash of salt
5 tbsp raspberry or apricot jam  (cherry is great, too!)
White chocolate to grate/peel over the top

Directions
Preheat the oven to  350  F.
Grease two 8 inch cake pans, and dust them with flour.
Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder into a large mixing bowl.
Add remaining cake ingredients and beat well until you have a smooth, thick batter consistency.

Divide mixture between cake pans and bake in oven for 30-35 minutes, until just firm to touch. Leave to cool in pans for about 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

To make truffle mixture, put cream in a saucepan and place over a medium heat. Once cream is hot, but not quite boiling, stir in butter until melted. While cream is heating, break chocolate into small pieces and place in medium-sized mixing bowl with pinch of salt. Pour over hot cream and butter, and stir well until chocolate melts into cream. Put aside.

Once cake is cool, sandwich the two layers together with jam. Frost with truffle mixture, leaving enough to make the 11 truffles. Place remaining mixture in refrigerator for about 30 minutes until firm. Roll into 11 truffles and place around top of cake. Finish by grating or peeling white chocolate all over the top.

Photo: Daily Mail 2009

Cuckoo for Coconut

Ah - summertime! I hope everyone had a great 4th! The weather here was downright amazing for this time of year - temps in the 80s! Unheard of!  I really thought I was in the islands, mon.

I found these crazy things in T.J. Maxx.  You know, I had no idea TJ Maxx carried such a strange array of gourmet treats.  They have candy, chocolate, cookies - but in random weird quantities and, depending on the store, in kind of beat-up condition.  TJ Maxx stores seem to range from okay to kinda ghetto. 

Anyway, these are butter pecan and toasted coconut Jordan Almonds from Maggie Lyon Chocolatiers:
http://www.maggielyon.com/index.html?cart=12755409484409486

Maggie Lyon is a company in Atlanta, Georgia, and if the rest of their candy is as good as these, we should plan a road trip.  Seriously.  These are not rock hard like a lot of Jordan Almonds and have a really meaty almond center.  And the coconut and butter pecan flavors are good - subtle, not overpowering.  A perfect addition to the almond.  VERY well done - I LOVE these!!

Of course, if we're gonna talk coconut we have to cover the classics:

Now, I actually prefer the Almond Joy to the Almond Joy Egg.  And it's the same reason I prefer the Reese's Egg to the Reese's Cup.  I just love peanut butter WAY more than coconut.

As you can see, the Almond Joy egg has only one almond and more coconut than the standard Almond Joy bar.  I prefer two almonds and less coconut (more chocolate).  The Reese's Egg has a higher peanut butter to chocolate ration than the Cup and I like that!  Peanut butter is way better than coconut in my book.  But again, it's all a matter of taste.

This is the Bounty Bar made by Mars in the UK.  I got this one at World Market.

It's okay.  I found the coconut a little dry.  And no almonds.  I really like the coconut almond combo.

Another classic - Kris - I know you love these!!

Me?  Not so much.  I like milk chocolate better in this case - don't know why.  Like the dark chocolate better with the Godiva Truffles.  I have no explanation.  Maybe it's the almonds.  Maybe it's childhood memories.  Maybe I'm insane.  Another chocolate mystery.

Anastasia Confectioners in Florida specializes in coconut.  They have some crazy flavor combinations - some of which I've reviewed before.  Here's Key Lime:

Regular coconut:

And those two naked with almond at the far right:

I'm not a big key lime person (heresy to some, I know) but in the world of candy, lime just doesn't fall anywhere near the top for me.  But, as I've said before, if you like it, that's all that matters for you.  You can have all my Key Lime pie, cookies and candy from here on out.  Unless that's all there is, then we'll have to negotiate.

My favorite is the regular old coconut.  And you know what, if you are a die-hard coconut fan - this is the "bar" for you.  It is all about the coconut - serious chunks of coconut with chocolate only as an accent.  Kris - you have got to try these - I think you'd LOVE them!  The back of the "slice" is coated in chocolate as well.

Almond is actually pretty good.  The flavor is less overpowering than the lime and the mango and works great with the coconut (IMHO anyway).  In fact, it's pretty hard to choose between this and the plain coconut.  I just love that almond coconut combo!!

I recently found a box of the mango and I didn't like these:

The mango just tastes kind of funky.  I'd much rather have just plain coconut.

Are you enjoying our island excursion?  We have more coconut to come!!! 

Tips for having a great life:

Just remember - what you like best is the best for you.  Your opinion is the most important for you.

Try a lot of different things - the thing you thought was the best might not be that great at all!

Try it even if you think you won't like it - sometimes you will be wrong.  (I find I'm wrong all the time.)

Stay open to new flavors, new experiences, new people - the best is yet to come!

The EU of Hazelnut Eggs

Ah - what came first - the hazelnut or the egg?

I saw these at Candy Expo and I happened to have some I found at World Market.  They are pretty clever - it's a real eggshell, decorated and filled with a hazelnut truffle egg:

They are made in Germany - aren't they pretty?

It really is an eggshell!

Pretty clever!  I'd like to see the process of making these!

They also taste delicious!  Smooth creamy milk chocolate with a good hazelnut flavor.  Dreamy!!  And gorgeous!

These milk chocolate nougat filled eggs were also made in Germany:

These are delicious too - there is a good hazelnut flavor here also and the milk chocolate coating is rich and creamy.  They are made by Niedergger, a German confectioner known for marzipan (I've reviewed some of their creations).  Europeans are bigger on hazelnut in their chocolate than Americans, but I really have developed a tasted for it.  (Chalk that up to Nutella.)  I like these WAY better than marzipan.

The Italians also got in on the hazelnut egg action - I got these at A Southern Season in Chapel Hill.  They had a huge barrel of them and you could serve yourself.

They were very creamy and delicious, but I could barely taste the hazelnut.  Fantastic for milk chocolate truffle eggs, not too impressive for hazelnut cream eggs.  Seems hard to believe the Italians would be subtle.

This is Lindt's Lilliput Egg Bag:

And the eggs are assorted - blue and pink are milk chocolate solids, purple is a dark chocolate solid and gold is hazelnut.  The autopsy photos are weird - this is a milk chocolate cut in half lengthwise:

This is a hazelnut cut in half width wise:

I liked the hazelnut better than all the solids.  The solids were just too boring in comparison.  The chocolate is good, but still - zzzzz.  And, compared to the Italian and German eggs, Lindt didn't fare so well.  Those were better.  Sorry, Lindt - I still love you.  Just maybe a little less than yesterday....

Okay, this is a creative way to offer chocolate and it does look like a carrot (or an umbrella):

But I didn't like it that much.  I don't like eating chocolate off a plastic stick - it seems to alter the experience (and not in a good way).  And again, not so good with the hazelnut.  The German eggs are so, so much better!

However, I really do love Lindt's ladybugs:

It's the creamy hazelnut with the crisps - love that textural mix!  And they are just so damn cute!!

Neuhaus is a Belgium company and has been kicking some chocolate butt in my reviews.  Expensive as heck, so far they have proved worth it.  In blue foil is a milk chocolate coated speculoos (a spicy cookie - like gingerbread flavor) and the pink is milk chocolate with gianduja (a hazelnut paste):

I really liked the speculoos (see, we learned a new and utterly useless Dutch word!) - it has a crunchy brown sugar texture and was really tastey - hard to describe - not too strongly of gingerbread, but a lovely spice flavor. 

And - shockingly enough - I liked the German hazelnut eggs better than the Neuhaus!  Wow!  The hazelnut flavor was just too faint.

Here the green is a dark chocolate with a praline nougat and the red is a dark chocolate with hazelnut paste:

I found the Neuhaus dark chocolate - which is absolutely delicious dark chocolate - overpowered the fillings and I could hardly taste them.  I think part of the "problem" is the Neuhaus eggs have a layer of chocolate between the two halves - meaning a higher chocolate to filling ratio.  And in this case - it's too much, offsetting the flavor of the filling.

Neuhaus had a lot of other eggs flavors - one that was new this year was a milk chocolate and creme brulee.  It got crushed in the autopsy photo - sorry!  But it was way too sweet for me.  But I like that they offer so many different flavors, although next year I might buy them individually so I can pick my favs.  This year I bought an assortment.

Thanks for visiting a few European countries with me today!  As always, taste is up to you - some of you may prefer the subtle hazelnut to the stronger flavor that I like.  And some of you may hate hazelnut altogether.  The key is to keep trying new things and figure out what YOU like.  Life is an adventure - both culinary and otherwise.  The key to good adventuring is:

1.) keeping an open mind

2.) trying things you've never tried before

and 3.) following your bliss.

And chocolate can definitely be your bliss!  Have some adventures this summer!!

White Chocolate - the NonChocolate

White chocolate is the red headed step child of the chocolate family. It's really not chocolate at all, (no cacao) but I still like it and I think we should keep an open mind. 

Can you believe I still have some Easter candy to review? I know, I know - time gets away from me! So much chocolate, so little time!

Lindt made a white chocolate Lindor truffle egg:

I can't say anything negative about this - sweet, delicious with that creamy truffle center.  Wow!

Neuhaus also did a white chocolate egg and this one is a solid "chocolate" egg:

 

This is also a great white chocolate egg - it's not as light and fluffy - not a truffle, but it's delicious.  It's hard to compare the two - both have great flavor, but are in such different consistencies I can't make a choice!

Now you all know I love Hershey's Kisses, but this white chocolate can't hold a candle to the Lindt or the Neuhaus - it has a waxier quality.  Nowhere near as good.  And the orange flavor is soooooo not my fav.  I could never eat another one of these again and be happy as a clam.

 

This is Lindt's Straccitella truffle egg:

It's the white chocolate truffle egg with some cocoa nibs on the outer layer.  The sad thing is, you can hardly taste the nibs at all.  Maybe if they were mixed all the way through?  I dunno - seems like they need more...something...maybe CHOCOLATE?

I found these at Harry and David:

They have a white chocolate outer layer, a dark chocolate layer and then the malt ball.  These didn't do anything for me.  The malt flavor seemed to offset everything else - kind of yucky.

These beauties are anything but yucky.  They are by one of favorite chocolatiers - Knipschildt.  And at $10.00 for five little eggs, they are not cheap.  But DAMN, they are delicious!

They are about the size of a robin's egg and are filled with a milk chocolate hazelnut paste that is amazing.  These are some of the best of the chocolates I had this Easter. 

These cuties are from L.A. Burdick and are the most adorable little white chocolate bunnies:

Each has an almond and a delicious chocolate and hazelnut truffle filling.  They also have a dark chocolate base:

L.A. Burdick makes the most gorgeous and delicious chocolates.  They also made this egg:

This delicious guy has our new friend white chocolate, then a layer of corn flakes (very crispy, very delicious!) and then a Gianduja filling (a sweet chocolate paste containing about 30% hazelnuts).    Not only is it totally cute, the combination of flavors and textures is wonderful.

So what did we learn?  White chocolate may not technically be chocolate, but it adds a lot to the family.  (Let's all join hands and sing "We are the World.")  It's mighty sweet, but it makes a great coating and has a lighter taste than milk chocolate.

Also - sometimes really great chocolate is completely worth the money.  There are artists who work in chocolate.

And finally, no chocolate is too cute to eat.

Have a great week - I'll be reporting from Candy Expo!!