Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

It’s been a sweet month!

When I picked up my chocolate order from Chefs’ Warehouse recently, Ezra offered me a taste of the new Callebaut Ruby. It’s brand new – Callebaut are calling it the fourth type of chocolate. Made from the Ruby cacao bean, it has a distinct, tangy flavour and the pink colour is completely natural.

Here’s some info about it from the manufacturer’s website…

Naturally, I had to bring a bag home to play with! My first attempt at tempering it was a bit dodgy, but the second batch was perfect. I found it sets well at 88°F (31.1C), with a similar texture to white chocolate (possibly because of the added milk powders). Isn’t it pretty!

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Halloween has come and gone for 2018 and as usual, we were left with a mountain of uneaten trick or treat candy. I cut up 350g of Snickers, Mars Bars, Milky Ways and M&Ms and added them to a batch of sourdough (1kg flour) – a riff on Emilie’s chocolate bread from Artisan Sourdough Made Simple. The Halloween loaves are always too sweet for me, but Michi and Jemima love them, so I baked them each a loaf…

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It’s HSC time again in Sydney (final end of school exams) and this year’s care packages were filled with chocolate cane toads. Big Boy and Monkey Girl were roped in to help with the wrapping…

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On the weekend, I revisited an old favourite – our Guinness chocolate cake recipe. I couldn’t find any Irish stout in the pantry, so I raided Big Boy’s beer stash for a couple of bottles of Monteith’s Black Beer. The result was a very dark, not overly sweet and slightly bitter chocolate cake that the kids and neighbours smashed. It has a texture similar to a devil’s food cake and baked perfectly in my 12 cup bundt pan…

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Christmas is coming and the chocolate experimenting has begun! This year’s gifts will include these chocolate thins, made with a 50/50 blend of Callebaut 811 (54% dark) and 823 (milk), mixed with feuilletine flakes and spread out thinly on textured acetate sheets. My mother adored these, and as she isn’t usually a fan of chocolate, I think that’s a good indicator of their universal appeal…

This year we’ll be wrapping them in our rescued food safe paper from Reverse Garbage instead of cellophane bags…

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Finally…and this isn’t a chocolatey thing at all…my lovely friend Margot surprised me with this painted wooden spoon last week. She commissioned clever Australian artist Emma Palmer to create it for me from a photo. This pic was taken by Emma…

It’s now hanging on our dining room wall and Small Man is somewhat perturbed by the fact that the eyes seem to follow him around the room (it’s because of the concave shape of the spoon, he tells me).

I absolutely LOVE it…what do you think? Does it look like me?

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Wishing you all a very happy, chocolate-filled week! ♥