Advent 2020

It’s that time of year again – which is seriously, seriously insane! Time to hang up and fill the Advent calendars that Michael and I made (<<< click the link for the ‘making-of’ post) when we realized that a Christmas tree and living in a one-room cabin really didn’t go well together.

As I have since 2016, I’ll confine my #ChocolateForBreakfast advent treat shots/posts to my Instagram account, rather than spamming my blog feed or all my social media pages. But! Here is a screenshot of my December 1, 2020 treat!!

Michael has two advent calendars this year – the chocolates I filled for him, and beer. Though we couldn’t find a proper beer advent on the island so I modified a 12-day specialty case for him. He’s posting pictures of the beer on his Instagram (maybe)(social media isn’t really his thing).

This is going to be an odd holiday season for all of us, but I hope you’re able to find some spark of joy to help get you through. Please take care of yourselves and others by physically distancing as much as possible and wearing a mask when you can’t (covering your nose and mouth!). Plus wash your hands, of course and always.

Remember chocolate can be shipped!!

🙂

An excellent chocolate mousse recipe

I decided a few weeks ago that it had been far too long since I’d tried to make a great chocolate mousse (and failed miserably). Some Googling a few days ago led me to Gourmantine The Blog, and specifically, this post on the best chocolate mousse recipes.

I was intrigued by the ‘winning’ recipe by pastry chef David Lebovitz – especially because it didn’t call for the traditional heavy cream – so I grabbed a screenshot and whipped it up this afternoon.

I followed the recipe as written, though the yolk really didn’t want to be ‘whisked’ into the chocolate, so I just stirred vigorously. I also might have over stiffened the whites slightly. I used sea salt.

A recipe in pictures (with commentary):

I used a mixture of these three chocolates by Cacao Barry to make up the 200g. The resulting mousse was quite dark, so I could have used slightly less of the Tanzanie (75%).

‘Stiff peak’ egg whites. Remember to bring your eggs to room temp before whipping. I think these might be slightly over whipped.

I managed to get chocolate everywhere, of course and always.

The recipe made six mousses that perfectly filled my six glass ramekins.

After three hours of chill time. Dense but fluffy. Creamy and rich. Almost too dark (my fault). I would suggest serving the mousse with a dollop of whipped cream or some fresh berries for balance.

I highly recommend giving this recipe a try. It’s brilliant.

hispaniola by Hummingbird Chocolate

I blogged about Hummingbird Chocolate last week.

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hispaniola – tasting notes:

First taste: definitely fruity. On the edge of dry. Smooth. Creamy. Golden raisin. Slight after taste, but pleasant. Michael called it a “bright fruitiness.”

Second taste: pleasant chocolate scent. Fruit is again very upfront. Cherry through and through. Aftertaste is stronger and lingered longer the second time. Mouth coating but not unpleasant.

Definitely a quality bar. Grade A.

Then I tried the Fleur de Sel a few days later. This award winning bar is made with the hispaniola chocolate and sprinkled with hand-harvested Fleur de Sel from the Vancouver Island Salt Co. As much as I liked the hispaniola on its own, it was INSANELY good with the added salt. And I usually loathe anything added to my chocolate.

I only have two pieces of the Fleur de Sel left. I had to force myself to not eat it all in one go … it was that good. Grade A++

I’m exceedingly pleased with this new discovery. 😀

In Today’s Mail: Hummingbird Chocolate

At the end of May Sue mentioned an article about an award winning chocolatier on my Facebook Page. It turned out that the small batch chocolate maker, Hummingbird Chocolate, was Canadian and had won a bunch of awards when up against a bunch of big names that I mention around here often, including Amedei.

So, of course, I instantly had to track down this new-to-me chocolate and see what I could score. Thankfully, I discovered that they had an online store and I ordered the three bars that appealed to me the most (including their award winning bars).

I’ll taste them separately and make notes, but I wanted to share these pretties right away.

Tasting: Akesson’s 75% Criollo Cocoa

Yes, Dowser series research is just so damn hard. Sigh.

Akesson’s award-winning Madagascar Ambolikapiky Plantation, 75% Criollo Cocoa. If you follow that link it’s the second bar down on the page.

This is a brand new bar for me. YAY! I purchased it during my New Year’s Eve rush through Xoxolat. Fearing they were going to close before I could get there, I called ahead of time to say I was only blocks away. Arriving 10 minutes before closing, I flew along the shelves snatching up old favourites as well as some new bars – astonishing an employee I’d never met, though the lovely owner didn’t batt an eyelash. I – of course and always – dented my visa hard and was out the door 8 minutes later.

Tasting notes

My thoughts: 1^st taste – silky smooth, deep cocoa. Buttery. Lingering, pleasant aftertaste. 2^nd taste – subtle tartness, very buttery, the cocoa coats the tongue and mouth.
According to the bar: expressive cocoa aroma with a subtle fruity-sweet tartness and pleasant flavour notes that evoke citrus and red berries.

Usually my sweet spot is 65% – 70% cocoa but there was no niggling bitterness or harshness to this 75%. I’m pretty sure this bar will be making an appearance in the Dowser Series.

8 seconds of the stash.

I’m testing out shooting tiny clips of video on my new phone because I’m thinking about vlogging a bit as the year progresses … live chats, chocolate tastings, reading excerpts from my books, etc.

Here’s my first 8 second test – a beauty shot of my chocolate stash drawer:

Preemptive answers:

Yes. I tidied the drawer. And I removed Michael’s portion of the stash, which currently consists of coffee beans and a mason jar full of Dulcey by Valrhona.
No, this does not include baking chocolate. That’s a different drawer.
Yes, this is a lot of chocolate. I was gifted a number of these bars at Christmas. [YAY!] And I stopped by Xoxolat in Vancouver to replenish the stash for the new year and writing Dowser 6.
The mason jar holds a portion of my Manjari by Valrhona, which I consume in my daily hot chocolate. Yes, that means that the bag of Manjari is currently too large to fit in the drawer.
Yes, the Amedei bars are already half (or more) eaten. I’ve also cracked the Saint Domingue by Cacao Barry and the Araguani by Valrhona. Everything else is blog fodder. 🙂
It took me five passes to capture this eight seconds. Leo jumped in the drawer twice while I was filming.

What’s in your stash? What are you saving to savour?

What’s in Meghan’s Mug?

UPDATED OCTOBER 2019: I use a Milk Cafe (affiliate link) instead of a pot and stirring myself (this is not a recommendation. I’ve had to replace mine twice, but it still makes a great hot chocolate). My current chocolate mixture is 30g of Manjari, 10g of Tanzanie (Cacao Barry), and 10g of Saint Dominque.

ORIGINAL POST (CIRCA 2015)

So yesterday Jamie asked me for my hot chocolate recipe, and I had to tell her that I didn’t actually have one because I usually wing it.

Then Aja shared this meme with me:

And I laughed and laughed, then felt guilty about not having a recipe to share. So I pulled out the scale and the liquid measuring cup today, and voila!

MCD’s Daily Hot Chocolate Recipe

Ingredients

Approx. 2 cups skim milk [so just shy of 500 ml]

40 grams of Manjari [approx. 1.4 ounces] (64% single origin from Grand Cru; Valrhona)

20 grams [approx 0.7 ounces] of Saint Dominque (70% single origin; Cacao Barry)

A pinch of Fleur de Sel (optional) [I use this if I feel the need to sweeten the chocolate]

Instructions

I fill my travel mug with skim milk [turns out this is about 2 cups or 500 ml], then I dump this milk into a small pot and heat it to the point before scalding (but not actually scalding).

While the milk is warming, I toss the chocolate into a regular-sized mug or bowl (because that is easier to stir than the deeper travel mug). Usually, I don’t weigh the chocolate. I simply toss in a bunch of my go-to chocolate, Manjari, then add a smaller amount of my secondary chocolate-of-the-month.

If I’m adding salt to sweeten, I do so at this point. But I usually don’t need to with the Manjari base.

I pour approx. 1/3^rd of the hot milk over the chocolate (filling the mug about halfway), then let it sit for about two minutes.

Then I stir. Vigorously. First in one direction; for approx. one minute. Then, in the other direction; for approx. another minute.

Yes, I stir for that amount of time. Sometimes even longer. Don’t judge me. I love my hot chocolate. It’s a daily ritual. A moment I take each day.

I add a bit more of the hot milk, enough to almost fill the mug; stirring again. Yes, again. Seriously.

Then I pour the chocolate mixture into my travel mug, setting it aside.

I add the remaining hot milk to the now empty, but still chocolate-coated, regular mug (or bowl, if that’s what you opted to use). I also place the chocolate-coated spoon in the hot milk. Then I wait another two or so minutes, allowing the remnants of the chocolate to melt off the spoon and bottom of the mug. I stir this as well, scraping the bottom of the mug and mixing in as much of the residual chocolate as possible.

Then I pour everything into the travel mug.

And stir one more time. Carefully now, because the travel mug is usually pretty full by this point.

Yes.

Stir one more time.

It’s totally worth it.

Notes

If you want a richer hot chocolate, you can sub half of the skim milk for cream or whole milk.

This recipe calls for a large amount of chocolate, so you can totally back off on that.

Try blending a bunch of different chocolates until you come up with your favourite taste profile. This month I’ve been switching the Saint Dominque back and forth with Inaya, a 65% pur noir from Cacao Barry.

What is your favourite ‘beautiful chocolate’? 😀

Tasty!

Banana Bread and Tanzanie

I tossed a couple of handfuls of Tanzanie by Cacao Barry in the banana bread I made last Saturday for our anniversary. Then, with too many indulgences in Vancouver already, we didn’t eat any of it until yesterday morning.

It’s insanely good. I’m not a fan of the Tanzanie on its own or as a hot chocolate. But it’s amazing in the Chewy Gooey Chocolate Cookies and now in banana bread.

By the way, Michael cut this insanely thick slice for breakfast, not me. 😉

Northwest Chocolate Festival: Charm School

I’d never indulged in chocolate from Charm School Chocolates. I’d also never tasted cocoa sourced from Belize. So this 70% dark chocolate treat was a 100% new for me when I happened upon it at the Northwest Chocolate Festival.

I really adore how small batch chocolatiers are starting to stamp and mould their bars.

The tasting notes on the back of the wrapper read: reminiscent of plump raisins and chocolate sandwich cookies. I definitely get the raisin flavour right off the top. But I’m not certain what they mean by ‘chocolate sandwich cookies.’ Oreos? If so, I’m not really picking that up. [Note: Michael says he tastes ‘more Fudgee-o’s than Oreos’.]

The chocolate is smooth and creamy with a lingering finish that is not unpleasant or dry.

A definite recommend!

Chocolate in bed

I’ve decided that living in a single room with approx 620 square feet of space makes it perfectly acceptable to eat chocolate in bed.

While working, of course. 😉

And especially when I’m savouring this tasty, tasty bar from Fruition Chocolate. I grabbed this limited edition 68% along with their Maranon 76% at the Northwest Chocolate Festival. I can taste why they’ve won so many awards. Both bars are/were amazing – smooth, dark deliciousness.

Happy National Chocolate Day USA!