An afternoon walk in January on the West Coast

Walking under mossy boughs, mud and tree roots tangle our feet along the edge of Duck Creek. Despite the roar of the run off, a breath of peace captivates our ever-teeming brains. Then it’s back to work …

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?

Chocolate Chip Cookies for Gertie

On August 20, 2015 my friend Gertie emailed me a blog post about the Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe. The post actually included links for FIVE different chocolate chip cookie recipes, and Gertie was planning to test bake all five.

I wished her good luck on the massive undertaking, saying that I’d tried the NYTimes recipe. And, honestly for all the extra work, I hadn’t found them any better than the cookies I’d been baking since I was kid.

Then I offered to send Gertie my recipe for comparison and proceeded to not follow through for four months.

Sigh.

Sorry, Gertie!!

Unfortunately, I still don’t have the time to devote to typing the recipe up with all my notes. So last night, before the year got completely away on me, I decided to quickly bake a batch to make sure I was still happy with the recipe. Then I completely cheated by sending a photo of it to Gertie.

The following recipe is from my venerable, well-used copy of Cookies for Kids [apparently you can buy a used copy on Amazon].

The inscription speaks volumes. And thus it all began …

[And yep, really dating myself here, Gertie. I hope you appreciate it!! 😀 ].

I suggest you ignore my note about the whole wheat flour unless you like that rustic taste, as I do. Try unbleached? Remember I seriously overpour my vanilla. Also I swapped the semisweet for bittersweet chocolate [of course and always]. For this test batch, I used Mi-Amere, a 58% chocolate from Cacao Barry. Also I omitted the nuts. No one likes nuts in their cookies. And by ‘no one’ I mean me, of course.

So there you go, Gertie! I hope that counts. Merry Christmas.

Now, I seriously hope I don’t get charged with copyright violation from Better Homes and Gardens. 😛

Do you have a favourite chocolate chip cookie recipe?

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!

Dowser 2: dangerous but delicious double-chocolate brownies

Disclaimer: I’m not a pastry chef. I’ve baked these many times, and I’m always happy with the results but I’ve just written up the recipe – including the metric conversion. Please let me know if you spot any typos. 🙂

Some visuals:

chocolate and cocoa — Chocolate and cocoa utilized in test bake 😉

Step 2:

Chocolate, cocoa, and butter in an improvised double boiler

Step 7:

Step 8:

Brownies straight out of the oven. Pre-cooling.

Step 10:

We ate two and froze the remainder. Insanely good!

I’ll cut the individual squares into four and add them to my Christmas baking gift boxes. The brownies are crusty on the edges and densely chewy on the inside. I’ve served these with vanilla ice cream, and a swirl of caramel or fudge sauce. But they’re awesome on their own.

Enjoy!

Then the sun set over the chicken coop …

… and all was lovely and well.

Sunset over the chicken coop, Dec 11, 2015 — – Margaret Avenue, December 11, 2015

Though, I wouldn’t complain about having more hours in the day devoted to writing. 😀

Unexpected treats

So this insanely gorgeous crystal pen holder just showed up in the mail. <3 It’s a sneaky gift from writer friend, C.A. Newsome. <3

When Carol Ann asked for my mailing address last month I assumed she needed it because she’s doing all the heavily lifting for the booth we’re sharing at Bookcon in Chicago next May.

Sly, Carol Ann! And, thank you so much! Now the nib of my Parker fountain pen won’t dry out in-between writing sessions!!

Now, what little gift should I send Carol Ann in return? Some chocolate perhaps? 😀

Provisions

I’m working through the final smoothing pass of Oracle 2 before I send it off to the proofreader. Reading out loud, I got through the first five chapters – four before lunch and one after – without major impediment. But, as I was about to tackle chapter six, I realized I desperately needed a treat.

With no time to bake, I ran down to the Country Grocer and picked up Oreos and Fruit Creams.

Thus fortified, I shall now return my full attention to the final draft.

See ya on the other side!

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.