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laneskysalesthampyfoodfitness · 5 months

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✓ Chocolate baking

Eating chocolate is pure joy, cooking with it a delight, even smelling it bewitching, but buying it shakes my faith in human nature.

The best chocolate is wonderful, but most is not worth buying and most People buy terrible stuff.

Good quality plain or dark chocolate will taste smooth not greasy, bitter not raw, intense not oversweet, with a long finish, not a cloying aftertaste.

But how do you know good quality?

Price is not a reliable guide - in fact supermarkets’ Own brands are usually excellent and are a good bargain when buying in bulk for cooking.

✓ The quality and taste of chocolate is détermined by the quantity and quality of the Cocoa solids- the dry solids plus the added Cocoa butter- used in its production.

The quantity of solids, at least, IS indicated on the packet.

Couverture chocolate, used for fillings and icings, usually has around 55 per cent Cocoa solids, bitter chocolate around 65 per cent, and Super amer or extra bitter, best for puddings, fine cakes and eating, is just over 70 per cent.

Some chocolates labelled’ for cooking ‘ Can contain as little as 30 per cent Cocoa solids: the rest is sugar, fats and flavourings.

✓ The raw material for Chocolate is the Cocoa bean, found in the large yellow-green fruits of the Theobroma cacao tree which grows only within 20 degrees north or south of the equator.

Each tree yields enough beans to make around 2,5 kg of chocolate each year.

The best chocolate is made From a blend of beans- each type has its Own individual character and colour ranging From pale coffee through to dark mahogany Brown.

Store chocolate well away From other foods in an airtight container in a cool,dry place, because it Can easily be tainted by other Flavours.

✓ Avoid storing chocolate below 13°C, or in the fridge, as beads of moisture will form when you bring it to room temperature.

Don’t store in a hot kitchen(30°C or above) or it will développant a White bloom as the Cocoa butter Comes to the surface.

The bloom does not affect its taste however- it Can still used for cooking.

Chocolate begins melting at 30°C(that’s why it melts in the mouth) and Burns AT 110°C.

Melt it slowly and gradually as it easily becomes overheated and scorched, and turns into an unusable solid mass.

Chop it into evenly sized pieces so it melts at thé same rate.

✓ Place in a shallow, heatproof bowl set over a pan of streaming hot, not boiling, water.

The water must not touch the base of the bowl, and no drop of water or Steam should touch the chocolate or it will seize up.

Stir frequently, and remove from the heat as soon as it melts.

Chapitre 2

Chocolate Cakes:

Almond Chocolate Kugelhopf :

400 g strong white bread flour

½ teaspoon sea salt

15 g fresh yeast

60 g golden caster sugar

200 ml skimmed milk, lukewarm

3 medium eggs, beaten

100 g unsalted butter, softened

50 g slivered or flaked almonds

60 g plain chocolate, roughly chopped

Nut Coating :

25 g unsalted butter, very soft

50 g slivered or flaked almonds

icing sugar, for dusting

one 23 cm Kugelhopf mould

Makes 1 large Cake

To use easy-blend dried yeast, mix one 7g sachet with 140 g of the flour. Mix in the sugar and milk and let rise for 30 minutes.

Make a well in the remaining flour, add the salt, add the yeast liquid and eggs and proceed with the recipe.

✓ To make the nut coating, thickly butter the inside of the Kugelhopf mould with the very soft butter, then press the almonds all around. Chill while preparing thé dough.

To make thé dough, mix the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl, then make a well in the centre.

Crumble thé yeast into a small bowl, then cream to a smooth liquid with the sugar and milk. Pour into the well, and work in enough flour to make a thick batter.

Cover with a damp tea towel, and leave at normal room temperature for 30 minutes.

The batter should look bubbly.

Add the eggs to the yeast liquid, stir until combined, then gradually beat in the flour to make a soft and very sticky dough.

Beat the dough in the bowl with your hand or with the dough hook in an electric mixer for about 5 minutes or until it becomes firmer, smooth, very elastic and shiny.

Work in the soft butter until thoroughly incorporated, then the almonds and chocolate.

When evenly mixed, carefully spoon the soft dough into the prepared mould(it should be half full).

Cover the mould with a damp tea towel and let rise at normal room temperature until the dough has almost doubled in size and has risen to about 2.5 cm below the rim of the mould-about 1 hour.

Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C(400°F) Gas 6 for about 45 minutes, or until the Cake is golden brown and a skewer inserted into the dough midway between the outer edge and inner tube comes out clean.

Leave to cool for 1 minute, then carefully unmould on to a wire rack and let cool completely.

Serve dusted with icing sugar.

Store in an airtight container and eat with 3 days or freeze for up to 1 month.

It can also be lightly toasted under a grill.

Variations:

Marbled Kugelhopf

Replace 50g of the strong white bread flour with 50 g sieved cocoa powder and 25 g sugar.

Replace the 60 g plain chocolate with a similar quantity of white chocolate, roughly chopped. Proceed as in the main recipe.

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