Green and Black’s Chocolate Recipes
From the cacao pod to muffins, mousses and molés! This is such a lovely book with large photographs by Francesca Yorke (if they were any bigger
they would be posters). Caroline Jeremy has compiled
delicious recipes and Claire Fry has designed a most attractive and appealing
book. It’s colourful, sumptuous and tasteful.You would all be familiar with Green and Black’s chocolate and it’s some of the best around. It’s organic and Fairtrade so you can have a guilt-free munch. Their cocoa is bought from small producers in Belize so you’ll also be helping a third world economy.
Josephine Fairley, founder of Green and Black’s, has written a foreword on the company’s history, and then it’s on to Caroline’s general advice on cooking with chocolate. The chapter headings are amusing, with such titles as Licking the Bowl, Wicked, Old Timers, and Magic.
I think all the recipes are magic: I don’t think I could say no to any of them. One of the easiest is a recipe from the chef at Konditor and Cook, Gerhard Jenne. It’s a chocolate biscuit cake with cherries, sultanas and walnuts. There are recipes here for all levels of skill.
Not all the recipes are for cakes and cookies. There is Spicy Organic Pork and Herb Chilean Chocolate Sausages. There are only 90g of dark chocolate in this dish but it’s enough to give a richness that is unique. Zena Leech-Calton entered Green and Black’s National Trust competition with this recipe, which evidently impressed the judges.
I have always had a fear of cooking with real chocolate, but these recipes are straightforward and there is all the information you need to produce lovely, chocolaty creations. Caroline Jeremy has given lots of advice on cooking temperatures, so you should feel confident that your attempts to produce a chocolate sorbet will not result in a cold runny truffle.
Having read this book from cover to cover I am now on the horns of a dilemma. Which of these will be dessert for tonight? Will it even be dessert, or might it be the Swedish Chocolate Coffee Lamb? Some Chocolate-dipped Fruit would be light and romantic. I’ll just say that it’s difficult to choose, but I’ll be using this book often to the great delight of family and friends.
Green and Black’s Chocolate Recipes
Author: Caroline Jeremy and others
Published by: Kyle Cathie
Price: £ 14.99
ISBN 978-1-85626-700-7
Making Fine Chocolates
I have, over the past months, reviewed several lovely
chocolate cookery books. This is, however, a little different. This is all about
making your own chocolates rather than using chocolate in, say, a cake or tart.
Making Fine Chocolates will take you through the process of transforming a bar
of high-quality chocolate into flavour-infused chocolates, truffles and other
gorgeous sweets.Andrew Garrison Shotts is the former corporate pastry chef at Guittard Chocolate and owner of Garrison Confections. He has been recognised as a “Top Ten Artisanal Chocolatier” by the American newspaper, USA Today. I think we can assume that this young man is an expert.
I know to my cost that chocolate is an iffy substance to work with. It is quite forgiving as an ingredient in most desserts but hand-made chocolates demand a bit more thought and technical know-how. This being said, it’s not rocket science. If you can follow a recipe and have a thermometer then you’ll have no problems.
Making Fine Chocolates has an exceptional Techniques chapter. Read this before you even consider embarking on making chocolates. Perfecting tempering will mark your efforts as professional. You'll want to make chocolates that look as good as expensive shop-bought ones. They need to be glossy, have a smooth and non-grainy texture and mouth-feel on melting. Handmade chocolates are not just melted and shaped bars of chocolate. You’ll find the tempering step well worth the effort.
Let’s get on to the fun part... the chocolates! Chocolate Truffles are the easiest to make and Andrew offers us a great selection of exotic ones. Banana Caramel, Peanut Butter Sizzle and Sesame are just a few of them.
Moulded Chocolates are the ones that you will want to perfect. You can buy the plastic moulds in most good cookware shops. Making Fine Chocolates gives all the advice you will need and also lots of helpful step-by-step pictures. The chocolates you’ll make will be inspiring and a bit more up-market than those you find in most commercial boxes.
Andrew Garrison Shotts has penned a lovely book that will be essential to anyone who wants to present something special at the end of a meal or as a gift. There are very few people who would not be impressed by unique and delicious chocolates made by your own fair hands. There are only a few books about making chocolates and this is one of the best.
Making Fine Chocolates
Author: Andrew Garrison Shotts
Published by: Apple Press
Price: £14.99
ISBN 13: 978-1-84543-194-5
The Golden Book of Chocolate
This has got to be the gift book of the year.
It has impact in both size and quality of presentation. It’s sumptuous with
gilt-edged pages reminiscent of a family bible. Those nice people at Apple Press
informed me that this volume came with a gold belly jacket. I was pleased...
er,um, but what was that? It’s a lovely dust jacket that nicely wraps the ample
midriff of this magnificent volume.That’s the exterior oooohs and aaahs out of the way. Unless you are buying this book only to put something sparkly on your bookshelf, you’ll want to know about all that’s inside. The photography by Alan Benson is a treat. You can imagine piling on the calories by just looking at all these sweet delights.
The introduction is fascinating and pertinent. It considers not only the history of the Swiss Nestlé, Lindt and Mr. Tobler (yes, the man who invented Toblerone) but also our own Green and Blacks who earned the UK’s first Fair Trade Mark for its Maya Gold chocolate.
There are over 300 recipes here so it’s safe to say that there is something for everyone. There are Candies and Cookies, Puddings and Pies but also Savoury Dishes that might come as a bit of a surprise. The recipes are easy to follow and offer lots of choice for home cooks of every level of skill and confidence.
One of the simplest recipes is Coffee Granita with Cream and Chocolate. It’s one of those perfect make-ahead desserts that are ideal for meals with friends. Served in shot glasses or small tumblers, it makes a sophisticated end to an evening. You only need to be slightly more adventurous to manage Milk Chocolate and Vanilla Semifreddo, which is a two-layer frozen pud in white and beige.
The Drinks chapter has a lot more than the predictable cocoa. Brown Cow has white rum, crème de menthe and crème de cacao. Served in an elegant stemmed glass, this would be a warming, rich cocktail for a winter party, a liquid version of a very adult after-dinner mint.
The Golden Book of Chocolate can only be described as special. It oozes luxury and it’s bound to make an impression with anyone lucky enough to receive a copy. Lovely!
The Golden Book of Chocolate
Published by: Apple Press
Price: £19.99
ISBN 978-1-84543-267-6