stocking up at avoca!

this is a picture of my friend, mary clarke, making sure she gets her supply of cocoa bean. apart from a chocolate obsession, she also is fairly hooked on lunch at avoca and managed to also fit in a visit to avoca, suffolk street - all in one weekend! if you've never been to avoca, it's a fabulous and funky department store with unusual clothes, kitchen accessories, books and food. Try their quiche, fresh salads, cakes and coffee. you may sigh a lot as you go round the shop, wishing you could have everything...

apricot truffles

this is an original cocoa bean recipe that was very popular at summer markets. they make a great dinner party accompaniment to coffee or a lovely august birthday present. they are fresh truffles so they only have about a weeks shelf life. they will last longer in the fridge but fridges can make chocolate damp if not stored properly and you should always allow them to come to room temperature before eating to appreciate the full flavour.

250g dark chocolate (about 50% cocoa solids works well)

6 fl oz single or soya cream

3 spoons apricot mulch (dried apricots soaked in water and then drained and blended smooth)

8 dried apricots, chopped

8 blanched almonds, chopped

1 spoon rum

1 spoon brandy

break the chocolate into small pieces and melt slowly in a bowl over a gently simmering pot of water.

heat the cream with the brandy and rum in a small saucepan until it reaches a gentle boil. keep stirring the cream.

mix the hot cream into the melted chocolate. stir in the apricot mulch, chopped fruit and nuts and stir until thoroughly blended.

set the bowl aside to cool. this now contains the chocolate ganache.

when the ganache is cool, shape into balls using cocoa powder.

temper chocolate using the chunk method that emily describes in blog 'temper, temper' november 2008. i much prefer a really good dark chocolate (at least 70%) for this. coat with two layers of tempered chocolate and while the chocolate coating is still wet, top with a thin strip of dried apricot.

if your kitchen is warm, pop them in the fridge or freezer very briefly ( 2 minutes ), to help the chocolate set quickly.

eat them!

kinvara (chinn mhara) head of the sea

if you've never been to kinvara in county galway, it is well worth a visit. it's the home of the cuckoo and crinniu festivals, a major gateway to the spectacular burren and home of burrenbeo, an interpretative centre with a fabulous cafe and a shop that sells our chocolate!


for those who don't know the magical burren, it's ireland's flagship heritage landscape: a land of fertile rock with diverse flora and fauna, unique panaramas and a rich and vibrant culture.

tonight was the official launch of the burrenbeo trust's new colour magazine and their monthly walk takes place tomorrow (sunday) at 2pm. just to let you know that everybody is welcome on the walk. look at http://www.burrenbeo.com/ for more details.

fine food and swimming in the sun

we have returned sun kissed and relaxed from celebrating a friend's birthday in the south of france. it was 4 days of fabulous company, faultless hospitality and unforgettable food.

since there was always at least 12 people to cater for we had simple breakfasts of croissants and fig jam, lunches were a sprawling mass of cheeses, meats, pates, breads and salads - delicious and then took it in turns to cook the evening meal.

definite highlights for me were sophie and stewart's anchovy crostini, jo and dave's barbecued garlic bread and nick and isabelle's lancashire hotpot! i will try to get them to post their secret recipes on here...

our menu -

gazpacho

trout en pappiotte (chris's recent speciality)

medley of roast damsons and plums with toasted almond and honey mascapone

sea salt truffles

the recipe for the dessert is below - the damsons were picked freshly from the trees in the garden (thank you to the birthday boy -chris a. x); nothing was a greater pleasure than coming out of the tent in the morning sunshine and helping ourselves to a handful of plump, just ripe fruit. i've scaled this back to serve 4 but it is an easy one to do for large numbers.

medley of roast damsons and plums with toasted almond and honey mascapone

serves 4

ingredients

8 ripe plums, halved and destoned

40 damsons, halved and destoned

1 tbsp caster sugar

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

tub of mascapone

1 tbsp ground almonds, toasted

1tbsp runny honey

1tbsp marsala wine

seeds of 1 vanilla pod or 1/2tsp vanilla essence

method

1.beat the almonds, honey, marsala, and the vanilla into the marscapone til thoroughly combined. set aside til later.

2. layer the plums and damsons in a large oven proof dish and sprinkle with the cardamom and sugar.

3. roast in the oven at 220c for 20-30 mins til beginning to caramelise and bubble in their own juices.

4. serve (careful - it is hot as hellfire when you bring it out) with the almond mascapone and almond tuiles if available.

5. a nice alternative is to use figs instead of plums. follow the instructions above but dip the cut side of the fig in the cardamom and sugar mix and grill or barbecue the cut side for 3-4 mins til brown and caramelised.

nothing better when sat by candlelight with frineds, in the warmth of a summer evening. thank you to all the adlingtons and the rest of the gang for a truly unforgettable holiday.

singing in the rain...

we tried to be cheerful but in the end it was just thoroughly wet and we ended up racing to the coach for shelter. hard to believe we were swimming only 20 minutes before this photo!

we got home and lit the first fire of the summer and made unfailingly comforting eggs, beans and chips. i know everyone knows how to make this but will just share my chip secret.

leave the skin on good waxy potatoes and cut into chunky chip shapes. pour olive oil into a bowl along with a good scrunch of sea salt and twist of black pepper. throw in the raw chips and toss in the oil to coat thoroughly. bake in the oven at 200 C for 20 - 30 minutes until crispy. you can do them under the grill but i always forget them and they burn too easily.

we are at liscannor, county clare for 3 days next week - we got married there 6 years ago. fingers crossed it's better weather or that i remember to take wellies and bags of dry clothes.

happy all round

an inspired idea from my friend kyra - having spent all friday night making a superbly light and fluffy chocolate birthday cake for clara, she realised with only moments to go until the party started, that she had forgotten to ice it! she whipped out her homemade raspberry jam and used it to stick white and pink mini marshmallows all over the top of the cake. done in seconds! the children loved it.

chocolate chilli cake

it has rained everyday since my birthday. my birthday happens to fall on st swithin's day. if it rains on st swithin's day it is supposed to rain for 40 days and 40 nights. it is having a damn good shot at it by the looks of things.

we are keeping our fingers crossed for a nice afternoon tomorrow. tomorrow we are joining in the neighbourhood street party and are contributing this cake to the cake stall, our spare chilli plants to the plant stall and spicy chicken kebabs to the barbeque...mmmm...anybody would think we have a thing for chilli in our house!

chris came across this recipe in his mum's enviably organised folder of cut out recipes and decided it was worth a go. i'm not sure what magazine it is from but james tanner is responsible. we've adapted a bit by thickening up the ginger chocolate sauce he suggested and making it into a ganache style icing for the top. the recipe below includes our adaptations.

ingredients

100g soft butter

100g caster sugar

100g self raising flour

3 eggs

2 red chillies, deseeded and very finely chopped

50g dark chocolate drops or grated cocoa bean chilli and pink peppercorn chocolate bar

for the icing

100g dark chocolate

75ml double cream

25g butter

1 piece of stem ginger, finely chopped ( you could use a couple of peices of cocoa bean chocolate coated crystallised ginger)

method

1. preheat the oven to 180c and lightly grease a 20cm cake tin.

2. cream the butter and suagr until light and fluffy. add the flour, eggs and chillies and whisk to make a thick smooth batter.

3. pour into the prepared tin, sprinkle with the cake chocolate and bake for 15 mins until risen.

4. to make the icing heat the cream gently in a small saucepan, when it is just beginning to bubble gently at the edge remove from the heat and whisk in the chocolate, ginger and butter until the chocolate melts.

5. when the cake is cool spread the icing over the top.

6. we then went wild with tubes of coloured icing.

update

the street party was a great success!

the rain held off at the right time - terrifyingly windy though!

the cake was very delicious and even went down well enough with the 80 year old cake judge (the lady who has lived in the street the longest!). we didn't win this week but the chilli cake was certainly a talking point and that was the point of the day - to get everyone talking to each other. the chilli lends a sweetness and gentle heat but nothing too spicy and combines delightfully with the gingery flavour of the icing. definitely one to make again.

i did face painting!!!!