spice up your life

i got breakfast in bed and a lovely pink top from my girls but no chocolates! thankfully i had the new batch of cocoa bean experiments to try. since going to the ife last sunday with colm and one of our most enthusiastic buyers, we have dreamed up a new reincarnation for one of my old favourites - the spice bar.

we combined the blend of cardamom, chilli and ginger with white chocolate to make a rich but playful spicy bar. i ate a lot of it to check the combination was correct - now i'm going to eat more with less chilli. next i might try some with a touch more cardamom. so much work to be done....

mother's day

don't forget how much mums love chocolate......

eggs, eggs, eggs

look out for our fab easter eggs at magill's delicatessen, 14, clarendon street, dublin. telephone 6713830 -more stockists to follow . . .

chocolate crazy

me and the family are currently on a inspirational chocolate tour of europe and it is unbelievable just how many chocolate shops there are! belgium, holland and northern france are currently our stomping ground and so i will over the next few weeks be giving a bit of gossip about the choice samples i get to enjoy....

easter eggs

look out for cocoa bean's new gin & tonic and rose and pistachio easter eggs available at harvey nichols in dublin and all uk stores. colm will be handing out samples of the new eggs in dundrum harvey nichols on the evening of april 2nd or catch emily and rachael on the evening of 8th april in manchester. all the loveliness of the bars, only more lovely...

adding the fizz

we are currently experimenting with adding a bit of fizz to our 'gin and tonic' chocolate bar. this has been a long standing ambition to get a subtle sparkle into the bars to recreate the bubbles of the tonic. many previous experiments (including sherbert, popping candy etc) have created too much of a novelty effect and affected the taste. then lo and behold we have discovered that a finely ground powder of dried persian limes adds a sweet and sour lime flavour with a delicious tingling sensation.  fine tuning is currently underway but expect to see these newly honed bars on the shelves in the next couple of months.

chocolate discs

these are easy to make and fun to do with children. if you don't have any, borrow one for an afternoon and impress their mum or dad when you hand them back complete with homemade, stylishly finished chocolates...

slowly melt some good quality chocolate in a bowl over a pot of warm water. i prefer dark chocolate but these become even more impressive with one bowl of dark and one of milk.

line some small baking trays or plastic lids with grease proof paper. prepare some toppings in little bowls. we used chopped nuts, chopped apricots and sunflower seeds but you can go more adventurous with sesame seeds, cardamoms, figs, ground star anise or more frivolous with sprinkles or crushed smarties.

when the chocolate has melted, all take a teaspoon of chocolate and start playing! spoon out small, thin disc shapes onto the greaseproof paper using gentle circles with the back of your spoon to spread the chocolate. sprinkle on toppings. work quickly and when each tray is full, pop them in the freezer for a couple of minutes to guarantee a good crisp temper and shine. use up the bottom of the bowls of chocolate by swirling and squiggling your spoon. try and write your name.

take the chocolate out the freezer and that's it! eat them, share them, keep them to have every morning with a good strong coffee.

i made some tiny discs topped with freshly grated lemon zest to go round the edge of a lemon cheesecake and used some of my experimental chocolate squiggles in the middle. sorry i don't have a photo. it looked great.