easter, ash wednesday and avocado

the skelligs eggs are looking as beautiful as ever this year and with the weather getting warmer this week, i am feeling excited about spring and all things chocolatey: although being ash wednesday, many of you will have a long 40 days of abstinence before the start of feasting! i still stick to my beliefs that there are a lot more things worth giving up than chocolate (cigarettes, beer, ready meals, fast food, playstations...) but as a chocolate maker, i accept i am biased!

it is our eldest daughter, esme's 10th birthday on sunday which means it is nearly 10 years since emily and i first launched cocoa bean at limerick market with esme bundled up in a baby sling. she stills likes pickled sea weed and smoked fish which is definitely thanks to her early contact with the limerick market fish stall and nial's charm!

hope you all enjoyed your pancakes yesterday. i think it is still hard to beat melted dark chocolate and reduced frozen raspberries wrapped in a traditional pancake and dusted with icing sugar. a nice change is to make drop scones and layer them with chocolate in between and top with a pile of fresh raspberries.

this final idea has nothing to do with chocolate but it tastes so good that it needs sharing! ( and it does contains lime like our lime and black pepper bars) dice a large avocado and large ripe tomato. chop a slice of red onion into tiny, tiny squares and mix with the zest and juice of half a lime. add salt and black pepper and mix all ingredients together. it is great on toasted seed bread or with a rich black bean stew. good too with roasted chicken and new potatoes.

merry christmas

the factory is finally open and the wonderful aroma of chocolate is back in the glen! thanks to everyone who supported us, stuck with us and were heroic throughout this challenging year. may next year bring happiness and good health to everyone.

hot sugar

my middle daughter, elsie, is a calming influence in the kitchen. she is a natural and makes up for her as yet limited palate by a calm and methodical approach that is completely alien to me! it is due to her presence that my initially enthusiastic attempts to make macaroons resulted in an edible end product instead of mayhem and complete family breakdown.

making macaroons is one of the hardest thing i have done in the kitchen only rivalled by fudge and turkish delights.

it must be hot sugar.

emily and i did finally win the battle against turkish delight and managed to make a consistently sticky, pink rose jelly wrapped in dark chocolate that was really popular at limerick market but taking on the sugar thermometer was always a challenge!

the final macaroons tasted good even though they well not the perfectly smooth, deep coloured beauties shown in the recipe book. i will try making them again but not yet. please send me advice and macaroon success stories.

happy new year fabulous fondant desserts

new year 2011 is not a time for diets. with all the austerity, belt tightening and uncertain economic times ahead, small indulgences are a necessity! keep smiling and make these. aidan likes them hot. i like them cold.

the basic recipe is from this wonderful book by paul simon. after some experimenting, i found that you could flavour them with all the cocoa bean truffle favourites. i flavour with zests and spices before pouring it into tiny metal moulds .

basic recipe

2 eggs

50g brown sugar

1 dessertspoon plain flour

1 dessertspoon cornflour

140g dark chocolate

110g btter

3 dessertspoons whipping cream

preheat the oven to 180 C

grease and dust the moulds with flour

beat the eggs and sugar. seive in the flour and cornflour and continue to beat.

melt the chocolate, butter and cream in a bowl over simmering water.

pour the chocolate cream into the sponge mixture and mix well together.

fill the moulds two thirds full and then add a pinch of orange zest, nutmeg, cinnamon or lemon zest. add another spoon of mixture to seal in the flavour and then pop into the oven for a few minutes! If you are making four big ones they will need abot 7 minutes.

turn them out straight away and eat or wait until the morning and eat with coffee for breakfast nigella style before anyone else is up!

amsterdam and our magical mystery tour

colm and i had a day in amsterdam on wednesday: it was a business meeting away from it all; a research trip (oh the joy of cinnamon fresh truffles); a time to gather ideas about plans for the new factory and a mystery trip which you may or may not hear more about in the near future! this was the gorgeous view from the office where we had our meeting.

harvey nichol's christmas

it was a very festive evening on tuesday and a little bit emotional. i was offering tasting samples from our beautiful christmas range of christmas star anise, christmas tree and winter spice in the stylish little boxes you can see in the picture. i have been working on the flavours and designs since last winter and most of them went up in flames. however, a few shops and hamper companies had already had their first christmas delivery before the fire and these lucky boxes are looking lovely in christmas displays. i love winter spice which is a triumph since i really don't like white chocolate!

Thank you chocolate makers big and small

i might have to do a whole series of blog posts saying thank you to the different groups of well wishers! i will start with our colleagues and friends in the irish chocolate industry.

in our early days, john mckenna gave emily and i some great advice: be friends with your competitors. he was so right! especially within the artisan community, we have been able to help and been helped out on lots of occasions. we have made friends for life and we are so grateful for their help and support since the fire.

it is not just the artisan chocolatiers that have offered their help. the big players have also rung us to say how sorry they are to hear about the factory and offer real practical help.

thank you!