Making Simple Edible Chocolate Easter Baskets

 

You can make anything with chocolate at home, without the need for expensive chocolate molds or equipment. For this fun DIY Easter idea, all you need are a variety of mixing bowls, a pot, a stovetop, a spatula and a plastic zipper-style kitchen bag (or a pastry bag). And if you don't have mixing bowls, you can use a cupcake pan to make mini Easter baskets instead.

I started with about 28 ounces of dark organic chocolate couverture. You can use whatever amount works best for you. You can also use large bars of Lindt or President's Choice chocolate from the grocery store, or bulk baking chocolate (Callebaut would be best) from a store like Bulk Barn. For the sake of your health, please do not use molding or 'candy-melts' chocolate - that is not chocolate and is full of hydrogenated oil!

If you have any questions, feel free to use the Comments below and I will try to guide you through.

Here is the 'how-to'...



Instructions:

1. Pull out a variety of bowls - preferably stainless steel, or non-stick bakeware, over glass. Ensure they are relatively cool (chill in fridge if needed), cooler than your tempered chocolate. Also, be sure they are very dry - dry and shine with a paper towel just before using.

2. Melt and temper your dark chocolate. You can use milk or white chocolate, but see instructions here for specific tempering of each category. Be sure to smudge a little on some wax paper and wait until it is fully set before making your baskets.  If your chocolate is still streaky, you may need to let it cool further before using.

3. Once your chocolate is in temper, let it cool a little to the lower end of the working temperature range (i.e. about 84 degrees F for dark chocolate) to thicken a little.

4. Pour it into a plastic freezer bag or a pastry decorator bag. Cut a small hole off the end. Using swirling motions, make large loops all around the bowl. Do not let them touch the top of the bowl, keep your chocolate at least a 1/2" down from the sides to be sure your baskets will release later. If the loops are too small, the chocolate will run and you will lose the holes that you are creating. Place each bowl in the fridge after you make the first layer for just 30 seconds or so, while you work on the next bowl.  Then remove and make an additional layer for strength, again using swirling motions in whatever creative way you like.


5. Let the completed chocolate bowls set in the fridge for about 2 hours.

6. Remove from the fridge and place a dry tea towel or plastic wrap over the bowl.  Holding the plastic wrap, or towel, tight over the bowl, flip over onto the counter.  The towel/plastic will soften the surface area and ensure your delicate basket will not fall out and break all over the counter when it falls out of the bowl. Tap the bowl a few times on the counter to get the chocolate to release.

7. Gently (and preferably with dry kitchen gloves on) flip your bowl over and place on a plate or cardboard cake tray.

8. Fill your bowl with mini eggs, or all kinds of Easter Treats!  I even made some white chocolate shavings to fill it, as a sort-of edible basket filler to put my treats on.  Wrap it up with food-safe cellophane or shrink-wrap bags. You can shrink-wrap these, but only on the bottom (under the plate) and not near the top edges or your basket edges will melt.

 

Play around with your design and have fun.  You can even add some flare with white or milk chocolate specks or swirls in the bottom of the bowl first (like in this chocolate egg recipe), and let set before filling with dark chocolate.

Happy Easter!

Review: Gourmet Chocolate Easter Egg and Other Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Treats for the Bunny Basket

SOMA Chocolatemaker in Toronto has launched a delicious selection of treats for Easter this year.  I have already told you about the very unique Roasted White Chocolate Bunny, and about all the other delicious chocolate creations this Canadian craft chocolate maker has introduced in the last several years. Here are few more that I have tasted and reviewed this past week:

Gorgeous Chocolate Egg on Hazelnut Nest

The marketing for the launch of SOMA's beautiful chocolate egg was well executed. In addition to delicious-looking tweets and Facebook photos, SOMA's egg was mentioned in Chatelaine's top 10 gift-worthy Easter chocolates.  Having the privilege of tasting the egg before the Easter Bunny arrives, I can tell you that this is definitely a special gourmet treat for Easter.

Inside the egg is an individually packaged and unique chocolate-coated fig, stuffed with a roasted almond and caramel. The Peruvian dark chocolate exterior perfectly complements the slightly sweeter interior. The fig is not overly chewy and overall, quite enjoyable.

The egg itself comes in milk or dark chocolate, but mine was dark chocolate.  SOMA's signature Peruvian dark chocolate has that high-cocoa flavour that I find common in Peruvian chocolate, with a slightly sweet and fruity aroma. It is smooth, delicious, dark chocolate that has a nice bitterness for a high 60%-range chocolate. It was a little melted (with bloom) just around the edges where the egg was placed together, but otherwise beautiful.

The hazelnut nest is not only super-fun to eat, but also smooth and absolutely delicious, like a smooth hazelnut milk chocolate truffle (except in pasta form!). It is not overly sweet and pairs nicely with the dark chocolate egg.

If you need to buy for a fine chocolate enthusiast, or if you really want to avoid commercial junk-filled Wal-mart treats this year, this may be a way to step it up and give the gift of gourmet this Easter.

Dark Chocolate Birch Branch

Nothing says spring more than the gorgeous chocolate Birch Branch, a signature product at SOMA. The mould was sculpted from an actual birch branch found in Lindsay, Ontario. The dark chocolate branch is truly an artistic piece, with perfect branch knots and bark-like lines that make you truly feel like you are eating a piece of Ontario woodland. Inside is a delicious truffle-like hazelnut milk chocolate with a feulletine crunch.  It is not commercially-sweet (which I like) and a little on the thick side when eaten alone, but with the cherry paste centre, it melts in the mouth with a perfect sweetness. Find it on Page 17 of SOMA's brochure.

25-Gram Mini Samplers - perfect to toss into an Easter basket

I picked up two SOMA small origin bars: Rugoso Nicaragua 70% and Madagascar 70%. Weighing in at 25 grams, and a cost of $4 each, this is a great way to taste and compare a few different bean-to-bar origin chocolates with the same percentage of cacao solids.

Madagascar origin chocolate can be found everywhere these days.  If there ever was a 'staple' origin chocolate, Madagascar would certainly be a front runner for the job. And it is no wonder because of the strong fruity flavour found in chocolate made from Madagascan beans. So strong in fact, that after a few comparative chocolate origin tastings, a novice chocolate taster can likely identify a Madagascar-origin chocolate blindfolded. SOMA`s fine, smooth and delicate bar definitely had that distinct Madagascar flavour. It offered a bold punch of fruity and chocolaty flavour.

The Nicaragua origin chocolate bar was a bit tangy and lightly fruity with bright flavours. It was certainly less bold in flavour than the Madagascar chocolate. Overall, it was quite enjoyable.

Where to buy?

You can find all of SOMA`s seasonal Easter treats and non-seasonal products in their product brochure online.  Buy in-store in Toronto or via e-mail.  Find out more on their website: http://www.somachocolate.com.

To read other reviews of SOMA's bean-to-bar chocolates, simply type the word 'SOMA' into the 'Search this Blog" box on the right of The Ultimate Chocolate Blog's webpage.

Roasted White Chocolate Eggs: A Treat-Torching Triumph!

When I bought a beautiful 'Roasted White Chocolate Bunny' in Toronto last week (click here to see it), I was fascinated not only with the distinct roasted marshmallow flavour, but also with the ingenious technique that SOMA chocolatemaker had applied to white chocolate. I have never, in my 10 years of obsessing about chocolate creations, thought to pull out my yet-to-be-used Crème Brûlée torch and fire up some white chocolate. But SOMA's rabbit inspired me and 'hopped' up my chocolate curiosity. From the first bite, I decided that I HAD TO try this technique.

SOMA probably should have printed the statement "Do not try this at home" on the package, because this is certainly a dangerous activity. And I admit that I was nervous about using the torch, which is precisely why I hadn't used it in the four years since I received it. But my curiosity was so overwhelming that I was willing to take the risk.

I tempered and molded small organic white chocolate eggs, with the Canadian organic and fair trade brand 'Camino', which only has three ingredients (cocoa butter, whole milk powder and cane sugar). The eggs were gorgeous, and I wondered if I really should be burning such delicious-looking little treats. But again, curiosity won out.

I placed the eggs on a metal cookie pan, and also lined the pan with aluminum foil to protect it. I started with the top side of the eggs, then chilled them in the refrigerator until cool (about a half hour). Then I flipped them over and roasted the bottom side to get a nice, roasted flavour all over (like a perfect campfire marshmallow should have).

As it turns out, a little practise is required before getting a good 'roast'.  At first, I tried applying the flame in rows, up and down the eggs, but that left a streak in the middle that almost looked like a crack. Finally I got the hang of it and started to even the roast out.

The only real difference was the appearance (Soma has clearly had a little more practice than me), and the slight taste of vanilla in Soma's chocolate.  Perhaps next time I would add some vanilla bean to my couverture.

I also made a few larger eggs with whole almonds in white chocolate, and the roasted marshmallow flavour with crunchy roasted almonds was a nice combination.

So if you are looking for a new way to use your Crème Brûlée torch, or if you love white chocolate and the flavour of roasted marshmallows, then do try this at home (with the proper safety precautions, of course). Or just buy Soma's.  This article will tell you how to get your hands on one of those delicious bunnies.

Not Your Average White Chocolate Bunny; SOMA has outdone the competition

All the flavour of toasted marshmallow...without the marshmallow!

 

Has winter been too long, and now you're missing that toasted-by-campfire-marshmallow-flavour of summertime? Well, miss it no more! Toronto's SOMA Chocolatemaker just introduced a delicious white chocolate rabbit, called 'Rascally Rabbit' for Easter that has a fire-burnt exterior. And it tastes just like slightly tinged marshmallows that are roasted over a campfire. Seriously. Good. Stuff. 

If you peel away the roasted exterior, the white chocolate inside is mild with a light taste of cocoa butter and real vanilla. It's delicious (nothing like those white chocolate chips made with artificial vanilla at the grocery store). But when eaten together with the tinged and crispy exterior, the taste of slightly burnt marshmallow lingers in the mouth, and it wakens the feeling of summer. It is a perfect gift to take us out of the cold season and into Spring, looking ahead to the warmer months that will come after Easter arrives.

I have been reading the ingredients of a few different 'white chocolate' bunnies at the grocery store this week, and I can tell you that those commercial bunnies are not actually made with white chocolate. The cocoa butter, which is a key ingredient in actual white chocolate, is most often replaced with hydrogenated oil. So it is worth the extra expense to buy a quality product like Soma's.

Soma is often trying unconventional methods (and equipment) when it comes to chocolate. In addition to torching some white chocolate, Soma's 2015 chocolate egg is resting on a nest of hazelnut chocolate that has been put through a Venetian pasta press. I am (not so) patiently waiting until my birthday on Sunday to try the egg, but I promise to tell you all about it next week! Soma has inspired me to try 'toasting' white chocolate in my own kitchen. I will also tell you all about that once my experiments are complete.

It may not be too late to order for Easter! If you do not live in the Toronto region, Soma takes orders by e-mail and they will ship it to you! Or check them out at their two locations in Toronto, in the Distillery District or on King Street. Here is a link to the online brochure. The bunny comes in four flavours, 'Roasted White Chocolate' being one, and Costa Rican Milk Chocolate, Dark Sugar-free chocolate, and Soma's signature Peruvian Dark Chocolate (66%).  But you had better hop to it - Easter is just over a week away!

As always, here are the package and ingredient details from the chocolate that I tasted above:

Rascally Rabbit: White Chocolate, $10 each
SOMA Chocolatemaker (Toronto, ON)
www.somachocolate.com
Ingredients: sugar, cocoa butter, milk powder, natural vanilla, soy lecithin. May contain trace amounts of wheat & nuts.

Please note:
Although this may sound a bit like an Soma advertisement, I really have not been enticed in any way to write this article. I paid for my products in full, and I am simply excited to share this unique chocolate product and the high quality of Canadian craft chocolate with the world.

Chuao's Maple Bacon Chocolate - It's more about the crunch than the bacon

San Diego-based Chuao Chocolatier offers a plethora of chocolaty taste sensations. There is always a new Chuao flavour available at Chapters-Indigo, such as the Honeycomb or the Potato Chip chocolate bars that I picked up recently. And the newest chocolate bar to catch my eye was Chuao's 'maple bacon' bar - a high percentage milk chocolate (41% cocoa solids) with all-natural inclusions, including maple sugar, bacon, and 'bonfire smoked' sea salt (my favourite 'smoked' description ever).

As for the taste, it was good. The milk chocolate was not super sweet (just the way I like my milk chocolate). And the salt was not overwhelming, but yet there was a nice crunchy texture from the maple sugar, salt, and the crispy bacon. The bacon flavour was minimal; although it was there, it was there in a noncommittal sort of way (although when it comes to bacon flavour in chocolate, sometimes less really is better).

Albeit tasty, I must admit that I preferred Chuao's Potato Chip chocolate bar, which I purchased at the same time, and tasted last week. The potato chip bar was also made with a high-percentage milk chocolate and it had a little more crunch to it, with a saltier taste. It gave me a little more of that savoury taste that I was expecting from the bacon bar.

As a fan of bacon and chocolate, I am happy that this bar is available to us, since I can no longer buy Vosges's Mo's Bacon Bar in my region of Canada. That is definitely a chocolate-and-bacon experience that is out of this world.

If you really like the flavours of bacon and chocolate, try this chocolate-dipped bacon recipe. Candy the bacon with maple syrup instead of brown sugar or sprinkle a little maple sugar on top, if you want to replicate Chuao's excellent idea of maple and bacon flavour.

Chuao's Maple Bacon Chocolate Bar cost $6.75 at Chapters-Indigo. It is gluten-free and it won an Excellence Award at the International Chocolate Salon.

Here are the package details, including ingredients from the chocolate that I tasted today:

Maple Bacon All Natural chocolate bar, 2.8 oz (80g)
Chuao Chocolatier (San Diego, CA)
www.ChuaoChocolatier.com
Ingredients: Premium milk chocolate (41% cacao, cacao butter, sugar, dehydrated milk, soy lecithin [as an emulsifier], natural vanilla), maple sugar, bacon (pork, water, salt, turbinado sugar, seasoning), bonfire smoked sea salt, natural maple flavor (maple, canola oil). Contains: Milk, Soy. Non GMO Ingredients. Manufactured in a facility that uses tree nuts and wheat in other products.

Chia Chocolate Bars: Perhaps THE chocolate recipe to make you as slim as Taylor Swift!

Just a few weeks ago, media was reporting that Taylor Swift has kept her super-slim figure by munching on chia seeds (ref).  Chia seeds expand in the stomach and make her feel full longer, according to the reports. But of course, we know that media reports are not always accurate, and Taylor Swift has always had a great physique.

But true or not, chia seeds do seem to be all the rage lately, and so I wanted to find out what they are about. Not only are chia seeds high in Omega-3 Fatty Acid, which is similar to flax seeds, but your body is able to process them whole, as opposed to flax seeds, which have to be ground. They also do expand in fluid, so you can eat less to feel full sooner.

I bought a bag of organic chia seeds, and it turns out that these little crunchy seeds are enjoyable to eat, and tastier than flax seeds. Plus, they have a really nice crunch, making them fun to munch on. However, munching on them straight up is a little difficult, because they are so tiny.  Sure, you could lick them off your hand, but that is messy and, well, kinda gross.

What's more, POPSUGAR tells us that eating chia seeds straight up is not safe. If you chase them with a beverage, the seeds will expand before they reach your stomach and may cause breathing problems. They also explain that "when they're included in a recipe, our bodies can digest chia seeds whole". So I thought, why not put chia seeds in chocolate? There seems to be a lot of chocolate-and-chia pudding recipes on the Internet, but no products or recipes for solid chocolate-and-chia bars.

And so I headed off to my commercial kitchen to make some Chia Chocolate Bars. I wanted to maintain the health benefits of eating the seeds, so I chose a 71% organic dark chocolate chip made from Peruvian cacao as my base. I chose it because it has an interesting flavour that really stands out. But because chocolate chips are 'bake-stable' chocolate products, they do not melt very easily, nor do they have a nice shine like professional chocolate couverture does. So I added a little cocoa butter to the recipe to get a nice smooth texture and a good shine for my chia chocolate bars.

These solid chocolate bars turned out beautifully. Although I could have poured the chocolate out onto waxed paper and made a nice thin chocolate bark*, I decided to use a variety of the chocolate bar molds that I had on hand to experiment. They were all great, but I found the thinner the piece of chocolate, the more enjoyable it was to eat because the chia seed crunch really stood out. This recipe made the following:

• Four 45 gram chocolate bars, plus six 30 gram chocolate bars, plus ten 20 gram 'discs' (chocolate poured into the bottom of a cupcake tin).

Check out the recipe below if you want to make your own Chia Chocolate Bars. I'm not saying they will make you as skinny as Taylor Swift, but the fun flavour experience will make you want to dance to 'Shake it Off' after just one bite. And THAT will certainly burn some calories.

RECIPE: Chia Chocolate Bars

You need:

• 12 ounces (340g) of organic 70-71% dark chocolate chips, chopped (I used Camino brand of baking chips)
• 1 ounce (28g) solid cocoa butter (chopped or shaved), preferably organic (I used Cacao Barry)+
• 2 ounces (57g) of organic chia seeds* (I used Organic PRANA Chia seeds from Costco)

*Option: for a bark with a heavier crunch and higher cacao content, use only 1 ounce (28g) of chia seeds and 1 ounce (28g) of organic roasted cacao nibs. See below for bark instructions.
+Cocoa butter is not necessary if you use a good couverture chocolate. You can buy couvertures from companies like www.vanillafoodcompany.ca or Google other online retailers near you with the brands Cacao Barry (offers an organic 71% couv), Guittard, Belcolade, etc.

All of the above ingredients can be purchased from the health food aisle in a large grocery store or in a health food store.

Instructions:

Before you start, ensure all your tools and your hands are dry (not even a drop of water can get into your melted chocolate or it will ruin the whole batch!).

1. Melt and temper your 12 ounces of chocolate and cocoa butter. Click here for detailed and accurate-every-time tempering instructions using a double boiler and ice bath, or follow the Simple Tempering Method at the bottom of this recipe.

2. When the temperature is right, toss in your chia seeds and stir until mixed. 

3. Immediately pour a little into the bottom of each cavity of one or two cupcake tins or chocolate bar molds, if you have them*.  Be careful when pouring not to drip any up the sides of the tin. Bang your pan/mold on the counter a few times to remove any air bubbles and spread the chocolate around.  If any remains, pour onto waxed paper and spread around to make a chocolate bark.

4. Let set in the fridge for 1 hour, then take it out and flip the container over onto waxed paper, parchment or plastic wrap on the counter, tapping the cupcake tin or mold until the chocolate releases.

5. Let the chocolate bars or discs come back to room temperature before you package them. Seal in candy bags, plastic wrap, parchment paper or just a tin and consume when needed for up to one year! Store in a cool, dry place (a dark cupboard works best).

*Making a chocolate bark: If you don't have chocolate or cupcake molds, you could also just make a bark by pouring the chocolate and chia mix onto a large piece of waxed paper on a cookie sheet. Spread around and let set for a few minutes, then make rectangular cuts (for bars) or triangular cuts (for bark) with a straight-edges knife. Place the cookie sheet in the fridge for 1 hour, then remove and pull the pieces off of the waxed paper.  Let the chocolate come back to room temperature before you seal in containers.

Please use the comments section below if you have any questions and I will try to help in a timely fashion.  Enjoy! 

***
Simple Tempering Method:
For a more accurate tempering method, click here.

Step 1: Place your chocolate into a microwave-safe bowl.  Melt for 2 minutes on HALF POWER.  Remove and stir until melted or nearly melted. Place back in the microwave for another 15 seconds to bring the temperature up to 120 F (if you do not have a digital candy thermometer, it should be slightly hot to touch) and stir until everything is melted.

Step 2: Add the cocoa butter to the chocolate and stir until fully melted, then continue to stir and reduce the temperature to about 84 or 85 degrees by placing the bottom of your bowl over a bag of frozen peas, frozen fruit or ice.  Stir until the chocolate is the same temperature or cooler than the back of your baby finger when dipped into the chocolate.

Barkleys 'All Natural' Solid Dark Chocolate Bunny

Forget the junk-filled Easter chocolate this year, feed your kids (or yourselves) a tasty chocolate bunny that is all natural, and has no refined cane sugar. In fact, it has no cane sugar at all.

Barkleys, a Canadian chocolate brand from British Columbia, is now selling a 60% dark chocolate bunny sweetened with beet sugar, rather than the usual cane sugar. Many people are making the switch from cane sugar to alternate sweeteners for health reasons these days. Barkley's has introduced just the product to help people who have made the switch through the Easter season.

As for the taste, this bunny has a nice sweetness, but is still bitter.  Truthfully, I thought it was a 70% chocolate, rather than a 60%, which may be influenced by the beet sugar (often cane sugar substitutes will not taste as sweet as actual cane sugar). The flavour was quite mild in fact, just straight up chocolaty with no specific flavours (so if you are into origin chocolate, this may not be your bunny). 

I think anyone who likes Lindt, Godiva or commercial organic dark chocolate bar brands, or a child who likes dark chocolate (my son, for instance), would like this bunny quite a lot.  I personally prefer bean-to-bar, craft chocolate with strong cacao origin flavour influences, but I still enjoyed Barkleys' bunny!

Certainly this is a great product for people who cannot have cane sugar, but still want to enjoy chocolate this Easter.

I purchased my bunny at Bulk Barn, but Barkleys' products are available all across Canada in a variety of retailers.  Click here to learn more.

If you are looking for a milk chocolate bunny that is also all natural, check out my 2013 review of Camino's organic and fair trade bunny here.

Barkleys also makes other all natural products. Learn more about some of their truffle bars here.

Here are the package details from the product that I reviewed today:

Dark Chocolate Bunny, 60% cocoa solids, 100g
Barkleys (Coquitlam, BC)
www.barkleys.ca
Ingredients: Cocoa Mass**, Beet Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Soy Lecithin* (emulsifier), Natural Vanilla Flavouring. Contains soy.  May contain milk, tree nuts and peanuts.  Gluten Free. *Non GMO, Naturally Derived.
**Contains 60% cocoa solids.


***
Please note: I was not paid or given any kind of incentive to write this article. As in most cases with my reviews, I found it while scouting products locally and wanted to share the information.