SPICED HOT CHOCOLATE!

It's hot chocolate weather! Everyone has a favorite hot chocolate recipe- the measure of milkfat alone creates a world of difference. But why not compliment that creamy chocolate taste with a bouquet of spices? The rich flavor of chocolate has so much potential for layering! This is one of our favorites:

5 cups milk (I usually use 2%)
3 tablespoons alkalized cocoa powder
4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Heating the milk is the only part of the process that's anywhere close to intensive. Just make sure you heat it slowly- it only need to be luke-warm. Dissolve the sugar in first and then add spices to taste! Don't be afraid to experiment, and don't forget to top it with whipped cream!

Beautifully rich chocolate cake!

We have an amazingly rich and moist cake recipe for you today- one of our favorites!

  Cake:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 cup Bergenfield Cocoa Powder - Colonial Rosewood - Natural 10/12 Cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Frosting:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup Bergenfield Cocoa Powder - Colonial Rosewood - Natural 10/12 Cocoa
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the cake. Preheat oven to 350 degrees , butter two 9-inch baking pans. Mix your wet ingredients in one bowl, your dry in another, then stir the wet into the dry until consistent.

For the frosting, just mix the ingredients except for the vanilla. Simmer and stir until sugar is dissolved. Add vanilla. Cool partially, then beat with a mixer for 3 minutes or until spreadable.

Pour batter in the pans and bake for around 35 minutes. Use the old toothpicks trick to make sure it's done all the way through. Let cool a while, but frosting it while it's still slightly warm makes it super smooth. 

Enjoy!

Diagramming the Cacao Nib

Imagine chocolate, coffee, and nuts as three overlapping circles in a Venn diagram of delectation. For many of us, coffee breaks, snack-time, or dessert are all about making the round trip through all three of these flavor-zones. Large cup of coffee and a chocolate walnut brownie, anyone?

Good for an occasional treat, but do it all day everyday, and you and your body are gonna have a serious disagreement. So what's the health-conscious, chocolate/coffee/nut friend to do?

Enter the cacao nib, super-food.

The complex flavor, texture, and mouth-feel of the diminutive cacao nib place it squarely in the center of this Venn diagram--the manic little ringmaster of a three-ring circus of dark, over-caffeinated nuttiness.

It's a quirky, mercurial character, this nib, constantly changing while you chew it. The initial, nutty crunch promptly branches off into a coffee-like crescendo while simultaneously laying down a lingering, base-level register of chocolate flavor and mouth-feel. This isn't the fusion of chocolate, coffee, and nut. It's fission--these three elements emanating out from one, small kernel.

I substituted a handful of nibs for my afternoon coffee & pastry break a few weeks back. My body is grateful.


For high-aroma nibs at the best price in the market, order here: http://www.cocoasupply.com/shop/cacao-nibs