CHOCOLATE PLUS

There is a saying that for some there is therapy and for the rest of us, there’s chocolate and what’s more it is cheaper than therapy and doesn’t need an appointment!!

Truer words were never spoken at least where my experiences are concerned. Not a single time has chocolate let me down then I turned to it as my “go to” food.

While my consumption has reduced (just a teeny bit), for me it’s a piece of heaven wrapped in crinkly sparkly paper and I so love chocolate jokes:

Teacher: If you had 10 chocolates and someone asks for two, how many do you have left?

Me : 10

Teacher: Okay what if someone forcibly takes two of the chocolates, how many would you have left then.

Me: 10 and a dead body!;)

This is one of my earliest recipes I learnt before I ventured into cooking big time was how to make chocolate. I am including it here along with some variations

Ingredients:

1 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)

2 cups milk powder

1 cup sugar (preferably powdered sugar)

Butter – 50 grams (unsalted only)

Ingredients mentioned in variations: dates, nuts, fruit etc.


Method:

1. In a bowl, mix the cocoa powder and milk powder well.

2. Turn on the stove and melt sugar along with 1.5 cups of water. Add a bit more if it is too thick but do not overdo it.

3. Stir it continuously till it comes to one thread consistency.

4. Add the butter and allow it to melt.

5. Switch off the stove as soon as the butter has melted and it looks frothy.

6. Now add the cocoa-milk powder mixture to this – ONE SPOON AT A TIME stirring continuously till you get the thickness you desire.

7. Step # 5 and 6 is most important. If you end up adding the cocoa – milk powder by the cupful or all at once, it becomes powdery and hard and ruins it completely. You need to add the mixture bit by bit so it looks all shiny and buttery.Do not forget to switch off the stove after the butter has melted.

8. At this stage, it’ll look like chocolate sauce. Transfer it into a bowl and you can use it as a dip mentioned in variations below.

9. OR wait till it cools down completely and you can roll them into chocolate balls. You can also pour the sauce in moulds and allow it to set for a couple of hours

10. Note: If the sauce is too thin even after transferring it to the bowl and it is not really up to rolling consistency, add some more cocoa-milk powder one spoon at a time and stir it well till you get the desired consistency in the same bowl. This has to be done while it is still hot. There is no need to heat this up.

11. Tip: Do wash the vessels immediately as the chocolate tends to harden over time and it would be tough to scrub it off. I use a non stick pan for this recipe.

Variations: now this is the fun part!;)

1. Dip seedless dates in the chocolate mixture until fully coated.

2. Dip strawberries or bananas. You may need to use toothpicks for this.

3. Add raisins and cashews. You can also add bits of roasted almonds.

4. Roll the chocolate balls in desiccated coconut powder.

5. Spread the sauce on sponge cake slices.

Description of pictures above:

I have added raisins and cashews to the mixture.

While still in the sauce stage, I dipped seedless dates till completely coated with chocolate as you can see above.

After the sauce had cooled and hardened slightly (though it still had to cool further), I rolled them into shiny chocolate rounds.

It took all my will power to wait to eat till I clicked the photographs;)

Forget love! I’d rather fall in chocolate;)