» Listings for March 2018

1. Chocolate Roulade Recipe

   Posted on 12:00pm Friday 16th Mar 2018

   

   This recipe for chocolate roulade looks fairly complex, but I promise you it's not as difficult as you think. Just take your time and don't rush the process and you'll end up with a delicious dessert that taste as good as it looks!

   Chocolate Roulade Recipe

   Ingredients

   200g plain dark chocolate

   200g caster sugar

   7 medium eggs, separated

   300g double cream

   3 tablespoons Cointreau or Grand Marnier

   4 tablespoons of icing sugar for dusting

   Fresh raspberries for decorating (or adding into the roulade)

   spring of fresh mint

    

2. Is chocolate vegan?

   Posted on 12:00pm Friday 2nd Mar 2018

   

   Is chocolate vegan?

   It’s a question that we’re increasingly asked, here at Cocoa & Heart. Whether by interested students on one of our chocolate courses wanting to know a little more about the chocolate we’re using or by people wanting to buy some of our high-quality chocolate bars or truffles from our on-line vegan chocolates shop.

   Chocolate comes from a plant and more specifically the pod of the cocao tree. So, in that sense, it could be said to start off life as vegan friendly. However, in the complex and time-consuming process of taking the raw beans and converting them to something like the chocolate we see on supermarket shelves (see our earlier blogs), a variety of additives are mixed in with the chocolate. These include sugar, milk and milkfats, to name just three.

   At this stage it’s probably worth making the distinction between good quality and lesser quality chocolate in terms of the ingredients that they are likely to contain. This is crucial for determining whether the type of chocolate you’re considering buying will be vegan friendly or not.