Robbie's Fab Profiteroles
Robbie's magnificent profiteroles. As he explained it was very simple. Bring water to a boil with butter then add the flour and stir vigorously until you get a nice consistency. Then add in 2 beaten eggs until you get a nice shiny batter. Drop spoonfuls of the batter onto a baking sheet and bake for 20-25min, careful not to open the oven door or they will deflate! Cool them on a wire rack and pierce a hole in the bottom to ensure they dry out completely. Fill with custard/cream and drizzle with chocolate and there you have fresh profiteroles.

Chocolate incense

The Burger got these for her birthday and decided to share them at the office. When she ripped open the pack in excitement, as they were bought from the lovely Liberty shop on Regent Street, you could instantly smell the incense.

This is not chocolate - it is like eating a bathroom air freshener or inhaling a big dollop of incense at some spiritual healer's house -mixed in with a piece of chocolate. Although it is organic and free of artificial flavours and colors we have not been able to have more than a bite.

The milk chocolate one has Goji berries, which are the popular berries found in the Himalayas and have super health benefits, in it with cardamon oil (which probably is the cause of the smell and awful taste) and the white one has a hint of Ylang Ylang (pronounced ee-lang ee-lang). Not sure what Ylang Ylang is but the essential oil of this is most likely what makes this bar also horrible.

What happened to old fashioned chocolate and nut combo?

A gift for a celeb who has it all - an edible mansion

An 'edible sculpture' of Highbury for Prince Charles

What to give to the superstar who has everything? A reproduction in chocolate of their mansion may be just the thing. Prince Charles, Sting and Nicolas Cage are among those who have commissioned confectionery replicas of their homes - at £2,000 a throw - from a chocolatier in Bath. Kerr Dunlop and Flo Broughton take two to three weeks to create the "edible architecture", and begin by photographing the buildings. Machines spin gallons of chocolate, which is then poured into moulds. Dunlop said: "It's difficult. We build the [homes] in stages, as you would a model.

You can buy these chocolates at Harrods and Prince Charles also agreed to sell them at the Highgrove House gift shop.

Source: Steven Morris, Guardian.co.uk 25 July, 2008

& Daily Mail article with more pics.

Loose legOur organic leg of lamb fell to the ground on Randolph Avenue. The bag split in two and we just stared at the leg as it lay on the pavement...I was then shouted at to pick it up - 3 second rule right? It was hilarious but no flesh to pavement action occurred. It was brought home safely and stored for cooking the next day. One day to Easter and to eating chocolate, crisps and biscuits again!

Life is like a box of chocolates....You never know what you're going to get. Had a crappy day today and thought of two things:

1. Forrest Gump's saying - Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are gonna get (so true!)
2. When life hands you a lemon - make lemonade (as there is nothing else you can do, non?)

A few friends made me smile this evening and while was moping along the street this morning, on the way to the tube I saw the Queen's horses doing their morning trot along Elgin Avenue.

The sight of those horses and carriages and the young soldiers on them always makes me smile like crazy - I don't know why but I think it is the sound (you can hear them coming far before they arrive), strength and beauty of the horses and the smiling faces of the riders (not a bad job to have each morning - trotting through London on a horse!) I sometimes stop and just take a snap with my camera phone. Anyhow that brings me to the chocolate reference above and the Queen.

There is a new chocolate made by the Queen's chocolatiers called Prestat - eating 2 squares a day can give you enough antioxidants that you need. It is true as the press release comes with a whole other page of studies and tests carried out on this magic chocolate. Ain't no need for Madonna to give you a shot of B12 up your arse, just have some chocolate!From the PR for Choxi- Alternatively, you could eat more than 1lb (0.46kg) of Brussels sprouts or over 5lbs (2.3kg) of apples! It is available nationwide from larger Tesco stores. Weight for weight, Choxi+ dark chocolate contains almost 20 times as many antioxidants as blueberries.

It tastes good too! Somehow it has not broke into mainstream media but am sure once it does it will fly off the shelves. Lemonade recipe to come another day that I am feeling miserable!

Turned onto - sherry wine
I received a sherry wine book entitled, The Perfect Marriage - The art of matching food and sherry wines from Jerez from some contacts at a PR agency. One of their clients is the sherry producers of Jerez. In an hour I learned quite a bit about sherry wines and how it is not a drink just for your gran anymore - it is a versatile wine for us to pair with fabulous food dishes. Here is a recipe from the book. Enjoy!

Chocolate Delice With Sherry Prunes & Vanilla Cream

Best paired with: Cream, Moscatel, Pedro Ximénez Sherry

Preparation and cooking time: 30 minutes, plus 8 hours chilling
serves 6

Ingredients

• 12 prunes, stoned and halved
  
• 150 ml cold water
  
• 4 tablespoons PX sherry
  
• 2 handfuls of Raspberries

For the delice

• 75 g free range egg yolks
  
• 100 g caster sugar
  
• 300 g full fat milk
  
• 250 g double cream
  
• 200 g dark chocolate, chopped
  
• 2 tablespoons PX sherry

For the vanilla cream

• 200 ml double cream
  
• 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar (or 2 tablespoons caster sugar and 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract)

Method

Place the prunes in a small pan with the cold water. bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, gently stirring twice. add the sherry and simmer for 2–3 minutes, until the cooking liquid thickens, then leave to cool. Chill, covered, in the fridge.

Meanwhile to make the delice, whisk the egg yolks with half the sugar until pale in colour. Place the remaining sugar in a pan with the milk and cream and bring to a simmer.

Pour the hot cream over the egg yolks, whisking continuously, then return to the pan and cook over a moderate heat, stirring constantly until the custard thickens and coats the back of the spoon.

Place the chocolate and sherry into a metal bowl, pour the hot custard mixture over and gently mix it together until the chocolate melts. Pour through a sieve into a clean bowl. Press some baking parchment on to the surface of the delice and leave to cool. Chill in the fridge for at least 8 hours to set.

To make the vanilla cream whisk the double cream and sugar until it forms soft peaks. Chill in the fridge.

To assemble, use 6 small glass bowls or martini glasses and place a raspberry or a few raspberries in the bottom of each. divide the vanilla cream amongst them. top each with a spoonful of cooked prunes and then a quenelle of the delice. drizzle each dessert with a few teaspoons of the prune liquid.

Tip to quenelle the delice, half fill a heatproof jug with very hot water. sit a dessertspoon in it to warm up – ideally a spoon with a half egg-shaped hollow. run the hot and still slightly damp spoon across the top of the delice, slightly digging it in as you drag it along. the delice should roll up into the spoon and give you an egg-shaped quenelle.