Lucy Loves...chocolate

It being that time of the month, chocolate is on my mind - did you notice? It is like medicine for me... and my two little girls - melt downs and disasters are swiftly averted. A square of chocolate is adminsitered, and normality resumes.

We took delivery of our bulk order from the health food wholesalers. Usually my chocolate of choice is Divine - a fair trade bar, the 70% bar is smoky and sexy, the milk version is creamy and rich. The white with strawberries is to die for. But this time I tried the Green and Blacks (organic) cooking chocolate. Wary at first, becaase cooking chocolate usually means low cocoa mass, this is 72%. In their words, "a combination of cocoa mass, which gives the chocolate its intense flavour, and cocoa butter, which gives it a smooth consistency when melted - makes it suited perfectly for cooking & secondly, each piece of chocolate weighs exactly 5g, making it easy to measure the exact amount needed."
Clever - huh? And taste wise certainly lives up to its write up...
But the best thing? Because it is classed as "cooking" rather than "snacking" it is not a luxury item, and so you don't pay the 21% luxury VAT rate. Hurray!

We have had coconut kisses and up-cycled easter egg cake here on Queen of Puddings in the past week! And while we are on the subject - have you tried my very first posting Chocolate cherry cupcakes? Or my chocolate pavlova with raspberries? Or my red velvet cupcakes with white chocolate cream cheese frosting?
Not yet, what are you, mad?!

And my ultimate All-American chocolate cake - I have fantasies about this one! What, you're gluten-free? Then try my flour-free chocolate cake with almonds

Or feeling worthy? Then I dare you to try my secret brownies made with tofu! No one would EVER guess!

So it would be of no surprise to those of you who don't know me that I used to have a little chocolate making business... rose creams; peppermint creams; Old Morgan spiced vanilla rum truffles; spiced chocolate with orange, cinnamon and chilli;  dark chocolate dipped citrus peel...

I noticed a triple chocolate mousse cake over at The Year of the Cookie - one layer baked, one a mousse and the other lighter and fluffier. I used to love a version of this as a child which my dad and step-mother both claimed to make and I never knew who it was!  Oh the innocence of childhood, my dad would be no more capable of cooking this as push out a baby!
http://theyearofthecookie.blogspot.com/2011/05/triple-chocolate-mousse-cake.html