Choccywoccydoodah Say It With Cake

Choccywoccydoodah are back exclusively on the Good Food channel, weeknights at 9pm from Monday 2nd July for a new series of chocolate mischief and mayhem with even more glitz, glamour, celebrities and of course spectacular cake designs.
The Choccywoccydoodah team has recorded a single called ‘Say it with Cake’ featuring the Brighton and Hove gay male choir as well as the odd celebrity including David Hasslehoff, Brian May, Tara Palmer Tomkinson, and the cast of the West End musical, Wicked!

Please have a look at its video!

This third series of the hugely popular observational documentary sees business booming as the orders for Choccywoccydoodah’s inspiring and outlandish cakes continue to roll in. The pressure is on as the team has to create a stag’s head inspired cake to be auctioned at a showbiz charity fundraiser, attended by A-listers including Ronnie Wood and Manolo Blahnik. The cameras will also be rolling to showcase the team’s unconventional lives as they attend a whirl of society events and glamorous parties, and meet the great and the good, from royal dignitaries to celebrities, delivering cakes and chocolate treats along the way.

Choccywoccydoodah is new and exclusive to Good Food weeknights at 9pm from Monday 2nd July (Sky / HD 247, Virgin 260)

Counting down...

One more day until Good Friday and that means a super long weekend for all the ladies who have been working so hard this week.

Is it just me or does anyone feel like this week is extra long and exhausting?

We all deserve a good break, in fact, the longer the better!

So please give us back the warm sun and 20+ degrees and stuff us with unlimited chocolates!

Here are some ideas on Easter chocolates!

Personalised Chocolate Bunny from Thorntons £6.50

Eton Mess Easter Egg from Thorntons £14.99 

 

Mini Eggs Giant Egg from Cadbury's  £9.99

Classic Eggs and Soldiers from Hotel Chocolat £7.50

 

My personal favourite: Chocolate Duckie from Artisan du Chocolat £3.99 (cutest little duckie ever!)

Will be baking my Hot Cross Buns tomorrow evening for a Good Friday breakfast - recipe to follow!

Melange Chocolate

I was given a gift voucher by colleagues last year as my birthday present, that is the voucher for a Chocolate making workshop for 2! I finally booked myself in for the chocolate making session with Melange Chocolate for a 3.5 hours indulging chocolate course.

There were around 20 of us in a classroom on that day. Isabelle said that it was bigger than usual (should really be just around 10 people), but none of us could change the dates, so she managed to fit us all in. And of course the majority of them were women, all were self-claimed chocoholics. We introduced ourselves and mentioned what kind of chocolate we like to eat (there were some weird ones... like salted savoury chocolate, chilli ones...)

Then Isabelle gave us a brief introduction of the origin of chocolate, from cocoa to powder, to cocoa butter. She even showed us some pictures of the decorative chocolate competitionn held in Paris every year. They were all fashion inspired - ie chocolate couture dresses!

Then we finally got to the first 'making' of the course - making a chocolate ganache. Isabelle heated some double cream then poured onto the milk chocolate buttons and asked us to stir until all chocolates had melted and became glossy. Then she divided the ganache into individual pots (shared between 2 people), and we were asked to flavour the ganache to our own liking! There were limited choice of spices on the table - Cumin, Chilli, Ginger, Cinnamon, Vanilla extract. I flavoured mine with Chilli and Vanilla. Then our ganaches were placed in the freezer for later.

Next, we whipped butter and cream to make buttercream, and flavoured it with vanilla to create Vanilla Buttercream. Then we piped the buttercream into swirly shapes, ready to be put in the fridge.

Then, we were taught how to tamper the chocolate. Dark, Milk and White chocolate need to be tampered to a specific temperatures, and Isabelle demonstrated how it should be done, with a thermometer.

Afterwards, the real fun part began -- coating and decorating our own chocolate truffles.

On the table, we had dark chocolate ganache, our own customised flavoured ganache, vanilla buttercream; White, milk and dark tampered chocolates; many decorations and confetti.

We got down to business and got our hands absolutely covered in chocolate! We rolled ganache into balls, then covered them with tampered chocolate to give its chocolate coating, then added sprinkles, cocoa powder, or drizzle with more chocolate! Some even attempted on double and triple coating!!!

Isabelle provided us with clear plastic gift bags and colourful ribbons to bag up our chocolates, and that was when I realised that we had made so many! We ended up going home with bags and bags of chocolates!

After the workshop, I could not resist but going into Isabelle's shop - the Melange on the high street and purchased a few of her chocolate creations.

All in all, it was a lovely chocolate workshop, and I could not believe how 3.5 hours just flew by so quickly! 

The Melange Chocolate
Melange Chocolate Shop
184 Bellenden Road
Peckham, London SE15 4BW
http://themelange.com/

Email Isabelle (the chocolatier behind this shop) at: info@themelange.com

Afternoon Tea over the Easter weekend

Are you looking for something extra special for the upcoming Easter weekend for your family and your girly friends?
Why not explore Alice in the Wonderland at Sanderson Hotel?
They have a lovely courtyard space which accompanies perfect with the Mad Hatters theme.

Their popular Mad Hatters Afternoon Tea has an Easter theme specials with Chocolate Eggs and even Chocolate Cocktails!
 

Pick up your phones and start calling to reserve a space!
Their reservation number for Mad Hatter's Afternoon Tea is 0207 300 5588.

Sanderson Hotel

50 Berners Street London, W1T 3NG

http://www.sandersonlondon.com