Chocolate

Cocoa Loco

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Happy national chocolate week, everyone. A celebration that, for some reason, falls on the week after curry week this year. Not that I’m complaining, though, since I only had that one idea for chocolate madras and it means that I can dedicate the entirety of today’s review to cocoa without worry.

Both in it’s bar form and as a probiotic, living barbecue sauce:

Choc19

What exactly that means, you’ll have to wait and see, however. I want to look at Montezuma’s recent limited edition first. Their “Peanut Butter Centre with Chilli & Lime”.

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High-Class Crisps

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Hey folks! It’s been a long time since 💀my last restaurant review💀 but, today, I’m coming to you from all the way out in london’s trendy soho district to feature the craziest establishment that I’ve ever seen.

HipShop

HipChips – A sit down or take away restaurant dedicated to providing the most gourmet version imaginable of a dish that I call “chips and dips”. But no, there aren’t any wide fries here. Every slice of potato is a wafer-thin crisp with a tonne of crunch.

It’s not usually a complex or well-balanced meal but it’s a darn good snack and I’m ever so curious to see what they’ve done to improve it. To spice it up, if you will.

And alright, they’ve provided a free lunch to entice me in but, honestly, I doubt I could have stayed away anyway. It’s just such a wild idea for an eatery!

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Choc Chip Cheese

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Hello again everyone. This time around, we have something weird and rather horrific-sounding, I’ll be honest, but it comes to me from a company that we’ve seen before. One who’s cheeses I thoroughly enjoyed.

Today, though, we’re looking at the latest from them, The Great British Cheese Company. A much madder creation, if you ask me, because it contains chocolate. Chocolate, chilli and lime, to be precise.

GBCChocCheese

And, while it barely looks any different on the outside, it makes no attempt to hide its uniqueness once I’ve peeled back the wax:

GBCChocNude

It’s a pastel shade of cocoa-brown, with whole chips of chocolate and small flakes of both red and green pepper all throughout.

It’s not the most tempting looking snack, even by cheese standards, but the aroma wafting from it holds far greater appeal – An overtone of something akin to green candy, with subtler notes of smooth, creamy chocolate cheesecake. None of their usual strong cheddar here, just a gentle scent that reminds me of either chocolate limes or a mint aero.

It’s rather enticing but smell can only get you so far. What do The Great British Cheese Company have in store for its taste?

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The Mayan Grind

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Hello again, fiery food friends. Having heard from them just last month, I’m sure it comes as no great shock to see Fat Man Chilli Co on here once more but today, we’re getting just a little further out there in ideas.

That probably sounds like a rather bold claim after their wacky green sauce but that’s the thing – Both their green and their chilli ketchup were sauces. This week’s item is anything but.

What I have on show today is a grinder containing their Sweet Child o’ Mayan – A coffee, cocoa and chilli rub intended to glaze dark meats.

MayanChild

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Chimp Choc Chip

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Hey folks, it’s a few days late but I decided to make you something for white day, after all.

And, of course, it was always going to be late. I don’t do recipe posts on thursdays.

This weekend, though, I’ve made something thematically appropriate for you all to have a go at: Chimp chocolate chip cookies, using the leftovers from my recent review.

Truth be told, they didn’t come out exactly as I’d planned but they were so soft, cakey and tasty that I had to share them, regardless.

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Chocolate Chimp

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Konnichiwa yet again, spice lovers, and welcome to another mildly japanese-themed post. This time, a tuesday review, featuring one of my favourite holidays and one of my least favourite companies.

WhiteChimp

You see, I’ve tried all of the Screaming Chimp’s main range (as you can find links to in my sidebar) and I didn’t hate them. In fact, I quite liked a fair few of them, I just didn’t find that the chilli flavour came across very strongly. And they took issue with that.

I don’t dislike their products but I’ve come to hate talking about them because it always ends in a twitter argument that I’d really rather not be a part of. All because I’m trying to give an honest opinion.

But today, I think things are going to be a little different. Because their limited edition sauce certainly is and their chocolate is perfect for a white day post.

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Mexican Moose Cake

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So, spice lovers, today it’s time for another recipe. Or, well, strictly speaking, it isn’t. My recipe of the month typically goes up on the last weekend and there’s still one more to go this january. But hey, I’m sure that none of you will mind getting something a week early.

Today, I intend to show you a birthday cake. One carefully crafted to please an online friend, who I met up with in person for the first time yesterday. And I would have kept that cake between the two of us, if it weren’t for one minor detail: This friend requested chilli.

Why? I’m not sure. I think, perhaps, that they just assumed that it would feature in anything I made but, whatever the reason, I decided to play it safe. I knew nothing of her spice tolerance and she wasn’t the member of the group who was super into hot stuff.

In fact, I knew very little of her food tastes in general. All I had to go on was that she liked things rich and jokingly identified as a moose but, fortunately, that was enough for me to have an idea.

I would make a chocolate mousse cake, at least partially for the bad pun, using some of the mildest, richest peppers that I knew of – The mexican ancho and pasilla. And I’ll show you how I did it, right after that “Continue reading” button. Continue reading →

Proper Choc-Potle

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Hi guys, it’s october again, so we’re going to be looking at a box of sweets.

Or rather, chocolates. Specifically, James’.

James

James Chocolates’ Smokey Chipotle Chocolate Chillies. A rather less prankworthy item than what I showed you last year but hopefully one that you’ll enjoy all the same.

It is, after all, a rather tried and tested flavour combination, used in my early cupcakes, my take on Dorset Chilli Shop’s lava cake and my christmas truffles. I know it works but does it work for James?

Today, I intend to find out.

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Dragon’s Breath Chocolate

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Hey there chilli lovers, it’s the weekend again and, this week, I feel like paying a little tribute to one of my fellow bloggers.

Not a pure food blogger this time, like I’ve Got Cake’s Dana (who inspired my superhot brownie recipe), but one who I’m a big fan of all the same. One who’s stunning pictures of the australian landscape feed my love of bright colours through winter just as much as their recipes make me hungry throughout the rest of the year.

Today, we’re looking at Eat Live Escape and the simple tweaks that turn their recent Dark Cherry Chocolate Bark into an insanely hot, chilli lover’s treat.

Do be warned before I begin, though: This isn’t for the faint of heart or tongue. Today’s recipe uses one of the world’s hottest chillies and winds up reaching a crazy

7.5/10

Heat

that comes close to double the strength of my own hottest past recipes, let alone what restaurants will typically serve. And it’s not like you’ll just be putting a little bit on your meal like with a sauce, either.

If you’re sure you know what you’re getting into, feel free to click on through to the recipe but don’t say I didn’t warn you. For even most chilli fans, ELE’s original recipe will likely be more suitable. My chocolate bark really is just for the select few who eat things unreasonably hot.

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An Easter Add-On

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Hello again everyone, I hope you had a great easter.

This week, I’m celebrating with some seriously hot chocolate so, if you didn’t get all the cocoa-based delight you wanted or, if you’re somehow still not sick of the stuff, read on for my thoughts on the Psycho Chocolate, from Doctor Burnorium’s Hot Sauce Emporium.

pchoc1

It just might be what you need to round off the festivities.

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