Cooking Quidnunc: 2012

M Thompson Chocolates.

Hi everyone! I know you all must be thinking ‘oh great another post about chocolate’ but trust me, this one is worth the indulgence. I also wanted to let everyone know that January will be dedicated to healthy eating and product reviews. I have some very amazing products flooding my mail box and I can’t wait to review them and share with you all. I also will be doing a few giveaways of food products so stay tuned.

A few days ago I received some samples from a very decadent line of fine chocolates by Marni at M Thompson Chocolates. Marni and her husband are passionate chocolatiers making gourmet chocolates and confections using natural ingredients and the finest couverture chocolate. The chocolates are made by hand, using time-honoured techniques passed down to her from her father who founded Rhéo Thompson Candies in 1969, in Stratford, Ontario.

Marni’s shop is located in Toronto at 388 Carlaw Ave. You can stop by there to try out her sinfully delicious chocolates or you can order them on her website. Her chocolates are also available at a few stores across Canada, the full list can be found here .

There is a wide variety of chocolate and confections available at M Thompson Chocolates. I received a few samples of each, with the smoothie line being my favourite. The smoothie line consists of a delectable square of either dark or milk chocolate filled with a creamy, luxurious filling (peanut butter, mint or chocolate). They were incredibly silky and had a perfect amount of flavour in the centre. It wasn't overwhelming like some chocolates where the filling is so profound that it ruins the chocolate. It really was a perfect treat. These chocolates would make the perfect wedding favour as they come in very cute boxes, or you can purchase a larger box of goodies and send them to someone for a birthday, holiday or just to say ‘hey, you need to try these because they are amazing’!

I also received some of the almond bark, almond butter crunch and nutty pop. The almond bark comes in dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate and all have delicious toasted almonds that make this bark really indulgent. I really like that the pieces of almond are not huge like some of the traditional barks. The almond butter crunch reminded me of a skor bar but 1000 times better! The centre was rich in buttery, almond toffee flavour and the crunch was prefect. They were quite sweet so I could only have one piece for the day. As for the nutty pop, I polished the container in 2 days! The nutty pop is popcorn smothered in rich, buttery toffee with pecans and almonds. It’s one of those snacks that you can’t stop munching on. I just kept snacking on it and before I knew it, it was finished.

Overall I was seriously impressed with the chocolates at M Thompson Chocolates. We all know I’m a chocolate aficionado and so if my taste buds aren't dancing with sugar fairies then well, your chocolate stinks! I strongly urge you chocolate lovers out there to try out Marni’s chocolates, you will not be disappointed!

http://mthompsonchocolates.com/

19 comments

, by Natalie G

baking

Nutella Cupcakes.

Happy end of Boxing Day everyone! How was your shopping? Buy anything interesting? I did my shopping online today and only purchased an immersion blender and some make up brushes. I was looking for a new laptop but none of the deals were enticing. I also need a new winter jacket so I’m hoping there are still decent sales on tomorrow. I have my eye on a beautiful North Face parka but finding it in store will be a nightmare *sigh* The money spending never ends!

Along with spending money, I have been eating so much lately. I can’t help but nibble at food when it’s constantly surrounding me. I don’t have that little thing they call will-power, especially when it comes to chocolate. Basically you know you’re a chocolate addict when the main dessert for Christmas is a lovely homemade coconut cake but since there’s no chocolate in it, you decide to turn into the crazy chocolate lady and whip up a quick choco cupcake to add to the table. I found a fresh jar of nutella in the cupboard and quickly went to my pinterest board to find some nutella recipes. I found a super easy self-frosting nutella cupcake recipe and to the kitchen I went.

These cupcakes were very easy to make and not too many ingredients involved. They were done in about 20 minutes and the whole house smelled of NUTELLA. I dug into one right away and it was delicious! Very warm and fluffy and full of nutella. I wasn't a huge fan of the cupcake itself as it lacked flavor. Next time I would probably try a different cupcake recipe but still use the nutella as the frosting. It really did cure my chocolate fix and it also put me over the top and into a temporary food coma. I need to hit a gym ASAP :)

Self-Frosting Nutella Cupcakes

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup canola or mild vegetable oil
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4-1/2 cup Nutella, at room temperature

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325F. In a medium bowl, beat the butter, oil and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.
In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt; add to the butter mixture and beat on low speed just until combined.
Divide the batter between 12 paper-lined muffin cups.
Warm up the nutella in a microwavable bowl for 10 to 15 seconds. This will help the nutella to drop onto the cupcakes better. Drop a spoonful of nutella on top of each, and swirl through the batter with the tip of a bamboo skewer or knife.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until springy to the touch. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes about 10 to 12 cupcakes.

adapted from oneordinaryday

15 comments

, by Natalie G

Merry Christmas!

8 comments

, by Natalie G

baking

Chocolate Turtles and Rum Cake.

Twas the night before Christmas Eve and all through the house bared the scent of festive cooking! Today we had a pre-Christmas feast and on the menu was a roast chicken, roasted brussel sprouts, sautéed carrots, and roast pork all thanks to my mom. My sister and I tackled the cheddar jalapeno cornbread muffins, smashed potatoes, golden rum cake and homemade turtles. A lot of food right? Yep! We were stuffed to the max. I can’t even imagine preparing more food on Christmas day. The thought of food right now is making me feel ill and that’s quite rare. Thankfully we have a lot of leftovers for tomorrow so I can take a little break from cooking.

As for the recipes today, I am going to share with you the homemade turtles and golden rum cake. Both recipes turned out fantastic and were very simple/no-fuss recipes. The turtles took no more than 5 minutes to make and they are perfect for packing in a cute container and giving to someone as a gift. A few of the pecans on the bottom of each cluster didn't get enough of the melted caramel to mold together and so there were a few spare pecans that fell off. Overall the batch turned out really well and the combo of the toasted pecan and sea salt gave them great flavour. The rum cake turned out really moist and not overly strong in rum flavor. It was so fluffy and light but the top was golden brown with crunchy walnuts. Both excellent recipes for any holiday dinner party!

Homemade Chocolate Turtles

Ingredients

2/3 cup pecans, toasted
16 individually wrapped soft caramel candies
16 bittersweet or milk chocolate disks (1″ to 1 1/2″ disks)
A pinch of Fleur de Sel or other sea salt, to garnish each candy

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F.

2. Divide the pecans into 16 small piles on a parchment paper or a lightly greased cookie sheet (I placed 5 pecans together to form a little pile)

3. Flatten each caramel with your fingers and place on the pecan pile.

4. Place the tray into the heated oven for 2 to 3 minutes or until the caramel softens and begins to melt.

5. Remove tray from the oven and place a chocolate disk upon each cluster, gently pressing the chocolate down into the softened caramel. If your chocolate is too thick and not melting properly, just toss the sheet back into the oven for 30 seconds so that the chocolate melts a bit more.

6. Top each cluster with a pinch of salt and allow the caramel and chocolate to cool and set before removing candies from the pan.

adapted from homemade food of the world

Golden Rum Cake

Ingredients

1 cup chopped walnuts
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup dark rum

Glaze:

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup dark rum

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan and sprinkle chopped nuts evenly over the bottom of the pan.

2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix and pudding mix. Mix in the eggs, 1/2 cup skim milk, oil and 1/2 cup rum. Blend well.

3. Pour batter over chopped nuts in the pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Let sit for 10 minutes in the pan, and then turn out onto serving plate.

4. Poke holes all over the cake using a wooden skewer or toothpick. Brush glaze over top and sides. Allowing the cake to absorb glaze.

5. To make the glaze: in a saucepan, combine butter, 1/4 cup water and 1 cup sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat and continue to boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup rum.

adapted from allrecipies.com

Tips

There was a lot of glaze in the saucepan and I didn’t want the cake to be overly moist. I ended up saving half of the glaze and placed it in a dish on the side. If guests wanted more rum-butter goodness they could drizzle the glaze over their piece of the cake. It is up to you how much glaze you want to put on the cake.
Please use good quality dark rum. Appleton’s, Captain Morgan’s or Havana Club all work well.

9 comments

, by Natalie G

healthy

Sally's Cereal.

9 comments

, by Natalie G

gluten-free

The Simply Bar.

A few months ago I discovered a really great protein bar called, The Simply Bar. I found it while shopping at Sobey’s and at slightly higher cost than most protein bars I still decided to buy it because of the low sugar/fat content. I purchased the chocolate peanut butter flavour because really, how delicious does that sound!

I was actually so shocked at how appealing this bar was to me. 16 g of protein, 160 calories, 3 g of sugar, 4 g fat and 4 g fibre. Not only are these diet friendly, they are celiac/gluten-free and casein free and made with all-natural ingredients. I can actually pronounce all of the ingredients, a first!

The Simply Bar was designed for digestive issues with a top Canadian gastroenterologist and a food technology center. It was designed to:

Have only a handful of ingredients and you had to be able to pronounce them all – that meant no chemical, artificial or junk ingredients.
It needed to be all natural.
Be high in protein (to be filling) but low in fat and sugars.
Be free of the usual things that would trigger digestive upset; it had to be free of gluten, milk, refined sugars, additives/preservatives and bad fats.
And it had to taste good!

I figured that this was all to good to be true and that the bar would not live up to the expectations I had. I opened this bar up an hour or so before the gym as a pre-work out snack. I took a bite and my first thoughts were “holy crap this actually tastes good and is CRUNCHY”. The peanut butter is very subtle but makes for a nice balance between the peanut butter and cocoa flavours. Because the bar is made with NON –GMO Soy crisps, its kind of like eating a rice krisipie cereal bar coated in chocolate/pb goodness. It really is different than any other protein bar I've tasted thus far.

I immediately became hooked on these bar’s and started trying out all of the different flavours. So far these are the existing flavours:

I’ve tried them all expect for the cinnamon-pecan. My favourite flavours are the Lemon Coconut, Peanut Butter Chocolate and Cocoa Coffee. My least favourite is the Caramel Peanut, it has a very off flavour that tastes artificial. While the bar’s are fantastic, make sure to drink water with them as they can be a bit dry! These bar's are available for purchase on their website and in a lot of grocery and health food stores across the GTA.

The Simply Bar has also come out with a line of protein chips and whey bars as well. I did try the protein chips and I was not impressed at all. I actually couldn't even eat the whole bag. They are more like a cracker than a chip and the flavour made me cringe. I do think it’s a fantastic idea though and perhaps some of the other flavours are better.

Overall verdict? I highly recommend the Simply Protein Bar for anyone that wants a healthy, gluten-free, high in protein bar! I am still on a search for other protein bars that are similar to these and will definitely share them with you all!