Chocolate

Barley Chocolate Chip Cookies

I no longer remember why my friend Michelle and I settled on late November for our trip to New York. It seems a bit nuts looking back. Sure, the week of Thanksgiving is a great time to go to New York if you want cheap flights and low hotel rates. But you will soon discover why there are less than average number of tourists per square meter: it is bloody cold! Walking around all day in sub-zero temperatures while worrying about the forecast snow meant frequent coffee breaks were needed just so we could escape the cold for a bit, warming up with our hands wrapped around multiple mugs of coffee and our winter coats draped over our knees like woollen blankets. It also meant that a bowl of ramen for dinner one night at Ivan Ramen in Clinton Street totally hit the spot. The only reason I decided to wash down my steaming bowl of ramen with iced (!) tea

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Chocolate Chip Cookies with Chickpea Flour

Chickpea flour, also known as gram flour or garbanzo bean flour, is nothing other than dried chickpeas ground to a flour-like powder. It’s been a pantry staple of mine ever since I discovered what the Italians call ‘farinata’ – thick, pancake like slabs of chickpea flour batter, flavoured with rosemary and salt and that have been cooked (well, practically deep-fried given the amount of oil used) at a high temperature on well-oiled baking trays. Street food at its finest (and simplest). Chickpea flour is also great to have on hand when making veggie burgers as it helps absorb excess moisture. And, chickpea flour is a nutrition powerhouse, containing at least double the amount of protein than regular wheat flour while being rich in vitamin B6, iron, magnesium and potassium. Why should you care you ask? Because baking chocolate chip cookies with chickpea flour yields what are possibly the most delicious chocolate chip cookies ever (and that just happen to be gluten-free). Moreish,

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Dark Chocolate Truffles with Sichuan Pepper and Orange

I have always enjoyed making truffles at home – they are simple and quick to make (especially if you skip the step of coating your truffles in tempered chocolate) and just make the perfect present, and not just for Valentine’s Day. I mean, who does not like to receive a box of chocolates to eat all by themselves? Besides, chocolate goes well with most things so truffles are a perfect way of playing around with your favourite flavour combinations. I love the combination of chocolate and orange – the bitterness of dark chocolate contrasts nicely with the bright citrus flavour. Being naturally zesty and lemony in flavour, Sichuan pepper pairs equally well with all things citrus. A sichuan pepper, orange and chocolate truffle was thus the logical next step. And while Sichuan pepper is most famous for that tingling feeling it can leave on your lips and tongue, in terms of heat, it is actually quite mild. The recipe for

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Sticky buns … with an Orange and Chocolate twist

December is here.  This means I have been in Italy for over 1 month now and it is now less than 1 month till I fly home to Germany to see my family (we are not going to talk about what this means for my Christmas shopping, if there is one thing time has taught me is that I will find a present for everyone by the time the 24th of December comes round, however late or early I start the present hunting). I already posted a recipe for a French twist on the typical sticky bun / cinnamon roll recipes, so the recipe for the dough below is the same recipe, again, taken from the Pioneer Woman’s blog. Her recipe for sweet enriched dough (i.e. a basic yeasted dough which is enriched with the addition of fat, here sunflower oil, and sugar) has become my go-to recipe whenever I need a sweet yeasted dough.  Yes, the dough is not

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