A Chocolate Year In Review

Hi Readers and chocolate lovers – it is good to be one and the same!

Christmas provides us with an ideal time to review our year and 2012 has been a year of milestones for the company.

We have successfully relaunched our iconic truffle slices with a new recipe and packaging and they have been received very well by our customers and acclaimed as an improved version of the old. This was a four year project for us involving new machinery that was eye wateringly expensive ( to us at least!). Recipe redesigns take time tasting and testing and can’t be rushed   All that tasting…….. believe me the staff have been known to groan when they are asked to taste several different versions of a truffle slice. However, they are the strictest critics and their highly honed tasting skills are indispensable to the business. Our focus groups were enormously valuable in keeping us on the right track with not only taste but presentation as well.

Our new assortment boxes were launched at the same time. Called “The Truffle Selection” and “The Chocolate Selection” they are a selection of our renown chocolates and truffles. When we put together a selection we aren't looking only at taste but a balance between milk , dark and white chocolate and different centres –smooth, crunchy and creamy. They need to sit together so they look appealing in the box as well as tasting great. We are delighted with what we have achieved and the customers are too – they have been racing off the shelves.

This year was also the year of the Devonport Chocolate shoe.

We have had enormous success  with our handmade shoes and it gives us all great pleasure not only making them but watching peoples faces when they see them. What I haven’t seen is someone eat one. If you have some photos of a chocolate shoe being consumed share them with us- be great to see where you start – the toe or the heel?

At the moment we are looking at some summer versions and also some ravishing Valentine’s shoes.

This year was also our 21^st birthday- A time for reflection on not only what we have achieved already but on where we would like to go and what we would like to develop. This chocolate business of ours is a family one with a great team of staff , loyal suppliers and great stockists.I do like the synergy of all these elements coming together to give our customers a great experience whether it is in one of our shops, sharing a lovely piece of chocolate or giving a gift the recipient will enjoy.

2013 will be another  interesting year and as change is the only thing we can count on watch this space for some new flavours and developments in the Devonport Chocolates story.

Have a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones and  enjoy our beautiful summer.

I have a new book to enjoy, a puppy to hide my shoes from and a garden to nestle in – life is sweet.

Stephanie

Festive Recipe Competition

I have been thinking about chocolate and Christmas and consequently my childhood experiences of chocolate.

Back in the 1950s and 60s gifts we lived on a farm outside Gisborne and collected our mail from the Patutahi Post office. Parcels came wrapped in brown paper and string. Inside the outer wrapping the gift would be wrapped in Christmas paper. A box of chocolate could be clearly identified before the Christmas paper was removed. Nothing else sounded like a box of chocolates when it was shaken and no other gift was going to be the shape of a box of chocolates. Once presents arrived at the farm they were put under the Christmas tree until Christmas morning. By this time we were really looking forward to seeing which variety of chocolate was in the box. The caramels and nuts were always eaten first and there were rules to be obeyed – the second layer could not be enjoyed before the whole of the first layer was eaten. Cadburys, Nestle, Aulsebrooks and Queen Anne were available at this time but there were no handmade chocolate companies that we knew of. In our household chocolate was eaten only at Christmas so we had about eleven months before the next chocolate treat could be savoured.

Apart from commercials chocolates that came in a box – and these were the highlight of Christmas, I recall our festive food consisting of a huge Christmas ham that my poor mother cooked in the old copper, trifle and homemade icecream. I am sure that vegetables and fruit were included somewhere in the menu but I can’t recall them.  However, I do know that they would have been fresh from the vegetable garden.

This lead me to considering the chocolate recipes that we would put  on our website for the festive season this year.  Instead of me posting chocolate recipes, I thought our readers may like to contribute their favourite festive recipes that include chocolate and/or cocoa. All recipes will be tested and the most popular amongst our staff will be posted on the website.

I am really looking forward to the variety that will be submitted, New Zealand is a much more multicultural society than it was in the 1950s and it will be interesting to see the origins of your recipes – please tell me when you use them and the origins of the recipe.

All recipes sent to us by the 25th of November 2012 will go in the draw to win a copy of my book "For the love of chocolate" and one of our Chocolatier's Assortments, we have 5 sets to give away.

Please send your recipes to severitt@devonportchocolates.co.nz, please include your physical delivery address ( no box numbers please), and phone number. 

A delicious afternoon celebrating 21 years

It is fairly unusual to experience two 21^st birthdays in one lifetime but I had the special joy of being able to do just that on Wednesday afternoon.

We held a media workshop to celebrate achieving 21 years in business.

Devonport Chocolates was born sometime in September 1991( the actual date has been lost in the mists of time)  and since we are still going strong  it is a milestone to celebrate.

Julie le Clerc,  Food Editor, Next magazine; Marnie Hallahan North Shore Times;  Heather Vermeer Channel Magazine; Rachael Barrett from Chelsy and Get Frank; Maire Veith, Flagstaff News; and Lisa Morton of Dish all helped us to celebrate.

Assisted by the Devonport Chocolates team they tempered chocolate, made ganache, rolled truffles, dipped truffles and made chocolate shoes.

A photo of the participants in the inaugural media workshop. We had such a great time we are going to repeat the occasion annually.

Julie carefully painting her chocolate shoe mould with tempered coloured cocoa butter – decisions, decisions -  stripes or spots!

Julie’s finished shoe

delicious stripes of yellow, teal and red

Rachael is guided by Rachel, our chocolatier, as she fills her painted shoe mould with chocolate 

Rachael’s finished shoe a symphony of spots and swirls. 

The danger of painting the shoe moulds is the addictive nature of it. As soon as I finish one I want to do another to experiment with different finishes and colours. I like to be quite outrageous with colour and texture happening on the surface of the shoe.

We have some chocolate shoes in our shops that are quite traditional and we also have another collection that are what we have called the Fantasy Collection. They are more experimental in finish and texture.

A bevy of experimental handmade shoes all packaged up ready to go home with their creators.  

Miok,our chocolatier, showing Lisa Morton the fine technique of using a hairdryer to warm the chocolate moulds. 

Some of our equipment is high tech with imported machinery from Italy  but the hairdryers  used are the standard version available from the hardware shop two doors up!

Rachael and Marnie, with Tammy’s help, have made a bowl of chocolate ganache and are ready to pour it into a tray to set.

The fine art of chocolate making  with tips and techniques from professional chocolatiers  gave us all a greater appreciation of how skilled our staff are and we appreciated the participants being such good sports and being prepared to try everything out!

Thanks to you all for such as great afternoon and making my second 21^st such a great event ( It was definitely more fun than my first 21^st. It is odd how with life experience I feel it would be great to be 21 again as long as I could still know what I know now.)

Watch this space for more 21^st events and competitions in our stores and online starting 2^nd of October 2012

Delicious Chocolate and Orange Steamed Pudding for cold winter nights.

My memories of steamed puddings from my childhood are delicious warm sticky pudding with hot custard on a cold night.

The recipe below is a little more fiddly since the oranges need to be glazed but it is well worth the effort and it looks and tastes stunning. It also has the advantage of keeping well if you want to serve it over two nights. It can also serve up to 12 people depending on how generously you cut the slices.

I have an old fashioned steamed pudding bowl that has a hole in the middle and a lid that screws on the top. Otherwise use a stainless steel or ceramic mixing dish that is about 1.2 litres

Serves 8 - 12

Chocolate and Orange Steamed Pudding

200g demerara sugar

2 seedless oranges

200g unsalted butter, softened

200g muscovado sugar

Finely grated zest of one orange

3 tablespoons orange marmalade

3 eggs

150g plain flour

50g Devonport Chocolates dark cocoa

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Make a sugar syrup

Pour 300 ml water into a saucepan and add the sugar, Cook over a gentle heat until dissolved.

Thinly slice each unpeeled orange into 6 – 8 slices Submerge in the sugar syrup. Place a circle of parchment paper on top of the oranges in the pot and cook gently for 30 – 40 minutes. Lift the oranges out gently and place on a rack to drain.

Boil the syrup until it reduces by half (watch carefully – it is easy to turn into sticky toffee.

Butter the pudding bowl and place a disc of parchment paper in the base of the bowl. Place the best orange slice on top. If you are using the traditional bowl with the hole in the centre omit this step.

Line the bowl with the slices of orange.

Cream the butter, muscovado sugar and orange zest until light and fluffy. Add in the orange marmalade and an egg at a time. Sift the flour, baking powder cinnamon and cocoa into the mixture and fold in gently.

Spoon into the orange lined pudding bowl. It should come about three quarters of the way up the sides. Smooth the surface and cover with a disc of parchment paper.

Screw on the lid of the steamed pudding bowl otherwise follow the following directions:

Take a large sheet of foil and fold in half, make a pleat in the centre and place over the basin (the pleat will allow the pudding to expand). Tie the foil around the basin with string and cut away the excess foil.

Stand the basin on a trivet in a deep pot, (if you don’t have a trivet place a tea towel in the bottom of the pot.). Fill with water so it comes about 6cm up the side of the bowl. If you have too much boiling water it will enter the pudding bowl . Put the pot lid on and gently simmer for 2 hours, topping up with water if required.

Remove the lid or foil and insert a skewer in the pudding. If it comes out clean it is cooked. If not recover and steam for a little longer.

Loosen the pudding around the bowl with a thin knife, put a plate on top of the bowl and turnover. It should come out clean.

Trickle a little of the reserved syrup over the pudding. You don’t want the syrup coating the plate so judge it carefully as the pudding soaks up the syrup.

Serve with hot custard, icecream or cream.

Celebrate the Queens Super 60 Years

Inspired by the Queens incredible 60 years we decided to create some limited edition beautifully British chocolates.
So what quintessentially British things would create great chocolate flavours?  My first thought was curry!  We experimented with curry a few years ago and it does go wonderfully with milk chocolate however we thought it may not be everyone's cup of tea and we did think we could be more British than that.

A search on the internet  revealed some typically British desserts and top of the list was Eton Mess.  Now there is a lot of mythical legend that surrounds the creation of Eton Mess.  Originally served in the 1930s at an annual cricket match that Eton plays it was a creation of strawberries and cream or even bananas and cream.  It is thought that meringue was added in the 70's.  The legend part of the story is that at one stage it was dropped on the floor, picked up and still served!  With a fabulous story like that we couldn't resist creating a strawberries, cream and meringue chocolate.

We were busy brainstorming flavours that go with dark chocolate when Earl Grey Tea came up.  I personally love Earl Grey Tea.  Tea is a very tricky flavour to bring out in chocolate.  We brewed Earl Grey Tea in cream over night and then mixed it in with dark chocolate, YUM!  Rumour has it Earl Grey Tea was developed for Earl Grey to suit the predominance of lime in his water at home.

Citrus is always a great mix with white chocolate and when I think of white chocolate I think of lemon, and what goes well with lemon - gin!  England has an interesting history surrounding Gin.  When international relations with France turned sour, England put a huge tax on imported liquor at the same time as allowing unlicensed brewing of gin, hip hip hooray it suddenly became very cheap to brew gin and there was a big demand.  Of course this had ongoing ramifications that weren't particularly pleasant but I can say it goes beautifully with white chocolate and lemon.

Celebrate Mum this Mother's Day

As April gives way to May our thoughts tend to turn to Mother’s Day.  As I was thinking about what to write about Mother’s Day I realised I have never in my life actually learnt about how Mother’s Day started.

I was pleased to find out that even though Mother’s Day as we know it has largely come from a western concept and been adopted by countries in the 20^th century, the celebration of mothers has in fact been happening for centuries.

It all started with an Antolian figure called Cybele.  Along with a number of other goddesses she was referred to as the Earth Mother or Great Mother.  According to Wikipedia, Athens evoked her as a protector and she “arrives in a lion drawn chariot to the accompaniment of wild music, wine and a disorderly following”, reflective of the modern day family?  A number of Roman and Greek festivals celebrated Cybele and could be viewed as the first Mother’s Day festivals.

Modern Day Mother’s Day around the world is a mix of Mother’s Days and International Women’s Days.  In some cultures it is highly offensive to your Mum not to mark Mother’s Day – keep that in mind boys!

Some of the more  fascinating ways Mother’s Day has come into being include the commemoration of the Battle of Coronilla in Bolivia which took place 27^th of May 1812, in this battle women fighting for the country’s independence were killed by the Spanish Army.  In Indonesia Mother’s Day is celebrated on the 22^nd of December, it was the first day of the Indonesian Women Congress in 1928.  It was attended by 30 feminist organisations from 12 cities.  In Egypt Mother’s Day was introduced by journalist Mustafa Amin in his book ‘Smiling America’.  Amin became an advocate for having a Mother’s Day after he was inspired by the story of a widowed mother who devoted her life to her son who became a doctor, married and left without showing her any gratitude.

In New Zealand we adopted the American form of Mother’s Day, we even celebrate it on the same date.  While traditions vary around the world in New Zealand, as I am sure you are all aware Mother’s Day is a time to say “Thanks Mum!” , spend some special time together and give Mum a break for the day. 

So where does chocolate fit in to Mother’s Day?  I could be scientific and say chocolate will help your Mum relax!  The release of endorphins aided by chocolate calms the mind!  Or you could have fun making Mum a cake or visiting a Devonport Chocolates store to choose a delicious gift for her.

For the love of chocolate

Have you noticed that over the last 10 years New Zealand has seen an increase in the number of gourmet chocolate producers and even the big names like Whittakers, Cadburys and Nestle seem to be bringing out more variations of chocolate.  This is because New Zealanders are embracing chocolate like never before and whether you prefer gourmet handmade chocolate or need a quick fix from your supermarket, more and more of you are enjoying chocolate.  To celebrate New Zealanders obsession with chocolate and as a continuation of her own my Mum, Stephanie Everitt was asked by Bateman Publishing to write a book on the history of chocolate in New Zealand and she spent a year researching, experimenting and cooking to produce a book with something for all chocoholics.  If you like to bake with chocolate, want to make your own delicious truffles or want to know a few tips and tricks of the trade this is a great book to add to your collection (but of course I would say that!).  This sweet little treat of a book will made a great present for Mother’s Day or try this delicious recipe below just one of the heaps that didn’t make it into the book but it is still delicious!

For the love of chocolate is available from all good book stores , Whitcoulls and Devonport Chocolates stores.

White Chocolate Macadamia Biscotti

Makes about 70 pieces

180g unsalted butter, melted & cooled

230g caster sugar

3 eggs (room temperature)

Finely grated zest of three lemons

1 teaspoon natural vanilla extra

200g Devonport Chocolates white chocolate calletts

120g macadamia nut halves

375g plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius

Line two trays with baking paper

Combine melted butter, sugar, eggs, lemon zest and vanilla in a large bowl and whisk with a fork

Stir in the chocolate and macadamia nuts.

In another bowl sift together the flour and baking powder.

Add to the butter mixture stirring with a wooden spoon to form a soft , sticky dough.

Divide the mixture into four equal portions

Transfer each portion to a lightly floured board and shape into 5 x 20cm log

Place on the trays 8cm apart, allowing room for spreading, flatten each log slightly with your hand.

Bake, swapping trays halfway through for 30 – 35 minutes or until logs are firm to touch.

Set aside to cool on trays.

Reduce the oven temperature to 150 degrees Celsius.

Use a sharp knife to cut the 2 logs into 1cm thick slices on an angle

Spread on the trays, bake, turning them over halfway through cooking for 20 minutes or until the biscotti are crisp and beginning to colour.

Cool on the trays.

Repeat with the remaining logs.

The biscotti will keep for two weeks if stored in an airtight container.

This recipe is ideal to use for a gift.

Pack the biscotti in attractive jars, tins or boxes. Line the boxes and tins with strips of baking paper and tie with ribbon, string or raffia.

Froggy Chocolate Cupcakes, perfect for school holiday fun

I absolutely love cupcakes, they are fun to make and decorate. With the first lot of school holidays at our doorstep I thought I would share this easy recipe. They are perfect for making with help from the kids.

Delicious Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

½ cup Devonport Chocolates cocoa powder

1 ¾ cups plain flour

1 ½ cups of sugar

1 ½ tsps baking soda

¾ tsp baking powder

¾ tsp salt

2 large eggs

¾ cup warm water

¾ cup buttermilk (normally found next to premade custards in the fridge in the supermarket)

3 tbsp sunflower oil

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

½ cup Devonport Chocolates 70% callets

Whipped Milk Chocolate Ganache:

250ml pouring cream

410g Devonport Chocolates Callets Milk

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line muffin tins with muffin liners and set aside (makes 18-24)
Sift together cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Add eggs, warm water, buttermilk, sunflower oil, vanilla and chocolate drops and mix until smooth. Remember to scrape down the sides ensuring it is well mixed. Divide cupcake mix among muffin cups and fill approximately 2/3 full. Bake until tops spring back approximately 15-20 minutes.

Transfer to a wire rack to let cool.

When cupcakes are completely cool make the ganache.

Bring cream to the boil in a small saucepan then remove from heat. Add chocolate and stir until the chocolate is completely melted and the cream and chocolate are combined.

Put ganache in a bowl, cover and put in the fridge for minimum half an hour – I put mine in for one hour.

Beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, if mixture warms up again (my kitchen is particularly hot) put it back in the fridge briefly.

Put mixture in a piping bag with a star piping tip.

Get all of the air out of the piping bag and starting at the outside edge of the cupcake swirl into the middle. Decorate with your favourite chocolate treat, I used our chocolate frogs available in our Devonport Chocolates Stores.