Chillies and Chocolate in Fife - Part One

So where do you think Claire, Foodie Quine, and I are posing?  Are we on a cruise the Med or the Norwegian Fjords?   Well, no actually, we are in the Kingdom of Fife in Scotland on a Chilli-Chocolate Food Trip with Welcome to Fife. More about where this sunny photo was taken in part two.


We started our chilli-chocolate tour of Fife in Ceres and travelled a few miles to visit Chillilicious, Scotland's first chilli farm.  I met with Patricia Galfskiy at the chilli farm where she and her daughter have developed this family run food and art venture cretaing homemade chilli food and gift items. The  new visitor's centre provided an opportunity to taste some of the Chilli chutney that Patricia makes, I tried them all, well it would be rude not to, and they were all very good.  Most memorable for me was the Monkey Punch Chilli Chutney which contains banana, kiwi, lime and jalapeno chillies.  I loved this combination of flavours really unusual.

 Possibly my favourite thing in the Chillilicous shop was the Pimento Ginger Beer.  I love ginger beer and this has the most amazing chilli kick, right at the back of your throat, a must for all chilli lovers.


We then moved on to the chilli tunnel  where you can pick your own chillies or buy plants.  Chillilicious grow approximately 4,000 chilli plants per ear and their speciality is the wide and varied range of rare and super-hot chillies, growing between 50-75 different varieties every year.  Last year the talk of the chilli world was the Carolina Reaper and this year it's all about the Chocolate Bhutlah, both of these chillies are grown at Chillilicious.


These are the chillies that I picked, unfortunately I can't remember the name of them all.  What I did learn is that the more crinkly the chilli, the hotter is going to be!  I'm hoping to cook up some recipes with these chillies soon.



Sophie had made a tray of Chocolate Chilli Truffles for us to try and she cut them and coated with cocoa powder, the chilli heat was subtle although I have to say that Sophie kindly gave us some to take away and when I tried them again at home, I felt that there was more heat, it may have been that my palate had been blunted by too much chocolate and whisky!


Behind the chocolate boutique there is a quirky cafe, The Cocoa Tree Cafe.  Here you can enjoy a relaxed lunch, coffee, afternoon tea or one of those gorgeous hot chocolate drinks.  There is plenty of reading material in the cafe, some of it under the glass on the table tops, but also a range of chocolate themed books to read.  The staff were delightful and it is clear that Sophie's passion and high standards pervade the whole establishment.  I would highly recommend a visit to the cafe and chocolate boutique.

Coming in part two of Chillies and Chocolate in Fife - Seafood and Gin! 

Disclaimer: I was the guest of Welcome to Fife and I'd like to thank them and the host organisations  who made this a truly memorable trip.

Labels: chilli, Chillilicious, chocolate, chutney, Drinking Chocolate, Fife, Laphroig, liqueur, Pittenweem, review, The Cocoa Tree Cafe, truffles, Welcome to Fife, whisky

posted by Janice @ 07:00 10 Comments

Chocolate Caramel Malteser Cake

Chocolate cake is the usual request for celebration cakes in our house and I've made quite a few different kinds of chocolate cakes over the years.  I'm easily bored, so always like to use or create a new recipe and I found my inspiration at Lavender and Lovage, where my friend, Karen had posted a Salted Caramel and Chocolate Fudge Birthday Cake, many thanks to Karen for allowing me to post her recipe here with my minor variations.

Salted Caramel is very on trend and we love it, but as this cake had to be eaten by family with ages ranging from 2 years old to 90+ years old, I needed to keep the flavours a little more traditional, so I took out the salt but kept the caramel.

Maltesers make a really effective and simple decoration and they certainly went down well with everyone.

Chocolate Caramel Malteser Cake
140g crème fraiche
125g  butter
200g soft light brown sugar
2 drops vanilla extract
4 free-range eggs
170g plain flour
50g cocoa powder (not hot chocolate)
1 teaspoon baking powder

Labels: cake, caramel, chocolate, Lavender and Lovage, Maltesers

posted by Janice @ 13:02 34 Comments

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Scones

I spent Sunday afternoon in the kitchen.  That's not unusual, but I hadn't been able to use my oven for a couple of weeks due to the installation of a wooden floor.  Regular readers will know that I've been having a bit of a time of it over the last 18 months or so, with dry rot treatment and rebuilding half our farm house.  We are on the home stretch now and the kitchen floor is the final major disruption.

Anyway, back to the baking, I wanted to make something relatively quick and easy but also satisfying, so scones were what came to mind.  I'm always looking to fit in my kitchen exploits with one or other of the linky challenges run on other food blogs. I haven't entered We Should Cocoa for far too long and for August,  Choclette at Tin and Thyme has given us free rein with an 'Anything Goes' theme, so throw in a bit of chocolate and voila!



Peanut Butter and Chocolate Scones
Makes 12-16 scones depending on how you cut them

400g spelt or wholemeal flour
100g oatbran (if you don't have any, then substitute flour)
4 level tsp baking powder
100g soft butter
3 tbsp crunchy peanut butter
50g soft brown sugar
100g dark chocolate chips
2 eggs, beaten
milk
2 tbsp dark chocolate spread

1. Heat the oven to 200C
2. Place the flour, oatbran and baking powder in a large bowl and mix together
3. Rub in the butter and peanut butter until you have fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Stir in the eggs and enough milk to make a soft dough, reserving a little milk  to glaze.
5. Add the chocolate spread in teaspoonfuls and swirl through the dough with a knife, do not overwork or your scones will be tough.
6. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
7. Press the dough onto the tray in a rough circle about 1.25cm thick, mark lightly into wedges with a knife.  Brush with milk.
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown, leave to cool slightly then slide onto a cooling tray.

And the result...a huge success. The scones are so full of good things, they are not too sweet with just enough of a crunch of peanuts and swirls of chocolate to make them a great alternative to richer cakes.


Why not link up your chocolate recipe to We Should Cocoa?

Labels: baking, chocolate, chocolate spread, easy, oatbran, peanut butter, scone, spelt, We should Cocoa

posted by Janice @ 21:27 13 Comments

Seafood Risotto and an Italian Deli experience

Of all the countries I have visited, my first choice would always be Italy.  I first visited with my parents when I was 15 years old and immediately fell in love with the markets, the architecture and the art.  It took until 2009 before I was able to return and found it was even better!

Montalcino

Of course, for me, food is a really important part of my holiday and it's lovely to try to recreate dishes that you have tasted on holiday.  Getting the right ingredients makes all the difference when making dishes from another country.  I was delighted when UFUUD contacted me to try some products from their extensive selection.

An Italian Deli in Montalicino

UFUUD is the UK’s place to buy Italian food online, it is synonymous with high quality and tradition. As the number one portal in the UK to purchase traditional products, they offer a wide array of exclusive goods that come from 60 local producers throughout 16 regions of Italy. Some of their most popular products include cold cuts, pasta, ready-made sauces, oil, rice, vinegar and sweets, to name a few. At UFUUD  they have the passion to satisfy the tastes of everyone looking to savour the tastes that are the foundation of our country’s gastronomy.

Here is what I ordered from UFUUD :

The website it easy to use and each product comes with detailed information about the product including the ingredients (where appropriate) conservation information and chef's advice.  Search the site by FOOD, DRINK, ORGANIC OR PROMO.


The products in the photo collage above were used in the Seafood Risotto. The carnaroli is a lovely quality, creamy but it didn't disintegrate when cooked in the risotto.   I loved the big soft chunks of long fin tuna, quite unlike those I usually buy in a tin, it was much more like real fish.  The marinated anchovies were soft and delicious and not overly salty.  The Romaniae Terrae Pecorino caused some comment from the family who asked why I had a 'roll' in the fridge!  The cheese is semi-hard and has a good strong flavour.  I found the wheat berries a bit of an annoyance as they are too hard to eat.  I dare say they add flavour to the cheese.  The other ingredient is my wild garlic pesto.

Seafood Risotto
Serves 4-6

1 tbsp olive oil from the Long Fin Tuna
1 onion, finely chopped
250g Carnaroli risotto rice
900ml fresh fish or vegetable stock, hot
4 tbsp wild garlic or other green pesto
180g Long Fin Tuna, drained
40g Marinated Anchovies
240g prawns
100g Romaniae Terrae Pecorino

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. 
2. Add the rice, stir for 1 minute, add a 50ml of stock and simmer until evaporated then add 400ml of the stock and simmer again, stirring occasionally, for about 8 minutes, until most of the stock has been absorbed.
3. Add the remaining stock and repeat, cooking for a further 10-12 minutes, until the rice is cooked but still has a slight bite to it.
4. Stir in the pesto and cook for 1 minute.
5. Remove from the heat, stir in 60g of Pecorino finely chopped or crumbled and season to taste.
6. Add the tuna, anchovies and prawns and gently stir into the risotto.
7. Serve with the remaining 40g of Pecorino in finely shaved slivers over the top.

Other dishes that I have made with the goodies from UFUUD are Taragna Polenta for my Mackerel with Madeirean Special Sauce.




I used a little of the left over chocolate pastry from the Double Chocolate Tartlets to make some mini tartlets and filled them with a mixture of cream cheese, double cream, some of the juice and chopped up cherries from the Sun-Cooked Morello Cherries and, of course, a cherry on top, absolutely gorgeous.  The only thing about these cherries is they have the stones in, so you do have to be careful of your teeth!

The Cinnamon Chocolate Bar  is rather gritty in texture, but has a really good chocolate flavour.

This little jar of Mostarda, Spicy Fig Mustard, undoubtedly stole the show.  I just loved the contrast of the sweet, jammy fig chutney and the spicy mustard. At £9.00 it's expensive for  160g  so definitely a special treat.  It would be possible to buy substitute products at a much lower price, but it is precisely the quality of the products that UFUUD stock that makes them worth having.  Not everything is expensive, many of the products such as the pastas and polenta are good value, as well as good quality.  But there is no doubt that UFUUD provide an authentic deli experience and I certainly will be visiting again.

Labels: chocolate, long fin tuna, marinated anchovies, morello cherries, mostarda, pecorino, Pesto, Polenta, prawns, risotto, Seafood, UFUUD, Wild Garlic

posted by Janice @ 20:58 15 Comments

Double Chocolate Tartlets - Teatime in Paris

It's nice to be able to impress your friends and family with a dessert that looks like it was made by a pastry chef, but  I often feel those fancy French pastries are beyond my ability or available time.  I had heard that chocolate pastry was really difficult to work with and ganache seems like a tricky thing to make,  however nothing could be further from the truth as you can see from these Double Chocolate Tartlets.

It's all thanks to Jill Colonna, author of Mad about Macarons,  the book where she debunked the myth that macarons are difficult to make, (see The Great Macaron Challenge) this time she has taken on the challenge of making French Patisserie recipes accessible to all in her new book Teatime in Paris.


The book begins with some introductory chapters demystifying Parisian pastry, "How the French eat pastry and yet can stay slim" and a very useful chapter entitled "French Pastry a step at a time".  Jill then goes on to provide some notes on ingredients to help you make a success of your bakes. Then we get into the recipe chapters, each has a story sometimes a little history all of which makes this an entertaining read as well as a practical cook book.

Here are a few of the recipes that stood out for me by chapter:
Something for Teatime:  Honey, Rose and Green Tea Madeleines; Almond Tuiles and Speculoos Ice Cream.
Choux Time: A step by step guide to making choux pastry; Cream Puffs; Lemon and Verbena mini-Eclairs and Coffee Eclairs (omg)
French Tartlets: Caramel, Walnut and Maple Tartlets, Double Chocolate Tartlets (see below) and Fast Fig, Almond and Lavender Tart.
Millefeuilles; Mint and Strawberry Millefeuille and Wild Blackberry Millefeuille.
Parisian Macarons: Step by Step guide to making macarons; Salted Caramel Macarons; Raspberry, Lime and Tarragon "Maclairs" and Rhubarb and Poppy Macarons.
A French Tea Party:  Paris-Brest-Edinburgh Choux-Nut, Lime and Bitter Chocolate 'Maclair' Tartlets and St Honore with Violet.

Towards the end of the book a chapter called Favourite Sweet Walks in Paris  takes you on a guided walk around the "City of Light" pointing out some of the famous and best patisseries in Paris.

Finally there are a few suggestions for essential and luxury baking equipment.

Who is it for? Anyone who likes to bake and is looking for a little bit of a challenge, but likes the idea of a helping hand and simple instructions written not by a pastry chef but by a home baker like themselves.

Pros: A wide range of fancy pattiserie, cakes and dessert recipes are provided.  The step by step instructions with pictures are really clear and there are lots of extra tips from Jill.  I also like that you have the basis for creating your own variations on the recipe.

Cons: If you already have Mad about Macarons, then you already have the instructions on macaron making, although there are some new flavours to entice your palate.

The Verdict: Programmes like the Great British Bake off have brought pastries like Paris Brest, macarons and all manner of fancy tartlets into the British consciousness as something that can be made at home.  This book gives you the tools to create these yourself and, if my experience is anything to go by, Jill's recipes make them much easier than you would think.


Here is Jill's recipe for Tartelettes au Chocolat, and the story that goes with it:

Having visited Sacré-Coeur and dodged past the giant rolls of colourful fabrics at the bottom of Montmartre’s bustling hill, head to Rue des Martyrs to escape the summer crowds. The further south of Pigalle (SoPi) you walk towards the 9th district, the more tempting pastry and chocolate boutiques appear. One of my favourites is Sébastian Gaudard and just across the road is a little chocolate shop and yet more pastries at Arnaud Delmontel. The beauty of these chocolate tartlets is that the variations are endless. Serve them plain with a simple dusting of unsweetened Belgian cocoa powder, or spoon a tablespoon of jam on the bases before pouring on the ganache and topping with fruits.

Tartlettes au Chocolat/Double Chocolate Tartlets
Makes 8 tartlets
Preparation time: 25 minutes, Cooking time: 30 minutes, Chilling time: 1 hour 30 minutes, Temperature: 160°C/320°F fan (Gas 4)

Chocolate pastry cases:
125g butter, at room temperature
75g icing sugar (confectioner’s sugar)
½ tsp salt
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla extract (optional)
240g plain flour all-purpose), sifted
20g unsweetened cocoa powder

Ganache filling: 
160g dark chocolate (at least 60% solids)
80g milk chocolate
230g single cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Using a stand mixer with a paddle beater, slowly mix the butter, sugar and salt until pale and creamy. Just for a few seconds, gradually add the other ingredients until the dough is well mixed, then stop. Form a ball, wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least an hour. Cut out eight tartlets. 
2. Bake the tartlets for 10–15 minutes at 160°C/320°F fan (Gas 4). Allow to cool, and remove from their moulds.
3. To make the ganache filling, break the chocolate into chunks in a bowl. Heat the cream with the vanilla extract in a saucepan until nearly boiling. Pour over half of the hot cream directly into the bowl of chocolate.
4. Stir using a wooden spoon and combine until the ganache is smooth. Top with the rest of the hot cream and stir until completely melted and silky.
5. Pour the hot ganache into each tartlet and top with a cherry, berries or keep plain. Leave to chill in the fridge for at least an hour to set. Take the tartlets out of the fridge 30 minutes before eating.

Variations:

• Infuse the seeds of 12 cardamom pods and a teaspoon of grated ginger in the cream while making the ganache and serve with a mango and passion fruit salad. 
• Why not spread the bases with thick cut marmalade and top with Cape gooseberries?

Teatime in Paris! A Walk Through Easy French Patisserie Recipes
Author: Jill Colonna
Published by Waverley Books, 7th May 2015
RRP £14.99

For recipes and more information about Jill Colonna's books visit the Mad about Macarons website


a Rafflecopter giveaway

I'm entering the Double Chocolate Tartlets for three different challenges.

• A new blogging challenge, Perfecting Patisserie is just perfect for this recipe, it's being hosted by Lucy at Baking Queen 74 and Kevin at The Crafty Larder
• Treat Petite is featuring Eurovision treats this month and as this is French patisserie, it qualifies (douze points s'il vous plait). Treat Petite is the brain child of Stuart at Cakey Boi and Kat at The Baking Explorer.
• And finally, one of the first ever blogging challenges We Should Cocoa, the theme is always chocolate but this time with Vanilla, which this recipe contains. The 'We Should Cocoa' Linky's home is at Tin and Thyme, the blog of Choclette Cacao, but it's being hosted this month by Karen at Lavender and Lovage. 

Labels: chocolate, Cook book review, ganache, giveaway. win, Jill Colonna. Paris, pattiserie, Perfecting Patisserie, review, tart, tartlet, Teatime, Treat Petite, We should Cocoa

posted by Janice @ 07:00 39 Comments

Marbled Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins

When I was asked by Dr. Oetker  to bake one of their Chocolate Indulgence recipes. I chose these Marbled Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins.  I love to bake muffins, they are easy to make and just the right size for a sweet treat with a cup of tea or coffee, I also often serve muffins instead of dessert and they are always welcomed.


Dr. Oetker has a great range of products and tools to help you make a great chocolatey bake. They have several varieties of cooking chocolate, chocolate decorations and powders that make it so simple to make a tasty chocolatey bake.  There are also lots of great recipes on the website to help inspire you. 





The muffins were very easy to make, you do need to make two different mixtures, one with the cream cheese the other with melted chocolate, then you swirl the two together to get the marbled effect. I liked that they are not too sweet and there is a definite cheesecake flavour.  There are many more delicious recipes on the Dr. Oetker website for you to try. 


I couldn't resist using up the remaining cream cheese to make some Cream Cheese Frosting and decorating the muffins with Dr. Oetker Chocolate Hearts and Dr. Oetker Chocolate and Silver Pearls I took them into work to share them with my colleagues who were duly grateful!

Labels: baking, Cheesecake, chocolate, Dr. Oetker, Easter, Muffins

posted by Janice @ 06:30 8 Comments

Easy White Chocolate Eton Mess Ice Cream

Ice Cream in January, with all the snow and ice? What am I thinking about?  Indeed, I am shivering just looking at the picture, however it's nice to have a change from the rich fare we have been eating in December.

This particular ice cream is the result of me defrosting the freezer, you see I found a small carton of strawberry puree from summer 2012!  I let it thaw and had a taste and it was fine, but needed to be used.  I also had a single white chocolate meringue left over from New Year, a teeny tiny bar of Green and Blacks White Chocolate and  a tub of Creme Fraiche in the fridge, it was either Eton Mess or Eton Mess Ice Cream.


Easy White Chocolate Eton Mess Ice Cream

250g ripe strawberries
100g caster sugar
300g Creme Fraiche
1  left over meringue crushed into chunks not powder
25g white chocolate

1. To make the strawberry puree, hull the strawberries and crush them with the sugar, either in a food processor or with a fork, it will take you a bit longer but you do get some nice chunky bits of strawberry.

2. Mix the strawberry puree with the creme fraiche, cut the chocolate into chunks and mix it into the strawberry mixture.   Put in an ice cream maker to churn or put the bowl into the freezer until the ice cream is firm.  I would recommend using a shallow flat dish as it will freeze quicker.

3. Take the ice cream out of the freezer every 30-45 minutes and break up the ice crystals by whisking with a fork.  The third time you do this, the ice cream should be firm enough to mix in the crushed meringue, then leave it to freeze until firm.

4. To serve, take the ice cream out of the freezer and place in the fridge for about 20 minutes until it is soft enough to scoop.

As I used half-fat creme fraiche, the ice cream was more crystallised.  You get a better result with full fat products but it is still delicious. 


I'm entering this ice cream for the double-bubble blog event We Should Cocoa/Bloggers Scream for Ice Cream being jointly run by Choclette at Chocolate Log Blog and Kavita at Kavey Eats.

I am also entering this for the No Waste Food Challenge run by Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary.  The strawberry puree I used was rescued from the freezer and the single meringue was left over from New Year.

Labels: Bloggers Scream for Ice Cream, chocolate, Eton Mess, ice cream, meringue, No Waste Food Challenge, We should Cocoa

posted by Janice @ 07:00 25 Comments

Chocolate Mincemeat Tart

I like lots of mincemeat in my tarts and sometimes find that the small tarts tend towards an overload of pastry and not much mincemeat whereas a nice big tart means that it's mostly filling.  The mincemeat I used for the tart is Instant Chocolate Mincemeat, this is mincemeat that you can mix up quickly using any mixture of dried fruits  you have in your cupboard you can also add nuts, the chopped chocolate adds a lovely richness to the fruit mixture. Makes approximately 2 medium jars.


Chocolate Mincemeat Tart

for the mincemeat
Zest of a lemon
Juice of half a lemon

Labels: almonds, chocolate, dried fruit, Kitchencraft, mincemeat, OXO Good Grips, pastry, suet, tart

posted by Janice @ 07:00 25 Comments

Five go to Chocolate Heaven

As a child I loved Play School.  It wasn't Big Ted and little Ted or the silly songs and antics that I enjoyed so much, what I was waiting for was when the cameras took you through one of the 'windows', square, round or arched, it didn't really matter as long as we were going out into the world to visit a factory or workshop.  Of course, even then my favourite factories were the ones which involved food!

Rachel, Jac, Becca, Janice, Stuart

I'm still fascinated by how things are made, so I was thrilled when Jac of Tinned Tomatoes invited me to join her, Rachel Cotterill, Becca from Amuse your Bouche and Stuart from Cakeyboi on a visit to Thorntons Chocolate factory at Alfreton in Derbyshire.


Thorntons have been making sweets and chocolate since 1911 and in the UK we all familiar with their shops and coffee shops.  However, until I got my invitation to visit the Thorntons factory I had no idea where it was located.  The factory is located in Alfreton, Derbyshire and pretty much everything that Throntons do is based here in a series of buildings.  As well as actually making the chocolates, toffee, all of their recipe and product development, marketing are based at the factory.  They even have their own graphics department because Thorntons believe that they know their products best and prefer to have control of all aspects of their processes.

After meeting at Alfreton Station, we were taken by taxi to the Thorntons Factory.  We were welcomed by John and ushered into the boardroom where we were treated to delicious lunch.  All around the room there were displays of Thorntons finest chocolates.


There was a seasonal aspect to most of the display with huge versions of Thorntons Advent Calendars,  moulded chocolate versions of the Gruffalo and the Snowman and more traditional Santas to hang on the tree.  The 'Smile' Advent Calendar (top right) is really fun as you turn the wheel at the side to find the number for each day.   Then it was time for our tour of the factory.


As chocolate is a food product, we were provided with white coats, hair nets and special shoes, a really 'special' look!  We weren't allowed to take in any jewellery, watches or our phones or cameras. Can you hear the anguished gasps, food bloggers with no cameras, how does that work?  It was actually quite liberating as I felt I could concentrate on watching and listening rather than taking photographs.  Fortunately, Thorntons provided us with some images from the factory to add to our posts.


Easter Eggs are in full production at Thorntons, they start making them in September.  It was fascinating to see how the moulds are warmed first, then the different coloured decorations go into the moulds, they go though a cooling 'tunnel' to set them and then the milk or plain chocolate is added.

Once all the chocolate is in the mould the top is fitted and attached to one of these machines which moves them around, spreading the chocolate evenly around the mould.  Do you remember how Easter eggs used to come in two halves?  Well, it's this machine that is responsible for enabling the egg to be made in one piece.   Once set, the eggs are un-moulded and checked by hand, any that don't meet the quality standards are rejected and melted down again.

This is a Thorntons Continental Nougat Delight which I had a hand in creating.  They didn't let us loose on anything too difficult but we each got the opportunity to pipe the chocolate in a shell pattern on the top of the nougat container and then to fill with our choice of chocolates.  The 'icing' gun was super sensitive but we had it easy, in real life the conveyor belt is moving while the piping is going on! I was most impressed by the way they wrapped the caskets, the machine was called a 'pork pie' machine and it created a perfect gathered fold on the base.  It was good fun and the staff in Thorntons were really kind and helpful.


Thorntons are famed for their delicious Special Toffee and we were able to see the process from the boiling of the ingredients right through to bagging and boxing.  In the photo above, you will see the 'kettles' used to boil the toffee, right at the back.  It's stirred while it boils a bit like a giant Kitchen Aid.  Once the toffee reaches the correct setting point where the crystals are 'uneven' it is poured, still bubbling, into troughs and then those troughs are moved along runners dispensing toffee into rows of trays.  The trays sit on a cooled rack and huge fans blow cold air over them to help them set quickly.


The crystal structure is really important as it is what makes the toffee break into the characteristic shards.  Thorntons Toffee used to be broken by hand with toffee hammers but now the process is automated. When the slabs of toffee have cooled, they are moved through to the toffee smashing machine.  Slabs of tofee are loaded onto vertical conveyors, fed down inside the machine and smashed by tow plates, there is a real band when the toffee breaks. The shards then go through a winnowing machine to take out the tiny pieces and also those which are too big. All the rejected toffee goes back to be melted down again.


Once broken the toffee feeds through into the packing machine which pulls through the foils makes it into bags and fills them with the correct weight of toffee, then seals them.  The packs then move through to be picked up and packed in boxes, all part of a computerised machine.

We also learned about how the fillings for chocolates were made and how they are then 'enrobed' with chocolate. After two hours in the factory and the opportunity to taste some freshly made chocolates, Dulce de Lecce was divine, we went back to the boardroom to do a little icing.

We were each provided with a chocolate plaque and an icing bag full of icing,  this is my attempt there is a name inside the heart but as I am going to give it as a gift, I've removed it by the magic of Photoshop!


 I was impressed by the friendliness of the all the staff and their generosity in showing us amateurs some of their skills.  The skills involved  in the processes vary depending on the jobs, but we saw some real expertise at every level.  I'd also like to say thank you for the beautiful personalised box of Thorntons Continental, such a brilliant idea for a special gift.

After a long day it was nice to relax at the Derbyshire Hotel at South Normanton.  The room was very comfortable and quiet and the dinner was also very good, I particularly enjoyed the Salt and Pepper Squid.  The burger was so huge that I had to abandon half the bun!

Huge thanks to all at Thorntons Chocolates for a great visit, I felt that I had been treated with as much gentle care as the sweet treats made in the factory.  It was such a pleasure to learn all about the processes, I will never look at a Thorntons chocolate in quite the same way again!

Here are the links to the blog posts of each of the other four Thorntons Bloggers:
Rachel and the Chocolate Factory (Rachel Cotterill)
Cakeyboi and the Chocolate Factory (Cakey Boi)
Cranberry and White Chocolate Skillet Cookie (Amuse Your Bouche)
Inside Thorntons Chocolate Factory (Tinned Tomatoes)

Labels: advent calendar, chocolate, Chocolate Heaven, continental, factory, Nougat, special, Thorntons, Toffee

posted by Janice @ 07:00 22 Comments