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February 2009 |
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Cooking Little is a kitchen shopping and tips blog for urban dwellers and anyone who cooks in a small kitchen. Beyond the kitchen, we feature diversions such as culinary travel spots, classes and tasting events. |
Topics
READ MORE ON The Science of Romance.
 It is no mistake that when you open a copy Divine Heavenly Chocolate Recipes it feels exactly like lifting the cover off a box of luxe chocolate. Divine is a delicious fair trade chocolate made from cocoa beans produced by the farmer members of the Kuapa Kokoo cooperative in Ghana. Pairing the book with a selection of bars makes for thoughtful gift with a great back story. Linda Collister imparts expertise along with an enticing collection of recipes that she created using Divine cocoa and chocolate bars. Chances are it will be difficult to choose a recipe to try first as you leaf through this beautiful book. There are basic chocolate loaf cake recipes that promise to deliver beyond their simple presentations and new takes on favorites such as the white chocolate brownie with blueberries and macadamia nuts. Other sections cover drinks, dips, mousses, savouries and more. If you know someone fond of chocolate and who interested in where their food originates; this is their thing. Check your local health food store or Whole Foods for the chocolate. Click here for store lists in the US and here for Canada and Europe. In the US, the books are available at Barnes & Noble and Borders. Some Borders store carry the book and the chocolate for the quickest of gifts. The royalties from the book go to the Kuapa Kokoo cooperative, who became co-owners in the Divine Chocolate company in 2006 through a donation of stock from The Body Shop, Inc. Yeah, the Divine story is a good one. $28.00 AT BARNES & NOBLE Eco
 St. Valentine's Day is a to each his own kind of holiday. If you absolutely have to have a heart shaped pan, here you go. This is an 8 inch pan made of durable aluminum with straight sides and a limited lifetime guarantee from Wilton. And a thumb's up from Good Housekeeping. $10.50 AT AMAZON Kid-Friendly
 Small kitchens mean making choices. Special shaped pans are just not that necessary. The heart shaped cake, though, is pretty easy to manage without the fancy pan. If you have both a square and round cake pan, try here for instructions. Basically, you cut the round cake in half and position them on two adjacent sides of the square cake. Then you have to give it up for the person using a a tube cake pan. Me? I'd probably just go at a round cake with a knife, a quick v cut at the top and a little off both sides. The bonus of this way is you have snack before you begin to frost the cake. If a two-layer cake is your goal, this approach could still work with two round cake layers. Or a sheet pan could work if you wanted to go completely freehand for a two layer cake. In either case a parchment or cardboard heart make work as a guide. Frosting and berries can hide any imperfections. And let's face it, if you go to the trouble of making someone a cake and they can't get past it's unique qualities, well then, they are just not your Valentine and it's best you found out now. Practical
This desert is sensual and fancy yet it is really just milk, sugar and patience. Three or four hours of stirring seemed like too much effort when one could buy Dulce de Leche on almost any block in the city. Well, the need for thrift and some short cut instructions from Dan has changed things. Keep in mind his recipe is experimental and it may not work for larger batches. (maybe a larger pot will keep his technique intact if you double the dulce.) Use it at will on ice cream, fruit or as a cookie filling. Dan like his as caramel chews. Practical
 February This is one hard working month. In only twenty eight days we celebrate St. Valentine's Day or spend energy ignoring it. There are also the more cultural and intellectual remembrances such as Black History Month and President's Day. The foods inspired by African heritage and dishes signifying matters of the heart are wonderful way to mark these holidays and a lovely panacea for the mid-winter blues. |
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