Gone Chocco

 

Dr Lucy Burns is a blonde combination of Gretel Killeen and Pamela Stephenson and was sporting a black eye when we met,* having truly suffered for her art. And for a good cause…..

As the proud owner of ‘Better than Flowers’-  a business that specialises in creating unique bouquets of edible chocolates cunningly disguised as flowers, Lucy was reaching into the industrial-sized cooler used to store  the chocolates and had the door clunk into her eye.

We met up at the Lindt Cafe on Collins Street to talk about the upcoming FSHD Lindt Chocolate Ball to be held on Friday 6^th August at the Hilton Hotel in East Melbourne.

As we entered, I couldn’t help but notice Lindt’s Macaron tree, surely inspired by Adriano Zumbo’s scary Masterchef challenge?

FSHD isn’t a chemical compound found in chocolate but is a common form of muscular dystrophy that causes progressive and irreversible weakness and wasting of muscles in the body.  The not-for-profit FSHD Global Research Foundation is working towards finding a treatment and cure for this debilitating disease, offering hope to thousands of sufferers and their families. In the few short years the foundation has been running, it has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to research projects around the globe.  Lucy also donates all of the profits from Better Than Flowers to FSHD.

Lucy was diagnosed with FSHD (pronounced: Fay-she-oh-skap-you-lo-hum-er-al) in her teens but that didn’t stop her pursuing studies and a career in medicine and raising two daughters with her husband, Ty. Based in the Mornington Peninsula, they are also ‘parents’ to three alpacas, four chickens, two ducks, two Jack Russells, two goats, a couple of rabbits and the unfortunately-named sheep ‘Lamb Chop.’

When not fashioning chocolates into bouquets and organising the Lindt Chocolate ball, Lucy works as a doctor three days a week for the navy. Lucy became disillusioned with the profits-first, 6-minute-medicine style of general practice, which she was unable and unwilling to deliver. Her job at Navy involves looking after hospital patients and allows her to spend more time with them, which is ultimately far more rewarding. “I enjoy my work but have realised that life is about so much more than money – Better Than Flowers gives me a creative outlet and a specific area to direct my energies. Why not combine the challenge of establishing a business with making a difference to FSHD awareness and research?”

I wondered if BTF bouquets would be a hit with blokes who would normally baulk at receiving something living, pretty and covered in petals. “Absolutely,” she nods, “Our footy team-themed chocolate bouquets are very popular.”

Perhaps that’s why Kevin Sheedy, quirky Essendon legend, is a featured guest at the FSHD Lindt Chocolate Ball, along with award-winning chef Luke Mangan and Australian Idol talent Roshani Priddis. “We are bringing together the public’s current fascination with food, Lindt chocolate and celebrity chefs for a great cause and it promises to be the most decadent – and fun – event you’re invited to attend this year,” Lucy says, smiling through her black eye.

Those interested in purchasing tickets – or just making a donation – are encouraged to do so quickly at www.fshdglobal.org.

…..and yes, of course we had hot chocolates at the cafe….. and some desserts ……

…..and yes, I bought some macarons to take home – and share – with Sapphire and Love Chunks – the heavenly salted caramel, the70% chocolate and the rose. All of them were divine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* hence I’m using the photo on her ‘Better Than Flowers’ website rather than the one I took of Lucy yesterday that could be mistakenly used for a WorkSafe or domestic violence campaign!

 

In recent times Cocolo have changed their packaging, going from a mostly black packet to a more refined and inviting white paper wrapping, so I thought it was time to try them again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found these blocks for sale at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre in West Melbourne, as a fund-raiser for their amazing work (of which none is funded by government). I’ll admit that because I’ve seen Cocolo in the supermarket and in other shops it didn’t really grab my attention until I read: ‘Discoloured due to heat. Still OK to eat. $2′

So I bought twelve blocks. It’s for a good cause, people!

And it also gives me an opportunity to explain that chocolate that has melted and ‘bloomed’ (ie turned white) and reset again is okay to eat. Actually, I’ll clarify that – it’s okay to eat if it’s within the use-by or ‘best before’ date and shows no signs of damage to the wrapper or packaging. The above blocks, were all fine, but yes, they provided some pretty good photographic examples of blooming:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How Stuff Works says there’s two types of bloom that can occur.  Sugar bloom is caused by surface moisture that causes the sugar in the chocolate to dissolve. Once the moisture evaporates, sugar crystals remain on the surface. If this process is repeated, the surface can become sticky and even more discolored. Although sugar bloom is most often the result of overly humid storage, it can happen when the chocolate has been stored at a relatively cool temperature and is then moved too quickly into much warmer surroundings. When this happens, the chocolate sweats, producing surface moisture.

In Cocolo’s case, however, the bloom is more likely caused by fats.  This is very similar to sugar bloom, except that it is the cocoa butter that has separated from the chocolate and deposited itself on the outside fo the block. Due to our unseasonally warm autumn, chocolate that might normally have been OK stored in a warehouse may have melted, causing the dusty appearance.

No matter to me.  Yes, it tastes dustier and sort of powdery/gritty, but if you’re prepared to overlook the appearance it can be eaten and enjoyed as is or melted down (where it resumes its normal dark brown colour) and used in cooking.

The milk chocolate contains 32% cocoa solids (with even the origin included: Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador or the Dominican Republic) and all other ingredients are Fair Trade and organic.  It tastes sweet but not ultra-buttery-condensed-milk sweet and is fine enough for me to scoff on my own.  Sometimes you can’t judge a book by its cover….

The 70% has only three ingredients (even Lindt’s 70% has four) – organic and fair trade cocoa mass from Bolivia and Peru, organic and fair trade evaporated cane juice from the Philippines and organic and fair trade cocoa butter from Bolivia and the Dominican republic.

Even in its less-than-pretty state, it was enjoyable.  For a ’serious’ 70%, there was no bitterness that sometimes makes eating a 70% ‘hard work.’  This one instead released a nice earthy and rich cocoa flavour.

Again, I won’t be able to give these to anyone as a gift but for $2, they’re a nice little bonus I can enjoy on my own.

 

Even though I received the official announcement on April Fools’ Day, I’m pretty sure that Cadbury meant it when they assured me that Dairy Milk is now Fairtrade Certified, with their Green & Black’s subsidiary to have all of their blocks follow suit by the end of this year.

Now you regular readers will know that Cadbury often disappoint me (hello, Visitor Centre in Claremont) but, like most of us, I’m not averse to enjoying a few rows of my favourites (currently Creme Brulee or Old Gold for me, Caramello for Love Chunks and Turkish Delight for Sapphire) in front of the telly.  That’s why the new blocks have been photographed on the guide and resting on the remote controls.

       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The new Dairy Milk logo has a Willy Wonka-ish feel about it, but that’s a mere quibble.  I’m more interested – and impressed – by the fact that around 45,000 farmers in Ghana (the main source of Cadbury’s cocoa beans) are going to directly benefit from Cadbury’s Fairtrade certification, which they anticipate will increase up to one million farmers within the next decade as their involvemen increases.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, in typical GoneChocco tradition, I tried the darkest of the milk chocolate blocks first, which is Green & Black’s milk containing a minimum of 32% cocoa solids.  It was a very warm night when we tried this, so there was no ‘thock’ when the block was snapped but a soft  ’splurk’ instead.  No matter: when served at not-quite-splodge-point it means that the chocolate will be very flavoursome.

And it was. There’s a slightly gritty cocoa ‘powder’ texture and taste to the bar which is par-for-the-course for milk chocolate above 30% and it’s very sweet (in a good way).  Now I’m not sure if it’s just the Fairtrade good news that lowered my cynicism or the mood I was in that evening, but my notes say, “Haigh’s need to keep an eye on this” because it’s  very reminiscent in taste to Haigh’s milk chocolate block but of course a fair bit cheaper.  I’d love to hear what you guys think.

Second was the Dairy Milk.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s now a 200 gram block (down from the original 250 g before last year’s repackaging to 220 grams) but if it’s Fairtrade certified I don’t think anyone will quibble.  After all, recent research showed that 75% of Aussies said they’d buy chocolate that helped provide clean drinking water, schools and help farmers and workers.  When Fairtrade is added to the question, 93% of Aussies said they’d be prepared to pay more to contribute to such benefits.

Back to the Dairy Milk. The squares (I know they’re rectangles but squares are always associated with describing blocks) are flatter which is actually an easier way to eat them than the higher, lego-like squares that used to stay harder for longer and hurt the roof of my mouth.

After eating the 32% Green & Blacks, the Dairy Milk tasted much much creamier and smoother and revealed a heap of caramel and condensed milk flavours.  I couldn’t believe how delicious it was and noticed that it has 26% cocoa solids (when did that happen? I ran to the fridge and read the back of a Turkish Delight bar, which only has 21% cocoa solids).  I then spent the rest of the night happily couch-bound, telly-watching and smiling like a loon eating a couple of squares of G&B followed by a couple of DM; utterly loving the difference and how well they complemented each other. 

Yes, the marriage of Fairtrade and a big Corporation has made the taste experience a much more enjoyable one.  And yes, it doesn’t take much to make me happy.

 

Is it just me being a grumble bum?

Y’see I did quite a few Christmas-oriented chocolate reviews in December and even found myself a few Boxing Day bargains to enjoy:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And on the 2nd of January, we rocked up to see Hot Cross Buns for sale at Woolworth’s and Easter Eggs available from K-Mart:

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, a week later than the Easter guff (even though it’s in February and a lot closer), we had the inevitable Valentine’s Day stand:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, if it’s alright with you guys, I’m going to ignore Valentine’s Day.  Apart from it being overly-commercialised and forcing people to either spend money on ‘being romantic’ if they’re attached or feel a bit miserable if they’re single and not getting an overpriced delivery of roses and a teddy bear at work, it also interferes with the three months of Easter marketing.

They’re not silly these merchandisers.  They know that greedy fools like me are going to leap at the Cadbury Creme Eggs from the 2nd of January and eat them before the drive home has been completed.  They also know that we’ll buy another packet, and then another one, and another, thus ensuring many sales before the four-day weekend.

With Valentine’s Day, you’re not as likely to buy-and-gobble a gift.  Instead you may still feel obligated to buy, but will feel a fair bit more annoyed about it and will leave it until the very last minute.  That’s why the stuff is only out in January and not – if the chocolate calendar is set for Easter and Christmas dates – from November.

Besides, Valentine’s Day falls on the Chinese New Year – this one being year of the tiger and everyone can join in – partnered or single.

Finally, the reason why I’m not going to do a gooey Valentine’s Day chocolate review is because it is also the day of my darling dog Milly’s birthday.  She’s six – that’s 42 in dog years – and is much more important to celebrate.  Plus, dogs can’t eat chocolate, it’s poisonous!

 

I tried Loving Earth’s intriguing Coconut Chocolate Butter a while back and have also previously enjoyed their Lucuma and Maca light chocolate bar; the Activated Almond and Purple Corn dark chocolate bar; and the Goji and Camu dark chocolate.

Today we have the Raw Dark Chocolate and Crunchy Mint Raw Dark Chocolate to try.

As mentioned previously, Loving Earth’s credentials are indeed worthy –organic, gluten-free, vegan chocolate made from single-source Criollo beans from Peru and ensuring that their cooperative growers receive at least 15% above the agreed Fair Trade price for their cocoa beans.  Being Australian and USDA-certified organic give them extra greenie cred.

So what is raw chocolate exactly?  It doesn’t contain any sugar or dairy and is uncooked and unprocessed and is only sweetened with agave syrup (a natural, low GI sweetener that tastes a little bit like runny honey or treacle).  By ‘uncooked’ it means that the cacao is never heated above 40-45C from the time it is picked to when it is eaten and tests have shown that it has up to four times the level of antioxidants as conventional chocolate.

Loving  Earth’s raw dark chocolate has 72% cocoa solids and instead of a ‘snap’ has a moist, soft ‘poth’ sound instead.  This is nothing to be alarmed about because the raw organic cocoa butter, powder, agave syrup, vanilla beans and Himalayan crystal salt give it a compressed texture, not unlike a dense chocolate brownie or flourless mud cake.  The cocoa features very clearly and can be appreciated as dominant ingredient.  Overall, the taste is ‘cool’, like a tiny million little bubbles are being activated, causing a refreshing mouth-feel that feels like the tightly compressed ingredients are gradually coming loose as they relax, melt and separate in the  mouth. 

Second up for tasting  is the one in the green wrapper – Crunchy Mint Raw Dark chocolate.  This also contains 72% cocoa solids and when opened, it emitted a deliciously inviting, dark aroma.

Being ‘raw’, dairy free and sugar free means that it tastes quite different to any other dark chocolate mint I’ve had before.  The peppermint oil doesn’t overpower the unique flavours of the chocolate which doesn’t melt as much as release its compressed mixture of ingredients and leave a cool mouth feel.  Adding some cocoa nibs for crunch and a final kick is a particularly clever touch.

Each 45 gram bar will give you 17.4 grams of fat but you can at least assure yourself that it’s all been for a noble cause and they taste deliciously unique.

 

This jar arrived in the mail from Loving Earth with a bag of wooden ice-block sticks, presumably as a ‘serving suggestion’.

Loving Earth are a Melbourne-based chocolate company with superb credentials – they make raw chocolate that contains up to four times the amount of anti-oxidants found in normal chocolate; they use Heirloom Criollo cocoa (considered by all chocolate connoisseurs to be the very best cocoa in the world), use organic ingredients (no pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides or irradiation) and, last but not least, they source their cacao directly from an indigenous cooperative in Satipo, Peru who are members of the Fair Trade Federation.

So this humble jar has been made with a huge amount of love and attention.

Now the jar says that this is a ‘great way to have your daily dose of coconut oil and raw cacao’ and that ‘Researchers recommend eating 3 tablespoons of coconut oil a day.  It has no cholesterol, no transfats and supports healthy weight management.’

But the jar also says that 100 ml will give you 47.3 grams of fat of which 32.9 grams is saturated.  Trouble is, not all ‘saturated’ fat is bad……

Now this makes my small brain hurt because there seem to be two camps regarding coconut oil.  The first one says that it’s healthy for you and the second says it isn’t.  Saturated fat (which coconut oil has in abundance) seems to change properties depending on whether it’s a liquid or a solid but then there’s much debate about hydrogenated coconut oil which contain transfats that are toxic entities that enter cell membranes, block essential fatty acids (EFAs) and impede cell functions as well as increase the level of cholesterol in the blood.  However, these substance are apparently not present in natural coconut oils which are known as ‘long-chain fatty acids’ that are the good guys that can be emulsified by bile salts in the small intestine before being absorbed into the body. ….. I’m now utterly befuddled, but the result seems to be the same for all chocolate – we know it’s not the best food in the world for us nutritionally, but that’s not why we crave it, eat it and dream about it, is it?

This tastes like the cocoa, copha and icing sugar mixture my mum used for chocolate crackles when I was a kid – the coconut oil taste is very evident and just a couple of dips into the jar is all you need.  It is very sweet, but uses organic raw agave syrup instead of sugar so that it’s ‘diabetic friendly’ and a lower GI ingredient.

I don’t think I could take their suggestions of using it as a spread – it’d be too rich – but a dollop on some vanilla icecream would be rather nice.  Trouble is, that would be fighting against Loving Earth’s philosophy of not including dairy foods…… wouldn’t it?  Apparently not, because they also recommend trying it with milk for a hot chocolate….

I’m confused now.  But it does taste wickedly evil and nice and could sit on my desk so that I could dip into it every now and then……

 

We Aussies are expected to eat sausages blackened on the barbie; lamingtons that shed coconut crumbs like dandruff, cowpat-sized pavlovas and dodgy meat pies with sauce at the footy.

The Violet Crumble is often included in this list of traditionally revered foods. ‘It’s the way that it shatters that matters’ is the traditional catch-phrase for this famous Australian bar which has been around since 1913. ‘Violet’ was the favourite flower of Mrs Hoadley and the ‘crumble’ was the honeycomb. Hoadley found that the best way of preventing his honeycomb from becoming soggy was to dip it in chocolate. The wisest move he ever made.

However when you first bite into a Violet Crumble it’s about as pleasant as trying scrape your teeth against a teacher’s blackboard – very chalky – and about as orally satisfying. Usually my first reaction on biting into one (sadly, yes, every twelve months or so I find myself eating another one to keep reminding myself as to why I dislike them so much) is to automatically spit it back out, saying “YUCK – I’d rather chomp a chalk stick.”

Also, the instant crackle to melt-on-your-tongue sweetness that is the attraction of the Cadbury’s Crunchie is sadly lacking in the Violet Crumble. Instead, it has a much denser texture that doesn’t dissolve but needs to be thoroughly chewed until it congeals into sticky, yellow strands that then annoyingly stick in your teeth and, once eaten, coat your teeth in furry plaque. Not too romantic when trying for a quick snog at the movies or a quick gulp over your keyboard before rushing in to present your scintillating powerpoint presentation.

My advice is to avoid them at all costs – get a Crunchie and go crazy.

I’m sure that there are a lot of you out there that violently disagree with me, because the VC continues to be a best-seller in bar and chunk-sized forms. Perhaps the only other way to decide the matter is via the dreaded nutritional panel.

Both standard bars weigh 50 grams. Fair enough.

The Crunchie slugs you with 9.3 grams of fat, of which 5.8 is saturated and 31.5 grams of sugar. Hooley Dooley! The chocolate makes up 62% of the bar (more than I thought, actually) and consists of 21% minimum cocoa solids.

Violet Crumbles contain slightly less fat at 8.6 grams but most of it is saturated – 8.3 grams – which is half the recommended amount for an adult with high cholesterol (there goes your cheese sandwich for lunch and steak for dinner then) and has more sugar with 32.9 grams. 

But here’s the real kicker: It contains slightly less chocolate overall at 59% but that’s a blessing because it is COMPOUNDED chocolate, the enemy of chocoholics the world over.

I rest my case.