Orgasmic chocolate and a delicious cocoa-scented giveaway.
How the food of the gods is flogged in the name of wellness. And win a copy of my book Cocoa + a selection of the best chocolate (orgasms not included). Plus my amazing chocolate cookie recipe
Hello! Last week I inadvertently misled you, dear reader. This newsletter is still free to one and all. However from this point forward, some of them, including next week’s very special newsletter, will be for paid subscribers only. Free subscribers will continue to receive ongoing monthly posts, news and original recipes. Paid subscribers will receive weekly posts, extra recipes, subscriber chats, giveaways and extras. A paid subscription is a a very reasonable £4 per month or £40 per year. Find details of this week’s GIVEAWAY at the bottom of the post. Thanks for supporting me.
I didn't intend to write about chocolate so soon after my previous post on the subject. But it’s been a crazy week and things overwhelmed me a bit on the work front, so the newsletter I was going to share with you will land in your inboxes next week. In the interim I have more Thoughts on chocolate.
Part of the reason my brain is addled and why I’ve fallen behind with my writing is that I flew to California last week for four nights - yes four whole nights - to celebrate my brother’s birthday.
The trip has left me as tired and tantrummy as a toddler. But it was amazing. I partied in Palm Springs with a drag queen, drank salty margaritas and failed miserably at karaoke. I gazed at a cartoon-blue sky framed by palm trees and walked in the dessert at Joshua Tree. I grazed my way around Los Angeles, compared the merits of various pricey cortados and pondered whether whipped burrata (although tasty) is really a good idea.
I also spent a perplexing and fascinating session with my teenage niece at Erewhon Market, a high-end organic supermarket which has sprouted and multiplied in Los Angeles County since my last visit. (The name is derived from the 1872 satirical novel Erewhon by Samuel Butler. In the novel, Erewhon, an anagram of ‘nowhere’ is a utopia where individuals are responsible for their own health.) It’s an eye opener.
It seems the wellness set in LA can’t get enough of food that claims to help them glow up, buff up, trim down, enhance their libido, improve their mood, rehydrate, calm down, perk up and everything in between. And they’re happy to hand over vast amounts of cash for it. There are $25 bottles of water, $25 single-serve probiotic smoothies (for an extra $4 they’ll throw in collagen protein), $24 jars of bone broth and $8.99 for a six pack of ‘electrolyte infused’ popcorn (that’s a fancy name for salted popcorn, according to a dietician pal).
This functional food fantasia also involves chocolate: there are keto and paleo versions, bars that claim to enhance your orgasms, boost your motivation and focus, make you happy and improve your sleep. There’s chocolate imbued with protein, mushrooms, probiotics, fibre and every ‘superfood’ you can think of.
Of course, it’s not just Angelenos who cling to the dream that a sweet treat can be transformed into a magical elixir by adding a few extras. In a recent feature for the BBC I explored how demand for chocolate bolstered with ‘healthy’ stuff is booming.
The thing is, dark chocolate itself is a natural source of fibre, vitamins and minerals. And while there’s mounting evidence that some of the botanicals being added to chocolate may well have medicinal benefits, can you really cram enough into a bar to have any effect? Without eating vast and unhealthy quantities of it? The experts I’ve spoken to are doubtful.
I adore chocolate as it is, especially the really good dark stuff made by specialty chocolate makers who tease out the complex and delicious flavours within cacao beans. A few squares will put a spring in your step, improve your mood and make you smile just as it is. Any other satisfying benefits I couldn’t comment on.
If you become a paid subscriber before I post my next newsletter on March 23, I’ll put you in the draw for a free copy of my book, Cocoa, and a selection of chocolate from my favourite ethical maker Original Beans. It’s the perfect prize to win in the run up to Easter. Due to postage costs, the competition is only open to UK residents. If you’re already a paid subscriber, thank you, and you’ll go in the draw too.
To give you a taste of what you’ll find in my book, here’s a recipe from Cocoa, which has recently been republished in a smaller format, and is called The Little Chocolate Cookbook (on sale on Amazon at the time of writing for under £8!!). This recipes is for my my hugely popular BROWN BUTTER, BANANA AND TAHINI CHOCOLATE CHUNK COOKIES.
120g/41⁄4oz spelt flour (plain is fine)
3⁄4 tsp baking powder
1⁄2 tsp bicarbonate of soda [baking soda]
1⁄2 tsp fine sea salt
280g/10oz dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), roughly chopped, with some
biggish chunks and some small bits1 very ripe banana, about 100g/31⁄2oz without skin
1 large egg
220g/73⁄4oz soft light brown sugar
40g/11⁄2oz granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
80g/23⁄4oz tahini (must be smooth and runny enough to run off a spoon easily)
flaked sea salt or fleur de sel, for sprinkling
Place the butter in a heavy, light-coloured pan and melt over a medium-high heat,
swirling frequently, until the butter smells gorgeously nutty and has turned dark
brown. Remove from the heat and transfer to a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand
mixer, making sure you scrape in all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan (this is flavour!). Leave to cool for at least 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, using a fork or balloon whisk, whisk the flours, baking powder,
bicarbonate of soda and salt together in a bowl to combine. Add the chopped
chocolate and stir to evenly distribute.
In a small bowl, mash the banana until smooth, then add to the cooled butter,
along with the egg, both the sugars, vanilla and tahini. Whisk for a good
5 minutes until creamy and much paler than when you started––this is a sign
the mixture has aerated well.
Fold in the flour and chocolate mixture in 2 additions. Don’t overmix or beat
smooth: dough with an uneven consistency delivers welcome texture to the
baked cookies. Chill for at least 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 170°C/340°F/Gas mark 3 and line a large baking sheet with
baking paper (you will need to cook these in batches). Scoop heaped tablespoons
of dough onto the prepared baking sheet (about 40–45g/11⁄2–13⁄4oz each), leaving
at least 5cm/2in between them. Bake for 6 minutes, then turn the baking sheet round and bake for a further 6 minutes or so until brown at the edges (the centre
might look a little undercooked but it’s not).
Lightly sprinkle the cookies with the flaked salt while still warm. Leave on the
baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Great piece, Sue. A lot of money to be made from marketing 'wellness', that's for sure. And can testify to the deliciousness of your cookie recipe - an inspired combo!