So Frenchy So Chic

Choukette - 318 Sydney Rd Brunswick

This is not a chocolate boutique but a French café that also does fabulous French style hot chocolate.

At least I think it must be French style to make a hot chocolate low on sugar but high on chocolaty flavours with a slight bitter edge. It’s the hot chocolate I remember from that trip to Paris in my early 20’s and have longed for ever since. Unlike the more northern European hot chocolates of Chockolait and Koko Black, this doesn’t have the subtle addition of cream so it’s a much less fatty drink, more akin to coffee and so more refreshing. I wanted to stand up and turn “Shazam!” into SuperWoman after drinking it. Monsieur Truffe tried for the same flavour, but this is just that little bit sweeter and more integrated into the milk than Monsieur Truffe and all the better for it. As for atmos. Choukette has that in spades. A little narrow shop with wood panelled walls, and a high mantel piece decorated with hexagonal jam jars, smelling of the lunchtime lamb casserole, it might have been in the Paris I (perhaps falsely but still happily) remember, not on Sydney road just down from Savers and Aldi.

There were Petit Pain au Chocolate and croissants, but we shared a mini chocolate Buche de Noel. The cake was disappointing. It was heavy on the butter cream but sadly short on chocolaty flavours. Otherwise the tastes were rich and delicate and sponge at the centre light and tasty. But what was it about the decorations? The little red berries and the Holly leaves were inedible and this struck me as slightly unsafe

Atmosphere 9/10 Hot chocolate 9/10 Cakes 7/10

P.S. On a second visit, I sampled the iced chocolate which was also deeply chocolaty and made with a mix of home made vanilla and chocolate ice-cream. Perfect for a hot day. I ordered a French Vanilla slice – a confection which it is hard to find well done in Australia. The very brown pasty didn’t bode well, but it actually turned out to be delicious. The pastry was wonderfully caramelised, rather than burned, maybe a little hard (which is better than slimy) but it married well with the light sweet custard and the icing. Where did it go? One moment it was on my plate and the next it had gone. Why do good things disappear so fast? We sat comfortably till it seemed time to eat lunch at which time I ordered a delicious, buttery but not too rich spinach, feta and sundried tomato tart which was perfect cold though hot was an option. (no onions either which was a good thing)

Atmosphere 9/10 Hot Chocolate 9/10 Cakes 7/10

The Real Thing

mmmmm, chocolate spoon....

The Real Hot Chocolate – milk chocolate variety

  www.therealhotchocolate.com

I have complained to Sister Softsenta of late that the hot chocolate I enjoyed at Chokolait was so sublime it had left me craving to return there. Few can match that level of creamy, rich indulgent hot chocolate – but being a bit of a shut-in, I don’t get into Melbourne town very often to enjoy their unmatched fare.

Imagine my delight then to have been given this delightful and visually appealing “hot chocolate at home” product to try. “The Real Hot Chocolate” is its name, and it’s a big claim – but I have to say I think this product is as close as you are going to get to a Chokolait-style indulgent hot chocolate at home. It looks so enticing, it smells like proper chocolate, and when stirred into hot milk it produces a drink that has the rich honey-flavours and creaminess that I have been craving. As advised by the label, I did stop mid-stir to lick the spoon…I nearly didn’t put it back in. Pleasing is definitely the word here.

I would absolutely love to try the white and dark varieties too (and I hear there are other tantalising flavours coming soon). I would love to enjoy this wonderful drink again. For all those times when you want a special treat but can’t get to your favourite chocolate boutique, The Real Hot Chocolate will absolutely tide you over on a wave of dreamy, creamy, satisfying real hot chocolate.

My only question now is where can I get more? When I looked, their website did not list Melbourne stockists, and the cafe I bought mine from said they were not ordering any more until next winter – if at all … which I can’t understand. If you can find these, try them – then tell me where I can get some!

Verdict: 10/10     I want another one!

Chocolates I’ve been eating recently

Recently I had a birthday and when you are a known chocoholic, your presents tend to have a certain theme.  As well as Tim-tams and Cadbury Dairy Milk bars (simple but fine gifts that enhance a person’s life)  I scored some lesser known treats so here’s a round up of them.

Senz – the art of expression.  Belgium chocolate in a beauuutiful box.  (You could reuse it for another present say a scarf and the fact that the scarf would smell deliciously of chocolate, and you would earn recycling Karma, which would make up for being an evil re-gifter,) The chocolates themselves are disappointing.  They have a wonderfully soft and creamy texture and I have no difficulty believing that they are made of 100% cocoa butter but they had such a mild flavour with none of that dark  bitterness that makes chocolate interesting. Sometimes it was hard to believe that any flavourings had been added.  The choccies all tasted much the same despite the lovely names Amore (butterscotch caramel) and Adonis (creamy caramel.)  I really enjoyed the mouth feel but only Charmance (pineapple coconut butter cream) and Passion (strawberry butter cream really stood out as flavours).  You expect more from such a seriously arty box. Despite their lovely mouth feel I can’t recommend them. Only the fact that the giver never uses the internet prompts me to review them at all.

5/10

On the other hand The Organic Times scorched almonds (made in Eltham probably by vegetarians, new age shamans and the chronically pure of soul) were gorgeous.  The chocolate was classy with just the right combination of bitter and sweet and the almonds inside roasted to perfection. I look forward to trying the rest of the range.

9/10

Ritter sport Erbeer Joghurt – this is strawberry yoghurt flavour to English speakers. I love Ritter Sport.  I got a taste for this square little bar in Germany.  Whenever one of my manuscripts got rejected I’d try to eat my own weight in Ritter sport chocolate.  It tastes very different from any other chocolate, I’ve ever had.  It much less sweet and has very dark notes and a flavour all its own.  And I love the plain yoghurt flavour, which is sweet sour and creamy all at once. Enough of longing – the strawberry yoghurt is just too much.  It just tastes too pink, so much so that the lovely Ritter chocolate flavour is totally obscured.

5/10

Diamond Creek Chocolate Company Assorted Chocolate Box which was from Woolies and looked cheapish, but what fabulous chocs.   It’s apparently part of the Chocolatier stable.  The individually wrapped chocolates come in four flavours- Empress, chewy caramel in dark chocolate (I didn’t get any of these – I was pretending to be a good person and sharing – big mistake) Marquise, Hazlenut Praline Not too sweet,  hazlenutty with an exquisite praliny crispness in the creamy finish,  Excelesior, a kind of creamy berry coconut confection slight tang of berry marrying beautifully with the creaminess of the coconut and bitterness of the dark chocolate and Crystal, which is one of the nicest mint chocolate combinations I’ve ever had with a smooth mintiness blending beautifully with the dark chocolate.  They clearly make good product up the Hurstbridge line

9/10

Surrender to the Dark Side…

Cadbury Cherry Ripe Special Edition – Dark Cherry.

Tampering with a classic can leave a bad taste in one’s mouth; like the ill-fated triple choc Mars Bar. In this special edition Cherry Ripe however, Cadbury has hit upon a real winner.

Cherry Ripe has never been one of my top favourite bars, but the combination of dark cherries and dark chocolate gives this bar a rich, almost plummy fruitiness that has that elusive quality so seldom found in the most popular bar lines: adult appeal. This bar has an almost liqueur-ish aftertaste and a fruity, chewy texture that is reminiscent of a good plum pudding.

Do I dare to say this is a great improvement on the Australian classic that is Cherry Ripe? Do I dare to suggest that Cadbury makes this a permanent addition to their range? I do: ‘ken oath they should!

And how appealing is the wrapper, with its purple tones so dark they are almost black? If any of this sounds even remotely attractive to you, I can only urge you to go out and try one. It really exceeded all my expectations.

If it could soothe my PMHR (pre-menstrul homicidal rage) who knows what kind of a smile it could put on your face…

Verdict: 10/10.

Hahndorfs – a place to Truffle with?

When I take my father for a drive in the hills, he likes to stop
for afternoon tea at Hahndorf’ Chocolates in Montrose. Order tea and truffles
when you go there, because the hot chocolate is little better than you’d get at
any caf. Their truffles, however, melt in your mouth and they have a huge range
of flavours  like butter fudge, plum pudding and Tia Maria, so that you can hover gloating for ages before making a
choice. They’re made in the German tradition by really truly (caught in the
wild) German chocolatiers, so instead of having the sometimes insipid
creaminess of Belgian chocolate, they are simply richly chocolatey with the
fillings that melt in your mouth. My butter fudge was fabulous, buttery and
rich. Of course they are not cheap but during your cuppa, someone always comes
round with a try of truffles and offers you one for free, always a hit with
people like my thrifty parent.

They have plain chocolates with nuts and racing car shaped things
on sticks.

Hahndorfs used to be in an old cinema which added to its charm.
Unfortunately for me, everyone’s thrifty parent likes to stop there on a Sunday
drive so its moved to a huge barn-like building surrounded by rather institutional
looking gardens for outside dining. The old cinema is now a rather nice 50’s
themed café with recycled clothing shop also worth a look.  Hahndorfs is always too busy on a Saturday
or Sunday now, but it was very quiet on the chilly weekday afternoon when we were
there and this meant we could be nice and close to the stove, definitely
consolation – both visually and warmthily.

(and no I have no shame when it comes to punning titles)

They have several more accessible stores in the eastern suburbs
too.

http://hahndorfs.com.au/index.html

Verdict 8/10  Atmosphere 8/10 Chocolate Yumminess 9/10

Rush? No. (But I’d go again if someone else paid for the ticket)

A bright sunny day, a site on the harbour and a dark cosy warehouse filled with the

promise of chocolate – sounds like the perfect Sunday morning.    But as my lovely fellow acolytes have pointed
out, the festival was very low key, not great value for $25.00. They muttered
that at an earlier festival there had been women wrestling in chocolate. Sleazy,
yes! – but not something you see every day. This time there were women on
stilts walking round dressed as chocolates. Somehow not the same.

There were plenty of demonstrations, both free (I learned about dutching chocolate) and
paid for. I bitterly regret now not signing up for the hot chocolate workshop
but $40.00 seemed a lot to part with just before pay day. That was one of the cheapest.

But there were plenty of things to taste and if the lady on the stall looked at you
askance, you just took off your coat before you came round again and she didn’t
recognize you.But I had hoped for more freebies for $25.00.

Strangely my festival highlights didn’t focus on chocolate.

On the Aussie Truffle Dogs stall, a nice man lifted up a glass covering and let me
smell what looked like a lump of earth, but was really several thousand dollars’
worth of truffle. For years I’ve been ordering things like truffle omelettes in
a vain quest to find out truffle tastes like. I still can’t define it. The
smell was neither mushroomy nor earthy, but dark and rich and surprisingly pleasant.
I bought one of the truffle chocolates they were selling – Dulcis Tuber- Pralina
con Tartufo. Odd but then as truffle flavoured choclate it was always going to
be. It had the grainy crispy texture of sugar and seemed to be made of sugar
and tiny pieces of hazelnut. Cocoa was only lightly present – no doubt it
existed merely to bring out the truffle which was dark rich earthy and savoury
and lingered on the tongue for some time after.It was the kind of flavour I’d
never had before and one I would happily have again, especially since I still
can’t describe it properly. I guess I’ll just have to enjoy learning how.

The other thing I discovered was Arcade books, which publishes very small 100 page books
about topics on Melbourne. I bought their book on Madame Brussels, who, as
Melbourne’s notoriouspremier 19th century brothel owner, sounded way interesting.

And so to the Chocolates.

Yarra Valley Chocolates was my favourite. They sold artistic blocks of fine chocolate decorated
with attractive swirls of white and dark – looked great and they were very
generous with their samples.  My favourite taste of the festival, just the
right balance of creamy and chocolaty.

For $20.00 I bought an Organic Times showbag, containing chocolate almonds, chocolate chip
cookies, a giant white chocolate and macadamia cookie, all lovely and buttery
and shortbready, and Organic Times answer to smarties  – Gems which had a much more bitter adult flavour
than smarties, smaller but nicer.

The Chocolate Master had lots of great shapes including chocolate stilettos, but
their strength is obviously in the moulding. The chocolate itself tasted cheap,
with that vegetable-oil compound-chocolate aftertaste which seems to be part of
most highly moulded chocolates.

Hillers gave me much the same kind of vegie oil flavour but then I’ve eaten many a
packet of their scorched almonds at the movies so I have a certain fondness for
them

I tried a Hazelnut ball from Shocolate chocolatiers which was like a giant Ferrero
Rocher but much creamer and not as chocolaty. The milk was a little bland. The
dark was rich and deep with a crispy coating that had a wonderful crunch and
the taste of hazelnut and rich deep chocolate cream inside. The emphasis was on
creamy rather than bitter and chocolate flavours, but it was luscious, the kind
of thing you smear on your lips for a lover to kiss away.

Cacao on the other hand concentrated on the bitter chocolate flavours and their salted
caramel spread was a joy. I found the dark so bitter that it tasted chemically
but the milk just right.

Van Nunen, a Belgian chocolate maker now resident in Melbourne had scrumptious but mingy
little soupçons of hazelnut praline.

Brunettis offered dark rich tastes of their italian hot chocolate.

I visited the chocolate gallery which wasn’t very interesting, just sheets of truffles in
glass cases which I was supposed to vote on, but which I had trouble
differentiating between and ate gluten free chocolate muffins in a very strange
blow up Orange plastic beehive outside known as the Chocolate Dome. (This
blowup dome can’t be an asset. The orange makes everything look icky.)

My companions, oddly enough, didn’t buy any chocolates, just some chilli infused olive oil from
Axedale Olives and some chocolate chilli chai from Divine Chai Spice. I think
that says something about the festival. I hope for better next year but since
I’ve tried most of the product now, they’ll have to come up with something new
for the price.

Verdict 7/10

Rush? More of a Saunter, Really

I’ve been hemming and hahing about the Chocolate Rush Festival experience. I ended up with a shopping bag of delicious things, and had a wonderful time talking with vendors and sampling their products, but I can’t help feeling let down by the event. It’s been hard to put my finger on what is it that was lacking. Part of me thinks it is a lack of care and a lack of curatorship. Sure, let’s get some chocolate and other food providers to pay their fees and set up shop, but are the vendors being looked after? And has the full scope of chocolate been covered? I was missing two categories in the general admission event: chocolate in savoury settings, and desserts.

As with last year’s festival, there was an exhibition of chocolate, featuring pretty chocolates from the vendors. Lovely things, shiny, dusted with shimmer powders, or bright decals, and looking like edible jewels. There were larger sculptures, apparently made entirely of chocolate, but to be honest they could have been made from plastic for all we know. Here’s the thing: a stylised movie camera made out of chocolate is very clever, and shows what a versatile sculpting material chocolate is, but it doesn’t look appetising when all is said and done. Unlike the smaller made-to-be-eaten works, which left me drooling, the larger works left me cold. I love the feeling of having to restrain myself from attacking a gorgeous cake, but nothing could induce me to lick the camera. Again, what was lacking in the exhibition was an overarching theme, and some nice looking cakes.

Rant time over. Let’s talk about something cheery now, shall we?

Aussie Truffle Dogs handmade chocolates with real black truffle. Oh my! We had one of these as a pick-me-up, and seriously I could have fucked a doorknob, those things are so sexy! I love the armpit of a lover scent of truffle, and the salty sweetness was perfectly balanced.

Shocolat’s dark hot chocolate as a takeaway. I’m not a fan of too-sweet hot chocolate, and this chocolate was perfect! It had a really rich and seriously dark taste, and the texture was beautifully thick. I had a bit of a “moment” while drinking it and felt like boob sweat was running down my face. But in a good way.

I went a bit macaron-crazy and got 20 of them from Cacao to take home including the chocolate one. The chocolate macaron was delightful I have to say that the citron version was the best. It had an intensely lemony perfume with a buttery finish.

My box of The Chocolate Master chocolates was broached this week. These were some of the prettiest chocolates in the festival exhibition so I was determined to get a selection of the ones that had caught my eye. They are exquisite little works of art and for the amount of labour that goes into them, surprisingly well-priced at between $1.50 and $2 a piece.

Some more grumbles: the event guide doesn’t have contact addresses or emails for the vendors. La Chocista was more diligent with getting business cards from the vendors we liked. It is little things like this that make me feel the event doesn’t do much to add value for the vendors, besides getting some exposure on the day, so we’re not surprised to see vendor numbers down compared to last year.

Won’t Be Rushing Back…

Chocolate Rush Festival, August 13-14, 2011, Docklands, Melbourne.

 

http://www.chocolaterush.com.au/

The first Chocolate Rush Festival I went to a few years back at the Abbotsford Convent was I day I shall always remember. Rather than describing it I will simply ask a question. Do you recall that bit in The Simpsons where Homer daydreams of the Land of Chocolate? It was like that; a chocolate-lover’s dream come true.

But alas, while I had hoped the festival would only get bigger and better with each passing year…for some reason it hasn’t. This year’s affair was frankly very small and left me feeling pretty disappointed. You could do a circuit of the stall-holders in under two minutes, there really were that few. Not that those present weren’t wonderful, but for an entry fee of $30 I think chocolate lovers do have a right to expect…well, more.

What is it that we’re paying for? Access to some chocolate makers and sellers? Well for $30 I could drive to a few chocolate boutiques to eat myself silly. Equally mystifying was the retailer who was asking for “a gold coin donation” for the privilege of tasting their wares. Sorry, but paying to taste something is the same as buying.

This festival has the potential to be a wonderful showcase of what makes the Melbourne chocolate scene so vibrant and unique – the breadth and diversity and sheer numbers of fantastic chocolate makers we have here is worth celebrating and promoting. It should be an introduction to Melbourne’s vast world of chocolate wonders. So why isn’t it?

I was glad to discover the astonishingly good coconut hot chocolate and hand-made individual chocolates of The Chocolate Master – I will definitely be investigating their wares in more depth at a future date. But I really wanted more delightful discoveries like that. I wanted excess, indulgence, decadent variety and dizzying choices. But I left feeling…unsatisfied.

 

Verdict 5/10. I won’t be rushing back.

Hot velvet chocolate

Chokolait: Shop 8, Hub Arcade, 318 Little Collins St.,  Melbourne.

Let’s come out swinging.  Chokolait is MY favourite chocolate emporium.

If I’ve got an hour or so to spend in the city, I make my way to the Hub Arcade which is off the Royal Arcade and treat myself to one of their heavenly hot chocolates which come in either drinkable or eatable-with-a-spoon form.  Every time I plan to treat myself to one of their excellent cakes, (they have a small but classical selection cheesecake, chocolate mousse cake, flourless chocolate cake etc) but I can’t go past that perfect cup of chocolate heaven.

Pure little buttons of chocolate are stirred into hot milk by the solemn white coated staff.  You can free taste the buttons at the counter and I always take an unseemly amount.  Chokolait has  flavours like mocha and chilli, it has Belgian and Swiss hot chocolates, the staff will pour it over ice-cream, and they do great coffee and a range of teas. There’s the opportunity to be a chocolate snob too because they have a range of chocolate buttons from places like Ghana, Ecuador etc.

I always mean to try these delights but somehow I can never get past the delicious, thick ,velvety, plain, dark, hot chocolates.  Just perfect.

It’s a good thing they have chocolate to take away.  I love their crème filled white chocolate mice. Perfect for soothing the savage spouse stuck playing computer games at home.

And the ambience is great too.  Chockolait has big chocolate coloured armchairs and you can curl up and read the day’s papers or this month’s glossy mags and its so peaceful you feel like you’d miss WW3 happening.  But it does have a hard-core of chocolate fans who say “Wow, taste this!” to complete strangers and who clearly come back again and again.

Verdict:  10/10 Service 10/10 Ambience 10/10

(Oh come on SoftSenta. It can’t be that good.  Well go and see for yourself.)

www.chokolait.com.au

Sweet taste in Suburbia

Chocolate Secret:  408 Bell St, Pascoe Vale South, Victoria.

Where Bell St crosses the end of Melville Rd, there’s a chocolate shop and not just any selling cheap imports chocolate shop.  Nelly is an artist and happy to bring out taste plate for new customers.  And very fine tastes they are too, because Nelly makes her chocolates using Callebaut Belgian chocolate.  Such depth of flavour, such a delicious mouth feel, such out and out … yumminess.

Just some of the highlights – Mocha Rosette Truffle, the Tendre Praline (that’s layers of white, milk and dark chocolate and hazelnut praline in white chocolate) the Baileys truffle, (not stingy with the Baileys) the Raspberry and Hazelnut praline, the Mountain Pepper Truffle (an Australian flavour like ginger but without the heat) and most interesting of all the Madras Praline which is curry (yes curry) powder blended with coconut crème in dark chocolate. There are also beautiful raspberry and strawberry flavour crèmes made from the real thing.

And she’s always trying something new. Last time I went she had basil flavour and she also does curry flavour.

As well as chocolates to taste, Chocolate Secret has coffee and tea and the shop has comfy chocolate coloured suede couches upon which to while away the time

The only draw back is that Nelly is so enthusiastic about her product that you can wait a while for service.  But the chocolates are definitely worth it.

The shop is open to the public Thursdays through to Saturdays, but they do most of their business by e.mail so there’s a website at www.chocolatesecret.com.au

(not the Texan company but one in our own Oz)

Rumour has it that Nellys going to open in the city soon so there’ll be less need to truck out to Pascoe Vale.

Verdict – Edibles 10/10  Service 7/10 Ambience 6/10 (It is suburban Pascoe Vale)