Natasha's Living Food: Raw Dark Chocolates with Sweet Chillis

On Saturday Mr Boo and I decided to head into the Temple Bar Market in Meeting House Square.  It had been a while since we were last there and a few changes had occured.  The main one being the large marquee or canopy that now shelters the majority of the area from the elements.  There were also some new stall holders present and the one that caught my eye was Natasha's Living Food.

The very nice lady in attendance explained the concept behind the food and offered us some samples to try.  I decided to buy a box of chilli choRaw Dark Chocolates with Sweet Chilli to try out at home later on.  As I may have mentioned once or twice I am a huge chocolate fan but I am more drawn to milk varieties for eating, saving plain varieties for baking, so I was very interested to taste the little box in my hand.  The chocolates are made from Organic Raw Cacao Beans, a rich source of antioxidants.  All of the ingredients used are organic.  They are gluten and dairy free so suitable for vegans and those with a gluten intolerance.

The box contained 4 chocolates and cost €5.  Mr Boo treated me.  At €1.25 a piece you might be thinking they are a bit on the pricey side but I think once you read the list of ingredients inside you can justify that.  The packaging is very nice, clean and simple.  The information card contained within the box is very comprehensive and gives a great overview of the ingredients contained within the product.  The chocolate themselves look very tempting with a nice hint of the chilli within visible on the top of each sweet.

Now for the taste test.  The chocolate is slightly bitter, with a sweetness that comes through as it melts on your tongue.  The bitter and sweet together combine to give a great depth of flavour.  The chilli comes through as an after taste almost, and is not at all over powering.  The texture fell somewhere between a truffle and a solid chocolate.  Not quite soft enough to be classed as a truffle but yet, a little too crumbly to be a solid chocolate.

I think fans of bitter plain chocolate (70% or more) would really enjoy these chocolates.  I am a big fan of the chilli/chocolate combo so these get a thumbs up from me.  If you are a chocolate lover who is trying to cut down on consumption I think these would make a great treat option.  I have found 1 of these a day has been enough to satisfy my insatiable chocolate cravings.  I bought them on Saturday and still have on left (has never happened EVER in this house).  An added bonus is that they are choc full of healthy ingredients with health benefits so a win win situation if ever there was one.  I will definitely treat myself to a box the next time I visit the market.  If you try them out I hope you enjoy them too. 

Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

A couple of weeks ago I received an invitation from the lovely Clare Kleinedler (An American in Ireland) to join her and some other Irish foodies for an evening of vegan food.  I had dinner arrangements made for the night in question but a quick chat with Mr. Boo and he said he would cancel our reservation and treat me another night, he's good like that you know.  Also in attendance at the soiree were Kristin (Dinner du Jour), Aoife (Adventures in Veg) and Aoife (I Can Has Cook?).  Clare made some really delicious canapes to start, followed by pizza topped with pistachio cheese, roasted cherry tomatoes and caramelised onions, served with roasted butternut squash salad. Aoife (Adventures in Veg) made some delicious vegan chocolate cupcakes that were happily devoured by all.  Everything was completely NOM.  We spent a lovely evening munching, chatting and laughing.  It was really great to get to know some of the ladies behind the blogs I spend my evenings reading (I seriously need to be more productive with my time).  A big thank you to Clare for hosting such a lovely evening and also to Kristin, Aoife and Aoife for the wonderful company.

Clare insisted we were to bring nowt but ourselves but I thought I would bring a little sweet treat with me.  I was also anxious and curious to try my hand at a vegan recipe as I have never consciously cooked or baked anything vegan.  For some reason I got myself into a bit of a fluster thinking it would be a very complicated affair but after a little research I was pleasantly surprised to find with a couple of simple substitutions it would be a piece of cake (ahem, apologies for that awful pun but you see, I just couldn't help myself).

Anyhoo, I decided to rustle up a batch of my blue ribbon (more to come on this) peanut butter button cookies, minus the button naturally as milk chocolate would negate the vegan qualities.  Here is the original recipe in case you missed it, and below is the adapted version. Enjoy!

Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
(makes approximately 24)

165g/6oz Creamy Peanut Butter
55g/2oz Vegan Margarine
210g/7.5oz Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
3tbsp Water
1tbsp Vanilla Extract
210g/7.5oz Plain Flour
¾ tsp Baking Soda
¾ tsp Salt

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas Mark 5.

2. Combine the peanut butter, margarine, brown sugar, water and vanilla in a large bowl. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until well blended.

3. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt(this recipe had a sweet but salty flavour, if you feel you will not like the combination of sugar and salt I would omit the salt at this stage) in a separate bowl. Add to the creamed mixture at low speed with an electric mixer and mix just until blended.

4.  If you feel the dough is a little dry at this stage add some water a tablespoon at a time until you have a consistency you are happy to work with.

5. Drop dough by rounded measuring tablespoonfuls 2-inches apart onto the prepared baking sheet. Flatten slightly in a crisscross pattern with the tines of a fork.

6. Bake one baking sheet at a time for 12 minutes, or until set and just beginning to brown (or divide dough into 2 and freeze 1 batch and bake 1).

7. Cool for 2 minutes on the baking sheet.

8. Remove cookies to cooling racks or wax paper to cool completely.

When baked, these cookies had a slightly different texture from the original recipe.  They were slightly denser and didn't spread as much but they tasted just as delicious.