Want to know

Many thanks to everyone who joined in the We Should Cocoa challenge this month.  Its quite a responsibility to host this well-established challenge and I wanted to do justice to it.  Any anxiety I had at the beginning of the month has long gone, as the trickle of entries turned into a regular flow with a few last minute minnies coming in at the last gasp!



First up is Lapin DOr and More with this Paul Hollywood inspired Chocolate and Cherry Loaf made with dried sour cherries. 

Susie at Fold in the Flour is a bit of a brownie addict and has been experimenting with The Ultimate Brownie Recipe to create these Dark and Delicious Cherry Brownies.

More brownies, this time from reluctant baker Fiona at London Unattached.   Fiona was persuaded to take part in the challenge and turned out these glorious Chocolate Cherry Brandy Brownies


Quite possibly the prettiest entry for the We Should Cocoa challenge this month, is White Chocolate and Cherry Mousse which comes from Kit at i-Lost in Austen.  Kit accompanies her gorgeous creamy dessert with a quote from Jane Austens Persuasion.  Personally, I think that dessert is worthy of a picnic at Box Hill!


Do you like Biscotti?  If so you are going to love these Triple Chocolate Cherry Biscotti from The Spice Garden, apparently they are truly orgasmic!  You cant ask for more than that, can you?

When Tiffin met Rocky Road at Lancashire Food, Cherry Choccy Rocky Road was born! Linzi has created a melange of all things chocolately and sugary and come up with a real winner.


Ros, the More than Occasional Baker has had these cookies on her bake list for ages. She brought back some Hersheys Kisses from a holiday in America just to make them! Cherry Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies are sure to be a hit combining almonds, cherries and chocolate in a bite sized morsel.

More cookies, this time from Kate at Turquoise Lemons.  Kate chose to make Cherry and Dark Chocolate Cookies using chopped dark chocolate and glace cherries.  A simple but effective recipe which could easily be adapted to carry other ingredients.

This is a really pretty dessert created by Elizabeth at Tango Like Raindrop: Black Forest Waffles. It was a special treat for Wednesday Pudding Night and went down a storm with Elizabeths family.

A childhood favourite now with Australian Crunchies from Karen at Lavender and Lovage, perfect for a lunch box treat.

I feel a little bit responsible for Dom, of Belleau Kitchen, not achieiving 1st prize in the Aby Village Show with his Deep Filled Cherry Pie with chocolate shortcrust lattice top, could it be that he was placed third because of the chocolate pastry?  Whatever, its done and dusted now and I think that pie looks fabulous and he was robbed!

This little Chocolate and Cherry Pudding was cooked in a Slow Cooker!  Baking in Franglais discovered it while looking for a slow cooker recipe and was so taken with the idea that different pudding combinations are already planned.

Hannah took us on a beautiful trip down memory lane with her Kentish Cherry Fondant Cake at the Corner Cottage Bakery.

 Chocolate Rum and Cherry Cheesecake is the entry from Cake of the Week.  This indulgent dessert is actually made with a sugar substitute so a bit more healthy than you would think!

Choclette of the Chocolate Log Blog, Queen of all things chocolately, and co-owner of the We Should Cocoa challenge brings us a traditional cherry dessert from the Limousin region of Francewith a chocolately twist: Chocolate Swirled Clafoutis. It also gave Choclette a chance to show off her lovely red clafoutis dish.

My own entry was a Chocolate Cherry Cake and very tasty it was too!

Hungry Hinny had planned a Black Forest Gateau but in the end made these cute little Cherry Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes with a cherry surpries hidden inside.  These cakes were destined for a friend who is gluten intolerant so with a little extra thought from the Hungry Hinny, no one had to miss out on a treat.

Now for some Chocolate and Cherry cookies from Sharky Oven Gloves.  I love the big chunks of chocolate, hazelnut and dried cherries in these cookies.

Homemade by Fleur really excelled herself with this stunning Chocolate, Cherry and Blackberry Profiterole Mountain inspired by her holiday in France. 


These little Cherry Ripe Bars submitted by Mainly Baking come from a Dan Lepard recipe and are inspired by an Australian confection of the same name.  Chewy, sticky and very rich, but totally delicious in small quantities.

A slice of rich Cherry Chocolate Cake from Cookbooks Galore who describes it as "a Black Forest Gateau without the topping".  It doesnt look like there is much left anyway!

 Congratulations to Anne at Annes Kitchen on passing her English and Maths GCSEs.  Anne celebrated with Cherry, Cranberry and Chocolate Oaty Cookies another big success.



Thank you so much to everyone who took part, I hope I havent missed anyone, these were all the recipes on the Linky.  Remember to check The Chocolate Log Blog on 1st September for the new challenge ingredient.

PS:  I was pretty sure I would miss some entries, a couple went to the WSC email address rather than the linky so here are a few more chocolate and cherry treats for you.

Here it is, the culmination of a weeks worth of work and play. The video is pretty self-explanatory, so there is no need for any long explanations of what youre about to see. I will mention that near the end of the clip, I joke that your sourdough probably didn’t work. This should not be taken as any lack of confidence I have in your ability to follow directions, or your lack of cooking skills. Its from the simple fact that the first time you try to make sourdough, it doesnt come out as well, as the 10th time, if it comes out at all.

The first batch of starter I ever tried looked fine, and yet the sponge sat there stubbornly refusing to grow. Undaunted, I started over and my second batch worked perfectly, and Ive been successful ever since. I hope this series of posts and videos has, at the very least, inspired you to give it a try (or two), and experience the joy and taste of homemade sourdough bread. Enjoy!

Regarding your leftover sponge:

In yesterdays post I mentioned to refrigerate the leftover sponge. Now that you have a living, growing sourdough, you can use this to make unlimited batches of new sponge. Simply repeat the feeding step we did each day at the beginning of the series, but you only need to do this once a week.

When you are ready to make bread, let this come to room temp, and repeat the sponge making step. After you use the 2 cups to make the sponge, store the leftovers and so on, and so on. Some bakeries claim to have starters that are decades old. I poke a pin hole in the plastic lid I use to store it, since it produces carbon-dioxide and you dont need any explosions in the fridge. While its being stored, any dark liquid that forms on your starter (called hooch) can be stirred in or poured off.

Last night, we had the good luck (due to good friends) who took us along for a spas promotional party at the Taj Hotel - Apollo Bunder. The highlights of the evening were a hair-style fashion show, 3 salsa performances and another fashion show in which the spas own members showed off a variety of out-of the world hair styles! That is a short and straight version....for the longer version, check Sumanths blog. He beat me to writing the gory details about the fun time we had last evening!

And its Ammas birthday today! Wishing you a very happy birthday Amma.