Tuesday, November 13, 2007

November 7, 2007: Ginger chocolate clusters

Michael arrived home from his conference late on Wednesday night. There was no need to keep dinner warm for him but I wanted to prepare a little welcome-home treat. Previously, he loved the quick-and-easy crunchy chewy chocolate clusters I cobbled together and so I set about creating a new flavour combination: dark chocolate with cashews, glace ginger, shredded coconut, a small slosh of Cointreau and a pinch of salt. (Thanks to Mary/Beppo for the Cointreau idea!)

These were at least as addictive as the cherry-pistachio version. I probably added a little too much salt, and this ramped up my compulsion to eat cluster after cluster after cluster. Michael shared this compulsion, though I'm not sure that had anything to do with the salt quotient.

If you'd like to put yourself at risk of a chocolate frenzy, just follow the rough quantities I used previously and try your own crunchy-chewy combination.

10 comments:

  1. Were these the delightful things you brought to the Bloggers' Banquet?

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  2. Cindy, I missed your chocolate contribution and I am very sorry I did!!! Vida x x x Next time?

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  3. As luck would have it, I have chocolate, I have nuts, I have dried fruit, I have rosewater, gosh I think I could make this, but would I want to EAT it????? I think YES, YES, YES and maybe YES, though it's not like me to want anything sweet, really!!! Vida x

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  4. I am so trying that. It looks great and it vegan friendly too!

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  5. They are indeed, Duncan! Dark and clumsy things next to your angelic macarons, but almost as sweet on the inside. :-)

    In the scheme of things, Vida, it seems that you're not missing out at all! What fruit and nuts are you using?

    Hope you like 'em, Kristy! What brand of chocolate do you use?

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  6. Cindy, I used slivered almonds and dried cranberries, delicious! Thanks Vida x

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  7. Aww Cindy you're really amping up the food pr0n shots of late! These look absolutely fabulous!

    i'm so bummed to not be living in melbourne anymore, you folks look like you had a fabulous time at the banquet (i check out the pix on flicker). though, in a way i'm glad i had the excuse as my cooking is not quite on par with the exquisite stuff you and the others brought! how wonderful!!!

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  8. Thanks Serenity!

    We Melbourne bloggers did have a good night. I think a few of us were nervous about sharing around our cooking! It was actually great to see a range of styles, from the gourmet to more homely comfort food.

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  9. YUM! I actually used to hate ginger when I was a kid but seem to have developed a taste for it. I'm going to have to try making these yummy morsels and thenwork on a Christmas take with cranberries in the mix closer to Christmas. I'm hating not having the internet at home (moving) but looking forward to getting connected again to be inspired by your blog.

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  10. Hi Mary! I like the idea of some Christmas themed ones. I hope your internet interruption doesn't last too much longer!

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