Cardamom & Cinnamon Chocolate Spoons
The second most frequented post on this blog is Chai Tea Infused Hot Chocolate On A Stick. As this was also a hit with both my friends and myself, I decided to revisit this recipe and had a good think about what kind of flavours I would use.
I came up with about six variations, and the first one I wanted to try was milk chocolate & hazelnut. Just before I planned on making these chocolate sticks again, I happened upon some silicone moulds – you can either make ice spoons or chocolate spoons with them. Granted, you can only make 7 spoons at a time, but then again you might want to make them fresh every time you intend to give them away (otherwise the chocolate might turn white if it’s not properly tempered), and also it gives you the chance to make only a few but make them more often and experiment with different flavours.
So one day in December I started melting the chocolate, stirred in the hazelnut syrup, and got one hell of a disappointment. It turned into one large, hard lump of chocolate – what a waste. Even though I knew what I had done wrong, I just couldn’t be bothered to try again.
Until this week. I realise I haven’t gotten to post regularly since the start of the new year. This is mainly due to family lunch and dinner gatherings at the weekend, so there was no time for cooking. And then last Saturday I had root end surgery, also known as radioectomy or apicoectomy, where basically your gums are cut open, and the roots of a tooth are cut off.
Okay, I realise this is not a pleasant subject for a food blog, but with that kind of surgery eating becomes sort of a challenge for about a week until the stitches are removed. So I’ve been living on liquid food for the last few days, and because I have terrible cravings for stuff I just can not eat at the moment, I decided to indulge in a liquid pleasure instead. Make chocolate spoons and have them with a cup of coffee!
I chose a real easy version, though not due to lack of inspiration. For a couple of months now I’ve totally been into cardamom. I just love to add it to stuff, just a little subtle bit so you can just about detect it. I mixed it with a little cinnamon, and I even used dark chocolate, which I am not normally too keen on. But me and my taste buds could visualise the taste of that dark chocolate spoon stirred into black coffee… can you smell it?
By the way, of course you don’t need spoon-shaped silicon moulds for this – use an ice cube tray for square pieces, and add those to your coffee, or to some hot milk. The spoon moulds were actually much harder to fill with chocolate than I had anticipated, but they do look nice when they’re set.
Cardamom & Cinnamon Chocolate Spoons
150 g dark chocolate (couverture)
2 pinches cardamom powder
2 pinches cinnamon powder
Melt chocolate over a bain-marie. Once melted, stir in the powdered spices. Pour mixture into any kind of moulds you have. Refrigerate until firmly set.
Serve with and stir into coffee, or hot milk.
I’d like to mention that there’s no elegant way that I could find to serve these chocolate spoons as they melt quickly. Best to serve them alongside the coffee, not touching the cup. As soon as you stir the coffee with the chocolate spoon, it will melt quicker than you can take a picture, and it’ll just slide into your coffee cup. Both coffee cup size-wise as well as taste-wise, I think these are best served with a cup of espresso.
Oh my, I love this! =)
Thanks
These are so cool. I tried to make little chocolate christmas candies. They tasted good but melted instantly in your hand. What’s in a molded chocolate or bar that prevents that?
I love your spoons.
Thanks, Wendy! I think – though I wouldn’t swear on it – that chocolate candies do not contain 100 % chocolate but are mixed up with something, like truffels, that makes the consistency of the chocolates firmer so they don’t melt in your hand. Which reminds me that I used to have a recipe for rum truffels, they were also mixed with something, but I’ve lost the recipe and can’t remember what exactly was in it. Must search the web…
Do empathise with you re teeth, and having to eat liquid food. How many times have I had to enjoy/endure that! Love these to go with coffee, on days my best friend!
Thanks! I hope your tooth trouble is over by now?
The spoons sound great. If you don’t have molds you can use plastic spoons and dip into the chocolate several times building up the chocolate layer. Hope you are better soon.
Thanks, Karen – and great idea re: using plastic spoons!