Green & Black’s shares a few recipes with us
Chocolate: it is our go-to snack whenever we crave that yummy blend of sugar and cocoa. While baking with the sweet treat is old-hat, we recently had a chance to sample an entire chocolate menu—yes, both sweet and savoury—thanks to British chocolate company, Green & Black’s Organic. The myriad of flavours available in their chocolate bars work well with various recipes, four of which we are sharing with you below. Bon appétit, chocolate lovers!

Matcha and White Chocolate New Orleans Fizz

Ingredients

Matcha and chocolate drink
150mL whole milk
25mL cream
40g Green & Black’s White Chocolate
5g of fine matcha tea powder
1 egg

Per drink
25mL gin
25mL lemon juice
1 cocktail spoon super-fine sugar
50mL cold matcha and chocolate drink
Sparkling water or soda to top up

Preparation

Prepare the matcha and chocolate drink a few hours in advance. Heat the milk and cream until very hot but not burning.

Break the chocolate into small pieces or shavings into a bowl. Pour the hot milk and cream mixture onto the chocolate and matcha and emulsify with a spoon or spatula. Set aside to cool.

When completely cold, sieve (and liquidize if required) and continue making the cocktail.
Put the gin, lemon juice and sugar in a cocktail shaker. Add the matcha and chocolate drink (if very frothy, pour a bit out). Beat the egg white and add 1 cocktail spoon of it into the shaker. Add lots of ice.
Shake for a minimum of 4 minutes. Prepare a sling glass with ice to top. Double sieve into the glass. Top up with sparkling water or soda water.

Serves 4.

Tip: You can buy matcha tea from Japanese food shops but if you can’t find it, you can substitute with the best green tea you can find, ground as fine as possible using a spice mill or a mortar and pestle.

Chocolate, Chili & Lime Bread

Ingredients

15g active dry yeast
25g brown sugar
400mL warm water
450g strong white bread flour
1 tsp. salt
125g Green & Black’s Dark 85% Chocolate, chopped
1 ½ fresh limes
1 dried red chili pepper
50mL olive oil

Preparation

Mix together the yeast, sugar and 200mL warm water to activate the yeast. Set aside in a warm place for about 15 minutes.
 
Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Add the chocolate and the zest of one of the limes. Thinly slice and chop the lime, skin on, and add half to the mixture with the juice from the other lime half. De-seed and finely chop the chili pepper and add to the mixture. Add in the olive oil and mix roughly.

Once the yeast has become activated and frothy, add it to the mixture and mix thoroughly by hand.

As the liquid is absorbed, add an additional 50mL of the warm water and continue to mix. When a dough ball starts to form, use your judgment to add as much of the remaining warm water as required. The dough should be moist but not wet. If the dough becomes too wet, sprinkle in some extra flour to absorb the excess moisture. Continue to work the dough for 15 minutes.

Place the dough on a floured baking tray. Cover with a clean damp dishcloth and leave in a warm place for at least 20 minutes to prove (i.e. for the dough to rise).

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Lightly oil the loaf pan with olive oil and add dough, pressing down and shaping gently, then turn off the oven and place the pan in the oven to stand for a further 15 minutes.

Turn the oven on and preheat to 425°F and bake for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, turn the bread out of the pan and tap the bottom with a wooden spoon - it should sound hollow. If it does, place the loaf on a wire rack to cool; if it doesn’t, return to the oven (without the pan) for a further 5 minutes.

Makes 12 portions.

Tip: Proving bread requires moisture and warmth and no draughts. If the temperature is too low, the yeast is slow to react; too high and it will die. The best place to prove dough is, of course, the airing cupboard.