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Or as some may call it, Dark Chocolate. Apparently here in NZ, actual chocolate is a rare and expensive commodity. Sure, the bags there in the aisle may look like chocolate chips and have the name "chocolate" right on them, but they are missing a key ingredient.  Cocoa butter.  Instead of using the cocoa beans natural fat, they reconstitute cocoa powder with vegetable oil and make something called compound.  It tastes like chocolate and looks like chocolate but doesn't melt on your tongue or in your oven, like actual chocolate.  We were fooled by this and bought a huge bag of chocolate compound drops.  I used them along with my Shreddo in my second attempt at baking cookies on this island.  Now, I froze those cookies and was really wanting a snack so I grabbed a cookie and popped it in the microwave for maybe 30 seconds.  I turned around to smoke billowing out of my microwave and opened it up to find my cookie on fire.  I don't know if I should blame the suet or the compound but either way, it was no good.  Thank goodness for me there is a baking Goddess at Jake's office who was kind enough to share her baking knowledge and point out the compound.

She's helped me expedite my process of elimination down the baking aisle.  She also pointed me to the Callebaut chocolate in Moore Wilson.  So this week, I bit the bullet and purchased the most expensive chocolate chips I've seen to date.  (otherwise known as the only chocolate chips I've seen in New Zealand)  $51.70 NZ, or $39.20 for 2.5 kg or 5.5 lbs of chocolate chips.  So now, I am totally afraid to use them. 

I really enjoy making this with Sophie. Today I let her pick two colors. She picked purple and orange. The orange turned out fine but the purple ended up looking kind of grey. Or as Sophie put it "This isn't purple. It's scary.".

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
2 tablespoons cream of tartar
2 tablespoons oil
Food coloring (if desired)

Combine all dry ingredients in a medium saucepan. Add oil then whisk in water. Cook over medium heat and stir with a spoon until the dough becomes thick, tough and pulls away from the sides to form a ball in the center.

Remove from heat and turn out onto wax paper to cool. Once cool enough to handle add food coloring and knead it into the dough.

Store in an airtight container and refrigerate. Playdough should last for up to 3 months.

Our newlywed friends Dave "Varsity" and his wife Karen invited us over for a yummy bistro style dinner on Friday night. We had a tasty mixed green salad along with homemade tomato soup and crusty grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches served on sourdough with pesto. For dessert they served a yummy warm brownie topped with vanilla ice cream, caramel and hot fudge! I hope they invite us over more often!

We had a great time touring their new home and talking late into the night while Grandpa and Grandma babysat Sophie. As we drove home around 11:30 pm we rolled the windows down to enjoy the very unusual 52 degree weather.

Thanks again Dave and Karen for having us over. We can't wait to return the favor.

I worked my tail off for the week of August 29th to September 2nd at the Culinary Institute of America's week long baking and pastry career discovery course. I have to admit, it was the most satisfying work that I have done to date. I love getting results and working with the pressure of getting all of the products done on time.

Each day we learned a new method for baking.

Day One - Creaming Method and Introduction to the Professional Pastry Kitchen
I missed this day due to the fact that I was at the ER with Sophie (see Strider post). This seemed like the easiest day from reviewing my lecture notes and the recipes for that day.

The items made were Sour Cream Pound Cake, Lemon Pound Cake, Chocolate Chip Cookies, White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies, Hazelnut Biscotti, Walnut-Butter Shortbread and Pie Crust. I had some of the biscotti the next day and it was wonderful!

Day Two - Foaming Method, Blind Baking, Sponge Cake
This was my first day in the class. I walked in to discover that my instructor was Stephen Durfee, the former pastry chef and co-founder of French Laundry. I was a little star struck. We spent two hours in the class room discussing the previous days work and also reviewing the recipes for the day.

Items on this days schedule were Genoise, Buttermilk Pie, Chocolate Cream Pie, Coconut Cream Pie, Lemon Meringue Pie, Currant Scones, Cheese Scones, Tiramisu and Lady Fingers.

So mainly custards, cooked and baked, and a rubbed dough for the scones which were very tender and crumbly at the same time.

Day Three - Yeast Doughs
This was probably the best smelling day in the kitchen due to all of the breads that were baking. It was also the most physically demanding as most of the recipes yielded around 25 lbs of dough.

On the schedule for that day: Ciabatta, Basic White Sour Dough Bread, Basic Lean Dough (baguettes), Rosemary Bread, Rosemary Olive Bread, Orange Panetone, Challah Bread, Sunflower Sweet Bread, Parker House Rolls.

I was so full at the end of the day from sampling all of the breads it was great! I grabbed a ziplock and brought a slice or two of everything home for Jake.

Day Four - Flatbreads
This day was hectic due to all the different baking methods that we used to make each flat bread.

On the schedule for the day: Lavash which was cooked in a convection oven, Thyme Bread also cooked in a convection oven, Soft Pretzels cooked in a steam injected deck oven, Naan cooked in a Tandoor oven, Focaccia cooked in a brick oven and Pita cooked in the steam injected deck oven.

The strangest discovery from this day was the fact that the pretzels are dipped in Lye in order to give them their deep color.

Day Five - Chocolate
This day was unexpectedly fun for me. I always felt that making chocolates was too fussy, artistic and detail oriented. It ends up being all of those things but the process was very relaxing for me.

On the schedule: Chocolate Ganache Tart, Flourless Chocolate Cake, Souffle Cake, Rochers, Grapefruit Truffles, Honey Truffles, Cointreau Coconut Truffles, Mocha Truffles and Mendiant au Chocolate.

Jake was in heaven this day as I got to bring two of each chocolate home and I also swiped a piece of the flourless chocolate cake.