Of Couverature Chocolate and Ex-Boyfriends

Couverture chocolate usually has at least 35% cocoa fat (solids?), which is why recipes often call for it when they want a shiny coating (think hand-made chocolates and glossy ganaches). I happen to have a bag of Callebut (“Finest Belgian Chocolate”) chocolate chips that is 58% Dark Couverture, just sitting in my kitchen cupboards, waiting for the right recipe.

Or a midnight snack craving. Because all that yummy cocoa butter makes for a melt-in-your-mouth chocolate hit! I kid you not, I snack on it at midnight. Or 1 am. Even 2 am, in the throes of insomniac hunger pangs. Anyway, I have a bag of this yummy stuff, so I must use it before it goes stale (sacrilege, heresy, etc., etc.).

A baker ex-boyfriend gave it to me, when he was still in the courting phase, before he moved to South America. Before I got back together with the previous ex, also from South America. Actually, come to think of it, I’ve dated a lot of Spanish-speaking guys. From Cuba, Bolivia, Venezuela, and Hungary. That’s right, I dated a Spanish-speaking Hungarian. Although technically, he was a Hungarian-speaking Veneneulan. (The world is a melting pot, people. And I’ve dated some particularly melty bits. Including a German-speaking South American-born Mennonite. Oh, the recipes that family had! Everything from cattle corn tamales to rollkuchen, a kind of fried dough fritter. But that’s for another post!) To get back to my point, I want to get my couverture on!

I should say…I cheated. That couverture chocolate from the ex? I finished it off a few days after I wrote the above, and before I actually tried the recipe. It was just so melty good! Oh, the chocolate-y goodness! So I had to buy more from Bulk Barn. Not quite the same quality, I know. But it was midnight and the bag of chocolate was staring at me and there was no other sugar or chocolate in the house! What’s a gal to do?

The recipe, my chocolate fiend friends:

Chocolate-Dipped Orange and Almond Biscotti

• 1 ½ c. flour
• 1/2 c. flour
• 1/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tbsp. oil
• ½ c. chopped almonds (I had some whole almonds lying around so I just roughly chopped them)
• zest of one orange
• 1 egg
• 1 egg white
• ¾ c. semi-sweet couverature chocolate
• 1/3 c. sliced almonds

Mix flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and baking powder together. Add oil, egg, and egg white, and mix in mixer or by hand. Add in zest, oil, and roughly chopped almonds. Mix together and form into log shape on a greased baking sheet. Bake in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Take out and let cool. When cool, slice into biscotti shaped cookies. Bake for 10 minute in 350 degree oven, lying cookies on one side. Turn cookies to other size and bake for another 10 minutes. Let cool. Dip each cookie lengthwise in tempered couverature chocolate and sliced almonds. Let chocolate harden. Devour with expresso and live la dolce vita!

How to Temper Chocolate: Heat water until boiling in a small pot. Place metal bowl over boiling water and place half of chocolate inside. Let melt and stir. Remove from heat. “Seed” chocolate by dropping the remaining bits of chocolate into bowl. Stir until chocolate is melted. Be very careful not to let any water get into chocolate during this process, as it will seize and become clumpy and icky.

These biscotti turned out pretty well! I think the recipe can easily be doubled. It does make for a very crumbly biscotti, which I think is more authentic. Other recipes will make a smooth dough, but, eh, I like the rustic look! The roughly chopped almonds really add to that.

The recipe doesn’t make a big batch, and the DH *may* have helped himself to some in between the bakings and sans chocolate, as he doesn’t like chocolate. I can’t believe it either, but I don’t complain, because…more for me!

Do you guys ever devour your chocolate hoard during midnight cravings? Let me know in the comments!

Next Post: Easy Peasy Pasta Salad and Changing Friendships