Chocolate Ecstasy

In the post-Easter, chocolate haze that most of us find ourselves in, I am thinking about the effects of chocolate. We all hear about it lowering blood pressure, reducing depression and being anti-carcinogenic.

But much more interestingly, apparently eating chocolate stimulates the same pleasure centres in the brain that an orgasm does.

And I can believe it. I eat chocolate in a way that some people find revolting, but I know I am not the only one.

1. The chocolate (preferably creamy milk chocolate - Galaxy for everyday, Belgian or Swiss for special occasions) must have been in the fridge. For reasons highlighted in a moment.


2. The chocolate must be eaten with a hot cup of tea. The differences in temperature, between the hot sting of tea and the cool hardness of the refridgerated chocolate provide a nice contrast. Aided by (and this is the bit that people find it hard to forgive) . . .


3. Dunking your chocolate in your tea. I only do this with Galaxy, as even to me it seems a little sacreligious to do this with expensive chocolate. There is something decadent about sucking the melted warm chocolate off whatever piece you are "dunking" and still finding cold chocolate underneath. Rarely done in public. But always with a feeling of guilty pleasure.


4. Dark chocolate is different - the higher the cocoa solids the better, and must be eaten straight from the fridge, but without dunking. It should then be left to melt slowly on my tongue. Hot tea has a different purpose here - to warm your mouth up to facilitate easy melting.

Recently, due to my aforementioned "healthy diet" (read, no chocolate, sweets, crisps, blah blah blah), I had my first serious chocolate "hit" in six weeks with Lucy's birthday cake - a chocolate cake from Thorntons, decorated with thick milk chocolate, filled with chocolate ganache and topped with whole Continental chocolates. Never having abstained from chocolate for that long, the pleasure hit was immense.

If chocolate affected me that way after not having had it for a while and it uses the same pleasure centres of the brain (I presume on a slightly smaller scale, but it probably depends on the man?!), I'm going to pass out with pleasure by the time I have sex again . . .

Of course, combining the two things together is the best way. Where's my paintbrush?

Nice Buns!

Just wanted to show off my first attempt at baking Hot Cross Buns - yes, I know they are meant to be eaten on Good Friday, but I decided to make them today!

Fresh out of the oven and with glazy bits on

Can't you just smell their cinnamony goodness?!

The crosses on them are a bit wonky - my first attempt at piping as well, but all things considered, I think they look quite yummy! I did cheat a little bit and used my beloved Panasonic Breadmaker to make the dough. I recommend breadmakers to everyone - I am eating quite a healthy diet at the moment and don't eat a lot of bread, but one of my weekly treats is a fresh French Loaf, timed to be baked by 08:30 on a Saturday morning. Mmmmmm . . .

Warm, buttered and ready to be scoffed

History of the Hot Cross Bun courtesy of Wikipedia

In many historically Christian countries, the buns are traditionally eaten on Good Friday, with the cross standing as a symbol of the crucifixion. Their ingredients mean that people who are following lent are able to eat them as they traditionally contain no eggs or dairy products. They are believed by some to pre-date Christianity, though there is no original evidence for a pagan origin, and the first recorded use of the name Hot Cross Bun is not until 1733. According to food historian Elizabeth David, the buns were seen by Protestant English monarchs as a dangerous hold over of Catholic belief in England, being baked from the consecrated dough used in making the communion wafer. Protestant England attempted to ban the sale of the buns by bakers but they were too popular, and instead Elizabeth I passed a law permitting bakeries to sell them, but only at Easter and Christmas.

Those pesky Easter bunnies must have thieving from my kitchen again