Torta Pistocchi and Chocolate Week, Hilton Singapore

There is love. There is family. And there is chocolates.

This is a story that started 23 years ago in a little village in Tuscany. The young man dreamt of creating luscious chocolates, delicious enough to wow the world. With the help of his magic team which consists of his Italian family, a Thai wife and the new addition of a beautiful little daughter, Torta Pistocchi is what it is today and has travelled the world to reach Singapore, in a debut Chocolate Week, organised by Hilton two weeks ago.

A Shot of Cinnamon Cocoa

A shot of this elixir is probably all we need before we go to bed.

Something warm for the spirit. A dash of spice to cool the nerves and calm us down. Lately things have been pretty hectic here, and I simply forgot all about my routine for years, I did not even have time to pour the milk to the pan and boil it for minutes! Yes, it only takes minutes but lately I found myself drifting asleep before I even noticed it. Many a time, I fell asleep whilst trying to put Couscous to bed and she would still be up whereas I am already in my la-la land.



But today, I decided to make a pot of cocoa for the three of us. A little cup for Couscous, an introduction for her already chocoholic palette. So she feels a wee bit grown-up, though I wish at times oh I so want to be her age again, spending hours of playtime, nap and mommy's cuddles.

She waited patiently, all huddled up on my hip, staring at the pot of milk until it bubbles, and the whole kitchen smells of cinnamon. Forget the television noise in the background, we were both immersed in stirring the milk and concentrating on the moments.



Moments of togetherness. A bonding time.

Something that she and I have been missing for months ever since my maternity leave is over. Those moments are precious, and if I could steal those minutes in the kitchen, so be it, I shall frame it in my memory keepsake to remember as she gets older. And whilst we do that, our drink was ready.

Such a simple drink, yet so satisfying. And whilst I am typing this and sipping my remaining cocoa, Couscous is already asleep, drifted into sweet oblivion after a small mug of cocoa. Her new found elixir of love, chocolate and everything cinnamon-y. I wish those moments would last forever, and there will be plenty more mugs of cocoa in future. And I shall enjoy these rare moments of solitude, leaving you with random excerpts of Desiderata..

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. Whatever your labours and aspirations in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.With all its sham drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.

Hot cinnamon cocoa

serves 2

3 tbsp dutch processed cocoa powder ( I use Valrhona for a bit of luxury)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp sugar (more or less depending on personal taste)
1 tsp honey
2 cups fresh milk

In a milk pan, simmer the milk and all the ingredients on medium heat.
Whisk gently whilst simmering so the cocoa is well combined.
When the milk has reached boiling point, remove from heat and serve warm in individual mugs.

Squires Kitchen Review: Squires Kitchen's Guide to working with Chocolate book and Polycarbonate Chocolate Mould

Don't be fooled by these round shaped chocolates. Nope, I did not buy them from a shop. I actually made them at home, fresh from preservatives and certainly well moulded into its dainty sphere delights.

Thanks to The daring Kitchen challenge of the month, I have been playing with plenty of chocolates lately. From tempering to moulding, and filling each chocolates with its own complementary flavours, my Chocolate Factory is on full steam and always rearing to go. It was literally a gift from heaven when Natalie from Squires Kitchen sent me a chocolate book for review, and a beautiful polycarbonate chocolate mould to try on. I was over the moon to say the least, and I just could not contain my excitement to try out 'working with chocolate' on that exquisite mould. 

This 71-paged chocolate heaven book is a definite God sent. Authored by the famous pastry chef and chocolatier, Mark Tilling, exclusively published for Squires Kitchen, this book contains everything beyond basics that would help  any inspiring chocolatiers to create homemade chocolates with glossy, professional finish. Written in approachable manner,  easy to understand instructions, the tempering techniques were so easy to follow that one does not need to attend chocolate masterclass, provided the instructions are followed verbatim. 

It was time to put the reading into practice. Armed with some luscious Belgian couverture chocolates,  I chose the tempering method using bain-marie, outwinning the other two techniques taught in details in the book; the microwave method and tempering with powdered cocoa butter. What I thought was a great help is how tips are given for testing the tempered chocolates without the use of candy thermometer. I erred on the side of caution and used my ever-so-reliable thermo though this tip is definitely worth a try on next experiment.

Flipping through the pages, I was rushed with adrenaline to try out the beautiful creations displayed. Have you ever tried chocolate transfer sheet? Guess what, despite cooking and living chocolates for years, I have not come across much use of chocolate transfer sheets, until this book was in my hand. The next thing I knew, I ordered some Swiss marble chocolate transfer sheet online and anxiously tried out my tempered white chocolate on those magical sheets. Verdict, these easy to create decorations looked so deceptively extravagant, hence a must-have for that glamorous finish. 

This clever book also has sections on piping, working with marble slabs to create chocolate nests and fans, as well as using moulds to create your own fancy chocolate bars. I was particularly delighted with the recipe chapter at the end. With arrays of truffles, cupcakes, mousses and celebration cakes to try from, this book is definitely worth a buy. Having said that, I would not mind a larger section on the recipes to be included in the book and probably more on chocolate decorating techniques and party ideas if a new edition is to be released.

Finally it was time to try out the polycarbonate mould. This is very exciting, given my exposure to chocolate making all this while has been limited to silicone moulds. Making full use of my tempering practice, I decided to make some milk-and-white chocolate filled with whipped dark chocolate ganache. This simple creation sums up the knowledge of tempering different types of chocolates ie milk, dark and white, as they need to be tempered at its ideal temperature, respectively. The final product was exquisite, with decadent silky smooth ganache encased in crusty chocolate shells. I just tapped the mould gently on my kitchen top and all the chocolates came out of the moulds perfectly!

As I am writing this, my freezer is already laden with  pistachio and nougat filled chocolates, ready to be boxed into their pretty little giftboxes for family and friends. It goes without saying how satisfying it is to make your own professional looking shop-bought lookalike chocolates, thanks to the techniques learnt from the Squires Chocolate book and the high quality polycarbonate moulds. 

This is truly a wonderful experience and a much welcomed culinary skill that will be cherished in my kitchen for years to come.

Note: Special thanks to Squires Kitchen for this wonderful polycarbonate chocolate mould and the book.

Disclaimer: This review is solely my opinion, based on my own experiments trying out the products and not prejudiced by any external influence.

Daring Bakers' August Challenge: Candylicious! Persian Pistachio Nougat, Viennese Chocolates and Black Forest Dark Chocolates

I am so excited for my first ever completed Daring Baker's Challenge, and what a challenge it was that I immediately succumbed to it. The Daring Bakers' August Challenge is Candylicous, where we are to make 2 types of candies; chocolate and bonbons. Special thanks to Lisa and Mandy for such a brilliant idea! That was all the encouragement I need, as it is, our house is always filled with something sweet, something chocolatey and definitely something homemade! I couldn't decide just the two, so I splurge and indulge for something a little more..

I decided to use the polycarbonate moulds courtesy of Squires Kitchen (review will follow soon) and tried to emulate my favourite Thornton's Viennese truffles filling with whipped dark chocolate ganache. As the recipe was really my own trial, it was really pleasing that the whipped ganache turned out as good as the real thing!  I covered the  ganache with white base and milk chocolate top, just for tad bit of fancy. They were really an extravagant hit!

Craving for a bit of variety, I took out the chocolate bar silicone moulds and made some gorgeous 'Black Forest Bars'..these bars were adorned with biscuits and preserved cherries covered in good quality, tempered dark chocolates. I must say, making homemade chocolates is really heavenly. Tempering the chocolates was not that difficult, and reliably easy with the help of a good candy thermometer. Mastering the art of tempering, the world of exquisite chocolates is your oyster with arrays of fillings to choose from. For this challenge, I have used pralines, toasted chopped almonds, pecans, preserved cherries, dark chocolate ganache and even chilli!

Then it was time to crack on with the bonbons. I decided to try my hands on something I've never tried before, the Persian Pistachio Nougats. I remembered how expensive the  nougat from Neuhaus was when we bought them in Brussels recently; they did cost a bomb! Every time we wanted to indulge in  divine nougats, we would get some from the Neuhaus London branch in St Pancras but given the success of the homemade version, it would be good to keep the money in the pocket instead! The best part was, they were really easy to make. I used some edible wafer paper (rice paper) for the touch of rustic elegance.

It has been really a wonderful challenge, and I was pleased to discover such a nice way to present some homemade gifts to friends and family. After all who wouldn't fancy a bit of candy and chocolates, eh?

Tempering the chocolates

The most important nugget of advice here is to get some good quality chocolates, as they make a big difference in the taste and texture of the outcome. Try not to use the commercial 'chocolate coating' as they do taste awful once tempered, trust me. I prefer Chocolat Pattisier Menier swiss chocolates for baking, which can be found at your local supermarket ( got mine from Sainsbury's). There are few tempering methods, for this challenge I chose the bain-marie method. Place 2/3 of  your chopped chocolates in a bowl over the boiling water and once melted at temperature around 45C, add in the remaining 1/3 of the chocolates to bring the temperature down. The ideal temperature for tempered chocolates prior to use varies depending on the percentage of cocoa butter present:

• dark chocolate 31-32 C
• milk chocolate 29-30C
• white chocolate 27-28C

It does help to have a candy thermometer at hand, though there are various techniques that could be used to check whether the chocolate is done without the thermometer.

Now the fun begins!

Viennese Milk-and-White Chocolate Shells with whipped dark chocolate ganache
 Own recipe, inspired by Thornton's Viennese truffles

150g tempered milk chocolates
150g tempered milk chocolates
200 g chopped dark chocolates
1 cup double cream

Prepare the whipped ganache. Place the double cream in a heavy bottom pan and bring to boil. Add the cream into the chopped dark chocolates, mix well until chocolates are fully melted. Keep the ganache in the freezer for about an hour. 
After an hour, take out the ganache, and let it warm slightly at room temperature. Using an electric mixer, beat the ganache until the colour lightens slightly. Now the ganache is ready.
Scoop the tempered dark chocolates into chocolate moulds and turn the mould upside down to remove excess chocolate. Place mould in the freezer for 10 minutes. Once the shell has hardened, pipe the ganache as filling and pour some tempered white chocolates to form the base. Cool the chocolates in the fridge until they are set.


Black Forest Chocolate Bars
Own recipe, inspired by Cadbury Black forest bar

1 cup preserved maraschino cherries (alcohol-free version is available)-chopped
200g good quality, 70% cooca dark chocolate-tempered
1/2 cup coarsely crushed digestive biscuits


Place the biscuits and chopped cherries in the mould. Pour the tempered dark chocolate and place the mould in the fridge until the chocolates are set.


Persian Pistachio Nougat
Adapted from Good Housekeeping magazine

2 large egg whites
250g granulated sugar
150g honey
125ml water
1 tsp rose essence 
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
1 tbsp liquid glucose
1 cup toasted pistachio
a pinch of salt
Optional: Edible wafer papers

Using a freestanding mixer, beat the egg whites until soft peaks are formed. At the same time, place the sugar, honey, water, liquid glucose and salt in a heavy bottomed pan and let it simmer on medium heat until the mixture reaches 240 c on candy thermometer. 
 Keep beating the egg whites and gradually add this hot syrup until the mixture becomes really stiff.  Add the pistachios and rose essence, mix well.
 Line a rectangular baking pan with the edible wafer paper. Spoon the mixture onto the lined pan and cover with another layer of wafer paper. Place another heavy glass or plates on top and keep it in the fridge until the nougat is set, preferably overnight.
Take the nougat out of the pan and cut into squares.
Keep the nougats in an airtight container, they do last for about couple of weeks.