Chocolate Horseshoes

It's that time again for the fastest 2 minutes in sports...The Kentucky Derby! (http://www.churchilldowns.com/). Check out the latest happenings. There are also a lot of festivities surrounding the Derby (http://www.kdf.org/events/eventcalendar.asp). So, you shouldn't be bored....get out and enjoy it!!

One of the things that I truly enjoy is making chocolate. For Derby time, we have "Chocolate Horseshoes." They are a solid piece of chocolate cast in the shape of a real horseshoe, provided graciously by Paula Nieto, founder and director of The LUCI Center (http://www.thelucicenter.org/) out in beautiful Shelbyville Ky. (By way of dimensions, the horseshoe is a 00 shoesize if that means anything to anyone - I love random facts). They look like...well a rusted horseshoe! But they are oh so good to eat...I'm holding the very first one we did.

We are showcasing our new bourbon ball this weekend at the Derby Museum for the Thoroughbred Club (http://www.thoroughbredclub.org/). They are hosting a fundraiser for The LUCI Center which we are delighted to be a part of. I hope many of you can come out and be a part of this event.

Spring is Here

Top down view of Field of Tulips

Yesterday was the first day I consider Spring! It was warm and sunny and just lovely. What could possibly be more inspiring this time of year...the trees are budding, flowers are blooming, grass is growing....out of control in my yard. But that's another tale.

Flowers are the one thing that definitely says spring to me. They're little jewels that unfold the beauty of nature and signal a rebirth to the new year. I enjoy planting new flowers and seeing them mature into whole new creations that will invigorate and rejuvenate my spirit.

Tulip Cups

With that in mind, we've come up with a few new things celebrating the newness of the season. Tulip cups are one of the newest things that you can get at Coco's Chocoalte Cafe. What are they? They are little white chocolate cups that come in a variety of colors with a flavored white mousse inside. We first displayed our tulip cups at the ChocolateDreams.org event in February. Starting this weekend, we'll have them available in the cafe. There will be a few varieties of flavors to choose from, such as, Grand Marnier, Amaretto, and cinnamon.

You can order them 3 ways: calling us at 502-454-9810, emailing us at CocoCafe@Bellsouth.net, or just stopping by the cafe. We're located near the corner of Bardstown Rd. and Speed Ave. in the Highlands. Here's a MAP.

BIG Chocolate EGGS

Some may wonder, what is that title all about? Well, at Coco's Chocolate Cafe this year we are doing some huge-mongous eggs and small eggs for Easter. The larger ones are about the size of an ostrich egg and will be made out of wonderfully delicious dark or milk chocolate. The best part of all? There's a SURPRISE in each one!....yes, these are for the little ones in our lives or for the Big-little ones if you so choose. ;)

Our smaller eggs will be filled with something yummy...

Easter is about Christ rising from the grave. But somehow we've translated this into chocolate bunnies and eggs. I'm not squabbling about how this came about. It's just strikes me funny. How you celebrate Easter is up to you. I hope you will want to try out our little creations and think of the wonder that a gift given to you is truly special.

Website having issues

For the past few days, our website has been having several issues. I apologize for the inconvenience this is causing. If you would like to have a menu of our chocolates, please look at the right for a link under MENUS. Or if you need further information, please email us at CocoCafe@bellsouth.net and we will get back to you as quickly as possible. Again, thank you for your patience.

Frederick T Moore.

Just give me Drinking Chocolate

There was a very nice article that came out this morning concerning our drinking chocolate. I applaud Mr.Johnson for doing his research and for giving us such a nice review. Mrs. Julie Casper, hopefully she won't mind me mentioning her name, was the sweet lady who gave me the proverbial kick in the pants to do drinking chocolate.

The inspiration for our recipe dates back a little further though to when I was in Italy working with some master chocolatiers alongside Chef Judy Witts Francini (www.divinacucina.com/). I was priviledged enough to see the inner workings of artisan chocolate makers such as Danielo Vestri (www.vestri.it), Roberto Cantinari (www.robertocatinari.it), Simone de Castro (www.simonedecastro.it), and several others as part of the Tuscan Masters program with EcoleChocolat (www.ecolechocolat.com). During this time, I experienced some of the most wonderful chocolates that you can ever imagine. Andrea Slitti is the master of drinking chocolate in Italy; he originally was a coffee roaster and turned to chocolates later in his career. He has a whole range of crazy and exciting flavors that we tried. My very first drinking chocolate was a hazelnut laden one. It had crushed hazelnuts and a syrup mixed into it. I thought the portion was way too much (roughly 12 oz) but the taste was awesome - rich and molten and nutty. I honestly didn't think this would be something I would try again...until I ran into Mrs. Casper....The recipe hinges on two things: the base chocolate used and the execution of melting it. If you start with crap chocolate, then you will reap what you make. Don't complain to me. Go with the good stuff! Then, it's just the process of how you make it. This takes a little practice because you want to add just the right amount of heat, which chocolate doesn't like. Too much heat and you have scorched earth. Too little heat and the chocolate will just float around teasing you like a school yard bully....

A lot of the recipes I received are tucked neatly away in my little binder of recipes that I hope to recreate and share with you. Drinking chocolate is just one in the arsenal of flavors that people can try out and hopefully enjoy.

Chocolate Rain????

Ok quickly.....Don't ask for an explanation but I found this to be funny in kind of a twisted way and hopefully won't....well, you be the judge.

Cheers.

Video

Would you like some water?

You know there are times when I just don't have a good feeling when developing a recipe? Today, I was having one of those days. We are working on a new chile truffle in our little kitchen for Valentine's Day's orders. [We will showcase it next week.] However, there came a moment today when I couldn't taste anything anymore and I didn't realize it. What I was tasting were I think after-effects from the constant assaults my taste buds were undergoing. Then it hit me, I really can't distinguish the intensity anymore of one recipe to another....that's not so good. I decided I needed some verification of exactly where I was....it is kind of like being lost in the woods....you just need someone to point you to the way out.

It was change of shifts at the cafe, so I had the freshest tastebuds coming onboard to try out our newest treat. They took one bite. That's it. One bite. They almost hyperventilated and told me, in no uncertain terms, that they were turned off for some time to spicy/hot foods....verification? Did I see the path yet? Am I looking in the right direction? One strike against the new recipe. [staff people can be rather....honest to a flaw - I wouldn't have it any other way]. I apologized to them and said that I may have missed the mark a bit. You know it's like a plane landing...sometimes you go a bit too far down the runway....they replied, "You ran it into the ocean, Fred!!!"

Next step, I took some to my darling children....they are rather discriminating when it comes to chocolate. Most anytime I have them taste test a new concoction, they give me the thumbs up....not so this time. My son could not give me an immediate thumbs up or down because he was too busy sucking down glasses of water to scream. My daughter decided when she saw big brother wince in pain after eating his test piece, there was no way she was going to eat her portion. Ok what I need is some person(s) that usually likes hot and spicy foods to try it out and give an honest opinion....some feedback please....I need more data....that will come tonight. Thankfully, my ever resourceful wife, Elaine, has tracked down some kind South Asian folks that are quite happy to light up their tastes to something a little on the more dangerous side....I'll let you know how that turns out. Tomorrow, back to the drawing board as it's said. Adios for now.