Chocolate Honey Spice Cake: Mardigras and Carnival of goodies

It has always been my dream to move my hips and to dance the "samba" in the grand carnival of Rio in Brazil. But I never had the opportunity. For getting reservations has always been arduous, be it for hotel or airplane tickets during this period. The only carnivals I was lucky enough to experience was the famous Sinulog Festival of Cebu in Philippines and the Tenjin Matsuri of Osaka in Japan. The non-stop dancing on the street, the festive mood and people's jolly faces are truly intoxicating. I am not really of a dancer but it is the jubilant ambiance of any Mardigras that brings me to seventh heaven. Funny or not, I feel the same ecstasy come Christmas. Chocolates and candied fruits are the stars of the event. Their ordinary look metamorphose into something grandiose exclusive for this occasion. The table is suddenly transformed into colorful streets of Rio and the parade of the yummy goodies begins.

Let me start with my Chocolate Honey Spice Cake nibblets garnished with "orange confit"



Followed by my home-made candied organic oranges (orange confit)



and how a simple chocolate bar could be transformed into something fantastic like this....



Dark Chocolate bar heavy laden with nuts and candied oranges



Well, all we need now is just a cup of hot tea and off we go with our "samba" mood!


Chocolate Honey Spice Cake
250 g of flour, 125 g of honey, 125 g of sugar, 1 tsp of four spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg,clove), 5 tbsp of milk, 5 tbsp of water, 2 tbsp of cacao, 1 tsp of baking powder, some salt and 30 g of butter

Warm up the milk with the water and dissolve the sugar and honey. In a bowl mix all the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, cacao, salt and spices. Mix little by littly the milk-honey-sugar mixture. Blend well. Butter a baking dish and cook slowly for 1 hour over 180 degrees. Once cook you can make the shape you want with the help of cookie cutter. You can garnish it with chocolate ganache and some orange confite.

Orange confit
2 organically grown oranges, 300 g of sugar, 1 cup of water

Take off gently the orange peel with the help of a sharp knife. Blanch for two minutes in a boiling water the orange peel. Do this operation about two times. Slice diagonally the oranges and start preparing the syrup. In a casserolle, mix the sugar with the water and let it boil. Add all the sliced oranges and boil for 5 minutes. Let it macerate on this syrup for 24 hours in the fridge. The next day strain the oranges and let it dry completely.

Dark Chocolate Bar

200 g of chocolate bar, 2 tbps of mixed chopped nuts (pistachio, hazelnuts and almonds), 2 tbsp of orange confit

Melt the chocolate in bain marie and pour it over a chocolate bar mold. Garnish it with the nuts and candied oranges. Let it harden.