Roasted Hazelnut and Milk Chocolate Dipped Pretzels

I thought of making these after eating Cadbury Hazelnut Milk Chocolate and pretzels at the same time. The flavour combination was delicious. I googled my idea for chocolate covered pretzels and found 380,000 images learning immediately that my idea was nothing new. Still I wasn't deterred and decided to go ahead anyway. The results we not pretty but they tasted fantastic! They are a perfect combination of salty and sweet. The creamy sweet milk chocolate combined with the crunchy salty savoury flavour is incredible tasty as well as being a pinch to make. Go ahead and give it a go!

Ingredients:
1 block of Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate. I would recommend 2 blocks as one didn't seem enough to me. You could also use Cadbury Hazelnut Milk Chocolate.
1 packet of salted pretzels. I used Parker's Pretzels.
1 packet of unsalted raw hazelnuts. 1 packet was equal to 1 cup of hazelnuts.
To roast the hazelnuts place them on a tray covered with baking paper and pop them into a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for a fan forced oven or 356 degrees Fahrenheit or gas mark 4. Bake for 7- 10 minutes keeping a close eye on them. If they are over cooked they will have an incredibly bitter taste so watch out. Lay out a clean tea towel and place the hazelnuts onto half the towel. Fold it over, place your hands on top and rub vigorously all over, this will remove most of the outer skins. Next chop the nuts with a knife until fine or place the nuts into a blender as I did.

Simmer some water in a small saucepan and pop a glass or metal bowl on top, making sure the water doesn't touch the bowl. Break the chocolate into pieces and place into the bowl. Keep an eye on the chocolate and once half melted move the saucepan off the heat and leave it to rest. The chocolate should continue to melt. If not, just pop it back on the heat and stir with a metal spoon. Once melted place half the chopped nuts into the chocolate and mix through and leave to cool. I didn't do this and learnt the hard way.

One by one dip the pretzels into the chocolate then hold it up and give a shake so the excess drips off. I made half a batch dipped in chocolate, and half a batch dipped in chocolate and then sprinkled heavily with extra finely chopped hazelnuts. Place each chocolate covered pretzel onto a tray covered with baking paper and pop the trays in the fridge for an hour or two until they are set. Enjoy!

Love Jem

    A Day with the Girls

Sunday was a sunny autumn day, perfect for a very late breakfast with my girlfriends. With a headache and a big appetite we headed into Civic to Cafe Essen. After a few hours of walking around Glebe park we headed back to Essen for some delicious cake. Essen holds a lot of great memories for me, during high school and college it was a typical hang out with friends. Years later I'm still drawn into its warm bohemian atmosphere and comforting food. 

                                      French toast with honey instead of maple syrup and bacon

                                    Hazelnut hot chocolate with whipped cream and caramel sauce

                                                  Poached eggs with salt and cracked pepper



Jess





                                                     Renee's chocolate mud cake                                                                   



                  

                                                       Jess's lemon marange pie

                                                           My Mars bar cheesecake

Love Jem



                           A Special Day & Beautiful Food

Saturday 7th of May was a special day. My former boss, Lee, married the father of her child and the love of her life. The ceremony and  reception was held at the lobby on a warm autumn day. The food was exceptional.
Entree.
Togarashi tiger prawns with a citrus and summer berry salad.

These lovely prawns were well seasoned and had a beautiful fresh flavour. I'm not a fan of salad so I steered clear of it but it did look pretty.

Entree number two was a pink peppered kangaroo carpaccio, a rocket and  pecorino salad served with roasted macadamia aoli. This was Andrew's dish which I had a taste of. The meat tasted like rare beef the aolie was creamy with crumbs of macadamia mixed though, again I passed on the salad.

Main. Char grilled lamb loin with a warm potato salad, sugar snap peas and cumberland sauce. The lamb was perfectly cooked medium which is exactly how I like my meat. The sauce reminded me of a jus, it had a rich meaty flavour which complemented the lamb beautifully. The potatoes had a creamy mustard dressing. The sugar snap peas were lightly cooked, sweet and crispy, a perfect combination when eaten with the lamb.

Main number two. Moroccan spiced chicken breast with jeweled cousecouse, snowpea shoot salad and harissa dressing. I tried little of the chicken and found it to have a strongly seasoned aniseed flavour. I'm not fond of aniseed at all but those who love liquorish would enjoy this dish.

Dessert. White chocolate and mango brulee with pistachio ice cream.

This dessert was incredible! My favourite was the decedent brulee, it was incredibly rich, thick, smooth and creamy. It had a thin layer of caramel toffee which made a cracking sound when tapped with a spoon.

Dessert number two. Espresso and tia maria semifreddo with baby macaroons and choc mint slice. I only had a little taste of the semifreddo which had a creamy strong coffee taste.

The pièce de résistance was a four layered cake of cheese. The cheese was cut by the bride and groom at the end of the evening. It was then whisked away and cut up and layed out with a variety of crackers, fig paste, strawberries and pistachio nuts. My guess of the cheeses were brie, camembert, blue and vintage cheddar. The brie and camembert were my favourite, rich, gooey, creamy, the perfect ending to a wonderful day.



Love Jem