coffee | with knife and fork

Coffee and Cake

Yesterday I at the last of the salted caramel and almond Toscakaka that I’d made at Scandilicious baking masterclass.

With coffee, espresso of course.

Gorgeous.

Scandilicious buns…

Today I got to sample some of ace baker Scandilicious buns.

She’s been madly baking test batches of recipes for possible inclusion in her next cookbook (out next year and all about Scandi baking).

Wow.

I’m not renowned for my sweet tooth and neither is my husband but these were just the ticket with our morning coffee (we shared one of each so there are some left for tomorrow).

The round one with custard is a Skolebolle and the other an almond twist.

We particularly loved that they were sweet enough but not crazily so whilst the dough had a lovely gentle spice to it.

I’m hoping they make the cut for the book.

(And big thanks to Sig for the bag of free buns)

Cup, coffee, Christmas cake

Three things I really rather like

They made a nice afternoon “tea”

Coffee pot

This was my grandparents coffee pot.

I keep it on the mantlepiece in my dining room.

I like the combination of the dark wood, the pink wall, the silvery pot.

I’m not sure I’ve ever used it for coffee, I doubt I will.

Coffee time fashion

So those of you who are regular readers here or follow me on twitter know that coffee forms a large part of my day.

Everyday.

It’s an important ritual. Mostly accompanied by chocolate.

But now I’ve found the perfect thing to wear as well.

Look:

What’s not to like?

If you are quick you might be able to bag one too from Howies here (it’s their T shirt of the month so limited quantities)

Coffee and chocolate, most divine

So here I am again with my morning cup of coffee and some squares of chocolate.

I really like to try out different chocolate (always dark never milk).

But there are some favourites.

And my ‘regular’ choice for quite some time has been Divine’s 70% bar. Dark, smooth, nicely chocolatey, not bitter. And sensibly priced. A great everyday bar.

So imagine my delight when the people at Divine told me there was an 85% bar being launched and would I like to try it?

Would I? I leapt at the chance.

Here I am looking suitably excited before doing a comparative tasting of 70% vs 85%.

Now I’m someone who likes 100% cocoa solids chocolate, its weird and bitter but really nice. So I wasn’t too worried whether I would like the 85% more just interested to find out how it would compare.

I took a quick shot of squares of each lined up.

I was surprised that the 85% didn’t really look much different (the squares on the right).

I moved on to tasting…..

The 85% was unusually smooth and not bitter, often at this level there can be quite a strong bitter after taste which, depending on what you like, puts some people off. This wasn’t like that at all. It retained the smoothness of the 70% but was more intense, more chocolatey, perhaps more fruity.

I really liked it.

At the moment its only stocked in Tesco but the lovely people at Divine tell me that it will be coming to other shops soon. I hope so because I want some more. Soon.

You can find more about Divine’s products here: http://www.divinechocolate.com/products/bars.aspx

And thanks for the sample bar….it didn’t last long!

Latest in desk accessories

For anyone who cares about their desk. And their coffee.

Then these are this seasons must have.

A perfect pair of espresso cups. Emblazoned with the Fire & Knives logo.

Available here in a nice neat straw filled box with smart F&K stickers on.

They say share with a friend and sharing is nice but I say keep them all for yourself.

In the interests of open reporting please note that I acquired my set through bribery and corruption, i suggest its easier and faster to pay by the normal methods.