At Morukuru Family De Hoop, we love a great dessert, especially when it involves chocolate. Now that we are in the cooler months, we can safely say that our favourite winter chocolate indulgence is Chocolate Fondant with Chantilly cream. Who can resist these soft chocolate cakes with a distinctly liquid centre? Pure magic. Summer and the gorgeous warm weather doesn’t put us off chocolate, and we agree that Life without chocolate is a day without sunshine! We like to hit the kitchen and rustle up batches of our best-ever brownies, which are heavenly, especially when served with a dollop of homemade vanilla ice cream. We’ve never met a chocolate dessert we don’t like, and just thinking about our chocolate Mousse Trio, White Choclocale Roulade, and Chocolate Flan makes us happy.
Kayleigh Lamprecht, one of our managers, is a dedicated chocoholic and says, “One of my favourite desserts is chocolate mousse. I also love strawberries dipped in Bar-one sauce. That’s always a winner for me - plus chocolate lava cakes or chocolate brownies with vanilla ice cream & what I call zebra fudge (better known as chocolate biscuit fudge), and then, of course, chocolate cake is any time of the day kinda thing for me.”
Bush safaris and chocolate go together like… well, hot chocolate and a shot (or two) of Amarula! Your early morning game drive stop will never be the same - and next level yumminess is our chip cookies - which you can dunk right in. Who said you couldn’t have chocolate at breakfast?
Esmaralda, Assistant General Manager and Chef at Morukuru Family Madikwe created an out-of-this-world dessert that she calls “Walk in the bush”. This decadent delight tickles your palate with a wild ride of dark chocolate mousse and double chocolate biscuit - all those textures and flavours take you to chocolate heaven. Esmaralda adds, “An all-time favourite South African classic dessert is Malva Pudding - and I take it up a notch by adding chocolate in the batter and sauce.”
Guests marking their birthdays while at Morukuru Family Madikwe have two extra special reasons to celebrate - they are in the bush, and our chefs will spoil them with a signature chocolate birthday cake. Who doesn’t love chocolate cake!
Our confectionery team at AtholPlace House & Villa voted. And Chocolate Truffles take first place in the top chocolate treat category. Chef Vasco says “they are considered a traditional Christmas treat - but we like to serve them with coffee, anytime! My favourite recipe is this one that I have specially developed for our guests. Dark Chocolate Truffles with fresh raspberries.”
Recipe:
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- Blend 160g fresh raspberries to give 125g puree.
- Put the puree in a saucepan, add one tablespoon caster sugar and six tablespoons crème Fraiche and bring to a boil.
- Remove from the heat and incorporate 325g chopped plain dark chocolate in 3 batches.
- As soon as the chocolate has melted, blend in 30g softened butter and 1½ tablespoons framboise eau-de-vie.
- Line a baking tray, approximately 30 x 30cm, with baking paper and pour in the chocolate mixture.
- Refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Turn out the chocolate onto another sheet of paper and cut into rectangles, and roll into balls.
- Sift some unsweetened cocoa powder into a shallow dish and roll each chocolate truffle in the powder (transfer to sieve to shake off the extra powder.)
- Eat & Enjoy!
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Our chefs from Morukuru Family De Hoop, Madikwe and AtholPlace House & Villa share their tips for working with chocolate. So next time you are in the kitchen creating your piece of chocolate heaven, these will lead you to extra-special chocolate happiness!
Tips cooking with Chocolate:
- Take it slow – heating and melting chocolate too quickly will result in it burning and will give it a bitter taste.
- Always break the chocolate into small pieces instead of trying to melt big pieces. The smaller, the better.
- In baking – using half chocolate and half cocoa powder gives desserts a more intense chocolate taste.
- When double boiling chocolate, make sure the water does not touch the bottom of the glass the chocolate is in.
- Rather use a spatula or wooden spoon when working with chocolate, as a cold metal spoon in warm chocolate can cause it to become grainy.
