Special Occasions
Chocolate was once only eaten by the wealthy and elite of Europe and the idea that chocolate is a luxury seems to have stayed with us so it is not surprising that when we have a Special Occasion coming up our thoughts immediately turn to Chocolate.
A birthday would not have been complete without a sweet sticky gooey Chocolate Birthday Cake. Especially one that is shaped as an animal like a Chocolate Caterpillar Cake or a Chocolate Hedgehog Cake they are fairly easy to create and look amazing. Kids beam with delight when they look upon a big mountain of chocolate lit up with birthday candles for them to blow out when they make their birthday wish.
Easter is a day that has become synonymous with chocolate thanks to J. Fry and Sons as they first brought us chocolate Easter eggs and there is no better way to round off a traditional Easter Lunch with a scrumptious piece of Chocolate Easter Cake.
October 31st, is as I'm sure you know Halloween. Halloween always brings lots of witches and Hob Goblins of all shapes and sizes knocking on the door shouting, "Trick or Treat." How many times have you ran out of 'treats' in the first hour? A great idea is to bake batches of cookies, I make White Chocolate Ghost Cookies and Chocolate Apples, and these are always well received.
For more ghoulish Halloween recipe ideas check out our Halloween section.
The tradition of having a Chocolate Christmas Log or Yule Log may have come from the "Bûche de Noël" which is a French dessert and is used to represent the old tradition of burning a Yule log on the fire at Christmas to ward off evil spirits. Whatever the reason a Christmas table would not be the same without a Chocolate Christmas Log sitting prettily on it, I know in our house it is far preferred over the more traditional fruit Christmas Cake.
Talking of traditional Christmas Cakes have you seen our recipe for the wonderful Nigella Lawson Chocolate Christmas Cake recipe. Scrumptious!
Chocolate always plays a big part in our Christmas Menu and deserves a section totally dedicated to the festive season, so why not try adding a bit of dark decadance to your table with these Christmas Chocolate Recipes we're sure you'll find something to suit your tastes.
Traditional cakes seem to be on the wane as more and more people choose to go with alternative Chocolate Cakes for Special Occasions and it is not uncommon to be a guest at a Wedding and be served a slab of Chocolate Wedding Cake made for pure indulgence instead of fruit cake now don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with a rich fruit cake covered in marzipan and topped off with Royal Icing but given the choice between fruit cake and chocolate cake I know which one I would be reaching for.
