#MontezumasMoments with Rosie Birkett

It’s no surprise that after months of self-isolation we’re all suffering from a little bit of ‘Lockdown Lethargy’. We wanted to bring a smile, some fun and maybe even the opportunity to find a new talent to everyone, so we’ve launched our Montezuma’s Moments campaign so we can inspire you during lockdown. 

This month we teamed up with the wonderful cook and food writer, Rosie Birkett, to bring you a couple of delicious recipes for you to try, as well as bringing you three of her top tips for baking with chocolate.  

 

 

 

Rosie’s Top Cooking Tips: 

Quality is key 

Start with great quality chocolate. Cocoa that’s been scrupulously and ethically sourced and processed using good ingredients to start with is going to taste better in your finished dish. I’m a big fan of the Montezuma’s approach and adore their 70% dark chocolate, organic white vanilla chocolate, and milk chocolate as base ingredients. They’re all smooth, creamy, and packed full of flavour. It’s a bonus that the packaging is recyclable, too. 

Play with flavour and be inventive 

It’s sort of a given that anything made with good quality chocolate is going to taste delicious, so why not get creative and play with some interesting combinations? White chocolate works particularly well as a base to pair with vivid, bold, sharp flavours such as those found in tropical fruits like mango. Dark chocolate stands up to citrus and spice really well, because they can pick up on the various flavour compounds already found in the cocoa. The beauty of chocolate is that it has so many different flavours going on. It’s really fun to experiment with how you can mix things up and add in some unexpected elements, for example chilli or lime. 

Pay attention to texture 

Chocolate has such a sublime, uniquely silky texture, thanks to its combination of cocoa butter and cocoa. I love playing around with adding texture to bring crunch and a different mouthfeel alongside the melty chocolate. Working with crumbly pastry, crunchy toasted coconut and crispy cocoa nibs is just a starting point. 

Rosie’s #MontezumasMoments recipes 

Chocolate, cardamom and hazelnut tart Ingredients: 50g Milk chocolate buttons 130g Lordy Lord chocolate bar 90g unsalted butter 20g icing sugar 50g hazelnuts Ice cold water 100ml milk 10 green cardamom pods 240ml creme fraiche 2 eggs, 1 egg yolk

Mango, white chocolate mousse with toasted coconut Ingredients: 100g greek yoghurt, strained over a sieve 180g Montezuma’s Great White chocolate or White chocolate buttons 150g double cream 1 sachet of Dr. Oetke Vege-Gel 200g ripe mango, diced 1 tsp golden caster sugar Juice and zest of 1 lime

Cook along with Rosie on YouTube!
Use code ROSIETEN at checkout to save 10% off the chocolate ingredients for these recipes.