A bite of Switzerland with a Manitoba twist

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This article was published 15/12/2020 (2070 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Chocolate always seems to be one of the main food groups during the leadup to Christmas.

That’s certainly the case for Doreen Pendgracs. The Manitoba author, freelance writer and travel enthusiast has toured around the world to learn of the various terroir of cocoa beans, from which the sweet holiday staple derives.

She’s been immersed in the world of chocolate for the last 11 years. and her book Chocolatour: A Quest for the World’s Best Chocolate: Volume One, takes readers to countries known for luxurious chocolate, such as Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands, but also from places where coffee beans are grown, such as Peru, Ecuador and the Caribbean island of St. Lucia. 

“I stayed with cocoa farmers on their plantations in both Peru and Ecuador and learned how to harvest and the post-harvest processes like fermentation, sun-drying and roasting,” says Pendgracs, who lives in Matlock, about 65 kilometres north of Winnipeg. “It’s really has just taken over my life.”

Her website, chocolatour.net, takes visitors on some of her chocolate-focused travels — Pendgracs has visited cacao plantations from 10 different countries — and also posts notices about future chocolate-tasting classes, pairing events and chocolate-focused travel workshops she hosts.

Her favourites chocolate stops?

“Switzerland lives and breathes chocolate. If you look at the economic statements of Switzerland, they actually have a section for chocolate,” Pendgracs says. “I really love Grenada because they have a chocolate festival. The entire island participates in it, so all the restaurants have chocolate-infused recipes, and I don’t mean just the sweet stuff, I mean all sorts of chicken and fish dishes infused with cacao.”

While Pendgracs is a chocolate expert, she admits baking is not her strength.

“I absolutely love to cook and I use cocoa and chocolate in a lot of cooking like chili and barbecue sauces and all kinds of different things, she says. “Baking, you have to measure, and when I cook I never measure, I never use recipes. It all comes from my head and my heart.”

So for Day 5 of the Free Press’s 12 Days of Christmas Cookies, she offers this brownie bites recipe from the Swiss chocolatier Lindt, which she’s adapted with a Manitoba twist. Lindt’s recipe calls for bourbon to add flavour to the brownie mix, but Pendgracs substitutes Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye, which is distilled in Gimli.

“People call me a boozy cook because I put liquor in a lot of different things but it adds that little extra kick and that’s what I like about it,” she says.

This is an easy recipe, but dark chocolate doesn’t melt as easily as milk chocolate, so stir it well when melting to ensure it’s fully melted. The dark chocolate and rye combine to create a smoky and spicy flavour. Using a mini-muffin pan, the recipe makes about 35 to 40 brownies.

alan.small@freepress.mb.ca    

Twitter:@AlanDSmall

Lindt Bourbon Brownie Bites

Ingredients  

2 bars (200 g) Lindt Excellence 85% Cacao Dark Chocolate, chopped

115 g (1/2 cup or 1 stick) unsalted butter

200 g (1 cup) granulated sugar

63 ml (1/4 cup) Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye or bourbon. Pendgracs says milk can also be used.

5 ml (1 tsp) vanilla extract

2 large eggs, room temperature

160 g (1 1/4 cups) all-purpose flour

1 ml (1/4 tsp) salt

Method  

1. Preheat oven to 175 C (350 F). Grease a 24-cup mini-muffin pan.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the dark chocolate with butter, stirring with a wooden spoon.
3. Take the pan off heat. Stir in granulated sugar, then the whiskey and vanilla.
4. Add the eggs to pan, one at a time, stirring well after each addition.
5. Add all-purpose flour and salt. Stir to combine.
6. Divide brownie batter between greased muffin cups. Smooth tops with an offset spatula. Bake until a cake tester inserted into centre of a brownie comes out clean (about 15 to 20 minutes).
7. Let cool 10 minutes before unmoulding onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Pendgracs has substituted dark chocolate from other regions, such as Cuba, for this recipe with positive results. She says Lindt sources the dark chocolate in this particular bar from cocoa beans harvested in Madagascar, Ghana, Ecuador and the Caribbean.

She also says this recipe works with Angostura 1919 rum, because the Trinidad spirit’s flavour has cocoa notes.

“It will always have a slightly different taste depending on which liquor you use and which chocolate you use,” she says.