Tuesday, January 02, 2007



Cafe Review: Coco

Coco is a cafe devoted to one thing: chocolate. And they're quite good at it. For a start, they know that hot chocolate is best made from... hot chocolate (diluted with milk to reach the desired consistency), and that iced chocolate is not made by pouring milk into a glass with a little fudge sauce and hoping that Brownian motion will deal with the rest. Not a touch on Koko Black in Melbourne, but definitely trying.

Knowing my luck, they'll be bankrupt in six months.

8 comments:

And where exactly is this fine purveyor of liquid chocolatiness?

I had possibly the best hot chocolate I've ever had at the Mozart Cafe in St Petersburg, it was like chocolate soup, yum!

Posted by Span : 1/03/2007 10:08:00 AM

Sadly, its in Palmerston North, in the Downtown Cinema complex (something which may result in my seeing a lot more movies).

As for "chocolate soup" try this recipe I found on the net:

Warm a cup of milk, a third of a cup of cream and 1/4 cup of sugar in a saucepan until just short of boiling. Add 125g (half a block) of milk or bittersweet chocolate in chunks, and stir until melted. Makes 4 (or is it 6? Its been a while since I've made it) demitasses.

You need a demitass rather than a mug because it is as if you are drinking melted chocolate (which, basically, you are). Whittaker's bittersweet gives good flavour, and ends up tasting like milk chocolate. I haven't tried it with the Dark Ghana yet; I think that would be too much.

Posted by Idiot/Savant : 1/03/2007 11:12:00 AM

Cheers for that - will give it a go when I'm not feeling so healthy and virtuous with it ;-)

I have this good chocolate brownie recipe which calls for a full block of chocolate and I find that the Whittaker's bittersweet is fab too - the last two times I've made it with the Dark Ghana and it hasn't come out right - too dry.

Posted by Span : 1/03/2007 02:52:00 PM

I have this good chocolate brownie recipe which calls for a full block of chocolate

Only one?

There's a cadbury's one which uses two: one for the batter, half for chunks in the brownies (along with macademia nuts), and half for chocolate sauce for when you serve them with ice cream. It works well with Whittaker's bittersweet for the former and milk for the chunks (since you don't want them too dark...)

Posted by Idiot/Savant : 1/03/2007 03:31:00 PM

I've always been of the opinion, when it comes to chocolate, that there is no such thing as too dark, however the chemical equation of the Dark Ghana with the existing recipe sadly isn't a goer.

Mmmmm brownie with nuts in. You are trying to lure me away from my health kick aren't you?

Posted by Span : 1/03/2007 06:05:00 PM

I can recommend the chocolate shop in Tory Street just down from Courtenay Place - does a range of excellent mochas.

Posted by Rich : 1/03/2007 08:01:00 PM

Span: not specifically. I do this to everyone.

I however prefer the milk path. Not too milky - Kinder Surprise is an abomination which should be purged - but dark is something I can only take in small quantities, which rather defeats the purpose of chocolate.

Posted by Idiot/Savant : 1/03/2007 10:02:00 PM

Rich - does your Tory St mocha have coffee in it? Gives me migraines, more's the pity as I used to love a good mochachino (sp!)

I/S - see that's one of the things I like about dark choc - you can just have a little and you're happy for the foreseeable future. Not because of the health thing, but because it makes it all last longer. We should set up a Continental-Dairy Tray exchange - whenever I get given a Dairy Tray you can have it, and whenever you get given a Continental I can have it? Mind you, the post might result in a big mass of squashed chocolate.

Posted by Span : 1/04/2007 09:54:00 AM