Individual vegan dark chocolates with lavender cream filling

Sometimes, I make something that is so exciting, so fun, and so enjoyable that it takes all of my energy not to pepper the associated post title with exclamation marks.

This is one such occasion.

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Product reviews: Lindt 90% dark chocolate and Seed & Bean organic Dark Chocolate with Lavender

After alluding, on quite a number of occasions, to my chocolate purchases in England, I thought it time that I actually blogged some of them.

Today, we have Lindt 90% cocoa dark chocolate and Seed & Bean extra dark chocolate with lavender, both of which are dairy free and vegan.

To be perfectly honest, I didn't expect much from the Lindt 90% block. I thought it would be like the 85% cocoa block, widely available in Australia, but darker. I bought it with the belief that I could probably track it down in Australia if I tried hard enough, and as such nearly didn't bother with it at all. 

Such foolishness. I can only say, now, that the 5% cocoa difference between the 85% cocoa and the 90% cocoa blocks makes a world of difference. A world. I loved this block more than I have ever loved a plain chocolate block before.

My first bite saw me inhaling in surprise, and then with deep pleasure, and then closing my eyes in enjoyment, and then opening them again in wonder.

I don't know how Lindt does it, but suspect that the real vanilla bean might be part of the effect. The chocolate is surprisingly sweet for a 90% block, but it is sweet in an entirely chocolatey way - not cloying, or sickly, or even sugary. Just sweet enough to balance the cocoa, and to give a result that is all chocolate and all deliciousness and all delight. It tastes of more than chocolate but also entirely of chocolate. It is lovely.

Having discovered this, I am now doubting my initial (foolish) belief that the block is available in Australia. As far as I can tell, it isn't. And I find that very unfair indeed.

Where I had moderate expectations of the Lindt block, I had soaring hopes for the lavender chocolate. Ever since my adventures with lavender cheesecake and lavender cookies earlier in the year, I have been sold on the concept of edible lavender products. On looking at the website for the Organic Seed & Bean company, I also wish that I'd seen more of their range around. Seed & Bean are an English chocolate company that started in 2005, with a focus on organic and fair trade ingredients. Their other blocks include such flavours as lemon and cardamom dark chocolate and pumpkin seed and hemp oil dark chocolate, both of which I would have snapped up if I had seen them.

The lavender block is 72% cocoa, and uses lavender oil rather than dried lavender. The result is a smooth block, quite silky in texture and taste, with a subtle lavender smell and a strong lavender taste.

At first bite, the lavender actually seemed a bit too strong for me. This remained the case at second bite, and possibly even at third. Over time, though, the block grew on me. By the end (and I ate it spread out, so the end wasn't immediately after the start), I was a convert. 

It is difficult to accurately describe the taste of this chocolate. It is definitely floral, but once the initial shock of that wears off, the lavender balances nicely against the cocoa. There is no hint of bitterness, and it is also not particularly sweet. It is deep and mellow but with lavender, which isn't something I could have imagined before tasting it.

I don't think I will pine for this chocolate in the way that I may pine for the Lindt 90% block, but I am very glad I tried it and would be keen to try other Seed & Bean blocks in the future.

For another complementary review of Lindt 90%, see Hannah's 2010 post here. She found brownies and cookies in the flavour mix, which makes me even more keen to try it again!

Have you tried either of these blocks? And what are your thoughts on lavender in food form?

This post is part of my Vegan Month of Food contributions for October 2012. 

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Lavender biscuits with lemon and yoghurt, for a refined afternoon tea

When I experimented with vegan cheesecake earlier this year, you may recall that lavender and lemon was one of the flavours that I settled on became obsessed with making. So much so that when I couldn't find culinary lavender, I picked some lavender from a neighbour's garden and used that instead (!).

This lavender focus came, in part, from seeing recipes around the web for raw lemon and lavender cheesecakes. However, there was another contributing factor too. Back in 2010, Mr Bite and I stopped at The Lavender and Berry Farm cafe near Pemberton, in the south-west of Western Australia. The cafe offers Devonshire teas and one of the scone flavours available is lavender.

When we visited, I am afraid that neither of us was adventurous enough to try the lavender scone. It did intrigue me though, and in the way that things sometimes do, lavender has been lingering in my imagination ever since.

Lavender garnish, but no lavender scone...

After my vegan cheesecake post, I was fortunate to receive an email from Lavender World in the UK, a company that ships culinary lavender worldwide. They offered to send me a complimentary packet so that I could enjoy lavender products without needing to raid neighbours' gardens. They also explained that culinary lavender is slightly more subtle in flavour than the freshly picked variety, and less likely to provide a bitter aftertaste.

As you might imagine, I was delighted by this offer and was grateful to receive a packet by mail shortly before we went to Exmouth.

Given my memory of the lavender scone that never was, I had intended to try out the culinary lavender in lavender scones. At the last minute, though, I changed my mind to biscuits. I like scones best when they are fresh, and with a house full of chocolate and leftover birthday cake, a product that didn't need to be eaten quickly seemed like a more sensible choice.

There is a recipe for lavender tea cookies in Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's The Vegan Table; effectively a shortbread recipe with the addition of lavender and some lemon. I'm not a big fan of shortbread biscuits, so I adapted Colleen's recipe to reduce the butter, add yoghurt, and also use lemon juice instead of lemon zest.

The result?

I was blown away by these biscuits. Absolutely smitten. For someone who doesn't even like biscuits very much, these drew me in and captured my tastes completely. The lavender flavour was detectable, but also subtle - I could tell the difference from when I used fresh flowers. The lemon provided contrasting undertones and the biscuits themselves were dense, but slightly less rich than shortbread.

Mr Bite enjoyed them too and these will definitely, definitely, be biscuits that I'll make again.

Lavender biscuits (cookies) with lemon and yoghurt

Subtle, delicately flavoured biscuits that are perfect for serving to guests...or for keeping to yourself

Makes about 24 small biscuits

Vegan if you use non-dairy yoghurt

Print recipe

Ingredients

1/2 cup non-dairy spread or butter (I used Nuttelex)

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tbsp dried culinary lavender

1 tsp lemon juice

1 1/4 cups plain flour

2 tbsp cornstarch

Pinch salt

1 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp plain, thick yoghurt (I used non-fat, pot-set, dairy yoghurt)

Method

Cream the non-dairy spread / butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the lavender and lemon juice and stir to combine.

Add the flour, cornstarch, salt, vanilla and yoghurt to the creamed sugar mixture. Stir well to combine. The mixture should come together as a thick dough.

Wrap dough in cling wrap and place in the fridge for ~30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 170'C and prepare two baking trays. Distract yourself as you see fit (kitchen dancing is optional).

Roll out the dough between two sheets of baking paper, to approximately 6mm (1/4 inch) thickness. Cut into shapes using cookie cutters or a small glass. Place on baking trays lined with baking paper and bake for 18 - 20 minutes, until the biscuits are just turning golden at the edges.

Cool on the tray for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

I promise you, these biscuits will make your heart sing.

I can see lavender scones on my horizon soon too!

Thank you to Lavender World for providing the culinary lavender used in this recipe. Whilst they provided the lavender for free, the opinions are of course my own.

Have you baked with lavender? Or tried lavender scones?

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